Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Prophecies of the End Time
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Jeremiah 25:15-30
This is a tremendously broad commission to lay on one man's shoulders! His ministry embraced the totality of the biblical world, and some verses can be understood to encompass the entire world. Many of these nations had existed from the time God scattered the people by confusing the languages at Babel (Genesis 11). Did Jeremiah actually, in person, deliver this warning to these nations? We do not know because records are so rare. Jeremiah's writings include specific prophecies against Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Elam, Kedar, Hazor, and Babylon. Did he deliver these prophecies in person, or does the duality principle apply so that the literal fulfillment will occur in a time like ours, when rapid transportation and communication systems exist?
John W. Ritenbaugh
Prophecy and the Sixth-Century Axial Period
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Jeremiah 30:4-6
The period we live in is leading to the fulfillment of this prophecy. Notice that Israel and Judah are both named in it. When compared to the fact that Jeremiah lived over a hundred years after Israel went into captivity to Assyria, yet this prophecy is addressed to both Israel and Judah, it is understood that this an end-time prophecy. A time is coming when these troubles will come upon both the nation of Judah and the nations of Israel.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Trumpets Is a Day of Hope
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Ezekiel 16:27-30
It is helpful to remember that the book of Ezekiel indicates that its message applies to the end time. Clearly addressed to Israel, it was written more than a hundred years after the nation of Israel fell in warfare to Assyria and was transported into captivity. Ancient Judah heard its message, but Judah comprised only a small part of Israel. The majority of Israel never received this message, even though God addressed it to them. Through Ezekiel, God uses what happened before the prophet's time as the basis for end-time prophecies—histories written in advance to guide the end-time church of God. Ancient Israel has regrouped in what the media frequently refer to as "the West," and most of the end-time church is located within its boundaries. Because modern Israel's conduct has closely paralleled ancient Israel's, we can learn how God evaluates us and what will happen in the years ahead.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beast and Babylon (Part Six): The Woman's Character
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Amos 7:8-9
We need to remember that this was originally given to ancient Israel, and the wording applies first of all to the physical people of Israel. However, it contains a spiritual anti-type that we can apply to the end time. In both the type and the antitype, Christ is doing the judging. In the end-time fulfillment, this occurs right before the catastrophe of the Great Tribulation, the time of Jacob's Trouble when things will get really terrible. When the Lord stands on the wall, He says, "Look, this is what you have to be like. You have to be able to stand here next to this plumb line and measure yourself to the vertical to see how upright you really are." He also says, "I will not pass by . . . any more." This means that judgment is coming, and however this judgment falls, that is it! The first six verses of chapter 7 record two other visions. In those visions, the prophet had said, "Please God, Israel is such a small people. Will you please pass us by this time?" He means, "Will you please have mercy and not punish us?" and both times God replied, "Okay, Amos. Because you have asked Me for this, I will pass by." Now, in this vision of the plumb line, He says, "This time I am going to exact My judgment. I will pass sentence and execute the penalty." What does He pass sentence on? The "high places of Isaac" indicates idolatry, as do the "sanctuaries of Israel." He says He will "rise with the sword against the house of Jeroboam," meaning that He will wreak a great deal of vengeance upon the leadership of the nation for leading the people away from God and into disaster as they have. This is very serious. At the time of the end, when God appears with the plumb line, the end is at hand. His judgment will come soon. He is about to react violently, exacting the sentence that He knows is fair and necessary.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Two Witnesses (Part Five)
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Zechariah 4:1
This is interesting in terms of Matthew 25 and the Ten Virgins, who were asleep. The angel comes and has to waken the prophet out of sleep. Could there be some sort of a parallel? Perhaps. Yet, at this point, the prophet himself had to be awoken out of sleep. Maybe it is a key to the timing of the revelation of the Two Witnesses and the other events of the end time.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Two Witnesses (Part Four)
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Matthew 7:22
The "day" He is most specifically talking about is likely our day right now, because "in that day" is a common biblical phrase to indicate the end time.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Wisdom of Men and Faith
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Matthew 24:15-22
