DEALING WITH “LAST THINGS”—

The Rapture, Second Coming, and Millennium

Spirit Filled Life Bible Dr Jack Hayford

Is the Church is going through the tribulation...        

Are you Ready??

The great controversy of our day is, “when and how will Jesus come.” I have studied this subject over the years and have posted much of my findings with scriptural basis and references along with other scholarly articles entitled “The Great Harvest.” I hope that you in some way will find your understanding on the matter of “the Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and prepare yourself.”  Jesus made the statement "When I come will I find faith on the earth?"

Luke 18:8 "I can guarantee that he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

Many are prepared to escape rather than impact the systems of the earth, giving dominion to the enemy of our souls rather than restore the dominion that was given to Adam in the Garden, lost at the fall of man, then restored by the work of the Cross and the Resurrection  of Jesus Christ - the Second Adam, from the dead. Where do you stand?

Pastor James C Exner

Syracuse Airport Christian Fellowship & Ministries Int.   

THE GREAT HARVEST

The Old Covenant

Harvest — the season for gathering grain or fruit. On the 16th day of Abib (or April) a handful of ripe ears of corn was offered as a first-fruit before the Lord, and immediately after this the harvest commenced (Lev. 23:9–14; 2 Sam. 21:9, 10; Ruth 2:23). It began with the feast of Passover and ended with Pentecost, thus lasting for seven weeks (Ex. 23:16). The harvest was a season of joy (Ps. 126:1–6; Isa. 9:3). This word is used figuratively Matt. 9:37; 13:30; Luke 10:2; John 4:35.^[1]

Exodus 23:14-17 (AMP) ( see Leviticus 23)
¹⁴ Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to Me.
¹⁵ You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread [Passover]; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before Me empty-handed.
¹⁶ Also you shall keep the Feast of Harvest [Pentecost], [acknowledging] the firstfruits of your toil, of what you sow in the field. And [third] you shall keep the Feast of Ingathering [Booths or Tabernacles] at the end of the year, when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.
¹⁷ Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord God.

HARVEST (Heb. qasîr, “a cutting”). The crops in the southern parts of Palestine and in the plains come to maturity about the middle of April, but in the northern and mountainous sections they do not become ripe until three weeks later, or more. The harvest began with the barley and the festival of the Passover (Leviticus 23:9-14; Ruth 2:23; 2 Samuel 21:9-10) and ended with the wheat (Genesis 30:14; Exodus 34:22) and the festival of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:16).

»    See:  Agriculture

Figurative. Harvest is a figurative term for judgment (Jeremiah 51:33; Hosea 6:11; Joel 3:13; cf. Rev. 14:15); a season of grace (Jeremiah 8:20); a time when many are ready to receive the gospel (Matthew 9:37-38; John 4:35); and, as the harvest is considered the end of the season, so our Lord says, “The harvest is the end of the age” (Matthew 13:39). Dew in harvest, causing the plants to ripen with rapidity and luxuriance, is a symbol of God’s fostering care (Isaiah 18:4); cold in harvest is refreshing, like a faithful messenger (Proverbs 25:13); whereas rain in harvest, being untimely, is a symbol of honor given to a fool (Proverbs 26:1).

—New Unger's Bible Dictionary

Hebrew Strong's Number: 7105

Hebrew Word: ‏קָצִיר‎

Transliteration: qāṣir

Phonetic Pronunciation:kaw-tseer'

Root: from <H7114>

Cross Reference: TWOT - 2062a, 2062b

Part of Speech: n m

Vine's Words: None

 Usage Notes: English Words used in KJV: harvest 47; boughs 3; branch 2; harvestman 1; harvest time 1
[Total Count: 54]

from <H7114> (qatsar); severed, i.e. harvest (as reaped), the crop, the time, the reaper, or figurative; also a limb (of a tree, or simply foliage) :- bough, branch, harvest (man).

 —Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary

Genesis 8:20-22 (NASB95)
20     Then Noah built ^aan altar to the Lord, and took of every ^bclean animal and of every clean bird and offered ^cburnt offerings on the altar.

