06 The Second Coming of Jesus Christ (part 2)
Book of the Future, Part 6
Compiled from the writings of David Brandt Berg
“The Resurrection of Life” (John 5:29)
When Jesus comes, a wonderful miracle takes place—the Resurrection. All of those who belong to Him, all the saved, will then have a glorious resurrection.—Either from the dead or from the living, instantly changed and raised from the face of the earth. Then we will all go to be with the Lord to have the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb, while the wrath of God is being poured out upon those who remain on the earth.
His return and our consequent resurrection is spoken of many times throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Many times we’re told in various ways of this great, apocalyptic event. Although the word “rapture” is not to be found in the Scriptures, it is a handy little word because it sums up the coming of the Lord in the clouds, the sounding of the trumpet, the dead being raised, the living saved being translated, and all of us being gathered together to be with the Lord.
The apostle Paul gives a very revelatory insight into this marvelous event in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4. “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (verse 13). He says, “I don’t want you to be so ignorant that you don’t know what’s going to happen when Jesus comes. I don’t want you to sorrow over death, not realizing there’s going to be a resurrection.”
“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). “Those who are asleep in Jesus” is an expression meaning “the dead in Christ,” as explained in verse 16 of this same chapter—those who have died in the Lord, born-again Christians who have already gone on to be with Jesus.
All our dear loved ones who have departed from this life are already with the Lord. Their bodies, you might say, are asleep and have gone back to dust if they’ve been there long enough. But their spirits are not sleeping in the grave. They’re with Jesus. For to be “absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). They’ve “departed to be with Christ, which is far better” (Philippians 1:23).
Jesus comes back with the spirits of all these departed saints so that they can pick up their new resurrected bodies. It has something to do with that old buried body. God wants to prove that He can raise the dead, so He’s going to raise them from the dead, literally, but in a new body—a new resurrected body like the one He had when He rose. Their new, glorified, supernatural, resurrection bodies are going to rise and are going to get together with their spirits at the moment of Christ’s coming.
So the dead in Christ are going to come back with the Lord, and He says that “We which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord”—those of us who are still living when Jesus comes—“shall not prevent them which are asleep” (1 Thessalonians 4:15). The literal meaning here is that we will not precede, or go before, them which are asleep. The Lord’s not going to let us beat them to the punch or jump the gun in this race to be with Jesus. He’s going to let them be resurrected and rise first. Those who have died in the Lord and have gone on to be with Him, go first.
“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first.” We who are still alive are probably going to watch the resurrection of the dead. “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).
With one sudden, supernatural, miraculous, mighty stroke of God, He waves His wand of power, and presto. We who are alive will be changed, translated, and raised incorruptible, to meet the Lord in the air. People talk about the thrill of skydiving! Your body will be changed right on the spot, from a body that’s merely alive to a body that’s going to live forever.
“Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep”—we’re not all going to die in the Lord; some of us are still going to be alive when the Lord comes—“but we shall all be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51). He says it’s a mystery, since it’s pretty hard to understand and explain. Because how can you explain that an old, corrupt, rotten body that’s been in the grave for hundreds or even thousands of years is going to come to life and be perfectly whole and even better than it was before?
“We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump”—as quick as you can bat your eye, as quick as you can wink or blink your eye. “For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52).
“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). Somehow through a miracle, God is going to do for our bodies what He did for Jesus. Of course, Jesus wasn’t dead for nearly as long as many people have been. “He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself” (Philippians 3:21).
Do you want to know what it’s going to be like, or what you’re going to be like, after the resurrection? You’re going to be like Jesus was after His resurrection. He walked with His followers and talked with them. He even ate with them and drank with them. He cooked for them once (Luke 24:43; John 21:9–14). In your new resurrection body you’ll be able to eat, sleep, drink, and do whatever you can do now. But you’ll also be able to do some things you’ve never been able to do in your natural body.
Jesus was not only able to do these natural things, but when they were in a locked room with all the doors barred, all of a sudden He appeared (John 20:26). You’ll be able to walk through walls, doors, fly up through ceilings and appear and disappear just like Jesus did. You’ll be able to travel not just with the slow speed of sound or light, but with the speed of thought from one place to another!
When Jesus suddenly appeared to His disciples in that locked room, it says, “They were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit” (Luke 24:37). They were almost scared to death, as they thought they were seeing a ghost. But Jesus said to them, “Touch Me, feel Me, see that it is even I Myself, not a spirit; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have” (Luke 24:39). He didn’t say flesh and blood, “for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,” because “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (1 Corinthians 15:50; Leviticus 17:11).
