The coming of Jesus Christ... the end of this world... the coming of antichrist..

	......................Jesus Christ
The angel said,, Galileans, why are you standing there looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw Him go to heaven" (Acts 1:11)

A few people have asked me the next questions:

The last time we hear many stories about the end of this age. Some people say that Jesus Christ will come very soon to the world. Others say, that the end of this world is very near! How should we have to deal with such issues? Are there some indications in the Bible about this issue?

Answer

Yes indeed, the last time we hear regularly on the television about the end of this world. The third millennium is approaching and this has a psychological affect on the people. Often we hear for example on the television:

• The astrologers who say that the situation of the world can be understood by studying the state of the celestial bodies.
• Paranormal "talented" people who say that they get "paranormal signs" which announce the end of this world.
• There are various sects and cult groups in the United States and other countries who are preparing themselves for the end of this age. These sects believe that the end of this world is very approaching, for example the sect of David Kores in Waco (Texas, 1997).
• In 1997 39 people committed suicide in the United States. Those peoples believed that the end of the world was there. They believed that the UFO's would pick them up.
• A few years ago, 40 people committed suicide in Switzerland, because they thought that the end of this world was not far anymore. This was the sect of the god of the Sun Temple.

Should we have to take such stories seriously? What is the worth of suchlike stories regarding the end of this world? What does the Bible tells us about the end of this world? Are there some clues in the Bible about this issue? The big question is thus: How do we know that the end of this world is not far anymore?

Three signs

There are in the Bible very important signs mentioned concerning the arrival of our Lord and God Jesus Christ. These signs are in principle so accurate that a Christian can understand either the arrival of Jesus Christ is nearby or not. It is no need to give attention to the "paranormal talented people" to understand the situation of the world. No, dear reader no! A Christian will make an investigation trough the Bible to check out if the end of the world is nearby or not! In the Bible, the Word of God, the future of the mankind is revealed. The Lord God, the Creator of the heaven and the earth invites all of us when He says,, Ask Me about the future matters " (Isaiah 45:11) and ,, Call Me, and I will answer you; I will tell you wonderful and marvellous things that you know nothing about" (Jeremiah 33:3). In other words, the Lord God invites us to ask Him about the future matters, which will happen in the coming time.

Roughly speaking we can say that there are three signs, which announce the arrival of Jesus Christ to this world. These three signs are:

1. The establishment of the State of Israel
2. The chaotic situation in the world and sexual morality in general.
3. The terrible spiritual situation inside the church.

1. The establishment of the State of Israel

The State of Israel like we now know, is established in 1948. Before this date, there was no State of Israel anymore. In the year 70 after Christ, the City of Jerusalem burned to the ground by the former Roman Empire. The Jewish people were then carried away to exile. They were sold as slaves to many peoples and nations over the whole world. The State of Israel was stopped in 70 after Christ.

The people of Israel became very unfaithful towards the Lord God. Regarding their unfaithfulness, the Lord God says,, I am bringing war, starvation, and disease on them, and I will make them like figs that are too rotten to be eaten. I will purse them with war, starvation, and disease, and all the nations of the world will be horrified at what they see. Everywhere I scatter them, people will be shocked and terrified at what has happened to them. People will mock them and use their name as a curse. This will happen to them because they did not obey the message that I kept on sending to them through My servants prophets" (Jeremiah 29:17-19)

The Bible says,, Who gave Israel up to the looters? It was the Lord Himself, against whom we sinned! We would not live as He wanted us to live or obey the teachings He gave us. So He made us feel the force of His anger and suffer the violence of war. Like fire His anger burned throughout Israel, but we never knew what was happening; we learnt from it nothing at all" (Isaiah 42: 24-25)

If we Pay attention to this quotation, it will become clear that this had become reality during the history. They lost their country in 70 after Christ. Yes, they were scattered over the whole world and many people and nations mocked them. Adolf Hitler tried to destroy them by killing 6 million of the people of Israel. Nowadays, there are still many people and nations who have a lot of contempt towards the people of Israel. Now, almost 2000 years later, the people of Israel are raised up. They are restored as people and as nation. Regarding their rise again, the Lord God says,, Israel, you are like young wife, deserted by her husband and deeply distressed. But the Lord calls you back to Him and says: For one brief moment I left you; with deep love I will take you back. I turned away angry for only a moment, but I will show you My love for ever. So says the Lord God who saves you (Isaiah 54:7-8; see also Isaiah 11:11-12; 14:1, 27:12-13, 41:19, 43:5-6, 44:21-22, 51:11, Zephaniah 3:10-13, 3:19-20 Jeremiah 16:14-16, 3:14, 23:7-8, 30:3, 29:14, 30:10-11, 30:18-22, 31:1-6, 31:7-11…. Ezekiel 11:16-17, 20:34-41, 34:11-13, 34:28-29, 36:10+35, 36:24, 37:14, 39:23-29,…. Hosea 6:1-2, 11:10-11 etc …)

… For one brief moment I left you …. That is the answer of the Lord God. He left them almost during 2000 years, He calls that as a brief moment, but after that the Lord has made an end to their Diaspora. Dear reader, we should never underestimate the Love of the Lord God for His people Israel, even when they have rejected Jesus Christ. The Lord God is not joking when He says,, ,, The Lord provides the sun for light by day, the moon and the stars to shine at night. He stirs up the sea and makes it roar; His name is the Lord Almighty. He promisese that as long as the natural order lasts, so long will Israel be a nation. If one day the sky could be measured and the foundations of the earth explored, only then would be reject the people of Israel because of all they have done. The Lord has spoken "(Jeremiah 31:35-37). And in connection with this Apostle Paul tells us,, There is a secret truth, my brothers, which I want you to know, for it will keep you from thinking how wise you are. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent, but it will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to God. And this is how Israel will be saved… (Romans 11:25-26).

The apostle Paul speaks about "a secret truth" when he is talking about the people of Israel. The unfaithfulness, or their stubbornness, is not permanent. This means that once they will learn the Lord and their eyes will be then opened. However, they were always the people of the Lord God, He would never forget them. Regarding their rise again, the Lord God says,, Nations, listen to Me, and proclaim My words on the far-off shores. I scattered My people, but I will gather them and guard them as a shepherd guards his flock" (Jeremiah 31:10) and in Amos 9:14 the Lord says,, I will bring My people back to their land. They will rebuild their ruined cities and live there; they will plant vineyards and drink the wine; they will plant gardens eat what they grow. I will plant My people on the land I gave them, and they will not be pulled up again "

The Lord says,, Israel, remember this; remember that you are My servant. I created you to be My servant, and I will never forget you. I have swept your sins away like cloud. Come back to Me; I am the one who saves you" (44:21-22)

The Lord is speaking of.. My people …. I will… Approximately hundred years ago, many people from Europe undertook journeys to the Middle East. They were reporting about desert and ruined cities. Jerusalem often was described as a city of "ghosts", because of the fact that there was almost no one building complete. Everything was broken down and lay in ruins.

Dear reader, if we take a look at the present-day Israel, it is obvious that Israel is modern country with an excellent educated people and technology. Yes indeed, the Lord God has brought His people Israel to their country of Israel. He made His promises true when He said,, I will take you from every nation and country and bring you back to your own land (Ezekiel 36:24). His people have rebuilt the ruined cities and they even grow fruit in the desert and changing desert in wood.

Here below, a few historic data will be given:

1. The year 1882-1903: The first emigration wave of Jews, from Eastern Europe, returning back to Israel. They were about 20000 persons.
2. The year 1904-1915: The second emigration wave from Eastern Europe. About 50000 persons were returned back to Israel.
3. In 1948, 35000 Jews emigrated from Syria to Israel.
4. In 1952, thousands of Jewish people emigrated from Iraq to Israel.
5. In 1985, 8500 Jews emigrated from Ethiopia to Israel.
6. Since 1990, there is a continuously Jewish people emigrating from Russia to Israel. Already about 1 million people emigrated.
7. In 1991, 14500 Jews emigrated from Ethiopia to Israel.
8. The year 1992-1993: 50000 Jewish people emigrated to Israel from Caucasus (mostly former Soviet Union)

Dear reader, these numbers make clear that the Lord God is busy to gather His people from the whole world and brings them to the promised land of Israel. The Lord God keeps always His promises and carries them out.

