Three Course Prophecy Sampler

Three Course Prophecy Sampler

I think you know that the word of God is our spiritual food...  

Jer. 15:16 says➔ Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart...

The word of God is also likened to different types of food in the Bible...  Such as milk, meat, honey, apples, bread...

During the week we must regularly feed ourselves with the word of God in order to stay spiritually strong, healthy, and nourished.

When we eat at home, we generally prepare the food to some extent or another, and then eat it.

When we go to church, it’s like going out to a restaurant...  When we listen to a recorded message, or tune into a That’s in the Bible podcast, it’s like getting takeout from a restaurant.  And whether we eat at the restaurant or get takeout, someone else prepares our food for us, and they serve it to us, and we eat it.

So in keeping with that idea of food at a restaurant, today I’m going to bring you a Three Course Prophecy Sampler.

You know how they do at some restaurants...  At a seafood restaurant they might offer a Seafood sampler where you can have portions of three menu items seafood items. 

At Olive Garden, they offer a sampler which they call their Tour of Italy.  It consists of their 

*Chicken Parmigiana

*Lasagna Classico

*And their signature Fettuccine Alfredo

And that is kind of appropriate for our Three Course Prophecy Sampler today, because I’m going to serve it to you Italian style...

Not necessarily how you would get it at an Italian restaurant, but rather how many Italians like to eat.

I first learned this from my friend, Pastor Vince Giardino...  I saw it as we ate together, and then he explained it to me...

Some years after, I got a second witness from Bro. Andy Rastelli, an older man from our church, who is a former pastor, when he had my family over for dinner...

And what I learned was that a lot of Italian people like to eat their main course first, and then eat their salad after that.

Now, I’m the complete opposite of that, as for me it is virtually always salad first, and then the main course.

And the reason I bring all that up, is because in our Three Course Prophecy sampler, I’m going to bring you three points, each being a particular point about a prophetic event, and the first point, or course, is going to be our largest...  Our main course.

That will be followed by a smaller portion...  our salad, if you will, and then an even smaller portion, being dessert.

So without further adieu, the first thing I want to talk to you about is...

1. The Length of the Tribulation

There has been a lot of discussion about this in recent years, with new thoughts and ideas about how long the tribulation is...

There are varying opinions among Bible believers about this, as well as our other two prophetic courses tonight.

People have different opinions, and they are not shy about telling you what they are...  Neither are they shy about taking you to task if you disagree with them.

Of course, everybody thinks they are right, and the other people are wrong... including me!

Obviously, with different positions, we can’t all be right.  I’ll lay our both of the positions, and I’ll make the case for the one I subscribe to.

The two positions being debated are

1. The tribulation is 3 ½ years long...

2. The tribulation is 7 years long...

I won’t drag out the drama about which one I believe, I’ll tell you right up front that I believe the tribulation to be 7 years long.

And though this is the historic position, that in itself does not make it the right one...  But rather➔ what saith the scripture?

That’s what we want to see.  I will show you scripture for my position...  And, of course, the other position also has scripture for what they believe...

So either they are right...

Or those who believe the tribulation to be 7 years long are right...

Or we’re both wrong!

The main reason some have for believing the 3 ½ year tribulation is the emphasis on that length of time in the book of Revelation.➔ 

Rev. 11:1-3  And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 

{2} But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. 

{3} And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

42 months = 3 ½ years.  

1260 days = Jewish months have 30 days, following the lunar cycle.

1260 days ÷ 30 day months = 42 months or 3 ½ years.

Rev. 12:1  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

Rev. 12:6  And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thous-and two hundred and threescore days.

Rev. 12:14  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.

The event of v. 14 matches up with the event in v. 6

Matt. 24:15-21  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:) 

{16} Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: {17} Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 

{18} Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 

{19} And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 

{20} But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 

{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.

Rev. 13:1-5, 6  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 

{2} And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 

{3} 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. 

{4} And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 

{5} And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 

{6} And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

Rev. 13:11-15  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. 

{12} 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, whose deadly wound was healed. 

{13} And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 

{14} 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. {15} 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.

Now, note Rev. 12:14 again➔ 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.

  ...a time, and times, and half a time  = v. 6 1260 days

Which = 42 months, which = 3 ½ years

So from that we can understand that

A time = one year

Times plural = 2 years

Half a time = ½ years

There is a counterpart to this in the book of Daniel.➔ 

Dan. 7:25➔ time and times and the dividing of time.

Context➔ 

Dan. 7:19-27  Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; 

{20} And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 

{21} I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 

{22} Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. 

{23} Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 

{24} And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 

{25} And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 

{26} But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 

{27} And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

So we do plainly see an emphasis on the 3 ½ years... 

However, I submit to you that what we are dealing with there is not the totality of the tribulation, but the second half of the tribulation.  

No let me show you where we get that.➔ 

Dan. 9:24  Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

After you make your way through this passage in Dan. 9 it is clear these weeks can’t be literal weeks of 7 days, for that time has long past, and all of these things are not yet fulfilled.

And the part that has been fulfilled, took longer than the correspond-ing amount of days.

So what you have here is 70 weeks of 7 years, not of days...  

And this is not without scriptural precedent...  God used this day and year pattern in Num. 14:34 when sentencing the children of Israel.➔  

After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.

