{"id":1184,"date":"2018-01-30T17:32:58","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T16:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/?p=1184"},"modified":"2018-01-30T17:59:31","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T16:59:31","slug":"time-of-jacobs-trouble-approaching-israel-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/buch.jehovah-shammah.de\/index.php\/2018\/01\/30\/time-of-jacobs-trouble-approaching-israel-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Time of Jacob’s Trouble Approaching Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 2<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The sign of the end of the age\u2014a world war accompanied by famines, earthquakes and pestilences\u2014is God’s warning that the Tribulation, the time of Jacob’s Trouble, is approaching. Besides this sign, God in His Word has given us a number of additional signs that unmistakably identify the times in which you and I live as the closing days of this age.<\/p>\n


\n<\/span>
The Return of the Jews to the Land of Israel<\/i><\/center><\/center><\/p>\n

One of the most prominent signs of our times is the return of the Jews to the land of their fathers.<\/p>\n

The Lord entered into a special covenant with Abraham to give the land of Canaan to him and to his seed:
\n18 In that day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 19 the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, 20 and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, 21 and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite (Genesis 15:18-21).<\/p>\n

From this passage it is clear that the land promised to Abraham included the vast territory from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates. Though God promised this land to Abraham and his seed, he did not possess one foot of the soil. Nor have the Jews ever possessed all the land promised to them through Abraham. The writings of the prophets make it plain, however, that some day the Lord will give Abraham and his descendants all of the land He promised them. Beginning with Moses, many men of God have prophesied that the Jews would be scattered among the nations, where they would survive many cruel days; but at the end of those days they would return to the promised land and possess all of it.<\/p>\n

The prophet Ezekiel, saw his people scattered, and he also saw them returning to their land, in his vision of the valley of dry bones.<\/p>\n

According to Ezekiel chapter 37, the return of the Jews to the land is a process, a development, yes, a program\u2014as shown by the vision of the valley of bones.<\/p>\n

37 The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Jehovah, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 And he caused me to pass by them round about; and, lo, they were very dry. 3 And he said unto me, son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O lord Jehovah, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah. 5 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.<\/p>\n

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I beheld, and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.<\/p>\n

11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are all dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. 12 Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel, 13 And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and ye shall know that I Jehovah, have spoken it and performed it saith Jehovah (Ezekiel 37:1-14).<\/p>\n

In verse 11 the Lord reveals that these bones represent the whole house of Israel at the time they say, „Our hope is lost, we are clean cut off.“ Thus, this vision does not represent the entire nation through the centuries, but only at the time when the Jewish people have given up hope.<\/p>\n

What is the national hope of Israel?<\/p>\n

Instantly the orthodox Bible student will reply, „It is the hope of the coming Messiah, who is to be the Redeemer of the nation.“ Therefore, the prophet saw a time in the future when the Jews would abandon their national hope, giving up all interest in the reliance upon the coming of the Messiah.<\/p>\n

Since the Jewish people have held tenaciously to the hope of Messiah’s coming through the centuries what period in Israel’s history does Ezekiel’s vision represent? Has there been a time in history when a majority of the Jewish people lost their national hope?<\/p>\n

Those who are familiar with Jewish history know that the Jews largely lost their Messianic hope in these modern times after rationalism permeated Jewish life. Thus it is quite evident that the prophet was carried forward in vision and saw the nation of Israel at the present time.<\/p>\n

According to Ezekiel’s vision, at the time the majority of the Jewish people give up their national hope\u2014the coming of their Messiah\u2014something occurs that affects the nation and brings them together, just as the earthquake in the vision occurred and caused the movement which brought the bones together. Earthquakes and accompanying disasters are always destructive, something that will affect the Jewish nation materially, causing them to come together.<\/p>\n

Has anything occurred in the world to cause the Jews to come together?<\/p>\n

Everyone who is familiar with the events of World War I and its impact and effect upon the Jewish nation can understand what Ezekiel refers to. The great war and its aftermath affected the Jews to such an extent that they realized that they were unwelcome guests among the nations, and that their only hope of survival was to return to the land of their fathers. Thus the Zionist movement, which had been simply a little trickle of national hope and aspiration, was turned into a great stream of hope that flooded world Jewry.<\/p>\n

Some say that World War I prepared the land of Israel for the Jews, and that World War II prepared the Jews for the land. It is a fact that the return of the Jews to their land has been accelerated since World War II.<\/p>\n

As indicated by the coming together of the bones, the sinews appearing, the flesh growing upon the bones, and the skin forming over the flesh, this Bible passage sets forth the thought that there would be a gradual development of a movement to gather the Jews together that would be quickened by World War I with its aftermath.<\/p>\n

God uses men and means and natural occurrences to bring about the desired results. The human side of the situation and human efforts are set forth by the coming together of the bones, the binding of them together by the sinews, the appearance of the flesh with the skin. These are symbolic of efforts which the Jews alone put forth.<\/p>\n

But the breathing of life and vigor into these lifeless bodies by the Spirit of God represents a supernatural event\u2014the spiritual rebirth of every member of the house of Israel.<\/p>\n

Zephaniah, a prophet of the Lord God of Israel, commanded the Jewish people to gather themselves together in the end days of this age. Zephaniah prophesied:<\/p>\n

Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation that hath no shame; 2 before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Jehovah come upon you, before the day of Jehovah’s anger come upon you. 3 Seek ye Jehovah, all ye meek of the earth, that have kept his ordinances; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye will be hid in the day of Jehovah’s anger (Zephaniah 2:1-3).<\/p>\n

It is clear from this passage that members from the Jewish nation will gather together before „the day of the Lord’s anger“ comes upon the world. In fulfillment of this prediction, approximately two million Jews have already returned to the land of Israel. The state of Israel became a reality in 1948. The Jews in the land are doing marvelous things in spite of opposition and all but insurmountable obstacles. Israel today is a modern miracle of human planning, scientific execution, and indefatigable energy. Yet the present return to the land is not that full and complete restoration of which the psalmists sang and the prophet’s spoke. That will not take place until the dawn of the Golden Era.<\/p>\n

The fact that the Jews are returning to the land of their fathers is a most significant sign of the times.<\/p>\n


\n<\/span>
The Restoration of Ancient Babylon
\n<\/i><\/span><\/center><\/center><\/p>\n