What is the meaning of this?

Now we can ask the question: What is the meaning of this? What kind of sign is this? To understand this we have to pay attention to a few words of our Lord Jesus Christ regarding the people of Israel. Jesus Christ says,, Think of the fig-tree and all other trees. When you see their leaves beginning to appear, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that the Kingdom of God is about to come" (Luke 21:31)

The fig-tree and the Kingdom of God, what is the relationship between them? In the Middle East the fig tree is a very famous tree. A fig tree gives delicious figs. The state of the fig tree tells something about the seasons of the year. When there are no leaves on the fig tree, means that the season is winter. When the leaves beginning to appear, this forms an indication that we are living in the spring. It is not there yet, but the summer is very near, a few months later will be summer. When the leaves appears fully, then also figs begin to grow on the trees. We are then living in the summer! From the previous it is clear that the state of the fig tree tells something about the seasons, about the time of the year..

In the Bible, the people of Israel are sometimes compared with fig tree and sometimes with olive tree. In the sense of fig tree, Israel is indicated as nation, population and country with government and administration. In the sense of olive tree, Israel is indicated as spiritual fruit bearer, which gives the spiritual fruits to other people and nations (compare this with Isaiah 49:6). For example, the oil of the olive tree is very good and healthy. Taking a look in the Bible, the oil forms a metaphor for the Holy Spirit. In Hosea 9:10 we read,, The Lord says: When I first found Israel, it was like finding graves growing in the desert. When I first saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season " And in Jeremiah 11:16 the Lord God says,, I once called them a leafy olive-tree, full of beautiful fruit…

Well then, the fig tree is a symbol for the people of Israel as a nation that has recovered from the Diaspora. And other trees form a symbol for other countries, in particular countries around Israel, which are in general the enemies of Israel. The meaning of ….. . When you see their leaves beginning to appear… is that Israel and the other nations are on the move. This means that the country Israel is established in 1948, whilst there before the land of Israel was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70 after Christ. All the Jewish inhabitants were forced to go into exile and that ended the country. Approximately 1900 year later, the fig tree began to move off with the establishing of the State of Israel in 1948. Since then, many Jewish people from over the whole world have come to Israel, the promised country.

This means that the fig tree (Israel) and the other trees (other nations) are on the move. Some countries disappear and fall in many small pieces. We can think about Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia. Furthermore, the neighbours and the peoples around Israel are also on the move, in general they are the enemies of Israel, such as for examples the Palestinians and the Hezbollah movements etc..

So dear reader, when our Lord Jesus Christ says,, Think of the fig-tree and all other trees. When you see their leaves beginning to appear, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that the Kingdom of God is about to come, means that when the people of Israel return from Diaspora to the promised land of Israel, the arrival of the Kingdom of God is not far anymore. That means that our Lord Jesus will come soon. This is one of the important signs.

2. The chaotic situation in the world and sexual immorality in general.

The second important sign forms the chaotic situation in the world. We are living in a chaotic and insecure time. We hear about wars, about wars which are about to be happen, about problems and tension between nations and people, about countries which may disintegrate, about people and tribes who did live many centuries peaceful with each other and now become enemies. An example is the chaotic situation and the tension in the former Soviet Union and the present-day Russia. Furthermore, we hear about environmental problems, about the irrecoverable ozone layer, about temperature raise, about volcanic eruptions, about ver heavy earthquakes, about the world-wide floods (for example China, Bangladesh, Venezuela at beginning of 11-12-1999), about very strong tornado's and hurricanes with a lot of damage, about various diseases, such as: Cow disease, pig plague, chicken plague etc.. The last time we regularly see very heavy hurricanes, which causes a lot of damage. At the beginning of September 1998, the hurricane El Nino raged through the area of the Pacific and the United States and caused a lot of damage and many victims were made. After this the hurricane Georges came at 21 September 1998 and made a lot of damage and victims. The hurricane Mitch raged at 1 November 1998 through the Caribbean area whereby 25.000 people were killed and a lot of damage was caused. In 1999 21 hurricanes and typhoons up to know have raged over the various areas of the globe. The violence in the nature is increasing over the whole world. Also the United Nations are worried about the increasing number of the worldwide disasters. They say,, Flood in Bangladesh, China and Eastern-Europe, forest fires in Indonesia, Catalonian, Greece and Florida, and destructive tidal wave in Papua New-Guinea: The Nature causes worldwide a lot of distress. It is not surprising, the UN says, because the disasters increasing alarming in number and magnitude over the whole world"

The Bible says,, Does a disaster strike a city unless the Lord sends it?" (Amos 3:6, 7, see also Isaiah 42:8-9, 46:10)

The society becomes very hard and disintegrates because of immorality. The family ties are pulled off and everybody becomes individualistic and egoistic. There is no respect anymore for the life, no respect anymore for old people. The children become disobedient to their parents and have no respect for them anymore. The crime is increasing everywhere and the authority of the state is decreasing dramatically. The immorality is terrible! You have some people who commit unfaithfulness against their wife. Others have a secret relationship! The marriage becomes more and more pragmatic issue. Furthermore behaviour such as: selfish, greedy, boastful, conceited, insulting, hatred, jealousy, unkind, merciless, slanderers, violent, fierce, treacherous, reckless, separate into parties and groups and orgies occur almost everywhere in the society, but in particular also inside the Church.

Our time is also remarked by extremities, such as:

1. In the one part of the world the harvest fails due to aridity and many people die, whilst in the other part of the world the harvest fails due to flood and extreme precipitation.
2. In the Western world there is a lot of luxury and overabundance, whilst in the poor country the people die because of hungry.
3. There are some people who commit in completely freedom of action, terrible sexual perverse practices (child pornography, incest etceteras), whilst you have some other people who are so faithful to the Lord God that they are prepared to give their life for other people.
4. You have some slanderers, who are insulting the Majesty of the Lord God and at other side you have some people who lead a holy life very close to the Lord God.
5. Our Lord Jesus Christ says about the contrasts in the end time,, Whoever is evil must go on doing evil, and whoever is filthy must go on being filthy; whoever is good must go on doing good, and whoever is holy must go on being holy" (Revelation 22: 11). Those people who are evil will become more evil and those who are holy will become more holy. This is the contrast in the end time. The good will increase, but at the same time the bad will increase too.

What is the meaning of this?

We just have read in the Bible that,, There is noting in this world happens, unless the Lord God gives permission for that" . In other words, the Lord has always the last decision. Whatever the Satan intends to do, without the permission of the Lord, his attempts will always fail. In all of his doing, the Satan is dependent on the Lord God. I will explain this to you by a mean of a example. In Job 1:6-11 we read,, When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. The Lord asked him, "What have you been doing?" Satan answered, "I have been walking here and there, roaming round the earth. " Did you notice My servant Job?" the Lord asked. "There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil". Satan replied, "Would Job worship you if he got nothing out of it? You have always protected him and his family and everything he owns. You bless everything he does, and you have given him enough cattle to fill the whole country. But suppose you take away everything he has- he will curse you to your face!" All right," the Lord said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." So Satan left"

The Bible reveals here something about the heavenly world. In the heavenly world you have something like " a general court of justice" in which periodically meetings are organised. Everybody in the heavenly spheres has the access to the general court of justice, including Satan. The Lord God has somehow,, which we can call" a discussion with the Satan regarding Job. Job was a very faithful and religious man. Satan is complaining that the Lord has blessed Job in everything. Like we have read, the Lord God gives permission to Satan to destroy everything Job owned. The Satan cannot do a thing, unless the Lord God gives permission for that. Satan thought of course that he would defeat Job. We read in the Bible book Job however that Job kept up to the end and was faithful to the Lord God. He was put to the proof and passes the proof very well! That is also the reason that the Bible tells us,, We know that in all things God works for good for those who love Him" (Romans 8:28). The Lord God encourages and gives His children strength to withstand in difficult situations. Our Lord Jesus Christ says,, I rebuke and punish all whom I love" (Revelation 3:19) and the Apostle Paul tells us,, My son, pay attention when the Lord corrects you, and do not discouraged when he rebukes. Because the Lord corrects everyone He loves, and punishes everyone He accepts as a son" (Hebrew 12:5)

Dear reader, when the Lord punishes you and me, what is our behaviour to the Lord God? Are we prepared to accept His rebuke? Job was tested and he endured the test. He was up to the end faithful to the Lord. If we have some difficulties in our life, due to whatever, are we prepared to entrust us to the Lord? Are we prepared to say,, Yes father in the heaven, I will accept your correction? " or are we not prepared for that? The reason that the Lord God punishes His children is this one,, Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested so that it may endure " (1 Peter 1:6).

