HEAVEN STANDING OPEN


III. THE GREAT TRIBULATION


I. THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION


A. DANIEL'S SEVENTY WEEKS, Dan 9:24-27.

      We will not discuss Daniel's seventy weeks here. This is discussed in my earlier book entitled, "IN THE LAST TRUMP," which is currently under revision. The intent is to keep this book generally in an outline form, as concise as possible, yet with enough details to make sense.

B. THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION in Dan 9:27

      "He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him," Dan 9:27.
  1. Daniel's 70 weeks are weeks of years, not weeks of days.

  2. The sacrifice and offering are stopped in the MIDDLE of the week. This immediately says that the one who makes the covenant for this 7 year period with Israel will break the covenant and conduct himself contrary to the covenant. An action like this would be an flagrantly offensive action to the Jews.

  3. The abomination of desolation will "stand in the holy place" (Dan 9:27; Mt 24:15) "in the MIDST of the week." This language requires an action that desecrates the temple so abominable that it renders the temple desolate. This violation of the "one week" covenant is therefore called an "abomination of desolation."

  4. This abominable condition continues "until the end that is decreed is poured out on him" (upon the Antichrist). Harmonizing this with related passages it becomes evident that the abomination of desolation covers the last half of this covenant week, Dan 7:25; 12:7,11; Rev 12:6,14; 13:5. The abomination of desolation, therefore, lasts for 1260 days, 42 months, 3 1/2 years, or a time, times and a half time -- all these, of course, are the same.

  5. This abomination of desolation and "the wrath of the Antichrist" obviously cover the same period of time: the last half of the week. The first half of the week will be a time of peace on the Antichrist's part. It is often called a "mock peace," and that terminology is alright because the Antichrist will be one who has spent about two thousand years in hell and has been brought up out of the bottomless pit (Rev 17:8-11) for the purpose of doing precisely what he has been prophesied to do, Dan 7:21-25; Mt 24:15-22; II Thess 2:4-10; Rev 13 & 17.
C. THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION in Mt 24:15.

      "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand)," Mt 24:15.

  1. Jesus spoke of the abomination of desolation and placed great importance upon our recognizing the abomination when it stands in the holy place of the temple.

  2. The abomination of desolation is the one spoken of by Daniel, and Jesus made sure we associate these abominations as one and the same. We have no excuse for looking somewhere else for the particulars that we need to know.

  3. It appears necessary, therefore, that the temple be standing and be in use when the abomination of desolation takes place. As we will shortly see from the following scriptures, this means the temple will have to be rebuilt, that a covenant for 7 years will be made between the Antichrist and Israel, that the covenant will be broken after about 3 1/2 years, and that this will initiate the wrath of the Antichrist against Jews, Christians, and all who will not worship him.

  4. This necessary analogy further requires that the abomination will stand in the holy place in the middle of Daniel's 70th week of 7 years, and that the wrath of the Antichrist cover the latter half of that 7 year period. The wrath of the Antichrist, therefore, begins in the middle of the week and ends at about the end of the week, as we will quickly see.

  5. Jesus urgently stressed that when those in Judea see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place they must flee into the mountains as quickly as possible. The word "then" (tote) in verse 16 (Mt 24:15-16) means "at that moment," and associated with the next 5 verses (Mt 24:16-20), it means to get out of there as fast as you can. There's no time to waste because something terrible is about to happen, i.e., the wrath of the Antichrist will quickly begin.
II. THE WRATH OF THE ANTICHRIST

A. THE WRATH OF THE ANTICHRIST in Mt 24:15-22.

      "Therefore WHEN YOU SEE THE 'ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), THEN let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house.And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.But woe to those who are pregnant and to those with nursing babies in those days!And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For THEN there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened," Mt 24:15-22.

      When you see that abomination of desolation stand in the holy place, THEN (tote) flee into the mountains, for THEN (tote) the wrath of the Antichrist will begin. And THEN (tote) is when the great tribulation begins.

  1. HERE we are still at the MIDDLE of the week when the Antichrist breaks the covenant.

  2. HERE in the MIDDLE of the week is when the sacrifices and offerings are stopped.

  3. HERE in the MIDDLE of the week is when the abomination of desolation is set up.

  4. HERE in the MIDDLE of the week is when those in Judea must flee into the mountains.

  5. HERE in the MIDDLE of the week is where the wrath of the Antichrist begins.

  6. HERE in the MIDDLE of the week is where the great tribulation begins -- not at the beginning of the week or at the end of the week, but in the MIDDLE of the week.

  7. HERE in the MIDDLE of the week when the wrath of the Antichrist begins many will falsely say that Christ has come and is over here in the desert, in the secret chamber.

  8. HERE in the MIDDLE of the week when the great tribulation begins many will be saying that Christ has come and is in the city, in the country, in the mountains -- surely He's somewhere.

  9. BUT Jesus said that we will know when He comes "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be," Mt 24:27. It will be very public as were the flood in Noah's day and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Lot's day.

  10. AGAIN Jesus said that as the buzzards know where their food is and are gathered around their table, so the saints will be gathered to their Lord in full wedding dress when the appointed time comes.
B. THE GREAT TRIBULATION, Mt 24:21-22.

      "For THEN there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened," Mt 24:21-22.