     21     The Lord ^asmelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said ¹to Himself, “I will never again ^bcurse the ground on account of man, for ^cthe ²intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; ^dand I will never again ³destroy every living thing, as I have done.

     22     “While the earth remains,

Seedtime and harvest,

And cold and heat,

And ^asummer and winter,

And ^bday and night

Shall not cease.”^[2]

Gen 8:21 I will never again curse the ground can be translated, “I will not curse the ground any further,” meaning God will not add to the curse of 3:17. This seems the best understanding. God’s mercy here is in spite of the fact He knows the Flood will not change man’s heart; he will still be evil from his youth.

Gen 9:1 Man’s original dominion over the earth was reaffirmed.^[3]

Jeremiah 8:20 (AMP)
²⁰ The harvest is past, the summer has ended and the gathering of fruit is over, yet we are not saved! [comes again the voice of the people.]

Jeremiah 51:33 (AMP)
³³ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is [being prepared]; yet a little while and the time of harvest shall come to her.

 "Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified^® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

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  SIGNS OF CHRIST’S RETURN

The New Covenant

Matthew 24:1-14 (NASB95)

 

1     ^aJesus ^bcame out from the temple and was going away ¹when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.

     2     And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, ^anot one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

     3     As He was sitting on ^athe Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of ^bYour coming, and of the ¹end of the age?”

     4     And Jesus answered and said to them, “^aSee to it that no one misleads you.

     5     “For ^amany will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the ¹Christ,’ and will mislead many.

     6     “You will be hearing of ^awars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.

     7     “For ^anation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be ^bfamines and earthquakes.

     8     “^aBut all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

     9     “^aThen they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and ^byou will be hated by all nations because of My name.

     10     “At that time many will ^1afall away and will ²betray one another and hate one another.

     11     “Many ^afalse prophets will arise and will mislead many.

     12     “Because lawlessness is increased, ¹most people’s love will grow cold.

     13     “^aBut the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

     14     “This ^agospel of the kingdom ^bshall be preached in the whole ^1cworld as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.^[4]

Matt 24:1 In His private teaching to the disciples on the Mount of Olives, Jesus responded to three questions, concerning

1) the destruction of the temple,

2) His Second Coming, and

3) the End.

These topics are interwoven and sometimes it is difficult to determine which event is being described. This difficulty is partially resolved with the realization that most prophecy is capable of both a near and a remote fulfillment. Jesus uses the tragic events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem as a picture of conditions preceding His own return. One should bear this in mind throughout the chapter.

Matt 24:4 In warning the disciples against false signs, Jesus sketches the prevailing conditions of their present age down to the very end and states their continuing task.

1. There will be religious deception,
2. social and political upheavals,
3. natural calamities,
4. disloyalty, and
5. persecution—all of which are precursors of the end times.

In the midst of the difficulties, the Lord’s followers are to persevere in spreading the gospel.

Matt 24:8 Beginning of sorrows: The term means “labor pains,” which were expected to precede the end, marking the transition from this age to the Age to Come. The severe labor pains, followed by delivery and fulfillment, are also a pledge of the end and of the joy at the time of “delivery.”

Matt 24:15 The abomination of desolation, prophesied in Dan. (9:27; 11:31; 12:11), was applied by the author of the apocryphal book 1 Maccabees (1:54, 59; 6:7) to the desecration of the temple in 168 b.c. by the Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes. However, Jesus views the prophecy as referring to another profanation—the arrival of the Roman army, which besieged Jerusalem and destroyed the temple in a.d. 70. That event foreshadows the conditions connected with Christ’s return, so the prophecy awaits ultimate fulfillment in a manner not clearly specified in Scripture. See note on Dan. 9:27 for an alternate view of this text.^[6]

Dan 9:26 One who makes desolate: National Israel will enter into a covenant with the future little horn, the Roman prince (7:8; 11:36) or Antichrist for seven years (Daniel’s final or Seventieth Week). In the middle of the week, the Antichrist will break the covenant and demand that the blood sacrifices, restored by Israel in the last days, must cease. He will then set up his image in the Jewish temple and require worship (Matt. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:3, 4).

