Welcome to the
October 2007 edition of Strong Tower Publishing's e-newsletter.
IN THIS ISSUE:
* New Prewrath Book Available
* Timing of the Two Witnesses
* Responses to Reader Questions
* New Movie Reviews
NEW PREWRATH BOOK:
The Lamb of God & The Seven-Sealed Scroll
(Paperback),
by Dr. R. Gnanaharan. Published by Xulon Press.
What do we learn from the fig tree parable? What preparations
did God make for the Lord's First Coming? What preparations are
going on for the Lord's Second Coming? What might happen to the
USA in the God's prophetic plan? Is the Lord's coming imminent?
What did the apostles teach on future day events? What is the
significance of the seven-sealed scroll in the right hand of
God? When does the Antichrist appear in the scene during the
70th Week? Can we know when the events of 1260 days' duration
will end?
Answers to these and many other questions should come from the
Bible. Here is a simple, user-friendly book for believers to
understand the future-day events and to prepare for the Lord's
coming. A fresh perspective and new insights on the topic are
presented in an easy-to-understand style.
Dr. R. Gnanaharan was born in 1949 in a Hindu family. He came to
know the Lord while doing his Masters in Engineering at the
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He earned his Doctorate
from the University of Minnesota. As he was preparing for a
full-time ministry among students, the Lord led him to take a
job at the Kerala Forest Research Institute, and at present, he
is heading the Institute. In addition to his job, he has been
involved in church planting ministry for more than twenty-five
years. He is in the leadership of a local church as one of the
elders. He has been teaching the Word of God in different
churches and in conferences.
Dr. R. Gnanaharan and his wife, Shanthi, have three children:
Irene, John, and Charis.
- Amazon.com
THE TIMING OF THE TWO WITNESSES:
One of the questions prewrathers often field is where to
place the ministry of the two witnesses. What follows is a
write-up from Dave Bussard, author of Who Will Be Left
Behind and When?, posted on his blog, The Prewrath
Tribune: Where Fiction Is Left Behind. For more on this
question, also see H. L.'s “Responses to Reader Questions” later
in this newsletter.
After posting my end-times chart a while back, a few people
e-mailed to tell me I was wrong for placing the Two Witnesses'
ministry in the second half of the 70th Week. Here is my
explanation. This is a very neat timing issue within Revelation
that is connected to other issues within the book that are
equally interesting. When put together, a bigger picture of how
the puzzle pieces fit together is seen.
It will help if you follow along in your Bible.
To start, we know that the abomination of desolation takes place
at the midpoint of the 70th Week. And we know that the sixth
seal takes place after the midpoint of the Week because, in the
sixth seal, we see the same triple sign in the sun, moon, and
stars that Jesus said would take place after the abomination
that causes desolation (Rev. 6:12-13, Matt. 24:29). And we know
that the trumpet judgments can only begin after the seventh seal
is opened. It's impossible for the seals, trumpets, and bowls to
take place concurrently as some suggest, but I digress.
This brings us to the moment before the fifth trumpet is
sounded. Revelation 8:13 says:
Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying
with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the
earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the
three angels who are about to sound!”
In the above verse, the three “woes” are said to be associated
with the final three trumpet blasts, and this is exactly what is
proven as one reads on. On completion of the fifth trumpet,
Revelation 9:12 tells us:
The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after
these things.
Obviously, the fifth trumpet is the first “woe” and the sixth
and seventh trumpets will be the second and third “woes.”
Revelation 9 then continues in consecutive order, informing us
of what will take place during the time of the sixth trumpet. I
won't include it here, but you should read it to get a clear
picture.
Chapter 10 takes us to an interlude, and in verse seven, we're
informed that, “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel,
when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished.”
What is the seventh angel about to sound that will inform us
that “the mystery of God” is finished? The seventh trumpet-the
third “woe.”
Now this finally brings us to the chapter in question-
Revelation 11. Verses one through fourteen tell us what the Two
Witnesses will do and how long they will do it. They will
prophesy for 1260 days (Rev. 11:3). After their work is
completed, they will be killed (11:7), they will lay in the
street for 3.5 days (11:9), and then they will be brought back
to life and will be raised to heaven (11:11-12). In that hour,
there will be an earthquake with thousands of people will be
killed (11:13).
The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
(Rev. 11:14)
The second woe is said to be in the past once the ministry,
death, and resurrection of the Two Witnesses is completed, and
because the second woe is said to be associated with the sixth
trumpet, it is clear that their death takes place during the
period of the sixth trumpet. Therefore, the ministry of the two
takes place in the last 3.5 years because, as we discussed in
the second paragraph, the seals fill up the first half of the
Week and continue into the second half, leading into the trumpet
judgments. In nice, orderly fashion, the very next thing
mentioned in Revelation 11:15 is that “the seventh angel
sounded…”
This goes to show that it only makes perfect sense that the
witnesses' period of prophesying was previously recorded in the
beginning of Chapter 11 as being linked with the time when the
holy city will be trampled.
Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not
measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will
tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months. And I will
grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for
1260 days clothed in sackcloth. (Rev. 11:2-3)
The holy city will not be trampled during the first half of the
70th Week because this is the period when the covenant is yet to
be broken, the temple is undefiled by the beast, and the Jewish
sacrificial system is in progress. It's not until the midpoint
of the Week that the covenant will be broken by the beast and
the Great Tribulation will begin that the city will be “tread
under foot.”
If you haven't figured it out already, the timing of the Two
Witnesses also shows us why the seven bowls must take place
after the completion of the 70th Week. Visit an earlier post for
this explanation.
All this may sound complicated to the individual new to the
study of prophecy, but hang in there. There are many rewards
that come with the study of end things, even if it is the study
of secondary issues such as the timing of events.
Q: Could you please briefly explain Matthew 25? What does
the oil and the lamp represent? Were those five who went out to
buy oil because they were not prepared lost in hell?
A: This is a parable, so not every detail is meant to be
taken literally or as a direct parallel. Therefore, we should be
careful in looking to analyze every detail, such as what the oil
or lamps represent. Parables are intended only to make a general
point. Trying to look for direct parallels in every detail will
take you places that the writer never intended to go.
The standard prewrath answer to your question is that this
parable simply represents the readiness of believers for
Christ's return at the rapture, and those left behind must face
God's judgment during the Day of the Lord. So it's just about
readiness and we are not to read anything more into it.
Jesus does say, however, that those left behind will be "wailing
and gnashing teeth," which is language used of hellfire.
There are several ways to look at this.
1. This is a general warning only - that those who are left
behind may face eternal judgment if they don't accept
Christ.
2. There is telescoping here. Prewrath holds that this is
occurring in many of New Testament passages that seem to
indicate the final judgment at Christ's Second Coming, passages
that were written before the writing of Revelation and,
therefore, the additional information given to us by John
interprets these passages and tells us that they include the
passage of time (telescoping), even though the pre-Revelation
writers penned the words as if the events were simultaneous.
3. Jesus really does mean that those not taken at the rapture
will face eternal judgment. This would only be consistent with a
posttribulation view, however, since it appears that there are
believers alive during the trumpets, if not the bowls.
I am sorry that I cannot give you a more satisfactory answer. In
prophecy, there are always going to be areas that are a little
gray or uncertain. We hold to the position that makes the most
consistent sense, but if we think that every detail is going to
be locked down, I think we are being intellectually dishonest.
There are many interpretations of this passage, and if someone
says they have the one and only interpretation, I think they may
be overstepping.
Q: Hi, from Australia. I see the logic in most of what
you have put forward in your 70th Week argument. The part that
catches my attention is where you have used "we" in the context
of the Millennium humanity.
My understanding is that the "Lord cometh with ten thousands of
his saints.....to rule and reign.” These then, having
resurrection bodies, are no longer subject to sin and temptation
or death. As in the parable of the talents, one was given
rulership over 10 cities and another over five cities. I see
this as the basis for saints reigning over the earth with
geographical areas according to their degree of faithfulness in
this life. This makes them the responsible rulers for their
respective regions, at whose bidding the local population would
be required to assemble annually at a certain place to be
transported supernaturally to Jerusalem with the ruling saint to
worship before the Messiah. Those who refuse to go, the Bible
tells us, receive no rain on their crops for the next 12 months
as punishment.
This puts the saints in the resurrection body in a different
category than the general populace. We have been proved but they
have not and are still wearing their humanity. (I do not say
mortal, because no death is recorded in the Millennium). They
have the same longevity as Adam obviously had before the fall.
I see the time soon to come as very exciting for the children of
God. Ruling with Christ is not something I have heard expounded.
This is just something quickened to me as I meditate upon what I
have read in the Word.
Bless you all for your faithfulness in working to rightly divide
the Word of Truth.
A: I think the reason you don't see a lot written on the
subject of the saints reigning with Christ during the Millennium
is that there is so little information given to us in scripture
about it. It's enough to tantalize us, but not enough to allow
us to expound with any confidence. So it's really an exercise in
extrapolation, which we can't do with any real certainty. But it
sure is fun to think about, isn't it?
Q: Hello and thank you so much for such an informative
website. I'm a pretribber currently being convinced of the
prewrath view. As an associate pastor who had many questions in
the back of my mind about pretrib, it's thrilling to have many
of those questions answered with the prewrath view.