  1. This is still the MIDDLE of the week as in "A" above. The great tribulation begins in the middle of the week.

  2. The great tribulation is the same as the wrath of the Antichrist until the end of the week. Immediately below we will consider the great tribulation continuing on through the wrath of God.
III. THE WRATH OF GOD

A. THE WRATH OF GOD in Mt 24:29-31.

      "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other," Mt 24:29-31.

  1. The tribulations of those days: these words tells us something very important, and we need to listen. The tribulation of those days can refer only to the tribulation just discussed in Mt 24:21-22 (15-31). See also Mk 13:14-27.

  2. Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days simply means 42 months AFTER the abomination of desolation stood in the holy place of the temple. "Immediately" in the gospel of Mark often does not mean immediately as we normally use the word. However, the correlation of related passages requires immediately to mean immediately in this context.

  3. The powers of heaven are shaken includes the activities of the sun, moon, and stars and signifies the rolling back of the heavens precisely as we see in Rev 6:12-17. This whole event will necessitate the shaking of the spiritual powers of darkness who rule the current world system, Eph 6:12. Heaven will be opened and stand open for a long time while major activities (formal, official, kingdom activities, universe-impacting activities) are transacted before the throne of God in view of all living creatures in heaven, on the earth, and in hell as well.

          The throne of God is not mentioned in this passage, but everything else in the two passages requires that Mt 24:29-31 and Rev 6:12-17 refer to precisely the same event. In the five scenes of Dan 7, the throne is not mentioned in one of them, Christ is not mentioned in three of them, the Antichrist (the little horn) is not mentioned in two of them, and the saints are not mentioned in two of them. Yet all five scenes pertain to the same time frame and concern the same three major factors: the wrath of the Antichrist, judgment from the throne of God and the court of heaven, and the wrath of God.

  4. The wrath of God begins immediately after the tribulation of those days. This passage (Mt 24:29-31) does not specifically say so, but this passage does say that this is the time when Christ returns, and related passages say that Christ comes to execute God's wrath, Mt 24:36-51; II Thess 1:7-9; Jude 14-15; I Thess 4:13--5:3; II Thess 2:1-8; Rev 6:12-17; 16:1-7; 11:15-18; Dan 7.

  5. The nations of the earth will mourn (are angry, are enraged) because the time of their judgment has come and God's wrath is visibly and physically upon them: they are in great agony and cannot escape the presence of God as though He were immediately before them with almost unendurable power radiating from Him.

  6. Christ is seen descending from heaven with power and great glory, and though the throne of God is not mentioned in this passage, it is there in the open heaven, for heaven is standing wide open and the coming of Christ is only one of the activities to take place during this lengthy period of time.

  7. Christ stops in mid-heaven and sends a vast host of His angels to gather the elect (the faithful covenant people) from the utter- uttermost part of heaven to the uttermost part of earth, Mt 24:31; Mk 13:27. This passage (Mt 24:29-31) does not say that Christ stops in mid-heaven but it does say He sends His angels to gather the elect, while I Thess 4:13-18 does say Christ stops in mid-heaven. We must correlate these many different passages of scripture.

  8. This passage (Mt 24:29-31) does not say that Christ gathers the saints back to where He is in mid-heaven while heaven is standing open, but related passages do say so, I Thess 4:13-18; Rev 6:12-17. This passage (Mt 24:29-31) does not say that Christ sits on the throne of his glory (His judgment seat) in mid-heaven and judges the saints and the nations IN His coming, but related passages do say so, Mt 25:31-46; I Thess 2:19-20; 3:13; 5:23; I John 2:28; I Pet 1:7:13. This passage (Mt 24:29-31) does not specifically say that God's wrath begins at this time, but related passages specifically say so: see "4" above.
B. THE WRATH OF GOD in Mt 24:36-51.

      "But of that day and hour no one knows, no, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, And did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.....51 "And will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth," Mt 24:36-42,51.

  1. This passage is altogether about the return of Christ FOR His saints: those who are faithful, ready, and watching are taken along side the Lord in a most intimate way. Christ will bless them and make them joint rulers over all that He has.

  2. Jesus compared His coming with the coming of the flood in Noah's day: the flood was the judgment of God, not of an Antichrist figure. We are warned against the wrath of God when Christ returns, not the wrath of the Antichrist. The "portion with the hypocrites" is the wrath of God on the earth which the unfaithful saved must suffer along with the world.

  3. Jesus also compared the attitude of the people when He returns with the attitude of the people in Noah's day: most people of both times were abundantly warned and are being abundantly warned, but they refuse to heed the warning and will be found unaware so that day overtakes them as a "thief." Though we do not know the day nor the hour, if we are watching and ready that day will not come upon us as a thief, See also I Thess 5:1-9.

  4. The wrath of God came upon the world in Noah's day and Lot's day suddenly and publicly, and so it will be when Christ returns: He will come to execute the wrath of God upon the world, I Thess 1:7-9; Jude 14-15.

  5. This passage does not say that Christ comes FOR His saints and WITH His saints in the same general coming, yet related passages show that Christ will come for his saints, judge them on the throne of His glory in mid-heaven, while the third heaven is standing open and the Father on His throne and all the angels are watching the judgment and rewarding of the bride and covenant people.