Another sign if the times is the work that is being done to restore the ancient city of Babylon to its former splendor and beauty.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is recorded in the Bible that King Nebuchadnezzar, as he walked in his palace one day, looked out over the city of Babylon and exclaimed, „Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?“ The God of Israel had to punish the heathen king severely for his conceit and pride, to teach him that „the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will.“ But it was during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, in the sixth century B.C., that Babylon became the commercial, political and religious center of the civilized world.<\/p>\n

Babylon was a magnificent city, situated on both sides of the Euphrates River. Some historians estimate that it was spread over an area of 196 square miles. It was surrounded by a deep, wide moat filled with water. In addition, the city was protected by an outer and an inner wall; these may have been about 300 feet high and over 80 feet wide. The city had 100 bronze gates, 25 on each side. It was a city of temples and palaces, of two, three and four story houses, of straight, broad streets, of orchards, and gardens and parks.<\/p>\n

At the height of its glory it seemed like an invulnerable city that would live forever. But great Babylon finally died and was buried under dust and rubble for centuries.<\/p>\n

According to the Bible, ancient Babylon is going to be restored to unbelievable beauty and glory and power. It will become the capital of the world, and it will be the most wicked of all cities during the very end of this present age.<\/p>\n

John the apostle saw Babylon as the commercial center of the world during the close of this era and saw that it would be utterly destroyed (Revelation, chapter 18).<\/p>\n

According to Isaiah the prophet, „Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans‘ pride,“ will be destroyed in the day of Jehovah.<\/p>\n

Babylon is located in Iraq, in the middle east, about 50 miles south of Baghdad, near the city of Hillah. One can walk from Hillah’s train station to Babylon in about 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

Approximately 2,500 people now live in the village of Babylon. Its population has increased remarkably since 1958 because the Iraqi government is building homes and moving in workers to bring Old Babylon out of her dusty grave. The ancient city of Babylon is being „resurrected.“<\/p>\n

Babylon tops the list of ancient sites to visit in Iraq. The following is quoted from IRAQ\u2014A GUIDEBOOK, published by the Iraqi government in 1961:<\/p>\n

The most moving of the places to visit is undoubtedly the site of the ancient Babylon <\/i><\/span>which goes back nearly 4,000 years. Here time and the elements, as well as man himself, have worn away what was probably the most spectacular city of ancient times, with its <\/span>Hanging Gardens,<\/i><\/span> its mighty walls and gates, its palaces, its crowds, its religious rites and ceremonies and all the other trappings of power. Dominating the scene is the great Lion of Babylon, giving a suggestion of such ponderous and almost crushing strength as would be hard to duplicate in the sculpture of any other kind.<\/span><\/p>\n

… There are still many things to see in Babylon:
\nThe great Street of the Processions, the Ishtar Gate with the beautiful bas-reliefs of animals so cunningly contrived as to seem almost alive, but with that quality overlaying them that will always distinguish the work of art from the natural object, the huge temples of Easgila and Etemenanki, the latter, the famous staged tower, in all probability the Tower of Babel. When you stand among the ruins you are linked in a way with Hammurabi, with Nebuchadnezzar and with Alexander the Great …<\/p>\n

Hillah covers a part of the site of ancient Babylon. Urban and suburban Hillah have a population of about 85,000. The city is divided by the Hillah Branch of the Euphrates River into two sections. Its citizens identify their section by saying they live in either the „large side“ or in the „small side“ of Hillah. The larger and newer section lies west of the river. The „small side“ lies on the east. Babylon is about two miles northeast of the „small side.“<\/p>\n

Hillah is considered a wealthy city. It is principally an export center for grain\u2014wheat, barley and rice. Saddlery and handicraft are its chief industries. Its bazaars are large. Its environs are serenely beautiful, and its climate is mild and delightful. Hillah is growing rapidly. In fact, its population expansion is on a par with that of any prosperous city of the modern world.<\/p>\n

One of Hillah’s prominent citizens, an official of the Arab Students Organization, recently stated, „I believe Hillah will become a great center of attraction for the whole world. The government (Iraqi) is waking up to see the profit to be gained from the romance and lore of old Babylonia. As the government becomes more and more stable, greater funds and energies will be poured into the redevelopment of Babylon and surrounding area.“<\/p>\n

In harmony with this official’s statement is one of King Hussein’s. The Jordan king Recently said:<\/p>\n

The common destiny which we have [Arab World] envision, and for which we have committed our energies and our resources, is to forge ahead in the modern world, as speedily as we can, with a view to making the fullest contribution possible to the cause of world civilization … and to partake in the movement of human kind towards a richer and higher life for all.<\/p>\n

This is not, I assure you, a vain expression, but rather a deep-felt yearning which draws inspiration and sustenance from our history, our traditions and our sense of mission. The Arabs are probably one of the most history-conscious people in the world, and it is a history which is predominantly humane and creative, liberal and tolerant and distinguished as much for its ability to learn as to teach.<\/p>\n

In the very short period since our modern renaissance we have made far-reach progress in every walk of life …<\/p>\n

Jordan, Iraq and 11 other Arabic countries have become unified under the United Arab Republic within the last decade.<\/p>\n

The middle East is growing very rapidly in power and influence. Some modern historians, among them Dr. Toynbee, believe that the center of world political gravity is shifting eastward.<\/p>\n

If you are in doubt as to whether this age in which you live is drawing to a close, keep an eye on Babylon and on developments in the Middle East, especially Iraq.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Trend Toward a World Church <\/i><\/span><\/center><\/p>\n

Another sign of the times is the modern trend toward a World Church. The Bible clearly teaches that there will be one great World Church at the end of the age.<\/span><\/p>\n

This World Church is pictured in Revelation 17:1,2 as a „great harlot that sitteth upon many waters [ecclesiastical system supported by many of the inhabitants of the world]: with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and they that dwell in the earth were made drunken with the wine of her fornication [false religious teaching].“<\/p>\n

For almost as long as the Church of Jesus Christ has existed it has been divided on certain doctrines and practices. And as long as it has been divided there have been individuals and groups, at various times down through the years, who have longed to see it united. These have prayed, and preached and worked to unify the church. This movement has come to be known as the ecumenical movement\u2014<\/i><\/span>that which is concerned for the unity and renewal of the church.<\/span><\/p>\n

None of the efforts to unify the church was successful, however, until the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement.<\/p>\n