I have read some books on the prewrath view but haven't gotten
to H. L.'s book or The Sign yet. But I was thinking about
the whole "Sign" of the sun, moon, and stars involving Christ's
Second Coming. I remembered teaching my youth Sunday school
class around last Christmas on the Magi, and while studying, it
hit me right between the eyes when they said, "We saw His star
in the East and have come to worship Him" (Matt. 2:2).
Interesting that this "star" quietly announced that this King of
the Jews had come! How did they know this? They obviously had
the scriptures and studied them. I have only found one verse
pointing to this and that is in Numbers 24:17: "I see Him, but
not now; I behold Him but not near; a Star shall come out of
Jacob [Israel], and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the
sons of tumult."
I found this incredibly interesting especially when I started to
study the prewrath view and the sign of His return. His First
Coming was quiet, hushed, with only a few personally informed,
whether by angel(s), dream, or even a star; yet most everyone
missed it
though it was spelled out what to look for in the scriptures.
But with His return, He will ascend with a shout, the voice of
an archangel, and the trumpet of God; as well as the great
cosmic disturbances; again, just as it's recorded in the Bible.
Do you think there is any parallel here with the "star" of His
First Coming and the cosmic disturbances of His return?
Just curious!
A: The parallel here, I think, is that God frequently
uses natural metaphors and symbolism that human beings readily
relate to, and stars and lights in the sky naturally lend
themselves as symbols for God's guidance, direction, and
manifestations. So, yes, I think they are related, but my guess
is indirectly, in that God has used this common symbol as a sign
readily understandable to all.
If you'd like more input on this question, I encourage you to
check out the Prewrath Only discussion board on Yahoo!. It's a
board dedicated to the prewrath position, with a very dedicated
and knowledgeable membership, including a number of pastors.
It's a great place for fellowship, discussion, and debate on the
details of the prewrath position. So feel free to join and
pepper us with questions.
The URL is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/prewrathonly/.
Q: Revelation 11:1: And there was given me a reed like
unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, “Rise, and measure the
temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.”
A friend of mine, a pastor from Cuba, recently read your book
and Van Kampen's short version explanation of prewrath. He says
he has been a pretribber all his life, but sees some in
consistencies in it. All says that "pre-ira" has good points,
but not totally convinced yet. He has two questions that I need
your best answer:
1. From a pre wrath position, how can you best explain the above
verse one. Does it have to do with the end of the Gentile rule?
Why the need to measure the temple with a reed? Face value
interpretation vs. metaphor?
2. Where can we place the two witnesses? Before the first half
or after the second half of Daniel's 70th week?
A: Your friend is a pretribber, right? Ask him what this
has to do with prewrath. How does this impact a prewrath vs.
pretrib discussion? I'm not sure how to answer him because I'm
not sure what he's getting at here. I don't see the relevance to
the debate.
As far as I know, prewrath and pretrib hold the same view
regarding the temple. Both hold that the trodding underfoot of
the Gentiles coincides with the Antichrist's committing of the
Abomination of Desolation at the midpoint of the 70th Week. The
treading underfoot is then brought to an end at the conclusion
of the 70th Week. Unless there are some unusual interpretations
that I am not aware of, both pretrib and prewrath hold the same
view on this.
As for the reed, I'm assuming that this is an ancient measuring
technique. I'm just guessing, but from the reeds along waterways
that I've seen, they all grow to exactly the same height - about
three feet. So my guess is that, in ancient Israel, reeds were
used as a measuring tool out of convenience. A good Bible
dictionary or commentary should answer this question fairly
easily.
As for where we can place the two witnesses, prewrath holds that
the witnesses appear at the midpoint of the 70th Week,
coinciding with the appearance of the Antichrist. At the time
that God allows the appearance of the ungodly, He also brings
about the appearance of the godly counterpart. God may allow
evil, but He always has His righteous counterpart, so at the
same time that the AC is given authority, so, too, are the
witnesses. It makes sense that they would appear together.
Also, we read about the witnesses' return to life at the same
time that the "kingdoms of this world have become those of His
Christ" - the end of the 70th Week. So if the end of their
ministry is at the end of the 70th Week, then the beginning of
their ministry is at the midpoint.
NEW MOVIE REVIEWS:
Strong Tower Publishing has posted three new movie reviews:
Wild Hogs: Four stars. Safe to watch and highly
entertaining-laugh until it hurts.
Babel: One star. Cinematically rich, but depressing and
dark.
The Sentinel. Three stars. Predictable, while being
fairly clean and entertaining.
For the full reviews:
http://www.strongtowerpublishing.com/moviesafe.htm
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