We continue with the introductory remarks of the sixth chapter of John's Revelation.
John the Baptist, the apostles and Christ spoke
,, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 3: 2
,, From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 4:17
,, Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
Acts 2:38
,, Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;”
Acts 3:19
Had the Jews listened to what they were saying, another seven more years would have passed and eternal justice would have come as prophesied.
,, Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
Acts 3:21
The Jews did not accept Christ, so instead of the last week of Daniel, the prophecy continues:
"The people of Vojvodina will come and destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end will be with the flood, and there will be some devastation until the end of the war. "For Daniel this was the future and he did not know who it was but for us it is the past and we know that the Roman general Titus Vespasian came forty years after Christ death on the cross with the Roman army and destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.
We live in this time today, "and there will be some devastation until the end of the war," and this time is actually a break between the sixty-ninth and seventy weeks, and this time was a secret for Daniel and the other prophets.
This secret was revealed by God to the apostle Paul.
,, How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ). Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;”
Eph.3: 3-5
This pause and this mystery mean that God for a time "withdrew" from the nation of Israel and turned to a new creation of the "Church" based on the foundations of grace and to which all nations and peoples have access.
God first "rejected" the Gentiles
,, And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”
Romans 1: 28-32
raised by Israel and then "blinded" them
,, For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”
Rom.11: 25
So God "inserted" a break in order to "build" his Church in the time of grace, which is not a continuation of Judaism but something completely new. The beginning of the Church of Christ is on the day of Pentecost, and God revealed this secret to the Apostle Paul.
,, Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
To God only wise, [be] glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen. ([Written to the Romans from Corinthus, [and sent] by Phebe servant of the church at Cenchrea.])”
Romans 16: 25-27
Paul preached Christ according to the eternal mystery among the Gentiles, and Peter preached Christ according to prophecy, and this is unity but difference because the Church was in God's eternal plan, but it was not revealed until the apostle Paul.
The Church has its beginning on the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit and the end before the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel's prophecy, and that is the future for us, because we are currently living in the time of this "mystery".
,, Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
1 Cor.15: 51-52
,, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
1 Thess.4: 13-18
Nowhere in the Old Testament did the prophets speak of taking the Church but of the coming of Christ to earth, but Paul says
,, Behold, I shew you a mystery;…”
1 Cor.15: 51
and this mystery was difficult even for the apostle Peter, who preached Christ by prophecy and said:
,, And account [that] the longsuffering of our Lord [is] salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all [his] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as [they do] also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
2 Pet.3: 15-16
And when the Church is awakened, the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy follows.
,, And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
Daniel 9:27
and then God will begin to "work" with Israel again because this prophecy refers to Israel and it has not yet been fulfilled and this is the future for us too and it will begin to be fulfilled when the seals in the sixth chapter of Revelation and the events of the sixth are opened to the nineteenth chapter belong to the "last week of Daniel"
, And he will establish a covenant with many "it was written earlier that the duke would come and destroy Jerusalem and we saw that it was a duke from the Roman Empire and he would make an alliance with, many" refers to Israel because it is a prophecy for Israel and Jerusalem. when the Antichrist appears, "he will establish a covenant with many."
We conclude that it is the Antirist based on the verses:
,, For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:”
2 Thess.2: 7-8
When the Church is taken, the Holy Spirit will also be removed (which now holds back the appearance of the Antichrist) and we read further that then the "lawless one" or the Antichrist will appear. And after that follows, that is, seven years when they will promote false peace (described in Revelation 6: 2) will allow them to build a temple and offer sacrifices. But this peace will last for three and a half years because it says:
"and in the middle of the week he will abolish the sacrifice and the offering;" and it will be a war against the spiritual life in Israel, because it says,
And then the Antichrist will begin to terrorize and ravage Israel and the temple. This is what the Lord Jesus meant when he said:
,, When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)”
Matthew 24:15
,, where it stands in the place of the world (who reads to understand): "it refers to the Antichrist and here is what it says next:
,, Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
2 Thess.2: 4
This "in the church of God" is in the temple in Jerusalem, where the Antichrist will place a statue in the holiest of holies where "the place of God's revelation" is. In this the "false prophet" will help him
,, And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”
Rev. 13:15
And only after this will the greatest troubles for Israel arise.
,, For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
Mt.24: 21
Isaiah the prophet also prophesied of this false peace:
,, Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement ..."
Isa 28:15
in addition to this terror against the Israelites, the Antichrist will build a kind of "court" on the Mount of Olives, but its end will be catastrophic.
,, And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”
Danilo 11:45
And when the seventieth week is over, the Antichrist will "full of pride and pride" gather "the army of the whole world" to fight against Christ, the Church and the angels.
but their end is "certain" and we read that the Antichrist and the false prophet end up in the Lake of Fire.
,, And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”
Rev. 19: 19-20
,, Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on the east... "
Zechariah 14: 4
And when Jesus comes and when he steps on the Mount of Olives, the details of this prophecy will be fulfilled.
"That the trespass might be accomplished, and that sin should be abolished, and that lawlessness should be cleansed, and that righteousness should be brought to justice, and that the apparition and the prophecy should be sealed, and that the Holy One should help the saints."
and that is the end of sin, and eternal justice is established.
And this was an introduction to make it easier to understand where we are as a Church in prophecy and what is happening in the "last week," and these are the events described in Revelation chapters six through nineteen.