When did this modern movement begin?<\/p>\n

It is generally believed that it got its start during a Protestant missionary conference.<\/p>\n

Many missionaries on the foreign field learned that there were times when they had to pull together with other missionaries, even though their beliefs and practices might differ somewhat. They often needed each other’s help and encouragement. So missionaries from different denominational backgrounds learned to work side by side, and sometimes hand in hand.<\/p>\n

Out of this spirit of mutual concern and co-operation, the first World Missionary Conference was born. It was held in Edinburgh in 1910. The conference appointed a committee to continue the work of the conference. As a result, the International Missionary Council came into being in 1921.<\/p>\n

This was probably the first step taken in the modern ecumenical movement. Since then successive steps have been taken which are bringing the movement nearer to its goal\u2014the unity and renewal of the church.<\/p>\n

Not long after this, two other conferences came into being which have played a large part in the modern ecumenical movement.<\/p>\n

One was a Universal Conference on Life and Works which first met in Stockholm in 1925. This conference placed its emphasis on the social responsibilities of the church.<\/p>\n

The other was the World Conference on Faith and Order, which held its first conference in Lausanne in 1927. It met for the specific purpose of discussing those things on which the churches were divided.<\/p>\n

As these three groups held separate conferences, all working toward the same goal the unity of the church, it is obvious that a lot of work was being duplicated. But what could be done about it? Something could be done, and was.<\/p>\n

Out of conferences held by the three groups in 1937 and 1938 an idea developed. Why not form a World Council of Churches? The last two groups would merge; the first group, the International Missionary Council, would be associated with the World Council. The idea met with approval and plans for the merger were soon under way.<\/p>\n

World War II delayed the merger; but after the war was over, preparations for the merger were completed. The World Council of churches became a reality on August 23, 1948. In 1961, at the third assembly of the World Council of Churches, the International Missionary Council merged with the World council to form one great ecumenical body.<\/p>\n

The two great objectives of the World Council of Churches are the unity and the renewal of the church. The Council is not a church. It simply offers the various churches a means by which they may pray, talk and work together while striving toward the goal of unity. It has a growing membership, consisting of churches in all parts of the world.<\/p>\n

On the Roman Catholic front, Pope John XXIII was deeply committed to the cause of Christian unity. His successor, Paul VI, is carrying on where he left off. One of the long range goals of the Roman Catholic Ecumenical Council is to bring into one fold all of the people in the world who label themselves Christian.<\/p>\n

The Roman Catholic Church was greatly encouraged in its drive toward unity by the meeting in the Holy Land, early in 1964, of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras of the Orthodox Church. Life<\/i><\/span> magazine reported that „the Pope and Athenagoras, prayed together that Christians throughout the world\u2014not just members of the Catholic churches\u2014might be reunited.“<\/span><\/p>\n

The Protestant publication Christian Century<\/i><\/span> pointed out that by implication all Protestants in the World Council of Churches were involved in the meeting of Pope Paul with Patriarch Athenagoras, supreme leader of Eastern Orthodoxy.“ Whenever it (Eastern Orthodoxy) strengthens its ties to the World Council of Churches, Orthodoxy will pull the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches closer together,“ the paper said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr. John F. Walvoord, an evangelical Protestant leader who is opposed to the foundation of a World Church, made this observation in the Sunday school Times<\/i>: „Now, for the first time in the history of the church, the ecumenical movement is a major action toward unity with a goal, some claim, of bringing together all major elements of Christianity, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, and the Protestant bodies into one World Church.“<\/p>\n

The moves by both Protestants and Roman Catholics toward „Christian Unity“ are well worth watching. They are definitely a sign that we are in the last days and moving, perhaps slowly now, but with ever increasing speed, toward the World Church of the end days\u2014“the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters.“<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Trend Toward a World Government
\n<\/i><\/span><\/center><\/p>\n

Steps in the direction of a World Government are another sign of the times.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Daniel, the Hebrew prophet who lived in the sixth century B.C., prophesied that the nations would come up under a one-world government at the end of this age.<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniel was given a vision which troubled him greatly:<\/p>\n

2 … I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of heaven brake forth upon the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse from one another. 4 The first was a lion and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man; and a man’s heart was given to it. 5 And, Behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear; and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 6 after this I beheld, and, lo, another, like a leopard, which had upon its back four wings of a bird; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. 7 after this I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, a fourth beast, terrible and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it … (Daniel 7:2-7).<\/p>\n

While Daniel was troubled by the vision which he had seen, God, through an angel, gave him the interpretation of it:<\/p>\n

17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings [or kingdoms], that shall arise out of the earth. 19 Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast which was diverse from all of them, exceeding terrible … 23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces (Daniel 7:17,19,23).<\/p>\n

Many Bible scholars believe that history has recorded the fulfillment of three fourths of Daniel’s vision. The Babylonian (lion), Medo-Persian (bear), and Greek (leopard) kingdoms have had their hour of power and glory one after another, and have fallen to rise no more. The fourth kingdom is a type of government<\/i> that began with the rise of the Roman Empire to power and has continued in some part of the world ever since. At the very end of this age the fourth type of government<\/i> will „devour the whole earth,“ and the nations of the world will come up under a World Government.<\/p>\n

Years ago men considered the idea of a one-world government impracticable and impossible. But two world wars and modern methods of communication and travel have shrunk our globe. As a result, new attitudes are being formed.<\/p>\n

Soon after World War I was over, the League of Nations was founded to be a permanent organization through which the nations of the world could work together for peace and progress. But World War II brought an end to the League. Before that war ended, a new world organization for peace and progress was set up\u2014the United Nations. Today world leaders are trying to work together through the United Nations; and the majority of the nations are at least outwardly „united“ to try to keep the peace and to better the living conditions of the underprivileged peoples of the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

(Continued: Chapter 2-The Signs of the Times)<\/p>\n

Of course, the leaders, who created the United Nations were not seeking to form a World Government. The United Nations does not have executive, legislative, and judicial branches, which are the standard parts of government. Neither did the League. Nevertheless, both the League of Nations and the United Nations are steps in the direction of a World Government.<\/p>\n

And there are well-informed and influential men today who feel that a further step must be taken. They believe that a World Government is the only way to insure lasting peace among the nations.<\/p>\n

One advocate of World Government is Grenville Clark. The following quotation is from his article, „World Order: The Need for a Bold New Approach,“ which appeared in The Annals of the American academy of Political and Social Science, July 1961:<\/p>\n

