Hi all,
There are so many voices ‘out there’ proclaiming all kinds of wild and confusing things about the last days, that it seemed good to just go by chapter and verse so that fears may be set aside in favor of God’s peace.
First thing to understand
Prophecy does not always stay within boundaries of a current age, meaning a prophetic word given in one age could come to pass in another age.
The Old Testament, which was completed about 2,500 years ago, prophesies many things about the Millennial Age which is (still) yet to come, completely skipping over the day and age in which we live. For instance, Isaiah 11: 6-9 and 65: 25 talk about wild animals which are natural enemies at peace with each other in the Millennium.
Therefore, realize that if some prophecy, vision or dream is about the future, it may be about the tribulation time or even the Millennium – far enough future that it won’t affect you in this age. All prophecy is not of this age and for this time. Prophecies in our day if from God, may in fact be for a time yet future – maybe they will happen in the tribulation. So let your heart be at peace.
I would add that includes words for you personally, about your call in Him. If you received a word earlier in your life about your call, and then life happened and you feel in this life you have failed God because that word will not come to pass – rest – because His Word does not return void, and it may very well be that you will be fulfilling your call in the next age, perhaps 100, 300, 500 or more years from now. It WILL come to pass. You will not have failed your call.
Removing the religious glasses
When the apostle John was caught up to heaven in Revelation 4:2 and saw the unfolding of the scroll, he was doing so in the 1st century. Much of The Revelation is symbolic, but some of that symbolism is because a 1st century man had no idea what life in the 21st century would look like. So we’re going to take off our religious glasses for a moment and just read in modern terms what that 1st century man might be trying to describe.
A double asteroid or comet hit
The Revelation, 8: 6-12 describes what he calls ‘a burning mountain’ that falls from the sky onto land, and another ‘star, burning like a lamp’ that falls into the ocean. The result is 1/3 of land based plants die, and 1/3 of sea life die. Verse 12 tells us also that 1/3 of the light of the sun, moon, and stars is obscured (from the dust cloud).
Think about what 1/3 less sunlight would mean to the world. Think about food production. Travel. Commerce. Political upheaval. All these things are described in The Revelation, and I’ll cover them next week. But for now think about turmoil caused by 1/3 of sunlight blotted out by the dust cloud from the hits.
I do have a series called ‘The Natural Disasters of The Revelation‘, that comes with a hand-out showing how the 7 seals, trumpets, and bowls fit together, I’m writing just to touch on a few main points.
That means the long feared asteroid or comet hitting the earth that no one sees coming, will happen. Or perhaps it is seen as it approaches, but it splits into 2 pieces by natural forces or man’s efforts to blow it up like so many Hollywood movies – we don’t know – but a double hit from space rocks/ice that blots out 1/3 of sunlight is going to happen to planet earth.
And what would 2 asteroid hits throw up into the air?
Immediately following the descriptions of a double asteroid/comet hit in chapter 8, chapter 9 opens with a description of a massive dust cloud rising and out of which come diseases. In 9:1-12 it reveals a large column like smoke arising, and the sun and moon are darkened because of the cloud of dust.
An asteroid that hits the land, and the asteroid/comet that hits an ocean, will send up enough dirt and water to cause the sun to be darkened, and disease to break out world wide. It says the disease will last 5 months, and will feel like scorpion stings on the skin.
Scientists report that anthrax, tetanus, botulism, skin and respiratory diseases would break out if such a dust cloud spread by winds circled the earth, so modern science agrees with what the apostle saw.
NOTE: In Judaism’s Feast of Trumpets, which is what Paul taught, the Rabbi’s teach there will come a ‘catching away’ of dead believers in Messiah, who will meet Him in the air, be judged, and then all will celebrate a 7 year long wedding feast in heaven. Paul added new revelation to that in I Corinthians 15, saying that those alive at that time will also be changed and meet Messiah in the air.
In the Feast of Trumpets they teach that while believers in Messiah have joined Him in heaven, the earth will go into a 7 year time called ‘The time of Jacob’s trouble’, in which God divides in His mind, all people into 3 groups: The wholly wicked, the wholly righteous, and by far the largest group, The Intermediates.
They teach there will be people who come to Messiah AFTER the ‘catching away’, so will have to go through the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. The rest of the time is devoted to focusing on Israel and the end of the government of man. I have multiple teaching series on Rosh Hashanah and the Feast of Trumpets, I only add this in case someone reading isn’t aware of what Paul taught about that feast.
These are things current believers will see from the vantage point of heaven. There is a lot of error floating around about who will ‘make it’ in the catching away, but let’s look at Scripture. Paul wrote I Corinthians to a very carnal group of believers. Among the 10 or more issues he wrote about, included are some of them choosing sides and cliques in envy and strife, some were visiting temple prostitutes, 2 men suing one another, a man having sexual relations with his step-mother, misuse of the gifts of the Spirit, some very prejudiced brethren refused to have the Lord’s Supper with those they had bias against, and so much more.
Yet Paul said they would all ‘make it’ one the rapture, dead or alive – for after trying to correct all their carnality, all their strife, all their sinfulness in chapters 1-14, he teaches in chapter 15 all those dead in Christ, and all those alive at that time, will all go ‘up’. That’s not a license for sin, rather a revelation of grace that the Lord does not expect perfection, for we are not accountable to perfection, but to growth.
Next week – what the world looks like before and after a double asteroid/comet hit. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