In our life, my faith and your faith can be tested to see if it can pass the acid test. Please keep that in mind! We will now turn back to the discussion between the Lord and the Satan. Please pay attention to the fact that the Satan says,, I have been walking here and there, roaming round the earth". He says this with a very important reason. Satan can walk and go everywhere he wants to, but he has no residence. He cannot stay at one place, he walks constants in the air. That is the punishment, which he got after his fall as a powerful angle. He constantly looks to see if he can tempt someone to commit sins. That is also the very warning of the apostle Peter when he says,, Be alert, be on the watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams round like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8)

We read in the Bible,, The Lord God will carry out every threat He made" (Joshua 23:15). In other words, when you see all of the disasters, signs and other things happening, then you should as a Christian, wake up that the Lord God intends to carry out His commands. Before the Lord God brings a terrible disaster over the mankind, He first warns them by means of signs and events. The reason for this is that the Lord God wants to give the mankind the opportunity to repent. The various events, the disasters, the volcanic eruptions, the enormous environmental problems, the terrible drugs problems, the wars, the famines and the frequently earthquakes are forerunners of much more terrible disasters which will come over the whole mankind. These problems are an important signal, which announce that the Lord God intends to carry out His commands. Our Lord Jesus Christ says about the signs and forerunners regarding the end of this world,, When the sun is setting, you say, 'We are going to have fine weather, because the sky is red.' And early in the morning you say, 'It is going to rain, because the sky is red and dark.' You can predict the weather by looking at the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs concerning these times!" (Matthew 16:2-3)

Our Lord Jesus compares the state of the weather with the signs of the times, which announce His return to this world. On the basis of the signs and events, a true Christian can predict the return of our Lord Jesus Christ to this world. The reason for this is that the Spirit of Jesus teaches each true Christian as we can read in 1John 2:27,, But as for you, Christ has poured out His Spirit on you. As long as His Spirit remains in you, you do not need anyone to teach you. For His Spirit teaches you about everything, and what He teaches is true, not false. Obey the Spirit's teaching, then, and remain in union with Christ"

The Spirit of Jesus teaches every Christians about Gods plan in the near future. The Lord God always informs His children about His plans. That is why Jesus says,, You can predict the weather forecast, but you cannot interpret the signs which announce My return to this world? " So, it is obvious to Jesus that a Christian will certainly understand, on the basis of the Holy book the Bible, whether His return is near or not! In other words, the situation of the world forms an indication about the return of Jesus Christ. The signs around us and in the world make clear what the time is on the prophetically clock of the Lord God. It means that the state of the world gives an impression about the end of this world. A Christian should pay attention to the signs, which are given by our Lord and God Jesus Christ to determine the time of the prophetically clock of the Lord God!

Dear reader, our Lord and God Jesus Christ gives us a lot of more signs and signals, which announce His return to the world. His disciples were extremely interested in the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. They wanted to know how this and that would be happen regarding His return. Our Lord gives them the answers in Matthew 24:3-4 where we read,, As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him in private. 'Tell us when all this will be', they asked, 'and what will happen to show that it is the time for your coming and the end of the age'.

Jesus answered" Be on your guard, and do not let anyone deceive you. Many men, claiming to speak for Me, will come and say, 'I am the Messiah!' and they will deceive many people. You are going to hear the noise of battles close by and the news of battles far away; but do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the end has come. Countries will fight each other, kingdoms will attack one another. There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere. All this things are like the first pains of childbirth"

If we stand still and study very carefully the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, then it is not difficult to understand the fact that the time, which is described by Jesus Christ, exactly our time is! The describing regarding the time of His coming to this world, which He almost 2000 years ago gave to His disciples, becomes in our days the reality. It is the time we are now living! And I am convinced that we will go through this event. All of this disasters, battles, news about wars, noise of battles, floods and devastation's in the nature make quite clear that the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to the world is not far anymore.

If we pay attention to…. noise of battles close by and the news of battles far away…… Countries……, kingdoms will attack one another… famines and earthquakes everywhere. then every explanation will be unnecessary, because all of these events happen in our time.

We should pay attention to the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking about combination of various factors. The world has never been insatiable as now! When the Soviet- Union collapsed down ten years ago, the United States was only remaining power. What is the result of ten year "so called " freedom, justice and unity? The result is increasing problems world-wide, chaos, wars and disasters. The environmental problems are increasing and getting worse and insoluble. Nobody can deny that at this moment the "black market" of weapons worldwide reigns supreme! The Western Secret Services working very hard in order to avoid criminal groups worldwide to obtain chemical or nuclear weapons. In other words, the situation of the world as now it is, is very explosive and extraordinary. The immorality and decay has never been so high as now is (for example: international white-slave trade, child pornography etc..).

Our time is also the time of dechristianization. The decay inside the Western Church (and inside our Church too) tells everything about the spiritual decay! Still more and more people become unbelieving and leave the Lord God. The faith and the laws of the Lord God are not important anymore to the majority of the people and in general they consider it as something which it is outdated. God is for many people "something" who doesn't exist anymore, and many of them consider that as fool and old-fashioned. That is the "spirit" of the end of the age. And all of those things we almost everyday are faced with! Regarding the godlessness, our Lord Jesus Christ says,, And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold (Matthew 24:12)

The Bible says,, Fools say to themselves, "There is no God." They are all corrupt, and they have done terrible things; there is no one who does what is right" (Psalms 14:1)

When the Lord God created the humans, He gave them conscience. The conscience of the humans is something like a alarm system and with that, according to the Word of God, the Law of the Lord is written in the hearts of the humans (Romans 2:15, Proverbs 20:27). Every person knows that: Killing, fornication, morale decay and unrestraint are very bad things, which you certainly should keep at a great distance. This means that the humans are able to make a distinct between the good and the evil. However, since the fall of Adam and Eva the human being are living separated from God because of ,, Sin came into the world trough one man (=Adam), and his sin brought death wit it. As a result, death has spread to the whole human race because everyone has sinned (Roman 5:12). That is the reason that Jesus Christ came to this world to save everyone who is prepared to give his life to Him.

When the human being doesn't want to obey the Lord God anymore, the humans will then become dissolute with the result that the iniquity will increase and the love by the people will decrease. The humans will then have no respect for whomever or whatever like a wild animal which only is living by it's instinct. The love, which the human being got from the Lord God, will then gradually disappear and they will become immoral. They will become blind to other people, because of the fact that they despise the Law of God and have no respect for it! Having despise for the Law of God expresses itself in the behaviour of the humans. The Bible then says about those who have despise for the Law of God, who are separated from God, who have contempt for the faith,, … Their thoughts are worthless and their minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn. They have lost all feeling of shame; they give themselves over to vice and do all sorts of indecent things without restraint" (Ephesians 4:17-20)

Dear reader, this is the reality of everyday! How many people, inside our community, have given their life to Jesus Christ? How many of them have really a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? How many of them are internally cleaned by the Spirit of Jesus Christ? I think, there are not many people who have given their life to Jesus Christ! Please note that Apostle Paul says,, …. They have lost all feeling of shame… Sometimes when someone visits someone else, the behaviour of their children (or themselves) is so terrible that we often say,, they have no feeling of shame…" When we say that someone has lost all of his shame, by that we actually mean, that such a person has lost all of his humanity, dignity and honour. The feeling of shame is very important issue in the middle-east, not only in the middle-east I think, but everywhere where people lead a life in according with the Wiliness of God and His values which are revealed in the Bible. Also in our culture, the feeling of shame plays a very important role. Feeling of shame tells something about your propriety, about your upbringing, about your respect for yourselves and for others. It tells something about your dignity, about your nature as a human. When a person has lost all feeling of shame, such a person has no problems to dress in a way which gives a lot of offence. On some parties, you see some people who are almost half-naked dressed. Such a person has no any feeling of shame or dignity! They lead a life by their instinct. Those people, who live in a terrible situation of spiritual immoral decay, are described by Apostle Peter as terrible wild animals (2 Peters 2:12)