EDITORIAL NOTE: The classical approach to 9:24-27 differs, seeing such numerical computation as arbitrary. It views the 490 as representing not a literal period but a lifetime punishment seven times over (Jer. 25:11; Lev. 26:28). In other words, to this viewpoint, in some form or other Israel’s desolation will last for centuries, the postexilic return not marking that end; but an end will come.

This view also confines this prophecy to the second century b.c., that time when Jerusalem would suffer greatly at the hands of Antiochus Epiphanes (one who makes desolate). His “abominations” included setting up a heathen altar in the temple, the time of the “cutting off” of Onias III, God’s anointed high priest of that time. (“Messiah” (vv. 25, 26), which can be translated “anointed one,” is thus seen by the classical school as not necessarily referring to Christ but to the high priest.) The prophesied consummation is interpreted as Antiochus’s overthrow at the time of the Maccabean revolt.

The classical approach does not, however, rule out antitype fulfillment of the broader principles in Jesus Christ, in the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70, nor in the last days’ rampages of the Antichrist. Daniel’s language is clearly eschatological at points, denoting a multilevel prophetic fulfillment. See note on Obad. 15.^[7]       

            Spirit filled life study Bible. 1997, c1991 (electronic ed.) (Ge 8:21). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Matthew 9:37-38 (AMP)
³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few.
³⁸ So pray to the Lord of the harvest to force out and thrust laborers into His harvest.

Mark 4:26-33 (AMP)
²⁶ And He said, The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground,
²⁷ And then continues sleeping and rising night and day while the seed sprouts and grows and increases—he knows not how.
²⁸ The earth produces [acting] by itself—first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
²⁹ But when the grain is ripe and permits, immediately he sends forth [the reapers] and puts in the sickle, because the harvest stands ready.
³⁰ And He said, With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it?
³¹ It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all seeds upon the earth;
³² Yet after it is sown, it grows up and becomes the greatest of all garden herbs and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air are able to make nests and dwell in its shade.
³³ With many such parables [Jesus] spoke the Word to them, as they were able to hear and to comprehend and understand.

John 4:34-38 (AMP)
³⁴ Jesus said to them, My food (nourishment) is to do the will (pleasure) of Him Who sent Me and to accomplish and completely finish His work.
³⁵ Do you not say, It is still four months until harvest time comes? Look! I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields and see how they are already white for harvesting.
³⁶ Already the reaper is getting his wages [he who does the cutting now has his reward], for he is gathering fruit (crop) unto life eternal, so that he who does the planting and he who does the reaping may rejoice together.
³⁷ For in this the saying holds true, One sows and another reaps.
³⁸ I sent you to reap a crop for which you have not toiled. Other men have labored and you have stepped in to reap the results of their work.

 "Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified^® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Revelation 14:14-20 (NASB95)

 

14     Then I looked, and behold, a ^awhite cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one ^blike ¹a son of man, having a golden ^ccrown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.

     15     And another angel ^acame out of the ¹temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “^2bPut in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the ^charvest of the earth ³is ripe.”

     16     Then He who sat on the cloud ¹swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

     17     And another angel ^acame out of the ¹temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.

     18     Then another angel, ^athe one who has power over fire, came out from ^bthe altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “^1cPut in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters ²from the vine of the earth, ^dbecause her grapes are ripe.”

     19     So the angel ¹swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into ^athe great wine press of the wrath of God.