His resurrection body was made of flesh and bones, but of course it was quite a bit different from the bodies we now have. When He told doubting Thomas, “Put your fingers into the nailprints in My hand and thrust your hand into the wound in My side, and be not faithless but believing,” it showed that it must have been like the same body He died with if the wounds were still there (John 20:27).
So when Jesus comes and that great trumpet sounds, you’re going to trade in your present, old, worn-out, fleshly, earthly model for an entirely new heavenly model, like the body He had after His resurrection. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). When Jesus comes, we shall see Him as He is, face to face, and be like Him.
The body of the future, the supernatural, miraculous, resurrected, transformed, fleshly bodies of the future are going to be like the angels of God. “Neither can they die anymore: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection” (Luke 20:36). But although you’ve received your new resurrection body, remember, it’s still going to be you. You’re even going to look a lot the same, only better, much better. But it’s going to be you, the same body; otherwise it wouldn’t be a resurrection. And if someone’s natural, fleshly body has completely returned to the dust, or if they were cremated and their ashes were sprinkled over a vast area, if God has to take every single proton, electron, and neutron and make up the atoms again and bring them back together from the dirt or from the ashes or from the smoke or from whatever and wherever it is, He will bring it back together.
“For if the spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. For God, who hath raised up the Lord, will also raise up us by His own power. And when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:54–55, 57).
“Blessed is he that hath part in the first resurrection” (Revelation 20:6)
Back in Matthew chapter 24 we read that when Jesus comes, His angels will “gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31). This word “elect” here simply means the saved, His “ecclesia,” which means His set-apart ones, His church, His Christians, His children. When He starts collecting His children, He’s certainly going to collect them all and not leave any behind. He’s going to gather all the saved together.
Nobody’s going to be left behind who loves Jesus. Nobody’s going to be left behind who has received Jesus as his Savior. No one is going to be left behind who is saved. Not a single, genuine, Bible-believing, Christ-trusting, Jesus-loving Christian is going to be left behind, not one. For “we shall all be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51). And we will all be raised. He’ll send His angels out to gather us from everywhere, from all around the whole earth, and He won’t leave one behind. He won’t forget one, not one!
In Revelation, John saw Christ’s gathering of His children as a great harvest. “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown.” He’s not coming as a babe in the manger this time, but as the King of kings, to rule and reign forever. “And in His hand a sharp sickle. And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped” (Revelation 14:14, 16).
This resurrection is spoken of as the first resurrection, of all those who belong to Him. He says, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6). So this “first” resurrection will be a resurrection of only the saved, of those who love Jesus.
If there’s a first resurrection, this seems to indicate that there must also be a second resurrection, and if you read Revelation chapter 20 about the Great White Throne Judgment of God, you’ll find out that, of course, there is. But the next resurrection, the resurrection of the unsaved, the second resurrection, is not going to occur until after the thousand-year rule and reign of Christ on earth known as the Millennium.
“Watch therefore: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh” (Matthew 24:42, 44). Will you be ready when Jesus comes? Are you one of His own? Have you received Him personally into your own heart? If so, then you can look forward to that great day of His Coming with hope and faith and eager anticipation.
Give Him your heart and your life, and love and serve Him “with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” today (Matthew 22:37).
When Jesus comes, the earth will shake and hearts will quake,
Be ready.
When Jesus comes, His face we’ll see eternally, be ready.
Has your soul been filled with the fire of His Holy Ghost?
Are you saved and ready to meet the Lord of Hosts?
When Jesus comes, don’t hesitate, don’t be too late,
Be ready.—Author Unknown
Copyright © 1983 The Family International.
05 The Great Tribulation (part 2)
Book of the Future, Part 5
Book of the Future
Compiled from the writings of David Brandt Berg
1983-03-28
“More than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:37)
Even though the Antichrist will be allowed to overcome God’s children physically, obviously destroying the organized temporal power of the church, he will not and cannot overcome them spiritually. The Lord says, “And they”—the church—“overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:11). This time may well be the greatest outpouring of the power of the Spirit, resulting in the greatest witnessing the church has ever done.
I believe this will be a time of greater power even than the early church, greater manifestations, mightier works, mightier witnessing than has ever been done before. The gospel is going to be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations (Matthew 24:14). “Where iniquity doth abound, grace doth much more abound” (Romans 5:20). In the world’s darkest hour of greatest iniquity, even then His followers are going to miraculously witness and shine brighter than ever before. “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee” (Isaiah 60:2).
“And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he”—the Antichrist—“corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32). The people who really know the Lord are going to be strong—in spite of the Antichrist, in spite of the image of the Beast, in spite of all their persecution. The worse things get, the more God’s Spirit is going to be poured out from on high to help His children withstand the dark evil forces that will be warring against them.