3. The situation inside the Church

Up to now we have discussed the situation in the world in relation with the pronunciations of our Lord and God Jesus Christ. However, the Bible tells us that before the end of this age, also the situation inside the Church will become very indecent and terrible. This is also one of the most important signs which gives an indication about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to the Word of God, the Holy book the Bible, many people shall use the Church for their own interests to become rich or to get more power. Many of those people are so terrible and corrupted that they have no any respect for the Lord God, but only their own desires! In 1 Timothy 4:1 we read,, The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times… "

These are the people who exchange the faith for the world, for the desires of their flesh and blood, for those things which the eyes and harts want to obtain. In connection with this we read in the Bible,, But remember, my friends, what you were told in the past by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, "When the last days come, people will appear who will mock you, people who follow their own godless desires." These are the people who cause divisions, who are controlled by their natural desires, who do not have the Spirit" (Jude 17-18)

These are the terrible persons inside the church during the many centuries. These terrible false Christians use the church only for their own personal desires. Some of them have a seat in the church council, although they are illiterate. It is also known that some of them even steel many in one or another way.

Dear reader, taking a look at the situation of the church, we will discover that it is a terrible situation. There is no justice, no tenderness, no togetherness, no love, no unity, no Christian charity, no support for weak and poor people, no care for the young people who need spiritual help etc. In contrary, there is a lot of quarrel, hatred, envy, anger, jealousy and more of this anti-Christian behaviour.

This the garbage of the faith, that means that the majority of those who call themselves "Christians" are actually nothing but empty barrels, which means they are the false Christians. Regarding the previous explanation we read in the Bible,, For some godless people have slipped in unnoticed among us, persons who distort the message about the grace of our God in order to excuse their immoral ways, and who reject Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. Long ago the Scripture predicted the condemnation they have received (Jude 4-5)

Jesus Christ says,, Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what My father in heaven wants them to do. When the judgement Day comes, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God’s message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!’ Then I will say to them, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you wicked people!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

These false Christians have caused a lot of debris and troubles. They often accuse the true Christians of extremism, stubbornness, old-fashioned behaviour, fundamentalism and more of suchlike ugly things. They try in this way to bring discredit on the true Christians, so that their voice cannot be heard anymore!

From the previous, it becomes clear that there are two groups inside the church, the false Christians and the true Christians. The false Christians those .. godless people have slipped in unnoticed among us…. are actually anti-Christians. These are the people who long times ago are predestine to go to the hell. These are heartless, barbaric people who under the guise of "being a Christian,, unnoticed carry out their godless practices inside the Christian community. For them, everything is focussed on their interests to take advantage of it. They are only interested in their own interest, in their own proposals, in their own wishes and in their own wellbeing. These are the false Christians inside the community who use church and the Christianity the to get benefit. God's curse is on them!

The previous story tells something about the spiritual situation inside the church, just before the coming of Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul describes this in a perfect manner when he says,, Remember that there will be difficult times in the last days. People will be selfish, greedy, boastful, and conceited; they will be insulting, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and irreligious; they will be unkind, merciless, slanderers, violent, and fierce; they will hate the good; they will be treacherous, reckless, and swollen with pride; they will love pleasure rather than God; they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

This is the reality nowadays! All of this terrible vice occurs inside the church of this age. Sometimes for examples we hear that the content of offertory disappears in a "nothing" like a miracle. Some decisions are made, which have nothing to do with Christian faith. On the contrary, they are rather anti-Christian decisions, which are in deeper sense, aimed at the law of God. Some people maintain their seat in the church council because of their great family following, and certainly not because they are good and suitable administrators. Others try in various ways here and there to get some benefit from the church by mean of various "black actions" inside the church. Again others try to commit a coup in order to obtain more power and prestige. Others make quarrel and trouble in order to cover their own terrible deeds, which they hope it will not be discovered by anyone.

… disobedient to their parents… There a lot of young people who don't obey their parents. They think they know everything, they want to make self-decisions, they feel themselves more educated than their parents and so wiser, and they neglect their parents and become dissolute. However, many of those people are blind, lead a life according the law of the evil, and are slaves of their internal desires. In reality, a lot of those poor young people are silly, terrible, and ignorant that the Satan is playing with them unnoticed!

The situation like described, that is the situation of the church of the last age. We are almost everyday faced with these terrible properties inside the church. Such issues and deeds which occur in the church forms a signal for us which makes clear that the coming of Jesus Christ is not far anymore!

The Apostle says…. difficult times in the last days.. I am convinced that the time in which we are living now, is the time of the last days. Like we read, it is a very bad time. The sentence… they will love pleasure rather than God….is very interesting to me. Please let we do not make the mistake that it is only sexual love, no this also includes greedy for many and power, greedy for self-pride etc. If we examine accurately the situation inside the Church of this age, then we will discover that all of these bad properties occur inside the church. Let we give all of these bad properties a number:

1. Selfish, 2. Greedy, 3. Boastful, 4. Conceited, 5. Insulting, 6. disobedient to their parents, 7. Ungrateful, 8. Irreligious, 9. Be unkind, 10. Merciless, 11. Slanderers, 12. Violent, 13. Fierce, 14. hate the good, 15. Treacherous, 16. Reckless, 17. swollen with pride, 18. love pleasure rather than God

It is interesting to pay attention to these 18 very bad properties. The number 18 is very interesting to me, because 18 = 3x6 = 6+6+6= (6,6,6). In Revelation 13:18 we read that the number of the antichrist is 666. We can say therefore that the number 3x6 is the satanic tree-unity. The result of all these very bad properties is…; they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power….

This is really dramatic! Because, like Paul tells us, these people only hold to the outward ceremonies and usage. We could say that those people only go to the church because of the outward rites and standard prayers. One goes to the church, because the neighbours go to the church. The attention is concentrated on the outward form of the religion, while one rejects the real power! That is the very reason that the Lord God says,, These people claim worship me, but their words are meaningless, and their hearts are somewhere else. Their religion is nothing but human rules and traditions, which they simple memorised" (Isaiah 29:13)

We read in the Bible: "False prophets appeared in the past among the people, and in the same way false teachers will appear among you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction. Even so, many will follow their immoral way; and because of what they do, others will speak evil of the Way of the truth."( 2 Peter 2:1-2)

These are believers who got their belief from other people! They have only memorised a few standard prayers which are based on the human rules and tradition. But dear reader, that is not the way it should be! Because those "Christians" are very poor in their knowledge regarding the Holy Book the Bible. They have not yet opened their hart for the Lord God, so that the Lord can clean their body from all kind of dirt and evilness. They seem to have learned only a few standard prayers on which their attention is focussed. We saw that the Lord God considers such a way of belief as… human rules and traditions.

Yes, dear reader, many of us go every Sunday to the church, but do we really understand what is told in de church. And do we also behave like Jesus our Lord expects from us? Do we understand when we say ,,Aboen d’basmayo?" or ,,Kadisat Alloho?". These are standard prayers, which we have learned, but many of us don’t really understand the meaning of those prayers. Many of us go to the church because they feel ashamed for their neighbours. Others go to the church because it is a usage and not because of their love for Jesus. Some of them have not left the church yet, or they begin to backbite and libel about their fellow Christians.

In spite of the many problems, in spite of the immoral decay inside the church, in spite of all kind of evilness and dirt, in spite of many intrigues, there are yet some true Christians who stay faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ! They have not abandon their faith, but they stay to the end of this age faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ. He says about those who have kept their faith,, But a few of you …. have kept your clothes clean. You will walk with Me, clothed in white, because you are worthy to do so" (Revelation 3:4)

Yes indeed, some insist to be faithful up to the end. Whatever may be happen in their life or in their neighbourhood, they stay faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. Those few people have a lovely relationship with Jesus Christ. He loves them and they love Him. He gave His life for them and they have entrusted themselves with their body and soul to Jesus Christ. Those few believe that He is their Saviour, Lord and their Redeemer. They have opened their hearts for Him and He came into their hearts and made their hearts completely clean by means of His blood. His blood has cleaned them from each sin they have committed in their life. They know exactly what Jesus expect from them, they know what their behaviour should be, they are known with His rules and laws. Jesus Christ describes the relationship between Himself and His followers, those who have kept their clothes clean, as follows,, My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never die. No one can snatch them away from Me" (John 10: 27-28).

