theophilus40 wrote:
Chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel describe an invasion of Israel which is stopped by divine intervention. There is disagreement among Bible students about when this invasion will take place. Some think it is a description of the final battle at Armageddon; some think it will take place earlier, perhaps before the beginning of the tribulation. In the Left Behind series it takes place even before the rapture of the church.
The Bible tells us that at some time in the future there will be an event called the rapture, in which all Christians, living and dead, will be removed from the earth.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ESV
At some subsequent time a world leader will make a seven year treaty with Israel which will enable them to resume the system of sacrifices commanded in the Old Testament. Such a treaty would obviously require the agreement of the Muslim countries surrounding Israel because a Muslim shrine now occupies the site of the temple.
Then in the middle of the seven years this leader will reveal his true nature by ending the sacrifices and demanding that he be worshipped.
And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering.
Daniel 9:27 ESV
The man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 ESV
This begins a period of time called the Tribulation.
One reason Israel’s enemies don’t unite for an all out attack is Israel’s alliance with the United States. They are afraid that if they go to war with Israel they will end up at war with the US as well.
The US has many Christians and some of them hold positions of influence. The rapture will probably have such a crippling effect on the country that it might be temporarily incapable of carrying out any kind of military campaign. On the other hand Israel’s enemies have few Christians and almost none of them have influential positions. The rapture will have little or no effect on their military capabilities and they might decide to attack Israel and try to destroy it before the US recovers enough to pose a threat.
Many Muslims are convinced that God wants them to destroy Israel and the Jews. This belief makes them totally unwilling to consider making any kind of peace with Israel. But what would happen if they attack Israel and are defeated by what is clearly an act of God? The shock of this event might make them question the truth of their beliefs. The final result might be a willingness to abandon their determination to destroy Israel and to agree to a peace treaty.
Perhaps the invasion described by Ezekiel is the link that connects the rapture and the signing of the seven year treaty. It could be the result of one and the cause of the other.
Here are two good sites where you can learn more about the prophecies of the Bible:
http://raptureready.com/
http://www.divineintervention.ws/frames.htm
Numbers 24: 17, “A king, like a bright star, will arise in that Nation. Like a comet he will come from Israel. He will strike the leaders of Moab and beat down all the people of Seth. He will conquer his enemies in Edom and make their land his property. While Israel continues victorious. The Nation of Israel will trample them down and wipe out the last survivors.�
It will be on that great day of tribulation that the Lord gathers all the nations around Jerusalem, Zechariah 12: 10, and they will look upon me and see the one who they pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child etc.
Isaiah 63: 1-6, “Who is this coming from the city of Bozrah in Edom? Who is this so splendidly dressed in red, marching along in power and strength?� It is the Lord, powerful to save, coming to announce his victory. “Why is his clothing so red, like that of a man who tramples grapes to make wine?�
The Lord answers, “I have trampled the nations like grapes and no one came to help me. I trampled them in my anger, and their blood has stained all my clothing. I decided that the time to save my people had come; it was time to punish their enemies, I was amazed when I looked and saw that there was no one to help me. But my anger made me strong, and I won the victory myself. In my anger I trampled whole nations and shattered them, I poured out their life’s blood on the earth.�
The fault line where the African tectonic plate grinds against the Arabian plate in its northern migration, runs up through the centre of the Red Sea along the Jordan valley and under the Mount of Olives.
Concerning the war to end all war the Lord says through Zechariah 14: 3-19; “Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as he has fought in times past. At that time he will stand upon the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west by a large valley. Half of the Mountain (
On the African plate) will move northward and half of it
(On the Arabian plate) southward, etc.
From within the inner most sanctuary of his tabernacle, which is the body of mankind, he will fight the enemies of Israel; those Nations who surround Jerusalem in their attempt to drive God's chosen people into the sea. The Lord will throw them into a state of total confusion, and the weapons of destruction with which they would destroy Israel, he will cause them to turn upon their own allies and they shall suffer a terrible disease, the soft tissue such as their eyes and tongues will melt in their sockets, and their radiated flesh cooked to the bone will slide from their bodies while still standing.
Then all those who sing and dance with their eyes and hands raised to the heavens in worship of a god they neither know or understand, can kiss goodbye to their great cathedrals of Marble, stone and crystal, for all the surviving Nations, will send their representatives, who will go up each year to Jerusalem in the land of Israel, to worship the Lord as King and woe betide those who refuse to do so, See Zechariah 14.
Malachi 3: I-2; The Lord Almighty answers, “I will send my messenger to prepare the way for me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger you long to see will come and proclaim my covenant. (2) But who will be able to endure the day when he comes? Who will be able to survive when he appears?
It is then, AFTER the thousand year rule of Christ and his elect and chosen ones, when, at the sound of the last trumpet, the fire from heaven, which I believe has something to do with Jupiter, the cause of some cosmic catastrophic event, will come down from heaven and incinerate all physical life forms on this planet.