Ezk. 4:6  And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

Let’s read further in Daniel chapter 9➔

Dan. 9:24-26  Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 

{25} Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 

{26} And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

69 weeks tick off before the death of the Messiah, Jesus.

There were 70 weeks determined against God’s people...  But in v. 25-26 He is cut off after 69 weeks, with the 70th week remaining.

That is why for years, people have called the tribulation Daniel’s 70th week.  A week not of seven days, but of seven years...  A 7 year tribu-lation.

This 70th week has not yet been fulfilled, nor has it begun.

Some of our good brethren believe it has begun...  

They believe that 3 ½ years of it have ticked off, and now we are on hold for the last 3 ½ years.  

The argument is that the first 3 ½ years were the 3 ½ years of the public ministry of Jesus Christ.

And while perhaps that seems logical, it is not Scriptural.  

You have to make a leap out of nowhere to match up Jesus ministry with the first half of Daniel’s 70th week...

Now to justify that, they will go to v. 27 and make the covenant, Judas Iscariot, the son of perdition, joining up with Jesus as an apostle... 

And then showing his true colors just before the crucifixion, and I guess, making the cross the abomination of desolation...

And lest you get drawn into that, all of this could have been avoided by giving God credit for knowing math!

*If Jesus 3 ½ years of public ministry counted as part of Daniel’s 70th 

  week, then Dan. 9:25-26 would have read like this➔

Dan. 9:25  Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

v. 26 - And after threescore two and a half weeks shall Messiah be cut  

           off.

If it read like that, then there would only be 3 ½ weeks of the prophecy left, and thus the tribulation would only be 3 ½ years long.

The answer I’ve heard given to Dan. 9:26 where it says➔ And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off...  is that it doesn’t say how long after the threescore and two weeks...

But again...  give God credit for knowing math!  We have already seen that God understands a half, when in Rev. 12:14 He said➔ time, and times, and half a time...

Dan. 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.

This is when the abomination of desolation is set up, and the antichrist declares himself to be God (II Thess. 2:4), and the Jews are told to flee Judea and fly to the wilderness...  

According to Dan. 11:21, the antichrist➔ shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.

And Dan. 8:25 says➔ 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...

The antichrist confirms the covenant with Israel...  My guess is that that is the Abrahamic covenant of the land grant, as in Gen. 15:18.

This is how he placates the Jews at the beginning of the tribulation.

Then 3 ½ years into it, he breaks that covenant.➔ 

Dan. 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.

It is in the midst of the week that this happens...  The midst of the tribulation...  After the first 3 ½ years of the 7 year tribulation, and then you are left with 3 ½ years of the Jews hiding out in the wilderness...

The length of the tribulation is 7 years...

Here’s something else worth considering.➔ 

The tribulation is called the time of Jacob’s trouble in Jer. 30, v. 7.  

With that in mind, look what God says to Israel in Lev. 26...➔

Lev. 26:13-29  I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright. 

{14} But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; 

{15} And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: 

{16} I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 

{17} And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. 

{18} And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. 

{19} And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass: 

{20} And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. 

{21} And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. 

{22} I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate. 

{23} And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; 

{24} Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. 

{25} And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 

{26} And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied. 

{27} And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; 

{28} Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. 

{29} And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.

times...  as in years

And here’s a little bonus➔

John 16:13-21  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 

{14} He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 

{15} All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 

{16} A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father. 

{17} Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me: and, Because I go to the Father? 

{18} They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith. 

{19} Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me? 

{20} Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. 

{21} A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

Little while  7 times in the passage...

All right, number 2, let’s talk about...

2. The Timing of the Rapture

Is it pre-tribulation, post-tribulation, or mid-tribulation...

Many evangelical Christians have embraced the post, or mid-tribula-tion rapture through the years...

But, again, it is my understanding, that some of our good Bible believ-ing brethren are now especially embracing a rapture where Christians go through at least part of the tribulation.

Again, I will not leave you hanging, I believe the rapture of the church is a pre-tribulation rapture.

I Thess. 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Cf. “Pre-wrath rapture” of Marv Rosenthal, in later years also embraced by some Bible believing Christians.

*Explain pre-wrath rapture...

I Cor. 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

..They equate the last trump, with the last “trumpet” of Revelation.

**At least most of our brethren that believe in the 3 ½ tribulation 

   believe we are still out of here before the tribulation starts.

Layout of the book of Revelation➔  

Rev. 1-3 church on earth, after that the tribulation starts and the church is not on earth for it.

Gen. 19:16-22  And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. 

{17} And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. 

{18} And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord: 

{19} Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: 

{20} Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. 

{21} And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. 

{22} Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. {23} The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. {24} Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

I Thess. 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Wouldn’t be comfort if we had to go through the trib.

Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Looking for the blessed hope...  Not our time in the tribulation...

3. Timing of the Start of the Tribulation After the Rapture

Explain different thoughts folks have... Time between rapture and start of trib...

All right, time for our quick dessert!➔ 

Lk. 17:26-29  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 

{27} They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 

{28} Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 

{29} But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

So that, along with what we saw in the layout of the book of Revelation, and everything else I see in the Scriptures indicate, that the tribulation starts as soon as we’re out of here...

Even so come Lord Jesus!

INVITATION.