This is the beautiful relationship between Jesus Christ and the true Christians, those who have kept their clothes clean. Yes, dear reader, they know what the Shepherd expect from them and they behave in agreement with His commands and Wiliness. Jesus Christ says,, I am the Good Shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep" (John 10:11)

Our Lord Jesus is the Good Shepherd and the true Christians, that means those who have kept their clothes clean, are the sheep who study His Word, the Holy Book the Bible. The sheep are kept together by the fact that the Shepherd is with the sheep. The presence of the Shepherd is equal to the knowledge and understanding of the Holy Book the Bible inside the community. The Shepherd gives by mean of whistle signal in which direction the sheep should go. The sheep understand the whistle signal and are led by it. In case of a Christian community, the Shepherd is thus Jesus Christ and the whistle is His Word that means, the Holy Book the Bible. The Bible keeps a true Christian community together. By reading and proclaiming the Bible, a true Christian understands how he /she should lead a life in according with the Bible. This means, they know which direction they should go, in other words, how they should life.

The Bible says: "What human nature does is quite plain. It shows itself in immoral, filthy, and indecent actions, in worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight, they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups; they are envious, get drunk, have orgies, and do other things like these. I warn you now as I have before: those who do these things will not possess the Kingdom of God." ( Galatians 5:19-21)

Conclusion

We saw in the previous that the events, the disasters that take place in our time, are perfectly in agreement with the prophetic words of our Lord Jesus Christ. The things, which are almost 2000 years ago, told by our Lord and God Jesus Christ on the Mount of Olives becomes now in our time reality. We just everyday read the news papers and we shall discovers that this disasters are in agreement with that which is told by our Lord. We see with our own eyes. We are self the witness of the prophesises!

Another important signal, which announces the end of this age, is the terrible immoral decay inside the Church. This spiritual immorality inside the church is almost everyday visible and happens before our eyes. Sometimes we hear on television that a clergyman has committed during several years’ sexual contact with a woman. A few years ago, for example, a bishop in England had during many years a secret relationship with a woman. From this relationship, a boy was born. The boy was by then 19 years of age. So, the bishop hid the relationship for many years! Other terrible stories are that some clergymen during many years have misused very little children and such more of those terrible immoralities. Many of these cases come out and become visible for the outside world, because of the fact that the victims go the police and tell the whole story.

There are probably many cases inside the church, which till now kept secret. Some people inside the church, for example, misplace for many years thousands of guldens, Marks or dollars unnoticed. Nobody asks them about this disappeared money. Some of those guys, who have for many years seat in the Church Council, steel many from the poor people without anyone noticing their Satanic and anti-Christian behaviour. The poor and ignorant people give a lot of money to the church, but in reality the money is swallowed up by a few villains who call themselves "Christians". And this can be a lot of money, thousands! In connection with this I am thinking about the complain of the Lord God about the leaders when He says "My people, your leaders are misleading you, so that you do not know which way to turn. The Lord is ready to state His case; He is ready to judge His people. The Lord is bringing the elders and the leaders of His people to judgement. He makes this accusation:,, You have plundered vineyards, and your houses are full of what you have taken from poor. You have no right to crush my people and take advantage of the poor. I, the Sovereign Lord Almighty, have spoken (Isaiah 3:12-13)"……"Those who lead these people have misled them and totally confused them" (Isaiah 9:16)

This is the terrible situation inside the Church! All of this spiritual immoral decay occurs in the Church. The clergymen as well as the people are guilty of this ridiculous and anti-Christian behaviour in the Church! Dear reader, I hope you will understand, that all of these terrible events and decay inside the church form a signal which announce the end of this age and coming of Jesus Christ! We can of course never say when exactly Jesus Christ will come to this world, but if we take in consideration the increase of immoral decay inside the church and the situation of the world, then I think that it will certainly not endure 50 years more! It is possible that it will be happen within 20 years, without giving any guarantee.

What is the next step?……

Up to now we have learned that there are clearly two groups of Christians inside the Church. One of those groups are those who .. have kept their clothes clean .. and the other part is the false majority, the so called false Christians. The apostle Paul describes them as,, they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power .. They are the false Christians, who only use the church for their personal benefit! From the Bible it is quite clear that the end of this age will be a terrifying time. In connection with this, Jesus Christ says,, For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it gain (Matthew 24:21). The prophet Daniel had prophesied too about this terrible time and says,, Then there will be a time of troubles, the worst since nations first came into existence" (Daniel 12:1)

Our Lord Jesus Christ tells here something about the terrible time, which will take place during the end of this age. It will be an atrocious, disgusting and so terrible time that one cannot describe it with words. The misery and the desperation will be so great and detestable, that the world up to now have never went through such a time. If you hear about the atrocity committed by the Nazi's in Germany against the Jewish people, then you get shivers over your hart. If we imagine that the Nazi's carried out medical experiments with the genitals of humans, then you get horrifying feelings and become upset. Or if you hear that the eyes of humans were pulled out, whilst they were still alive, you almost burst into tears. Or if we imagine that there has toxic substance been applied on humans to see what the reaction would be, you get angry feelings. People were thousand by thousand thrown way in the ovens and burned. Women, girls were violated, raped and dishonoured. Babies were used for medical experiments etc..

The terrifying wars and distress up to now which have been taken place in the World will be negligible in comparison with the punishment of this world by the Lord God. That is the very reason that our Lord Jesus Christ says,, … be far more terrible than any there has been.. Since the Lord God had created the world, the humans and the heaven, a lot of wars and distress has been taken place. But this distress and desperate will be nothing when the Lord God carries out His commands. The Bible is not joking when it says,, The day of the Lord is near; the day when the Almighty brings destruction. What terror that day will bring!" (Joel 1:15). Please pay attention to this!

We got via the television horrible pictures in our house-rooms about the war in the African countries Rwanda, Burundi and Zaire. We could see that some people were beheaded and lay on the ground like animals. For the others people, their arms and legs were cut off. Again others were burned, whilst they were alive! There are probably more countries, peoples and tribes where terrible things happen.

The Lord Says,, I will bring such disaster on mankind that everyone will grope about like a blind man. They have sinned against Me, and now their blood will be poured out like water, and their dead bodies will lie rotting on the ground " (Zephaniah 1:17)

Nevertheless, the horrible wars and massacres up to now will be negligible when the Almighty brings destruction over this world. We can maybe hardly imagine this fact, but that the commands of the Lord will be much more worse than the war in Bosnia, Burundi, Zaire and Rwanda, that is blatant from the Holy Book the Bible. That time will be such an extraordinary and disgusting time that the world never went through in the past. The question is now: What will be happen with the true Christians, those who have kept their clothes clean?

The Lord versus humans…

The wars and struggle up to now have always been taken place, with a few exceptions, between humans. There were always two parties involved. There was always, more or less, a winner and a looser. But when in the end of the age the Lord God brings destruction over this world, means that the Lord Himself will fight against the sinners and that makes the case so terrible and horrifying! Dear reader, I can guarantee you, that beforehand the Lord God is the winner! This was also the case with the destruction of the Assyrians in 612 before Christ.

When the Lord judges this world, who can survive His commands? Who is able to offer resistance to the Lord God? Who can say that he exist in comparison with the Lord? We read in the Bible: "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God! " (Hebrew 10:31). The Lord will take care that there will be nothing left of you, yes everything will be demolished and destroyed. Those who dare to insult and libel with His Majesty and Holiness have to know that their only way is destruction! Yes, dear reader, liars and pride people are waiting a terrible punishment, because of the fact that, our God is indeed a destroying fire (Hebrew 12:29).

The Bible says,, The day of the Lord is coming- that cruel day of His fierce anger and fury. The earth will be made wilderness, and every sinner will be destroyed" (Isaiah 13:9)

What about those .. who have kept their clothes clean?