As a first basic condition [for world order] I place the definite acceptance by the governments and peoples of the leading powers of the concept that world order requires the same kind of legislative, executive, and judicial institutions on a world scale as for the maintenance of internal order in local communities and within nations.<\/p>\n

So, keep Daniel’s prophecy in mind, and watch for a growing trend toward a one-world government. This is one of the signs that we are living close to the end of this age.<\/p>\n

In addition to his prophecy concerning a coming world government, Daniel gave two more signs by which the end days may be recognized. He prophesied that in the time of the end „many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased“ (Daniel 12:4).<\/p>\n

Modern Methods of Travel<\/p>\n

Daniel wrote that „many shall run to and fro,“ for God permitted him to see in vision men traveling at high speeds at the close of this age. But he was not the only Hebrew prophet who saw men running to and fro at high speeds at the close of this age.<\/p>\n

Ezekiel described airborne travel in military operations in the last days (Ezekiel 38:9).<\/p>\n

Isaiah saw the Jews flying to their homeland in the last days (Isaiah 60:8).<\/p>\n

Nahum saw what he called chariots dashing to and fro at tremendous speeds, having lights which reminded him of torches (Nahum 2:4). There is no doubt that God let Nahum see and prophesy automobile travel in the last days.<\/p>\n

Of course, all the statements the prophets made about their visions of the last days must be studied in their contexts.<\/p>\n

Until very recently the best methods of travel were very slow compared with the high speeds at which men run to and fro today. Surely these prophets who lived centuries ago described very accurately modern methods of travel in this 20th century.<\/p>\n

As recently as 40 years ago it caused excitement in a whole community when a family piled into a Model T Ford and a 200-mile trip. Today a family can board a jet and travel 2000 miles and no one pays them any attention.<\/p>\n

Travel is now in vogue. The New York Port of authority handled 22,856,000 travelers in the New York airports in 1964. According to U.S. News & World Report, people are taking longer vacations and are spending proportionally larger amounts each year for motor trips and foreign travel. Today men are running to and fro at high speeds in every part of the world! This is an important sign that we are living very close to the end of the age.<\/p>\n

Rapid Increase of Knowledge<\/p>\n

Linked with this sign is a second one\u2014the increase of knowledge in the last days. „Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.“ Daniel’s prophecy implies that the acquisition of knowledge will be accelerated as the end of the age draws near.<\/p>\n

If you have any doubts that this sign of the times is pointing directly to our day, just thumb through the pages of history. As you do, look for the most dramatic examples of the advances that have been made in the fields if industry, travel and transportation, communications, and medicine. You will turn many, many pages and cross thousands of years, and only now and then will you find a really great invention or medical discovery. As you approach the middle of the 18th century, however, you will come into a new era\u2014an era of progress in all branches of science.<\/p>\n

Why was progress in the past so slow?<\/p>\n

Because, until about 200 years ago man had not acquired the knowledge he needed to make rapid advances in industry, transportation, etc.<\/p>\n

Civilized man has never been satisfied with his existence. He has constantly worked to acquire more knowledge to help him open up new frontiers. He has always probed into everything he could to find new and better ways of doing things. He accumulated knowledge bit by bit, a little here and a little there through the centuries. But until fairly recently he had not acquired sufficient knowledge to relate and make practical use of the many seemingly isolated bits of knowledge he gained.<\/p>\n

He used fire to boil water, but for centuries he knew nothing of the power of the steam.<\/p>\n

He invented wheels, but thousands of years passed before he had the know-how to build an engine to turn the wheels.<\/p>\n

He knew a lot about pain and suffering, but only comparatively recently did he learn that microbes cause many of his illnesses.<\/p>\n

True, he was gaining knowledge and making progress all the time, but for a long time his forward march was very slow.<\/p>\n

Then about 200 years ago man began to relate and apply the knowledge he had acquired through the centuries with startling results. Invention followed invention and discovery followed discovery. Soon man’s way of life in the more progressive nations was completely changed, and it is still changing.<\/p>\n

Industry<\/p>\n

Since the middle of the 18th century increase in knowledge has brought about rapid progress in the field of industry. The first real progress was made in the spinning and weaving industry about 1770 with the invention of machines that could do the work of many men. This brought about the Industrial Revolution, for the use of machines soon spread to other industries. As bigger and better machines were made, industry grew and expanded.<\/p>\n

In this 20th century industry continues to grow and expand at an accelerated pace as researchers constantly gain and apply new knowledge. In 1963 American firms spent 16 billion dollars on research and development programs to acquire the know how to produce new and better machines and equipment. This statement concerning industry’s remarkable growth during the past 20 years was made in the United Nations publication World Facts and Figures: „The 1950’s [was] a decade in which economic progress was extremely rapid and in which the output of the mines and factories of the world rose to a level twice as high as the level of 20 years ago\u2014that is to say that the world’s industrial economy made as much absolute progress in those 20 years as it had in all of its history.“<\/p>\n

In other fields the picture of rapid progress due to increase in knowledge is the same.<\/p>\n

Communications<\/p>\n

One hundred years ago there were no telephones, motion pictures (the movie camera had not yet been invented), radios, or televisions sets. About the fastest means of communication available at that time was the telegraph. Then toward the end of the 19th century man’s knowledge in this field increased so rapidly that he was able to take some giant steps toward the modern fast and efficient means of communication we enjoy today.<\/p>\n

Bell took out a patent on his first crude phone in 1876. George Eastman came up with the Kodak in 1888. Thomas Edison invented the movie projector in 1893. About the turn of the century, man had acquired enough knowledge to produce radio. Television made its appearance almost 30 years later.<\/p>\n

Now you and I can telephone to the ends of the earth in a matter of minutes. And we can see pictures of current happenings in foreign countries, bounced off man-made satellites, right in our own living rooms via television. As knowledge increases, old methods of communication are being improved and new methods are being developed almost every day.<\/p>\n

Travel and Transportation<\/p>\n

Tremendous advances also have been made in methods of travel and transportation in the last century, as knowledge in this field has increased.<\/p>\n

Just 100 years ago there wasn’t even a Model T Ford on the market. There wasn’t a truck or bus on the road. There wasn’t an airplane soaring across the sky. Satellites and rockets to the moon made exciting science fiction, but few people expected them to become a reality. Then, a train ride was an exciting experience.<\/p>\n