“And they that understand among the people shall instruct many” (Daniel 11:33). Our major job as Christians will be to stand up as God’s witnesses before the world to explain to them what’s happening and to lead and to encourage God’s children till the very end. There are going to be so many people seeking instruction, information, as they cried unto the apostles of old, “What shall we do to be saved?” (Acts 2:37; 16:30).
People are going to be more desperate than ever then, just as they are now in times of personal trial and emergency and catastrophe and illness and accidents. People are going to need salvation and need the good news. There’s going to be a great harvest of souls won to His kingdom in that last hour of earth’s history, a great harvest of souls that His followers are going to help reap.
“And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed” (Daniel 11:35). What is the Tribulation for? To test the believers, to try, purge, purify them, and make them white—to prepare a Bride fit for her Bridegroom and for His Coming. “Even to the time of the end.” It goes right up to the time of the very end, when Jesus comes and catches away His Bride.
It costs something to witness, and in that day it is definitely going to cost some their lives. The Antichrist is going to try to wipe out the believers because they’ll be telling the truth and exposing him. They’re going to be “instructing many,” warning them of who he really is. He pretends to be the messiah, the savior of the world, but we’ll be telling the world that he is the Antichrist, the Devil in the flesh. We’ll say, “Don’t take the Mark of the Beast; you’ll go to hell. Don’t take the 666. Don’t become a part of his kingdom. Don’t be one of his subjects. Don’t fall down and worship him.”
So God is going to test the church’s faith, to see if they have real faith, if they really do believe and if they’re really going to be willing to witness for Him before others. Or are they going to be ashamed of Him and try to save their lives by not witnessing? He’s going to purge and refine with fire, He says, to make them white (Daniel 11:33–35)—to try them, to test their faith and to see if they’re really willing to die for Jesus.
But there will be lots of victories and wonderful witnessing and lots of souls won, and you won’t even mind dying. After all, when you die in His service, that’s your graduation, your promotion. So even if they kill you, you can be thankful to get out of that Tribulation. And even if it’s painful, it’ll only be for a moment. The Lord will never let it be unbearable—He’ll take you first (1 Corinthians 10:13). Down through history the martyrs have died singing in the fire, praising God—joyful deaths.
Whether we live or whether we die as martyrs for Jesus, “laying down our lives for our friends” (John 15:13), we live and die for the Lord and for love and for others. And there will be Christians doing so till the very end of the world, witnessing for Jesus till He comes. For according to what His Word says, there will be some of us here right up to the bitter end, enough of us to be raptured and enough to have some witnesses still going strong.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: And the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). Multitudes are going to survive right until the very coming of the Lord, otherwise there wouldn’t be anybody left to rapture. So there are going to be many people still functioning for the Lord and surviving and living by faith and preaching the gospel, without the Antichrist and his damned Mark of the Beast.
God is going to protect His children supernaturally, miraculously, powerfully, in many ways, and the message will get out all the more in spite of everything they try to do. They are going to be the worst days the world has ever suffered and it’s going to be the worst time the people of faith have ever endured, of persecution and suppression and death. But some will survive. The Lord has promised supernatural protection.
God Himself will defend His people during those very last days with mighty signs and wonders, and even monsters and plagues that will afflict His enemies in their defense. In Revelation chapters 8 and 9 where we’re told about the terrible trumpets of Tribulation and the mighty judgments, we read about some horrible monsters released from “the bottomless pit,” sent by God to torment the ungodly, the wicked, the unsaved, because He gives them a strict command not to hurt those which have the seal of God in their forehead. He says, “Hurt not any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads” (Revelation 9:4).
During this Tribulation period when the Antichrist and his followers are attacking the followers of Jesus Christ, God is going to let loose pestilences and plagues to attack the people of the Devil, the kingdom of Satan and the wicked. They’ll have so much on their hands defending themselves that they won’t have much time to persecute His followers. As His Word has said, “It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you” (2 Thessalonians 1:6).
Don’t fear the Tribulation if you love the Lord. Don’t worry about that 3½ years of Tribulation. The Lord is going to give His men and women, His prophets, prophetesses, and witnesses supernatural, miraculous powers to defend themselves and even to attack the forces of the Enemy, to enable them to survive and continue witnessing until the Lord returns. Revelation 11 says that the Antichrist forces won’t be able to do anything against God’s final witnesses until the very end, because His witnesses will have power to bring curses and plagues upon the wicked and to actually call down fire from God to devour their enemies. What a picture of mighty men and women of God fighting victorious battles against the demons of hell!