As we have read in the previous, the end of this age will be a terrifying time! So, I repeat the question,, What will be happen with the true Christians, that means, those who have kept their clothes clean? " Should they also live through this terrible time? Should they also suffer as the other people? No dear reader, no! Our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the faithfully God! He loves His children very much! He shall never walk out on His children. He will always carry for them and save them! In Revelation 3:10 our Lord Jesus Christ says,, Because you have kept My command to endure, I will also keep you safe from the time of trouble which is coming upon the world to test all the people on the earth" (see also John 14:1-4, Romans 5:8-11, 1 Corinthians 1:6-7, Philippians 3:20-21, 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; 5:9-10, 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10, Titus 2:11-14, James 5:7-8)

…. kept My command to endure.. That is the answer of our Lord Jesus Christ to the true Christians, those who have kept their clothes clean. Jesus says to them,, You have endured and your are dishonoured because you were My followers. The people of this world have mocked at you and have persecuted you, because you were My followers. Nevertheless you have kept My commands to endure. You have proclaimed Me and My Majesty".

Jesus Christ says,, If the world hates you, just remember that it has hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, then the world would love you as its own. But I chose you from this world, and you do not belong to it; that is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: 'No slave is greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you too, if they obeyed My teaching, they will obey yours too" (John 15: 18, 20)

The false Christians and other people often label the true Christians as:,, They are extremists" Or, "they are mad and foolish", Or, they are intolerant etc.. " Anyway the true Christians are mocked by those who hate the Bible, and with that our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the false Christian majority! Since the true Christians only obey Jesus- and thus the holy Book the Bible- they were humiliated and persecuted by the false Christians and the world. That is the very reason that our Lord Jesus Christ says,, Because you were always faithful to Me and you have endured a lot of distress and dishonour because of My name, in the same way I will Save you from the punishment which will take place over the whole world". The world had hated, despised and mocked you, because you proclaimed My name! All of this terrible and dishonouring you have endured because you were My followers. That is why our Lord Jesus says,, I will save you from the commands which will take place of this world".

However, the false Christians will certainly not be saved! They will suffer very much and at the end they will be killed. About those false Christians we read in the Bible,, The wicked One will come with the power of Satan and perform all kinds of false miracles and wanderers, and use every kind of wicked deceit on those who will perish. They will perish because they did not welcome and love the truth so as to be saved. And so God sends the power of error to work in them so that they believe in what is false. The result is that all who have not believed the truth, but taken pleasure in sin, will be condemned (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12)

The "Wicked One" is he who has a deep contempt for the Law of the Lord God. This is thus the anti-Christ. The Wicked One, the anti-Christ, the man of the veil, shall come with the power of the Satan that means that the Satan himself is living in his body. He is the appearance of the Satan in flesh and blood. He is the last weapon of the Satan who will try to mislead a lot of people obeying Him. Probably Satan will succeed in His attempt too! Those false Christians who,, will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power…. will be misled by the antichrist and they will follow him. They designed didn't make their heart open for the truth, that means for the love of Jesus Christ. If they did so, then Jesus would come in their heart and make their heart clean and they would become the children of the Lord God. However, they refused to do so, and because of that they automatically will fall into the hands of the evil.

Dear reader please pay attention to the fact that.. And so God sends the power of error to work in them so that they believe in what is false

Those people are so terribly and silly, that they rather prefer to follow the lie than to obey the Lord God. Of course, to their opinion they have the feeling that they certainly do not follow and obey the lie. No, they have the feeling that they certainly do obey and follow Jesus Christ. What terrible persons they are!

The Bible says,, ‘When the last days come, people will appear who will mock you, people who follow their own godless desires’. These are the people who cause divisions, who are controlled by their natural desires, who do not have the spirit" (Jude 17-18)…. First of all, you must understand that in these last days some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own lusts. They will mock you and ask, "He promised to come, didn't He? Where is He?… " (2Peter 3:3-4)

To save those .. who have kept their clothes clean..

In the previous, we have understood that our Lord Jesus Christ shall save those Christians who have kept their clothes clean. We can ask the question: How will our Lord save those Christians, before the commands of the Lord will be carried out to punish this world? How will our Lord do that? How about those Christians who have died for hundred years ago? What will happen with them?

The true Secret of God…

The Apostle Paul reveals in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 a secret of God where He says,, Listen to this secret truth: We shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall be changed. For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot" (see also 1John 3:3, Philippians 3:21)

… secret truth.. Dear reader, please pay attention to this quotation! Through the whole Bible we read that the Lord God loves His children very much. He reveals His children His own secrets regarding the future. The Lord God always gives wisdom and love to those who worship Him unconditionally. As we read here, the people of the Greece Harbour City of Corinthia had a lot of questions regarding the death, the end of this age and a lot of other questions. The apostle begins His letter with,, Listen to this secret truth…" to express that he is announcing something very important. The secret plan of the Gospel was trusted to Apostle Paul as we can read in Ephesians 3:8-11,, I am less than the least of all God's people; yet God gave me this privilege of taking to the Gentiles the Good News about the infinite riches of Christ, and of making all people see how God's secret plan is to be put into effect. God, who is the Creator of all things, kept His secret hidden through all the past ages, in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and the powers in the heavenly world might learn of His wisdom in all its different forms "

… last trumpet sounds… What the meaning of the last trumpet can be, I do not know precisely, but it is possible that we can understand this by means of the nature and situation of the world. For example, the chaotic situation in the world, or the worldwide disasters, or the sexual immorality. However, it is also possible that we should understand this as literal, that the trumpet sound is the sound of the real trumpet in the heavenly regions.

…shall be changed….. This is really amazing to me! Not all of the true Christians shall die, but they will be changed in an instant. Our body consists of blood and flesh. We have in this life limitations. We cannot, for example, walk infinitely, because the body gets tired. We cannot walk through walls or life without food. Our body thus depends on the time and the space dimensions. But, when our body shall change, means that the true Christians will get exactly the same body as the body of Jesus Christ. That is also the very reason when we read in the Bible that,, He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like His own glorious body… (Philippians 3:21). So, the living and the dead Christians shall get exactly the same body as the body of Jesus Christ. We know that our Lord Jesus Christ could walk through walls, and He had no limitations. He could appear everywhere in an instant without any limiting of time and space. The true Christians will thus get exactly the same body as Jesus Christ and so all of the limitations of this earth shall disappear.

	.. pay  regret before it is too late
	...the last trumpet
	.. The Lord God is  prepared  to forgive the sins of the sinners...

The apostle went further and reveals another remarkable secret truth in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 where we read,, Our brothers, we want you to know the truth about those who have died, so that you will not be sad, as are those who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will take back with Jesus those who have died believing in Him. What we are teaching you now is the Lord's teaching: we who are alive on the day the Lord comes will not go ahead of those who have died. There will be the shout of the command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord Himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first; then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17)

This is really a fascinating and splendid scene which shall take place when our Lord Jesus Christ comes to pick up the true Christians, those who are alive and those who have died, that means those who have kept their clothes clean. The dead true Christians will first rise up from the graves and shall change and have a body exactly the same as the body of Jesus Christ. After that, those true Christians who are alive will also change and get the same body as well! In the meantime Jesus Christ is waiting on the clouds and the true Christians will then be united with Jesus Christ and He shall take them to the heavenly home, His Kingdom, which He has prepared for them. Note here that our Lord Jesus will wait on the clouds, so the heathens and world shall not see Him, because He is especially coming for His brothers and sisters the true Christians, that means His family, to pick them up and bring them to the heaven.

What will happen after the true Christians are picked up to the heaven? What is the next step?

The antichrist…..

After the true Christians have left this world, the antichrist shall appear. But we can now ask the question: Why shall the antichrist appear only after and not before the true Christians are picked up to the heaven? What is the meaning of this? Dear reader, here are very Biblical secrets involved and I will try to explain that to you!

The true Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit as we can read in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 " Surely you know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you! So if anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy Him. For God's temple is holy and you yourself are His temple". And because of that, the Holy Spirit teaches the true Christians, those who have kept their clothes clean. That is the very reason why we read in 1John 2:27,, But as for you, Christ has poured out His Spirit on you. As long as His Spirit remains in you, you do not need anyone to teach you. For His Spirit teaches you about everything, and what He teaches is true, not false. Obey the Spirit's teaching, then, and remain in union with Christ.

