PEACE AT LAST?
We join in the celebration that the Israeli hostages have finally been released from their two-year torment in the Gaza Strip!
Some people are declaring that this is the first step to world-wide peace and President Trump is leading the way. The President and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu certainly deserve our thanks and admiration . . . but lasting peace in the Middle East and possibly the entire world? Maybe and maybe not.
The Bible has a lot to say about end-time events and peace.
#1 First of all, the Scriptures tell us that there will be "wars and rumors of wars" right up to the end. Jesus said - "And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you be not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nations shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." (Matthew 24:6-8)
"Beginning of sorrows" is translated "birth pains" and the events listed by Jesus will apparently increase in frequency and intensity just as birth pains increase before a child is born. What can we expect toward the end of the age? Wars, famines and earthquakes will continue to increase as we draw closer to the time of the Tribulation.
#2 There will be a time of FALSE PEACE and PROSPERITY lead by a powerful world leader known as the Antichrist. Revelation chapter six describes this leader as the rider on a white horse who carries a bow but no arrows.
The white horse is symbolic of peace and the fact that the rider has a bow with no arrows would suggest that he will be very powerful and will conquer by diplomacy and his charismatic personality. This time of artificial peace will be short-lived and will begin when the people of Israel sign a seven-year covenant with their enemies. They will be allowed to build the Third Temple in Jerusalem. This seven-year covenant of peace will be broken by the deceptive Antichrist, leading to the Tribulation and war after a brief, initial period of prosperity and security. This leader will be hailed by many as a savior of the world and even the Jewish messiah due to his ability to create this unprecedented time of peace in the Middle East and the entire world.
After the Antichrist betrays Israel and breaks the covenant of peace, he will desecrate the Jewish temple by setting up an image of himself and demanding to be worshipped, a desecration referred to as the "Abomination of Desolation". It should be noted that the coming of this false peacemaker will occur after the Rapture of born-again believers. The sequence of the opening chapters of Revelation describes the church on earth in chapters 2 and 3, the church in Heaven in chapters 4 and 5, and the beginning of the Tribulation in chapter 6. We need to remember that there will be no lasting peace on earth until the Prince of Peace comes in power and great glory.
#3 TRAUE PEACE: When we "pray for the peace of Jerusalem", we are praying that the Lord Jesus Christ will return and establish His prophesied Millennial Kingdom which will be a time of genuine peace and prosperity lasting 1,000 years.
Revelation chapter 19 presents the coming of Jesus in power and great glory: "And I saw Heaven opened and behold, a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a Name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and His Name is called The Word of God. And the armies that were in Heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean." Revelation 19:11-14
He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He will destroy His enemies. This incredible event is referred to as the Revelation of Christ and is not to be confused with the Rapture which will occur seven years previous and before the Tribulation.
Jesus IS coming again . . . ARE YOU READY?