20          And ^athe wine press was trodden ^boutside the city, and ^cblood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, ¹for a distance of ²two hundred miles.^[8]

p.p.       Revelation 6:9

p.p.       Revelation 16:8

p.p.       Mark 4:29

p.p.       Joel 3:13

—Thompson Chain - Marginal Notes

Harvest Of Sin, 3423

Job 4:8

Proverbs 22:8

Isaiah 17:11

Jeremiah 12:13

Jeremiah 51:33

Ezekiel 7:6

Ezekiel 21:25

Hosea 6:11

Hosea 8:7

Hosea 10:13

Joel 3:13

Romans 1:27

Galatians 6:7-8

Revelation 14:15

—Thompson Chain - Topics

Rev 14:14 John views a picture of the Final Judgment, first of believers (see 1 Thess. 4:15-17; John 5:28, 29), followed immediately by that of unbelievers (see Joel 3:13).DISPENSATIONAL INTERPRETATION: The scope of the coming judgments and preview of Armageddon are revealed. This passage depicts a time of separation of the wicked from the righteous, and the focus will be God’s final dealing with Earth-dwellers (see Matt. 25:31-46).

Rev 14:15 Another angel delivered the command of the Judgment from the temple, possibly because Jesus specifically disclaimed any knowledge of the time of this event (see Matt. 24:36; Mark 13:32).

Rev 14:18 Another angel came in answer to the cries of those under the altar. See note on 6:10.

Rev 14:20 Outside the city suggests retribution for those who compelled Jesus to suffer “outside the gate” (see Heb. 13:12, 13). The number associated with the amount of blood should be regarded as qualitative, not quantitative, heightening the utter gruesomeness of the scene (see Is. 63:2-6).^[9]

Revelation 14:18-20 (AMP)
¹⁸ And another angel came forth from the altar, [the angel] who has authority and power over fire, and he called with a loud cry to him who had the sharp scythe (sickle), Put forth your scythe and reap the fruitage of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are entirely ripe.
¹⁹ So the angel swung his scythe on the earth and stripped the grapes and gathered the vintage from the vines of the earth and cast it into the huge winepress of God’s indignation and wrath.
²⁰ And [the grapes in] the winepress were trodden outside the city, and blood poured from the winepress, [reaching] as high as horses’ bridles, for a distance of 1,600 stadia (about 200 miles).

Revelation 14:16

The earth was reaped—The judgments were executed. But where, or on whom, who can tell?

Revelation 14:18

Power over fire—Probably meaning the same angel which is mentioned, Revelation 8:3; 9:13, who stood by the altar of burnt-offering, having authority over its fire to offer that incense to God which represents the prayers of the saints.

Revelation 14:19

The great winepress of the wrath of God—The place or kingdom where God executes his judgments on the workers of iniquity, whether pagans or persecuting Christians; Rome pagan, or Rome papal.

Revelation 14:20

Even unto the horse bridles—A hyperbolical expression, to denote a great effusion of blood. The Jews said, "When Hadrian besieged the city called Bitter, he slew so many that the horses waded in blood up to their mouths." The same kind of hyperbole with that above. See Wetstein on this verse.

The space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs—It is said that the state of the Church, or St. Peter's patrimony, extends from Rome to the Po, two hundred Italian miles, which make exactly one thousand six hundred furlongs! If this be really so, the coincidence is certainly surprising, and worthy of deep regard.

On these two last verses pious Quesnel thus speaks: "As the favorable sickle of Jesus Christ reaps his wheat when ripe for heaven, so that of the executioners of his justice cuts off from this life the tares which are only fit for the fire of hell. Then shall the blood of Christ cease to be trampled on by sinners; and that of the wicked shall be eternally trodden down in hell, which is the winepress of the wrath of God.

"And the winepress was trodden without the city, eternally without the city of the heavenly Jerusalem, and far from the presence of God; eternally crushed and trodden down by his justice; eternally tormented in body and soul, without any hope either of living or dying! This is the miserable lot and portion of those who shall have despised the law of God, and died in impenitence. My God, pierce my heart with a salutary dread of thy judgments!"

Whatever these passages may mean, this is a prudent and Christian use of them.

—Adam Clarke's Commentary

"Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible^®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

"Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified^® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)