It is because of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, that the true Christians have the truth in them. The Holy Spirit tells them everything and so they are very strong and wise. The Satan cannot beat them, because the Holy Spirit is much stronger than the Satan is. That is exactly the very reason why we read in 1John 4:4,,… because the Spirit who is in you is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world."

The Holy Spirit, who is in every true Christian, is much more powerful than the spirit of the Satan, which means the spirit of the world. And this explains why the antichrist cannot appear as long as the true Christians are still on earth, because the Holy Spirit in the true Christians is a insuperable power which cannot be defeated by the antichrist. It is certainly this power which prevents the coming of the antichrist! Regarding the coming of the antichrist we read in the Bible,, Don't you remember? I told you all this while I was with you. Yet there is something that keeps this from happening now, and you know what it is. At the proper time, then, the Wicked One will appear. The Mysterious Wickedness is already at work, but what is going to happen will not happen until the one who holds it back is taken out of the way. Then the Wicked One will be revealed...". (2 Thessalonians 2:5-8)

.. the Wicked One… the antichrist, He is secretly working to destroy the work of God. He cannot be revealed because there is something, a strong power, which keeps this from happening now. But when this power is taken out of the way, then de antichrist will appear and not before. These are the true Christians, who have the power of the Holy Spirit and by that they prevent the appearance of the antichrist. When the true Christians will be picked up by Jesus Christ, means that also the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the way. So, if there is no Holy Spirit more in this world, means that there is no truth anymore and then the antichrist will appear. He shall then introduce the lie and the unjust and many people, including false Christians, will follow him.

Syrian-Orthodox tradition…

The time of the antichrist is also called in Aramiac "i qi'amtho". There is also a saying in Aramiac,, As long as there is one good person on this earth, there will be no " qi'amtho". I think that there will be no many people who have understood this saying. Because this saying tells something about the "taking away of the true Christians from this earth by our Lord Jesus Christ". So, when we ask the question,, When will take the "qi'amtho" place? The answer could be then,, After the true Christians are picked up by our Lord Jesus Christ"

After picking up the true Christians….

After the true Christians are picked up by our Lord Jesus Christ, the time of the "qi'amtho" will start and I can ensure you it will be a terrible and disgusting time which you cannot imagine how terrible it shall be! Like I explained before, our Lord Jesus Christ express the dreadfulness of this time as,, … Nor will there ever be anything like it gain"

The Lord says, "I will bring disaster on the earth and punish all wicked people for their sins. I will humble everyone who is proud and punish everyone who is arrogant and cruel" (Isaiah 13:11)

We read in the Bible about this terrible time,, … they will want to die, but death will flee from them" (Revelation 9:6). How we have to understand this, I don't know, but like I told you, it will be a time, which you cannot describe it. There are much more commands of the Lord mentioned in the Bible, too much to mention all of them. We read for example,, Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet. I saw a star which had fallen down to the earth, and it was given the key to the abyss. The star opened the abyss, and smoke poured out of it, like the smoke from large furnace; the sunlight and the air were darkened by the smoke from the abyss. Locusts came down out of the smoke upon the earth, and they were given the same kind of power that scorpions have. They were told not to harm the grass or the trees or any other plant; they could harm only the people who did not have the mark of God's seal on their foreheads" (Revelation 9:1-5)

In Thessalonians 1:7-8 we read,, … when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven with His mighty angels, with a flaming fire, to punish those who reject God and who do not obey the Good News about our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction… (see also: Zephaniah 1:5-6, 1:17-18, 2:1-2, Roman 2:4-9, Malachi 3:19, Joel 1:5, Zechariah 11:6 etc.. )

The Lord God now is no mercy anymore towards the false Christians and those who have rejected to believe in Him. It will be an unbearable time for the people on earth!

The time of the antichrist….

We have up to now discussed about the false Christians, the true Christians, that means those who have kept their clothes clean and about the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ will come and pick up the true Christians to His Kingdom. We have also learned that after those true Christians are disappeared out of this world, the antichrist shall then appear and a terrible time will start for the people who stay behind on this world. Many of them will be killed in a horrible way. The torture, the upset, the punishment will increase to such an extreme extent, that the people on this world will want to die, but they cannot find the death.

The question is now: For how long shall the antichrist rule this world? How long will he be allowed to torture and kill the people? To get an answer on these questions, we first have to take a look at the people of Israel. The people of Israel shall play a very important role in the time of the antichrist. The Bible tells us about the situation of the people of Israel,, There is a secret truth, my brothers, which I want you to know, for it will keep you from thinking how wise you are. It is that the stubbornness of the people of Israel is not permanent, but it will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to God. And this is how Israel will be saved… (Romans 11:25-26).

In the time of Jesus, everyone who was no Jewish, meant he was a Gentile (= not-Jewish, heathen). The heathens didn't belief in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A Jewish person believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Regarding the heathens, the not-Jewish people the Apostle Paul tells us,, I am speaking now to you Gentiles: As long as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I will take pride in my work" (Romans 11:13, see also Galatians 1:16)

When the majority of the Jewish people refused to accept Jesus Christ, the Lord God decided to form for Himself people out of the not-Jewish, it means the heathens (= Gentles). In relation with this, Apostle Peter tells us: "…. how God first showed His care for the Gentiles by taking from among them a people to belong to Him" (Acts 15:14).

… a people to belong to Him , that is the Church of the Lord from the Gentiles, this means the true Christians, those who still kept their clothes clean. This means that the true Christian Church is established out of the Gentiles, the heathens. We, the Arameans of Mesopotamia up to the time of Jesus were also heathens as many other people. After the arrival of Jesus to this world, the Arameans of Mesopotamia decided to accept Jesus Christ. Due to this, the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch was established by the converted Arameans and the converted Jewish people, including the Apostles of the Lord.

As I explained earlier, our Lord Jesus Christ first will come to pick up the true Christians and take them to His Kingdom in the heaven. After that, the time of the antichrist will start. But at the same time also a part of the people of Israel shall convert to the Lord and shall accept Him. That is the meaning of .. but it will last only until the complete number of Gentiles comes to God. And this is how Israel will be saved …

Regarding the return of the people of Israel to the Lord God, the Lord God says,, I will fill the descendants of David and the other people of Jerusalem with the Spirit of prayer. They will look at the one whom they stabbed to death, and they will mourn for Him like those who mourn for an only child. They will mourn bitterly, like those who have lost their first born son" (Zechariah 13: 10-11)

After the Gentiles are taken in the heaven, the Lord God will make the eyes of the people of Israel open. And the people of Israel shall discover that they have stabbed (Jesus Christ) to death, they will be awaked up. At that time they will cry about the acts of their forefathers who had crucified Jesus Christ. There will be a great mourn about their mistake in the past and yet they will discover the truth.

The Prophet Daniel and the future of the world… the people of Israel … the time of the antichrist.

The prophet Daniel is the prophet of the future, knowledge and wisdom. He has abased himself many times for the Lord God by means of praying and fasting in order to get wisdom and insight in the Gods plans for the future of this world. The Lord has, in His mercy, revealed a lot of issues to the prophet Daniel regarding the future of this world. In Daniel 9:3-4 we read,, And I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with Him, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in ashes"

The angle gives the answers to Daniel and says to him,, Daniel, I have come here to help you understand the prophecy. When you began to plead with God, He answered you. He loves you and so I have come to tell you the answer. Now pay attention while I explain the vision (Daniel 9:22-23)

Daniel starts again to pray and fasting as we can read in 10:2-3,, At that time I was mourning for three weeks. I did not eat any rich food or any meat, rink any wine, or comb my hair until three weeks were past."

The Lord God sends again an angel to Daniel. The angel says,, Daniel, God loves you. Stand up and listen carefully to what I am going to say. ,I have been sent to you.' When he had said this, I stood up, still trembling.

Then he said, 'Daniel, don't be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding. I have come in answer to your prayer….. I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the future. This a vision about the future… (Daniel 10:11-14)

what will happen to your people in the future.. That is the answer of the angel to Daniel. The people of Daniel, the people of Israel will play a crucial role in the end time, in the time of the antichrist, in the time of the "Qi'amtho". The message of the angel is meant for the far future. The message is not meant for the time of Daniel, but for the future. The Bible book Daniel is approximately written in the year 597 BC. This means that the future of the world approximately 2600 years ago was revealed to Daniel.