There will be nothing the Antichrist can do against them, nothing he can do to stop them until just 3½ days before the Lord comes. Then he will finally be allowed to kill them, that the cup of the iniquity of the wicked may be filled. While they’re actually rejoicing over their death, suddenly the Lord will return in power and great glory and will resurrect and rapture them—a mighty triumph, showing that God even has victory over death.
Those coming Tribulation days are going to be like the last days of Israel in Egypt. Most of the trouble and Tribulation is not going to happen to God’s people; it’s going to happen to the Antichrist and his kingdom and his followers and those who take the Mark of the Beast. Until finally, just as God did in those days when He finally removed His people out of the land of the Egyptians to a place of safety, He’s going to remove His people completely out of this world to heaven in the Resurrection and the Rapture. Then He’s going to wipe out the Antichrist and his kingdom in the final wrath and judgments of God.
It’s going to be a time of great victory and marvelous testimony so that the whole world will hear, and every last person that can possibly be saved is going to be saved. So don’t worry about the Tribulation. It’s not going to be all lopsided, a rampaging victory for the Devil. We’re going to win miraculous victories over him and all of his powers. Don’t think that we’re all just going to be cowering, hunted victims. Most of us are not going to be cowering, but powering in our fight and battle and defense of the gospel right up to the end—with all the forces of heaven on our side, including the curses and plagues of God.
Although there’s going to be the most hell the world has ever known, there’s also going to be the most heavenly power and defense and help and protection. It’s going to be a time of great victory over the forces of Satan and tremendous triumph over the Antichrist and his kingdom. So thank God we’re on the winning side and we’ve got everything going for us. I’m sure that many are going to survive miraculously, protected supernaturally, to the very end, in spite of persecution and in spite of suppression. God will care for His own right to the end.
When these awesome, apocalyptic, earthshaking events unfold, will you be ready? Will you know what to do? Will you be prepared to survive, and will you know how to help others to do so, as well as continue to worship God and encourage others in the faith during days not unlike those of the catacombs church of martyrs under Roman persecution?
Only those who have the seal of God in their foreheads, His own children, who have Jesus in their hearts, will be hidden and spared by the miracles of God until the Coming of Christ, when they will join Him in the air. The only way out will be up. And the only ones saved will be those who have had the supernatural, regenerative rebirth of the Spirit of God’s love in Jesus, being born again by accepting Him into their hearts. Have you?
Are you ready? Probably not. But you can get ready now by reading, studying, and learning His Word, and giving your time to the Lord, your whole worship, and serve the Lord and love the Lord with all your heart, all your strength, all your mind, everything you’ve got, starting right now—until the very end. May God bless you with His truth and salvation and loving protection and provision forever, throughout eternity.
Copyright © 1983 The Family International.
05 The Great Tribulation (part 1)
Book of the Future, Part 5
Book of the Future
Compiled from the writings of David Brandt Berg
1983-03-28
When the Antichrist reaches the “midst of the week” and tries to wipe out all religions and establish his world religion of self-worship and worship of his idol, this is when he really starts getting into trouble—both with the peoples of the world and the religions of the world and their followers—and he begins having all kinds of wars. He has wars with different areas and nations and peoples, no doubt with those who are the most religious. He has a lot of problems in those last days of his reign, and God Himself will give him a lot of problems, too.
That final 3½ years will be the most difficult, as Jesus Himself said, “Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21). Many will refuse to accept the Mark of the Beast, obey him, or bow down to his image, and as a result many will be killed. It says many shall “fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity and by spoil” (Daniel 11:33). There will be 3½ years of horrible persecution of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. All religions will be forbidden, banned and persecuted. (See Daniel 11:36–37.)
When he first arises as a great world leader, the whole world thinks he’s great and follows him, except, of course, those who really know God’s Word and will recognize who and what he really is. Millions will believe in the Antichrist and follow him. It even says, “All the world wondered after the beast” (Revelation 13:3). They may all be deceived by him and wonder and wander after him for a while, at least until the middle of his reign, but when he suddenly invades Jerusalem, sets up an idol of himself in the holy place, and sits in the temple of God saying that he is God, at that point, obviously, many millions of people will reject the mark, refuse to worship him and his image, and will rebel against his satanic kingdom, resulting in nothing but trouble from then on according to the Bible.
There will be literally millions who will reject the Mark of the Beast and refuse to fall down and worship his image, and who will, even as nations, rebel against him and fight him, which accounts for some of the wars and turmoil detailed in the book of Daniel. The whole world is not going to be in perfect peace during those last 3½ years, and he’s not going to have absolute control. Many people will rise up and realize that he’s not the right guy and he’s not good for them or the world, that he’s demonic and the worst thing that ever happened to the world, and they’re going to rebel and refuse to follow his orders. They’re going to refuse to take the Mark of the Beast.