Knowledge has been gained and applied so rapidly in this field within the past century, however, that today streamlined cars, high powered trucks and buses, and speedy jets are as common place as rice and potatoes. Space travel, too, is fast becoming a part of our everyday life. During 1960-63 astronauts orbited the earth hundreds of times, and plans are ahead for more flights into space. Right now American scientists are working on Saturn V, which they hope will carry men to the moon about 1970. With payload, Saturn V will be as tall as a 37-story building, will generate 7.5 million pounds of thrust in a cluster of five Rocketdyne engines, and will weigh six million pounds. Yet, according to U.S. News & World Report, „Six years ago [1958] the United States could not get a grapefruit sized satellite off the launch pad.“ „Knowledge shall be increased“!<\/p>\n

Medical Science<\/p>\n

Nor is medical science lagging behind.<\/p>\n

Just a little over 100 years ago no one was certain that microbes caused many of our diseases. Then Pasteur proved to himself and the world that tiny creatures too small to be seen by the naked eye were spreading disease and death.<\/p>\n

Since that time, increase in knowledge has made possible great strides in the field of medical science. X-rays, insulin, antibiotics, vitamins, and an effective polio vaccine are just a few of the discoveries that have been made in recent years.<\/p>\n

Today millions of dollars a year are being spent by the Cancer, Heart, Tuberculosis, and other Associations to gain knowledge that may eventually lead to the cure or control of the diseases that plague our society.<\/p>\n

Progress in medical science may seem slow to many of us, but it is almost unbelievably rapid compared with the progress made during past centuries. The following quotation from The Encyclopedia Americana spotlights the amazing increase in knowledge and the rapid advances that have been made during the first half of the 20th century:<\/p>\n

Medical Science has made extraordinary progress since 1900. Its effect may be measured by the increase of life expectancy, which during this brief period of history has been extended by one-third, representing an accomplishment greater than that achieved during the preceding 2000 years.<\/p>\n

„Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.“ Daniel’s prophecy concerning the end times is being fulfilled before our very eyes.<\/p>\n

Increase in Crime and Immorality, and Desire for Personal Gain and Pleasure<\/p>\n

Another sign of the times stands out in bold relief, spelling out that we live in the last days. This sign is the rising crime index, increase in open immorality, and love of material things that characterize our present day society. According to the Word of God, wickedness and a desire for the things of this world will be very prevalent in the last days.<\/p>\n

A careful examination of history shows that man’s evil, selfish nature has remained the same through the centuries. Some have erroneously thought that education, culture and refinement could change the nature of man, but they cannot. Men and women are as wicked today as they have ever been, as all right-thinking people will admit. Only God, the Holy Spirit, can refine and purify an individual within and without; the Holy Spirit does this work in the heart and life of the believer.<\/p>\n

Increase in Crime<\/p>\n

It is written in the Bible: „Wicked men and seducers shall grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived“ (II Timothy 3:13).<\/p>\n

Jesus taught that in the end days, just before He returns to the earth, wickedness will be great in the world. He compared the end days with the days of Noah, saying: „As were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man“ (Matthew 24:37-39).<\/p>\n

Jesus made reference to Moses‘ account of the moral and spiritual condition of the people in Noah’s day. Moses wrote of those days as follows:<\/p>\n

6 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born unto them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all that they chose. 3 And Jehovah said, My Spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he is also flesh: yet shall his days be a hundred and twenty years. 4 The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them: the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.<\/p>\n

5 And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented Jehovah that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the ground; both man, and beast, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah …<\/p>\n

11 And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me: for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth (Genesis 6:1-8, 11-13).<\/p>\n

In Noah’s day the wickedness of man was so great in the earth that „every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.“ Shortly before the flood came and destroyed most of the human race, man had become so corrupt that he was incapable or right thoughts or actions. Jesus said, „As were the days of Noah“ so shall it be in the end of the age.<\/p>\n

Psalm 92:6-9 throws a bright light on the moral and spiritual conditions of the world in the end time.<\/p>\n

6 A brutish man knoweth not; Neither doth a fool understand this:
\n7 When the wicked spring as the grass, And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; It is that they shall be destroyed for ever.
\n8 But thou, O Jehovah, art on high for evermore. For, lo, thine enemies, O Jehovah,
\n9 For, lo, thine enemies shall perish; All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.<\/p>\n

When the wicked come up as grass and the workers of iniquity thrive and prosper, it will then be time to destroy them from the face of the globe forever. Today the wicked are springing up on every hand, and workers of iniquity are flourishing. Thus, the 20th century is rapidly taking on many of the characteristics of Noah’s day. This is a sign of the times.<\/p>\n

Crime was rampant in Noah’s day, for Moses wrote of that day, saying, „The earth was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence,“ Jesus said, „As were the days of Noah“ so shall it be at the end of the age.<\/p>\n

Increase in crime, especially juvenile crime, is a growing problem throughout the world today. So great and universal has this problem become that United Nations‘ representatives of various nations have met to discuss this problem and try to find a solution to it.<\/p>\n

The Untied Nations held its Second Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders in London, in 1960. The following quotations are from the REPORT PREPARED BY SECRETARIAT of that Congress.<\/p>\n

The Rt. Hon. Viscount Kilmuir, Lord Chancellor of England … observed that the Congress was meeting at a time when the problems of crime were growing in gravity and the resources of treatment agencies were increasingly diversified. Crime in many countries was still increasing; in the United Kingdom, the number of indictable offenses in 1959 was more than twice as high as it had been before the Second World War. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the situation was the disproportionate increase of crime among young people at a time of unparalleled economic prosperity.<\/p>\n

The Rapporteur [Dr. Wolf Middendorff, Judge Freiburg in Breisgau, Federal Republic of Germany, making a report to open a debate on „New Forms of Juvenile Delinquency: Their Origin, Prevention and Treatment“] began by stressing that the question of „new“ forms of delinquency referred, not to completely new types of crime not generally known in the past, but to an increase in the extent, gravity, violence, number of participants, as well as to apparent lack of motive in existing forms of delinquency. The most important new developments were found to be the growing tendency of groups of juveniles to commit crimes, and that offenses reported from many countries ranged from unorganized mass riots to well-planned robberies and murders. There could be no doubt of the increase of juvenile delinquency practically everywhere …<\/p>\n

