278. The End Times

When it concerns Christ’s coming and our gathering together to Him, the apostle Paul says that we should let no man deceive us by any means: “For that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition . . . .” 2 Thess. 2.

If we look at nature, we see that everything ripens in the autumn. God allows everything to have its time. The same is true in the spiritual realm. The Jews have their time, and the Gentiles theirs. The gospel is to be preached over the whole earth; indeed it has been preached so abundantly that the earth can no longer bear it. The falling away is coming; the Gentiles have heard enough. They don’t want to hear any more. They are tired of a Christianity that they think only serves capitalism. The falling away is coming, and the phrase “falling away” indicates that having first heard, they now turn away.

This massive falling away that marks our times is now in full swing. The beast is becoming more and more scarlet, and the Scriptures state that the harlot is seated on a scarlet beast at the time of her destruction. Rev. 6:4 and 17:3. This scarlet beast will hate the harlot. It will make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

It is God who has put all this into their hearts in order to fulfill His purpose. What is the beast? It is people who, just like the animals, only think about what to eat. Food and more food. From ancient times there have been lots of preachers who have sat on the back of the beast (the State) and received their pay from it. But now the beast is turning scarlet and hates having the harlot sitting on its back. And besides, who was it who placed her there in the first place? No doubt for a long time now the harlot has felt safe and comfortable riding on the back of the beast, never imagining that it would turn scarlet and come to hate her as she sits there securely like a queen with her arts and mysteries. Had she been a servant of the Lord, she would have understood by revelation how dangerous it was to sit upon the back of the beast. The Book of Revelation is given to show “His servants” the things which must shortly come to pass. Rev. 1:1. Those who sit on the back of the beast are certainly not the servants of the Lord mentioned in the above passage.

“I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.”

From the beginning, the harlot has hated Jesus’ witnesses and the saints. She has been envious of them, regarding them as competitors. She considers them to be dangerous people who have the power to reveal her abominations to the beast. For this reason she has provoked the beast against the saints and has not relented until she has their blood in her cup. Then she has rejoiced and become drunk, and the beast has let itself be fooled. The harlot whines and complains about her predicament to the beast, and the beast is immediately at hand with judgment and death.

However, nowadays the harlot can no longer wail to the beast so readily. It is all she can do just to hold onto its neck. But the day is fast approaching when the angel from heaven—who enlightens the world with his glory—shall cry out with a loud voice: “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!” Rev. 18:2.

Yet even after the harlot has fallen from the beast, a few unclean spirits will still cling to her, and a few unclean and hated birds will seek shelter in her prison. These are people who feel safe in the old harlot system.

But the great multitude in heaven will cry out “Hallelujah” over the harlot’s judgment and fall because He has avenged on her the blood of His servants. Rev. 19:1-2. And her smoke rises up forever and ever!

To us the Lord’s commandment rings out: “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues!” Rev. 18:4.

The falling away is the sign of Jesus’ return. The beast turns scarlet and casts the harlot off its back.

The man of sin (the antichrist) appears. The mystery of lawlessness paves the way for the man of sin. When the One who is restraining is taken out of the way, the lawless one, the antichrist, Satan incarnate, is born. Who then is restraining? Who will be taken out of the way? First and foremost it is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Secondly, it is those who have the testimony of Jesus and the saints. Satan works so powerfully that the power of the saints is totally crushed. The conscience is deadened, and reasoning and materialism become God. The beast rises up from the earth. The Spirit from heaven is denied. People disregard their conscience. Everything that restrains is taken out of the way, and the antichrist appears. All of this is a sign of Jesus’ return.

From this we understand that everyone who is working toward this falling away from Christianity is paving the way for the antichrist.

The beast was able to throw the harlot from its back, but in order to consume the antichrist, the Son of God must be revealed from heaven. He will destroy him by His appearing and by the breath of His mouth. 2 Thess. 2:8.

The Jews

Just as the Gentiles are in the process of rejecting Christianity and are being given over to a debased mind so they favor the antichrist, the remnant of Israel is being drawn toward Christ. A partial hardening has come over Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has been gathered, and in this way all of Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Rom. 11:26.

God is amazing. He covers the eyes of the Gentiles so they cannot see His wonderful works. Even in our days God has freed the land of the Jews from the yoke of the Turks, so that the mountainous country down there is opened up to receive the children of Israel. People cannot see this, even though it is written clearly about it in Ezekiel 36. In the thirty-seventh chapter the prophet gathers Israel from all the countries round about and allows them to dwell in the land that the Lord had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We see before our very eyes how the countries around are making it difficult for the Jewish people who are beginning to long for their homeland. The land is becoming increasingly fruitful, and the banks in Jerusalem are getting rich and secure. Universities and schools are blossoming, and everything is being prepared for the return of the ancient people of the Lord, Israel.

After the Jews have been gathered from the Gentile nations into their own country and have taken all their riches with them, an evil thought will enter the mind of the antichrist and his forces. They love money, and now the Jews have taken away their silver and gold with them. Then they will think like this: let us go up to this country to loot and pillage. As the scripture says, “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him. Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them.” It appears as though this guard is the antichrist himself. “After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.

“You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.

“And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel, says the Lord God, that My fury will show in My face. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

“I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains, says the Lord God. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

“Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” Ezek. 38.

If you want your eyes to be enlightened as to what will take place in the end times, then withdraw from politics, for everything is happening according to God’s plan. Involve yourself rather in His politics. All the enemies of Christ will be put to shame beneath His feet, and everything is working toward this end. All those who don’t receive a love for the truth so they can be saved will be given over to a debased mind. They will then become enlisted in the hordes of the antichrist.

But a remnant of Israel shall be saved. When the manifold armies of the antichrist have surrounded them, and they cry unto the Lord for help in their need, the Deliverer will come from Zion—He whom they crucified shall become their King.

If the Jews’ rejection became salvation to us Gentiles, how much more their acceptance.

We can expect great tribulations, but also great glory. We live in an amazing time, an interesting time, while, sadly enough, the people of the nations dwell in darkness. Yet for those of us who believe in His name, a great light will arise at evening time in which the Spirit of God will reveal to us the things that are to follow.