In Revelation 12, when Satan was finally cast out of heaven down to earth, “having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Revelation 12:12), what was the first thing he began to do? “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman”—the Bride of Christ, the church—“and the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:13,17). He’s particularly going to be out to get anyone who loves Jesus and is a part of His Bride.
The Bible says, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name” (Revelation 14:9–11).
The true Christians, the true believers in God, will not accept that mark. The Bible says that we who love Jesus will already have the invisible mark of God in our foreheads—faith in Jesus Christ. Those who are following the Antichrist, this horrible beast, will have the Mark of the Beast in their foreheads or in their hands as they follow and worship him. But we who love the Lord cannot accept that Mark of the Beast, and we will not. If you love Jesus, you will refuse the Mark of the Beast, because you’ll have God’s mark in your forehead already. (See Revelation 7:2–3; 9:3–4.)
Although the beast commands that no one can buy or sell without the mark and that anyone who refuses to worship his image should be killed, we will refuse. We will refuse both the mark and the worship of the image, and therefore they will try to kill us, and we will not be able to buy or sell food or clothing or shelter or the necessities of life. We will undoubtedly have to flee into the “wilderness” for survival, to prevent our being killed for not worshipping the image of the beast and to survive without being able to buy or sell. But God is going to take care of us.
Just because they tell you to stop worshipping the Lord and to worship the Antichrist, do you have to? Even if they tell you that unless you get his mark, 666, in your forehead or in your hand you can’t buy or sell anymore, you can’t go to the grocery store and buy groceries, and if you’re a farmer you can’t sell your produce, does that mean you have to? No. He only threatens to kill everybody. The Devil’s been trying to kill God’s people for thousands of years, but he’s never succeeded. He’s managed to kill a few, sometimes quite a few, but he’s never managed to kill them all. So he may get a few of us—if he can catch us.
During this Tribulation period, for Christians it will be impossible to survive except by miracles of God and faith and living independent from the system, without its mark and without its approval and benefits, unable to buy or sell. Christians will have to subsist in a survival situation, underground, and do the best they can to survive and continue to witness, much like the early Christians did from the catacombs during the Roman persecutions. The time of suffering and persecution under the Roman Empire during the early days of the church may be similar to what will happen under the coming Antichrist Empire, because Rome was also very anti-Christ.
Of course, if you’re really following the Lord, your very life and your light and your example and your love are a constant witness in themselves and sufficient and all that God may expect of you, until they come to you and ask you why.
The church in Tribulation
Back in the last century, some Christians decided that they shouldn’t have to go through the Tribulation. They developed a theory, the “pre-Tribulation Rapture” doctrine, which gained wide acceptance with many Christians. The adherents of this doctrine believe that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to resurrect and rapture His church will occur before the 3½ years of the Great Tribulation.
They believe the Lord will rapture them before the Tribulation and before they have to do any suffering for their faith, before they have to be tested for their testimony, before they have to really be tried in order to triumph. They hope to be wafted off into heavenly places, out of their comfortably cushioned pews and lovely church buildings, right on up into the heavenlies.
I’m afraid this is a false doctrine—the Bible says just the opposite. Jesus Himself, when speaking of His second coming, said, “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: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all of 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. 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” (Matthew 24:29–31). Jesus is coming to rapture or “gather together” His “elect”—which means all of His saved, set-apart children who have received Him into their hearts—immediately after the Great Tribulation period. (Part seven of this book will cover the Second Coming of Christ and the Rapture and Resurrection in much greater detail.)
Let’s look at other scriptures describing this Great Tribulation period and the “dragon’s” persecution of the church through the Antichrist: “I beheld, and the same horn”—the “little horn” of Daniel 7, the Antichrist—“made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of Days came”—Jesus Christ in His Second Coming. “And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”—The 3½ years of Great Tribulation (Daniel 7:21–22, 25).
“And his”—the Antichrist’s—“power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished” (Daniel 8:24; 12:7). The temporal power of God’s church on earth is going to be destroyed before Jesus comes. The Lord is going to allow the Devil, in the person of the Antichrist, to destroy the temporal power of the church and to destroy all the strength and the riches and the wealth of Christendom throughout the world.
God is going to turn the world over to the Devil for a while, and he is even going to have power over the saints and overcome them. “And there was given unto him”—the Antichrist—“a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (Revelation 13:5, 7).
Therefore, contrary to Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine, the church, the saints, the Christians, the people of God, are certainly going to be here during the Tribulation. The Lord will protect and keep them through it, because He needs a witness, lots of witnesses, to tell the world what’s happening.