Mr. Perzweig [Head of the International Affairs Department of the World Jewish Congress] stressed the corroding influence of racial and religious prejudice and the bearing it had on the development of an adequate system of values and of the part such prejudice plays in encouraging delinquent behavior. He suggested that a reason for the increase in apparently motiveless types of juvenile delinquency was the existence in certain countries of a spiritual vacuum which needed to be filled. It seemed wrong to treat juvenile delinquency in isolation from society. It was a consequence of the failure of society, and a symptom of the disease in a sick society. Statistics and sociology should not be allowed to conceal the fact that there were deep-seated reasons for the present malaise.<\/p>\n

Mr. Takeuchi [Director, Criminal Affairs Bureau, Ministry of justice, Tokyo, Lecturing on juvenile delinquency in Japan] indicated that post war offenses against the penal code committed by juveniles had reached a peak in 1951. There had then been a downward trend in 1955, followed by an upswing to the highest post war figure in 1959. Since 1955, statistics showed an increase in offenses of a violent nature committed by juveniles, although there had not been a substantial increase in offenses against property. The number of traffic violations by juveniles had also shown a marked increase. The main characteristics of recent offenses by juveniles were as follows: an increase in offenses of physical violence and of offenses committed in groups by younger juveniles; a greater number of the older juvenile offenders came from upper-and middle class families. Moreover, unmotivated offenses had shown signs of increase.<\/p>\n

Crime in the United States has increased steadily over the years. According to the F.B.I. during the years 1958-63 U.S. crime increased five times faster than the gain in population. Crime climbed 40%; population gain was only 8%. For all criminal acts, excluding traffic offenses, the nationwide increase in arrests of persons under 18 was 11% greater in 1963 than in 1962. For the country as a whole, persons under 18 years of age comprised 17% of all the police arrests for criminal acts. For the offenses that relate to criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft these young persons were represented in 46% of the arrests nationally.<\/p>\n

Increase in Immorality<\/p>\n

Throughout the world today, while crime is rocketing, morality is plummeting. Open immorality is becoming more and more prevalent everywhere.<\/p>\n

Immorality was as rampant as crime in Noah’s day, for Moses wrote of that day, saying: „Every imagination of the thoughts of his [man’s] heart was only evil continually … [and] the earth was corrupt before God.“ Jesus said, „As were the day’s of Noah“ so shall it be in the end of the age.<\/p>\n

There is much evidence that present-day society has produced an unusually great and ever-growing number of dishonest executives, untrustworthy employees, pandering government officials, overly-indulgent parents, unchaste high school and college students, call-girl housewives, juvenile delinquents, dope addicts, racists, terrorists, etc. etc. The time is soon coming, if it is not already here, when it can be said of great hosts of people that every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts is only evil continually.<\/p>\n

General lawlessness is greater in this decade, according to the Most Rev. Author Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury. He believes that men are losing their sense of duty and of obligation and truthfulness.<\/p>\n

The Texas Department of Public Safety Director Homer Garrison, Jr., says that there is „a general weakening of the moral fiber of the over-all population.“<\/p>\n

„You don’t need to be a puritan to sense that moral standards have slackened,“ declared Mr. Frederick R. Kappel, chairman of the board of American Telephone & Telegraph Company, at recent news conference. He continued, „It is hard to escape the feeling that things are worse than they used to be … to a great extent, nowadays, people simply seem to take misbehavior in stride. They don’t get up in arms about it.“<\/p>\n

J. Edgar Hoover recently stated that many persons are so preoccupied with selfishness and greed they no longer know where honor stops and dishonor begins. In an F.B.I. Law Enforcement Bulletin, he wrote: Morality is one of the more perplexing and controversial problems facing our nation … because of individual and collective moral cowardice in society. We do not have the courage to stand in conflict with the mad rush for material wealth, indulgence and social prestige. Many persons are so preoccupied with selfishness and greed they no longer know\u2014nor care for that matter\u2014where honor stops and dishonor commences. Others are simply confused. Rationalization and double standards have so clouded some moral principles that right and wrong are no longer clearly distinguishable.<\/p>\n

Because of this rationalization, of which Mr. Hoover wrote, many are turning away from divine and wholesome moral standards, and are becoming victims of what some call an orgy of open-mindedness. In this state no supreme moral authority exists. Its victims are guided only by conscience. Their rule of conduct has been aptly stated by the late Ernest Hemingway: „What is moral is that you feel good after, and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.“ Under such a code a great many people are willfully living in an anarchy of wickedness. For „the heart [conscience] is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?“ (Jeremiah 17:9.)<\/p>\n

Sexual promiscuity is probably the surest gauge to use to measure the decline of morality and the effect of this orgy of openmindedness.To some extent sexual promiscuity is blighting every civilized society in the world today.<\/p>\n

Anglican Bishop Cuthbert Bardsley told the 64th national conference of the Church of England Men’s Society that abuse of freedom in drama, literature, radio, and television has produced a „sexually sick society“ in Great Britain. He called on Christians to return to the divine moral law of the Ten Commandments and to discard the „attractive doctrine that no absolute moral standards are any longer credible or possible.“<\/p>\n

The bishop warned that history shows that the decline of civilization begins with a decline in moral and ethical standards. „Sexual license, in particular,“ he said, „has been a fruitful cause of moral decay which has been nonetheless real, although the intellectuals of the time have justified it on the grounds of progressive thought.“<\/p>\n

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale reported that „a young minister was bowled over recently when the president of the youth department of his church, with whom he was discussing moral questions, came right out with crass admission that he was in the habit of having sex relations every weekend with teenage girls in the Sunday school as a matter of routine. The shocked pastor instituted a survey in a class of 30 high school students and found only five who asserted they did not go in for sex affairs. The other said they did ‚more or less‘ and ‚couldn’t see any wrong in it.‘ ‚It was the usual thing on a date,‘ they said. ‚What do you want us to be, anti-social or something?‘ they challenged.“<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

(Continued: Chapter 2-The Signs of the Times)<\/p>\n

According to these young people it is socially acceptable for young folk to have premarital sexual intercourse. A French scholar observed that freedom of sexual intercourse between young men and women is fully accepted in America.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, a Danish psychiatrist wrote that she had interviewed hundreds of women of her country about sex matters. Of the ones she talked with, only 1.4 per cent were still virgins when they married. In 1963 eight per cent of the births in Denmark were illegitimate. Abortion is legal in Denmark.<\/p>\n

