End Time Insights

There is coming a final gathering when the saints will be assembled before Jesus in glory, but the wicked will be collected and cast from his presence .  The New Testament portrays the coming day when both the righteous and the unrighteous are “ gathered ” before Jesus, the former for vindication, and the latter for condemnation. And consistently, this event is linked to the “ arrival ” of Jesus at the end of the age and the resurrection of the dead.

The use of Joel’s prophecy by Peter on the Day of Pentecost links the arrival of the Spirit to the start of History's final era. With the Spirit’s outpouring, the “ Last Days ” began in earnest.  The Gift of the Spirit is the “ Promise of Father ,” and an integral part of the  New Covenant  prophesied in the books of  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel . Its arrival pointed to a fundamental change of eras - The time of fulfillment had commenced  - (Joel 2:28-32, Acts 2:17-21).

The New Testament warns the disciples of Jesus about several things that will characterize the period between his first and second comings, ones that will intensify as the end approaches. They include a great many deceivers that will infiltrate the church along with deception, apostasy, the rise of an especially significant deceiver just prior to the end, and Satan’s final assault on the church.

The False Prophet coaxes and coerces men to take the Beast’s “mark,” its “name” or “number” – Revelation 13:16-18 .  The “false prophet” uses the power of the first Beast against anyone who refuses to give full allegiance to the “beast from the sea,” and its “mark” becomes an economic weapon against nonconformists. Commerce is the lifeblood of the beastly empire and imposing sanctions is its enforcement mechanism, and economic restrictions produce deprivation and suffering.

The Dragon begins his war on the “seed of the woman” by summoning his own “seed,” the beast from the sea – Revelation 13:1-5.  At the end of chapter 12, the “ Dragon ” was poised to attack the “ seed of the woman ” as he stood on the seashore, summoning his own “ seed ,” the beasts from the sea and the earth. Having failed to destroy the “ son ” and the “ woman ,” he set out to annihilate her “ seed ,” the men who have the “ testimony of Jesus. ”

The kings and the inhabitants of the earth refuse to follow the Lamb. Instead, they give homage to the beast .  In  Revelation , there are no geographic restrictions on the reign of the “ beast .”  ALL  the “ inhabitants of the earth ” take its “ mark ” and bow to its “ image .” Not a single government resists the final incarnation of the “ ancient serpent ,” for it is granted “ authority over every tribe, people, tongue and nation .”