4 The Rise and Reign of the Antichrist (part 3)
Book of the Future, Part 4
Book of the Future
Compiled from the writings of David Brandt Berg
1983-03-28
The Image and Mark of the Beast
The Antichrist has a false prophet who becomes his greatest promoter, his propaganda master, who promotes him and his worship and is actually the one who insists that this great image be built, a great idol of the beast, and that all the world fall down and worship his image or be killed. “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon” (Revelation 13:11). Here is the false prophet—not the Lamb of God, but the lamb of the Devil.
“And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast.”—The Antichrist. “And he”—this false prophet—“doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live” (Revelation 13:12–14).
“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. 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: 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. 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” (Revelation 13:15–18). His number is six hundred and sixty-six—666.
So there you have the conclusion of Revelation 13, a very unlucky chapter. The killing of all those who refuse to worship the image of the beast is obviously the beginning of the Great Tribulation. This image, which is “set up” in the “holy place,” is the “abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet” (Matthew 24:15). The image is given “life, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as should not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (Revelation 13:15). It sounds as if it’s some kind of a cybernetic robot, computerized so that it can speak and talk and move and even act like it’s alive and command the worship of the world.
“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: 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” (Revelation 13:16–17). The medium of exchange will be fully replaced by a credit system in which every person in the world who belongs to the system will bear a credit number, without which he can neither buy nor sell, and by which he is accredited in his governmental account with the value of whatever goods or services he produces, and to which he can charge the goods and services that he needs.
Men will no longer buy or sell with money as a means of exchange, but with a number, which will be given to them permanently, without any possibility of counterfeit, change, manipulation, or forgery, because it will be branded on each person: “a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads.” Every man will have his own number, every member of the world system will be branded or tattooed with the Mark of the Beast like cattle for the slaughter, and will be forced to worship the beast and his image or be killed. There will be a one-world economy and there will be no more differences in types of currency and all this terrible confusion there is about exchange rates today. The whole world will be on one medium of exchange, this system of credit, and it will be universal.
Satan has at last been cast out of heaven, and in his fury, knowing that his time is short, he possesses this Antichrist, this beast, and makes him a superman. He will run the world and command all to worship him, and attempt to slaughter all who refuse. Apparently at the “midst of the week” crisis point, when he breaks the covenant, stops the sacrifice, sets up his image and says, “Worship me,” he becomes possessed of Satan. So when the Antichrist sets up his image and says to the world, “Worship me,” it is really the Devil, the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). He always wanted the whole world to worship him, and he’s going to get it for a while—except from those who worship God and will dare to defy and resist him.
Copyright © 1983 The Family International.
04 The Rise and Reign of the Antichrist (part 2)
Book of the Future, Part 4
Book of the Future
Compiled from the writings of David Brandt Berg
1983-03-28
The Dragon and the Beast
God’s Word tells us in Revelation that it is in the midst of the seven years—when the Antichrist breaks the covenant and decides to set up an image of himself and commands the world to worship him—that the Antichrist will become possessed of Satan himself, and he will run the world for the next three and a half years.
“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:7–9). At this time Satan is cast out of heaven with a third of the rebellious angels that follow him down into the earth for the last 3½ years of earth’s history (Revelation 12:4).
You say, “What do you mean? I didn’t know there were demons and devils and rebels in heaven.” In the book of Job, Satan is even called one of the “sons of God.” Although he is in rebellion against God, he still appears before Him in the courts of heaven, accusing the saints day and night throughout history. Job 2:1 says, “There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.” And in Revelation after he’s finally cast out, it says: “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10).
Therefore the heavenly voice warns: “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea. For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Revelation 12:12). And therefore that last, short period of world history, 3½ years of Great Tribulation, is the worst in world history, in which the Devil rants and raves and rampages across the face of the earth.—No longer able to soar into the heights of heaven and accuse us before God, but cast out and cast down to the earth, confined here, and soon to be chained and confined to the darkness and flames of hell in the heart of the earth.
Because he knows his time is short and he only has 3½ years, he makes the best of that 3½ years by inspiring the Antichrist and possessing him. Then the earth will soon see that he is not the messiah. And instead of bringing the heaven on earth that he promised, he brings hell on earth.
“And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman”—the true church, the bride of Christ, those who have received Jesus as their Savior. “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent” (Revelation 12:13–14). Here again is the 3½-year period of tribulation of the church, with the dragon, Satan, cast out of heaven and persecuting the church, who has fled to her place for “a time (one year), times (two years) and half a time” (half a year), three and a half years, “from the face of the serpent.”
In these last 3½ years he’s no longer going to be able to go before the court of God accusing the saints in heaven. He’s going to be right here on earth, not only accusing the saints, but persecuting them and trying to kill them. “And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17). In the next chapter we find that the Devil wages his war and wrath against the church through the bestial Antichrist world dictator whom he possesses.