A U.N. correspondent revealed that among teenagers on the East European scene, sex experiences are casual. in Hungary in 1961 there were 20 percent more abortions than natural births. In Budapest hospital abortions outnumbered natural births four to one during that year.<\/p>\n

Pornographers are working fervently stimulating sexual promiscuity in our society. Their filthy and wicked pictures, literature and devices are getting into the hands of thousands of youngsters. It is reported that one firm in Los Angeles, California, dealing in pornographic materials spent $225,000 for one mailing. Read the article in February 1964 issue of Reader’s Digest, „The Battle Against Mail-Order Pornography.“<\/p>\n

Present-day sexual promiscuity certainly indicates that we are living in the end of this age. Jesus taught, „As were the day’s of Noah“ so shall it be in the end of the age. Sexual promiscuity flourished in Noah’s day, as it is recorded in Genesis 6:4: The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that when the sons of God came unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them: the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.<\/p>\n

Very sobering information is given in one of Dr. Peale’s articles. He wrote that „Professor J.D. Unwin of Cambridge University … made a study of 80 civilizations ranging over a period of 4,000 years and concluded that a society either chooses sexual promiscuity and decline, or sexual discipline, which produces a surge of creative energy. Wrote Dr. Unwin, ‚Any human society is free to choose either to display great energy, or sexual freedom; the evidence is that they cannot do both for more than one generation.'“<\/p>\n

Since the present generation has chosen to follow immorality, there is little hope that the next generation will not follow in their footsteps. „Like father, like son.“<\/p>\n

Educators, sociologists, and theologians recognize that no previous generation of young people has had such an enormous and detailed amount of information made available to it concerning scientific facts. And probably none has been left so ignorant of, and so undisciplined in, ethical behavior. Also, there has never been a time in history when man was so free to perform the dictates of his own mind.<\/p>\n

It is frightening to realize this, for a growing number of young people are using their God-given power to exercise their intelligence and make their own decisions, and they are doing so independently of God, Who is the source of all wisdom and righteousness. These are becoming victims of the orgy of openmindedness. Seeds of uncontrolled indulgence are being planted in the minds of many, and are producing an enormous crop of freethinkers.<\/p>\n

It has been predicted that society may come up with a „new moral code.“ If the present trend continues, any „new moral code“ that society may adopt will be founded on the standards of godless freethinkers. Such a code would be far below the wholesome and uplifting moral code given in God’s Word, the Bible.<\/p>\n

In Noah’s day godless society formed its own moral code, so that it is written of them, „the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.“ Jesus taught: „As were the days of Noah“ so shall it be in the end of the age. In the end days more and more men will cast off moral restraint and immorality will be rampant.<\/p>\n

The Bible prophesies that a generation will arise with its own moral code\u2014everyone’s actions will be pure in his own eyes. In Proverbs 30:11-14 it is written:<\/p>\n

11 There is a generation that curse their father, And bless not their mother. 12 There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, And yet are not washed from their filthiness. 13 There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up. 14 There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, To devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.<\/p>\n

Is the generation described above living today? It is frightening to think what its „moral code“ will be.<\/p>\n

Mankind’s Inordinate Desire for Personal Gain and Pleasure<\/p>\n

In addition to the increase in crime, and the decline in morality, more and more men and women are becoming obsessed with the desire for personal gain, material things, and pleasures of this world. The next time you read your newspaper, compare the following quotation with the day’s news. This was written over 1900 years ago, yet the author describes perfectly our present-day society.<\/p>\n

3 But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; 5 holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof: from these turn away, 6 For of these are they that creep into houses, and take captive silly women laden with sins, led away by divers lusts, 7 ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (II Timothy 3:1-7).<\/p>\n

These seven signs of the times indicate that we are living in the closing days of the present age. Besides these, the Bible prophesies other signs that will be manifest during the last days. According to the Bible, demonism will flourish in the last days. Faith in God will become rare. Atheists will increase in number. Scoffers at the truth that the Messiah of Israel is coming will grow in number. Extraordinary catastrophes in nature\u2014great storms, tidal waves, monsoons, etc.\u2014are to be expected in the last days.<\/p>\n

The Bible also teaches that there will be a breakdown in family life among the Jews in the end days. Early in 1964, Mr. Maccabee, editor, Jewish Information, wrote,<\/p>\n

While our culture should strive to accept the best from that of our neighbors, we should reject and resist the worst, such as: The trend toward broken homes and divorce. Although our standards are still higher than that of our non-Jewish neighbors, the trend seems to be downward. The trend toward illegitimacy, juvenile delinquency and violence unheard of among the closely knit Jewish communities in the Europe of yesteryear.<\/p>\n

The Lord said, „Behold, I will send you [Jews] Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah [the Tribulation] come. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers“ (Malachi 4:5,6).<\/p>\n

The Bible is the infallible Word of God. It is true, and it will be fulfilled before our eyes. Most of the signs of the end times, which were prophesied in the Bible centuries ago, are becoming a reality today. If only one or two of these signs were evident, it would be impossible for us to say with assurance, „This is the end of the age.“ However, practically all of these are occurring simultaneously today; this is ample evidence that we are living near the end of the age and the Time of Jacob’s Trouble is approaching.<\/p>\n

The signs of the times definitely show that we are living in the last days of this age. In the not too distant future an unprecedented time of trouble is coming upon the world. Therefore, it is important for every man, woman and young person to know what is in store in the terrible time that lies ahead.<\/p>\n

The remainder of this book sets forth God’s purpose in sending His judgments upon the world, tells His way of escape from that terrible time, and gives a comprehensive account of what the Bible teaches about the Tribulation\u2014the Time of Jacob’s Trouble.<\/p>\n

\n

Chapter 3
\n<\/b><\/span><\/span>

\n<\/b>
THE THREE-FOLD PURPOSE OF THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE<\/b><\/center><\/p>\n


\nGod is directing the course of history toward a goal\u2014a perfect world. During the Tribulation, a short period of seven years, He will clean up this world and set things in order for the perfect world that is to come.<\/p>\n