About the antichrist, Daniel tells us,, The end will come like a flood, bringing war and destruction which God has prepared. That ruler will have a firm agreement with many people for seven years, and when half of this time is past, he put an end to sacrifices and offerings. The Awful Horror will be placed on the highest point of the temple and will remain there until the one who put it there meets the end which God has prepared for Him" (Daniel 9:26-27).

As we can read from the above-mentioned quotation, the time of the antichrist will endure seven years. In that time, there will be a Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The Jewish people will have an agreement with the antichrist regarding the use of the temple in Jerusalem. They will bring sacrifices to the temple, which is rebuild in Jerusalem, to worship the Lord God. But as we can read, the antichrist will make an end to this worshipping after 3,5 years have past. So, the antichrist will take care for 3,5 years that no any sacrifices will be brought to the temple of the Lord God. Many of the people of Israel will refuse to obey the antichrist and because of that many of them will be killed.

The angel continues and says,, Some of his (= antichrist) soldiers will desecrate the Temple. They will stop the daily sacrifices and set up the Awful of Horror. By deceit the king will win the support of those who have already abandoned their religion, but those who follow God will fight. Wise leader of the people will share their wisdom with many others. But for a while some of them will be killed in battle or be burnt to death, and some will be robbed and made prisoners. While the killing is going on, God's people will receive a little help, even though many who join them will do so for selfish reasons. Some of those wise leaders will be killed, but as a result of this people will be purified. This will continue until the end comes, the time that God has set" (Daniel 11: 31-35)

The people of Israel will be persecuted and terrorised by the antichrist, at least those who follow the Lord God. Those who collaborate with the antichrist will not be persecuted! As explained before, the antichrist will stop the daily sacrifices during the last 3,5 year of his rein. It is possible that the antichrist the first 3,5 will use to show his "good will " to the people of Israel in order to get support by mean of cunning.

… the Awful of Horror What the meaning of this is, is difficult to explain! Apostle Paul gives us a indication in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and says,, He (the antichrist) will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God ".

Maybe the .. Awful of Horror.. is the statue of the antichrist which he will place in the Temple of Jerusalem, the Temple of the Lord God. The people of Israel will be then forced to worship this statue of the antichrist. Many of them will probably do so, but also many of them will refuse that.

Adolf Hitler was for example a typical predecessor of the antichrist. By placing his fotos everywhere, he became the god of the German people. He was almost worshiped like a god.

It maybe interesting to pay attention to the prophetically words of our Lord Jesus Christ. He also is referring to the prophet Daniel to explain the meaning of the Awful of Horror…In Matthew 24:15 our Lord Jesus tells about the dishonouring of the Temple in Jerusalem by the antichrist,, You will see the Awful Horror,, of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place"

The angle informs Daniel furthermore regarding the time of the antichrist and says,, He will speak against the Supreme God and oppress God's people. He will try to change their religious laws and festivals, and God's people will be under his power for tree and half years. Then the heavenly court will sit in judgement, take away his power and destroy him completely" (Daniel 7:25-26)

… oppress God's people…That is the people of Israel. During 3,5 years the people of Israel will suffer very heavily. The antichrist shall try to change their traditions, everything, which is holy for their religion. For sure, it will be a terrible and revolting time. This 3,5 years of suffering of the people of Israel is elsewhere in the Bible also called the distress of Israel as we can read in Jeremiah 30:7,, A terrible day is coming; no other day can compare with it- a time of distress for My people, but they will survive".

In Revelation 11:2 is the same time of 3,5 years described as,, .. because they have been given to the heathens, who will trample on the Holy City for forty-two months "

With the "Holy City" is the city of Jerusalem meant. The antichrist and his followers will thus during 42 months (= 3,5 years) dishonour the Temple of the Lord God in the Holy City of Jerusalem.

We have seen in the previous that the time of the antichrist will be 7 years. Yet at the beginning of the second part of the 3,5 years, he will show his true face to the people of Israel and the world. Many Bible scholars do agree that the antichrist will, during the first 3,5 years, try to show his "nice face" to the world community and the people of Israel in order to be accepted by them. It is also possible that he may build up the Temple of King Salomon in Jerusalem in order to get the support of the people of Israel. At the end of the first 3,5 years (at beginning of the second part) he will show his horrible face to the world and the people of Israel. Many scholars think that the beginning of the last part of the 3,5 years will coincide with the thrown of the Satan from the heaven. This is explained in Revelation 12:7-17 where we read,, Then war broke out heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angles; but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer. The huge dragon was thrown out- that ancient serpent, called the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown on to earth, and all his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, "Now God's salvation has come! Now God has shown His power as King! Now His Messiah has shown His authority! For the one who stood before our God and accused our brothers day and night has been thrown out of the heaven. Our brothers won the victory over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the truth which they proclaimed; and they were willing to give up their lives and die. And so be glad, you heavens and all of you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only little time left "

At the beginning of this easy we saw that the Satan has access to the heavenly court to accuse those who are faithful to the Lord God! He is there to bring the true Christians in discredit by the Lord God! But after the war between the Michael and the Satan which will take in the heaven, the Satan and his angels will be then thrown on the earth. This means that he has no right anymore to access the heavenly court, he has lost his place in the heaven. Due to this, the Satan will be then full of anger and hatred and give rein to his passions by means of terrorising the earth. Dear reader, belief me, it will be a terrifying time which you cannot imagine!

Because of the chaotic situation in the world and the carry off of the true Christians, the antichrist will come to the power. He will bring peace over the whole world and a stable atmosphere will be created. He probably will solve very difficult problems regarding the economic and military issues. The first 3,5 years he probably will try to get support from the world community and establish world-wide peace. He shall try to give the world community the feeling that he is the man where they were waiting on to solve all of their problems! In connection with this, Apostle Paul says,, When people say, "Everything is quite and save", then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labour, and people will not escape" (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

The antichrist will first give the people the feeling that he is the chosen one, the good one, the one who will take care for the problems of the people. But suddenly he will show his power by means of killing and terror without that the people can escape out of his power. The people will be completely surprised!

At the beginning of the last 3,5 years, probably the Satan will be thrown from the heaven on the earth due to the war with the Archangel Michael. The Satan knows that he has only little time left on the earth and thus is his time limited, so he will try as much as possible as a roaring lion to kill, to destroy and to bring devastation! He will do everything to curse and insult God and everything, which has to do with the Lord God. This could be an explanation for the fact that the antichrist just in the last 3,5 years will start to insult and contempt the Lord God. The Bible says about his behaviour,, The beast (= the antichrist) was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God, and it was permitted to have authority for forty-two months (3,5 years !!!). It began to curse God, His name, the place where He lives, and all those who live in heaven" (Revelation 13:5-6)

After the Satan is thrown onto earth, the angle says.. But how terrible for the earth and the sea!.. There is in the heaven lamination about the people of the earth. And this makes quite clear how terrible the situation will be on earth.

At the end of the last 3,5 years Jesus Christ will come to the earth together with those, who He earlier took to the heaven. He will then kill the antichrist with the breath from His mouth and destroy him with His dazzling presence (2Thessalonians 2:8). After this, the 1000 years government of Jesus Christ will be then established with the Capital City of Jerusalem. Before the 1000 years of the rein of Jesus will start, first the Satan will be set into jail as we can read in Revelation 20:1-3,, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the abyss and a heavy chain. He sized the dragon, that ancient serpent- that is, the Devil, the Satan - and chained him up for a thousand years. The angle threw him into the abyss, locked it, and sealed it, so that he could not deceive nations anymore"

See for more detailed information regarding the thousand years Empire of Jesus Christ, the article "The thousand years Kingdom of Jesus Christ…Jesus Christ will be the king of this world…He will rule in Jerusalem"

Jesus Christ says,, I know what you are doing; I know that you have the reputation of being alive, even though you are dead! So wake up, and strengthen what you still have before it dies completely. For I find that what you have done is not yet perfect in the sight My God. Remember, then, what you were taught and what you heard; obey it and turn from your sins" (Revelation 3:2-3)