How will the days be shortened? Is God going to lessen time than would normally come? That is a part of the explanation. The implication, though, within the context, is that God will stop short what is occurring lest everybody be killed. If He allowed the events that were taking place to continue, everyone would die. When He stops the event, time in a sense stops—at least as far as this event is concerned. To whom are the pronouns referring here? Verse 15, "Therefore when you." Verse 16, "Then let those." Verse 17, "Let him."Verse 18, "Let him." Verse 19, "But woe to you." These pronouns refer to those who understand the prophecies and are alive at the time these things are taking place. How many people are involved? It is unspecified. One thing is clear. There is no doubt that, in this prophecy, deliverance involves flight (at least to those who are around Jerusalem during this unprecedented distress). In this case, to flee in no way implies flying. The verb here is phuego, and it means to flee, to escape danger. It indicates nothing other than escaping by running—shoe-leather express. The context of the chapter is "literal and physical." It is not "figurative and spiritual." It involves physical survival worldwide, though the prophecy itself focuses on Jerusalem. It is worldwide because verses 21-22 make it clear "that no one would be saved alive." He means no one on earth, not just that no one around Jerusalem would be saved alive. This time is so bad that even the elect would die, except for God's intervention. Notice that God, through His servant Jesus Christ, says, "Don't stay in the midst of the trouble—get out." Considering the timeframe, Psalm 91 would have to be modified to apply it directly to us, because our understanding from other portions of God's Word is that He expects us to get out, to flee to some designated place called "your chamber" or "her place." It involves segregating ourselves away from something. We can also understand that we will have help from God in segregating ourselves, as I Corinthians 10:13 indicates. He makes a way of escape that His people can take, just as He did for Israel. He opened up the Red Sea so that they could escape. They walked to safety, fleeing from the Egyptian army. Nevertheless, God intervened.
John W. Ritenbaugh
A Place of Safety? (Part 1)
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Matthew 24:22
This verse provides the most provable of the signs that we are living in the last days. It is instructive to see the clause, "no flesh would be saved," in other translations: James Moffatt: "not a soul would be saved alive."
The Four Gospels by E.V. Rieu: "no living thing would have escaped."
Amplified Bible: "no human being would endure and survive."
Revised English Bible: "no living thing could survive."
The New Testament by Kenneth Wuest: "all flesh would not be saved from destruction." We can infer a concrete meaning from this verse: The last days will be marked by mankind's ability to annihilate every living thing from the face of planet earth! If God does not step in, if He does not intervene in world affairs, the nations will fight until all life perishes! Is this possible today? The U.S. and Soviet Union just fought a 45-year Cold War during which both sides stockpiled enough nuclear weapons to erase life from earth 50 times over. That is overkill! Though the nations have reduced nuclear stockpiles in recent years, the current overkill factor is still more than enough to kill all flesh. Statistics from 1995 show that 40,640 nuclear weapons are still available to the five major nuclear powers: the U.S., Russia, Britain, France and China. Several other nations are known or thought to have nuclear capabilities: Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea, South Africa, Iran, Ukraine, and others. Today, the nations do not have just nuclear weapons at their disposal. Now they have chemical weapons, biological weapons, neutron bombs, and who knows how many secret weapons systems still yet unearthed by the media. Are we living in the last days? Yes, indeed! This one sign proves it conclusively, for at no other time in history has this been possible! Only since the advent of the atomic bomb in 1945 or the hydrogen bomb in 1952 has man had the knowledge and ability to wipe himself out!
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Are These the Last Days? (Part 1)
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Matthew 24:36
Just a few verses later, He tells His disciples, "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect" (verse 44, emphasis ours throughout). This is a massive hint that our understanding of biblical prophecy—as much as it has expanded over the last few decades—will still not be enough to remove the element of surprise from Christ's return! Paul also warns us in I Corinthians 13:9, 12, "For we know in part and we prophesy in part. . . . For now we see in a mirror, dimly." This principle suggests that we will not know for certain how things will work out as the end approaches. We understand in part, meaning we have a vague-to-rough idea of the course of events because of our insight into God's plan, but we cannot honestly be dogmatic about any speculative scenarios we devise. Every interpretation of end-time biblical prophecy should be accompanied with a proviso such as, "This is how things seem to be headed from what we understand right now."
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Prophecy's Place
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Luke 21:32
Which generation is "this generation"? Obviously, if we are to believe Scripture, it could not have been the generation of the apostles because "all these things" were not fulfilled in their lifetimes. By putting verses 31-32 together, we can conclude that "this generation" is the one that "see[s] these things happening." That is, the generation that recognizes the signs of the Olivet Prophecy being fulfilled is "this generation."
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Are These the Last Days? (Part 1)
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