“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea”—the sea of humanity—“having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy” (Revelation 13:1). If you read the 7th chapter of the book of Daniel, you’ll again see this great beast in its various forms, and learn that it represents various world empires that have ruled the earth. In Revelation 17 we learn that “the seven heads are seven kings”—or kingdoms. “Five are fallen”—Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece had all come and gone—“one is”—the Roman Empire was in power when John wrote this—“and the other is not yet come”—the Antichrist’s final world empire. “And when he cometh, he must continue a short space” (Revelation 17:9–10). These seven heads represent the seven great world empires that come and go upon the stage of history, from the days of Egypt to this last great Antichrist Empire.
“And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour”—a very short time—“with the beast”—the Antichrist (Revelation 17:12). Because these ten kings, kingdoms, or powers had “received no kingdom as yet” during John’s day, at the time of the sixth head, the Roman Empire, it’s obvious that these “ten horns” are all on the final seventh head, the Antichrist. “These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (Revelation 17:13). In the book of Daniel, these same ten world powers that cooperate with and help put the Antichrist into power are described in further detail. (See Daniel 2:41–43 and Daniel 7:7–8, 20–24.)
“And the beast which I saw, … the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority” (Revelation 13:2). That great red dragon that we just saw in the previous chapter—Satan himself who has been cast out of heaven, who in great wrath persecutes and wars against the church for 3½ years of Great Tribulation—gives this last world empire’s Antichrist emperor his “power and his seat and great authority.” The old serpent himself possesses this monster, this beast, this Antichrist man.
In Daniel chapter eight, we again find that the Antichrist’s great power is not of himself. “In the latter time, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many” (Daniel 8:23–25).
Now, back to Revelation 13: “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon”—the Devil—“which gave power unto the beast”—the Antichrist—“and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:3–4).
What does “one of his”—the seven-headed beast—“heads was wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed” mean (Revelation 13:3)? We know that this is referring to the seventh head, the Antichrist, because later in this same chapter we see that the Antichrist has a false prophet, a promoter, who “causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the beast, whose deadly wound was healed … saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and did live” (Revelation 13:12–14).
“And there was given unto him”—to the Antichrist—“a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty-and-two months” (Revelation 13:5). There again we have the 3½ years of Tribulation. “And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (Revelation 13:6–7).
In Revelation 17, again speaking of the Antichrist, it says that “they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is … the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition” (Revelation 17:8, 11). This beast that we’ve been reading about has only seven heads, representing the seven great world empires or kingdoms. So where does this eighth one pop up from? “The beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven.” This could possibly mean that “in the midst of the week,” 3½ years after confirming the covenant, he becomes possessed of the Devil and thus becomes a new government, the Antichrist. It looks like the same man, the seventh head, only he is now the eighth.
“He was and is not and yet is”—this would explain “wounded unto death and his deadly (fatal) wound was healed … which had the wound by a sword and did live” (Revelation 13:3, 14). It looks like the Antichrist will be assassinated, “wounded unto death,” yet he will supernaturally come back to life, a “resurrection” which could serve as his credentials to divinity. No wonder the Antichrist is so powerful and such a superman and wonder-worker. (to be continued)
04 The Rise and Reign of the Antichrist (part 1)
Book of the Future, Part 4
Book of the Future
Compiled from the writings of David Brandt Berg
1983-03-28
The world is in need of a superman who can heal their economic ills, unite their politics, end their religious squabbles, stop the wars, and bring peace and union to all nations—a one-world government. Arnold Toynbee, the famous historian, expressed this need when he said, “By forcing on mankind more and more lethal weapons, and at the same time making the world more and more interdependent economically, technology has brought mankind to such a degree of distress that we are ripe for the deifying of any new Caesar who might succeed in giving the world unity and peace.”
The former secretary general of NATO, Paul-Henri Spaak, stated, “We do not need another committee. We have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people and to lift us out of the morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man, be he God or devil, and we will receive him.” The Bible predicts that there will be such a man in the last days of man’s rule on earth who will temporarily save the world from total destruction just before Christ returns to rule it. To the world he is going to appear as an angel of light, the most perfect man, the greatest leader the world has ever known outside of Jesus Christ, clever enough to solve the world’s problems—economic, political, and finally religious.
From all that scripture indicates, it looks like this coming one-world leader will rise to power by peace and by flattery and by clever deceit (Daniel 11:21,24). By his supernatural craft, wisdom, and clever political maneuvering, he will temporarily solve today’s pressing military, political, and economic problems and will effect a peace pact between the conflicting superpowers, ideologies, and religions of the world.
Of course, only in desperation would they ever sign such a pact. Only under desperate last-resort circumstances would Israel and the Arabs, for example, agree to share the city of Jerusalem, or would opposite systems such as capitalism and communism agree to share the world in peace—universal détente. This capable and powerful one-world government will at first be much better than the chaotic conditions of the world: There will be a world of peace, a world of controlled economy—peacetime economy, not war economy—a world of fair distribution. Under man’s most ideal leader and his one-world government, there will finally be a proper apportionment of the world’s resources and an end to their extravagant waste.
Man’s final world government is going to be the most perfect government man could ever contrive, the most idealistic, fair, the most equal, the most sharing. It will be like trying to have Christianity without Christ. But of course they will see that it needs a superman to make it all possible, and that’s exactly what this leader will pretend and claim to be—the messiah or savior of the world. In fact, he’s even going to ultimately claim to be God, when all the time he’s a phony and a fake, the Devil in disguise, “Satan himself, transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14–15).—The Antichrist.
For a while it will seem to be an ideal rule, but the price to pay will finally be not only compliance with the world government and the control of freedom and personal religion and so on, but the eventual aim of the Devil himself, who controls it, will be: “Fall down and worship me or you cannot enjoy this utopia that I have created. Behold, I give you all the kingdoms of the earth, but the price is, fall down and worship me” (Luke 4:5–7). And that’s where the rub’s going to come.
“He shall confirm the covenant with many” (Daniel 9:27)
According to Bible prophecy, the final clincher wherewith the Antichrist comes on the international scene and begins his seven-year reign is the seven-year pact or covenant described in the book of Daniel. This covenant is spoken of many times in the scriptures and will be like a promise of religious freedom. That’s why it’s called the “holy covenant” (Daniel 11:30), because it’s a religious pact, a religious treaty which has to do with restoring worship, particularly Jewish worship, as it enables the Jewish people to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem and to restore sacrificial worship on its altar, a practice which was virtually the heart of their religious observance.
There is only one place earth where they would consider such resumption of sacrificial worship—Mount Moriah, Jerusalem, where their ancient temple altar was located before the Roman legions marched into Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and destroyed it. The foundation of the ancient temple’s altar was the rock upon which Abraham was called by God to sacrifice Isaac on top of Mount Moriah. For this reason, the Muslims also revere this great city, ancient holy Jerusalem, and particularly Mount Moriah, as Abraham was also the father of Ishmael, through whom the Arab nations were born.
Since the 600s A.D., when Islam was sweeping the world, the “Dome of the Rock” has stood over this rock upon which the ancient Jewish temple altar once stood. And it’s quite obvious that the Muslims would never agree to the Jews coming in to their sacred shrine and rebuilding the temple. So they’re going to have to work out some kind of an agreement or compromise with each other, and the only way this could be done would be with the intervention of a third party, such as a world political government. This compromise or agreement is what is generally accepted as the covenant spoken of in the Bible prophecies of Daniel, time and time again.
It’s going to take some brilliant diplomacy to figure out some way for the Jewish people to rebuild their temple and reinstitute sacrificial worship on their altar with the Dome of the Rock standing right over it, for this is the holiest of all the Muslim holy places outside of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. As it now stands right over what was once the Jewish temple’s sacrificial altar, exactly what they are going to do in order to get the Jewish temple rebuilt, we don’t know. But whatever happens, we know that Mount Moriah, Jerusalem, is the most holy place on earth to the Jews, it’s the most holy place on earth outside of Saudi Arabia to the Muslims, and it’s even one of the holiest places on earth to many Christians. Therefore this seven-year agreement will have to be a very ingenious compromise, and will no doubt deal with not only Mount Moriah but also the city of Jerusalem.
If there was ever any place where a mastermind’s compromise agreement was needed, it’s Jerusalem. Anyone who could solve this crisis would certainly be considered a mastermind and a genius and a superman, and no doubt all the world would wonder after him. Because no one has ever yet been able to solve the problem of the antipathy and the antagonism and the warfare in the Middle East. So anyone who could somehow reconcile their differences and make them come to an agreement would really be a genius, a superman. And that’s who it will be, the Antichrist.
According to the Bible, he settles the Jerusalem question. It says that he takes it over and makes it an international city. In fact, according to the Bible, this world dictator of this one-world government makes Jerusalem his political capital of his world government (Daniel 11:45). He promises to internationalize the city of Jerusalem with this seven-year covenant or pact, no doubt some kind of an international U.N. or world government-sponsored treaty that will guarantee all religions the right to religious freedom there, enabling them to restore their various temples and sanctuaries, and all will be able to worship and have free access to Jerusalem. (To be continued)