When that perfect world becomes a reality, the Eternal God will reign in His sovereign strength as King over the whole earth. Justice and righteousness will be the scepter of His throne. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory [majesty and power] of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Men will know and see the majesty and power of the Lord, because they will see everyone receiving justice, men caring for one another in love, and the whole creation running smoothly. During the Golden Era the will of the sovereign God will be done upon earth even as it is in Heaven.<\/p>\n

Now, men in general cannot see or comprehend the majesty and power of the Lord because their minds are perverted. They do not want to do the will of God. Instead, they are disobedient toward Him, selfish, unjust, wicked, war-loving; and they are an easy prey to the Devil, who works upon their perverted minds to deceive them. Besides this, they cannot see the majesty and power of the Lord because the world is in such a chaotic state. Only God can transform men’s minds and bring this world out of chaos. <\/span><\/p>\n

What God Will Do in the Tribulation<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

During the Tribulation God will step in and show men how vain their selfish interests are. He will overrule the injustices of men, destroy the wicked, stop all wars, imprison the Devil and create new heavens and new earth.<\/p>\n

God will pour out His wrath upon the world during the Tribulation. He will also extend abundant mercy to all who call upon His name in sincerity and truth in that day; they will experience His goodness and lovingkindness. The prophet Nahum made the following statement to that effect:<\/p>\n

2 Jehovah is a jealous God and avengeth; Jehovah avengeth and is full of wrath; Jehovah taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. 3 Jehovah is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means clear the guilty: Jehovah hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet … 6 Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him. 7 Jehovah is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that take refuge in him (Nahum 1:2,3,6,7).<\/p>\n

God has a threefold purpose in sending the Tribulation judgments upon the world and its inhabitants. In order to better understand His threefold purpose in sending the Tribulation, it is important to consider carefully five basic Bible teachings given below.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Five Basic Bible Teachings
\nThe First\u2014 <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The Bible teaches the plurality of divine personalities in the Godhead.<\/i><\/p>\n

Moses commanded his people saying: „Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah“ (Deuteronomy 6:4). The literal translation of this passage reveals that Moses said, Jehovah [the Eternal], our Gods, is Jehovah a unity. In other words, Moses taught the plurality of divine personalities in the Godhead.<\/p>\n

God has established His throne in the heavens and His kingdom rules over all. He performs His will in the world, not by power, nor by might, but by His Spirit. God Himself will enter the world at the end of the Tribulation in human form to smite the earth and slay the wicked.<\/p>\n

To understand how God can rule in heaven, perform His will in the world by His Spirit, and enter the world in human form, we must honestly consider the plurality of divine personalities in the Godhead.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n


\nThe Second Basic Bible Teaching<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

God revealed His character in a sevenfold statement to Moses. This is found in Exodus 34:6,7:<\/i><\/p>\n

6 And Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth; 7 keeping lovingkindness for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.<\/span><\/p>\n


\nThe Third Basic Teaching<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

God is sovereign.
\n<\/i>
\nGod will not give His glory to another. He has established His throne in the heavens and His kingdom rules over all. Angels, mighty in strength, fulfill His Word. All the nations are as nothing before Him; they are counted by Him as less than nothing. He rules by His might forever; His eyes observe the nations; let not the rebellious exalt themselves. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nought; He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n


\nThe Fourth Basic Bible Teaching<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

God gives to all His creatures\u2014intelligent, rational beings both in heaven and on earth\u2014the power of free choice and the exercise of the will for good or evil. But He must, because of His dominant characteristics\u2014holiness, punish those who willfully choose evil instead of good.<\/i><\/p>\n

God does not force the will of anyone. He allows each one to make up his own mind and act according to his preferences and choices. When an individual persists in choosing to live a godless, wicked life, however, God ultimately will have to send down His wrath upon him.<\/p>\n

God pours out His wrath from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who in their wickedness choose to hinder the truth. („The sum of thy word is truth“- Psalm 119:160.) This is stated in Romans 1:18,19: „For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness; because that which is known of God is manifested in them; For God manifested it unto them.“<\/span><\/p>\n


\nThe Fifth Basic Teaching<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

God is love, and He is holy. Since God is love, He loves man in spite of his sinful condition; since He is holy, He cannot look upon nor overlook sin. It was, therefore, necessary for Him to provide a means by which He could save sinful man from eternal death which would satisfy both His love and His holiness. The following Bible verses show how God accomplished this:<\/i><\/p>\n

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son (Hebrews 1:1,2, New ASB ).<\/p>\n

Christ [Messiah, God’s only begotten Son] died for our sins [the sins of the world] according to the Scriptures … He was buried , and … He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (I Corinthians 15:3,4, New ASB).<\/p>\n

When He [Jesus Christ] had made purification of sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high … having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him (Hebrews 1:3; I Peter 3:22, New ASB).<\/p>\n

The gospel [good news that Christ died for our sins] … is the power of God for salvation to every one who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16, New ASB).<\/p>\n

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, „Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed (Romans 10:9,10, New ASB).<\/p>\n

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16, New ASB).<\/p>\n

God’s Son Jesus Christ, Who is Israel’s Messiah and the Savior of the world, accomplished redemption for us on the cross of Calvary by shedding His life’s blood in our behalf.<\/p>\n

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\nThe First Purpose Of The Tribulation\u2014
\nTo Cause the Inhabitants of the World to Learn Righteousness<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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Though God is merciful, gracious and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, Exodus 34:7 declares that „he will by no means clear the guilty.“ He cannot pass lightly over sin and forget about it. Because wickedness will be great in the earth in the end days, God will have to pour out His tribulation judgments upon the world and its inhabitants. As we mentioned before, God has a threefold purpose in sending the Tribulation\u2014The Time of Jacob’s Trouble.<\/p>\n

In this day and time, as the world travels toward the Great Tribulation, men in general are seeking satisfaction in the possession of material goods and the enjoyment of worldly pleasures. More and more men feel their independence of God, and the number will increase as this age draws to a close.<\/p>\n

Because God loves all men in spite of their sin, He will not cast all of His wayward creatures in one lot and destroy all of them during the Tribulation. He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. God knows everyone’s heart. He knows that some wayward souls can be turned to their maker during the Tribulation. He knows that as He sends the terrible tribulation judgments, they will cause a host of men to turn from<\/i> their selfish desires and worldly pleasures to Him, the living God.<\/p>\n

Myriads will enter the Kingdom of God during the Tribulation. They will come to the Savior and will be „born again.“ The Scriptures declare: „Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born anew [from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God … That which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:3,6).<\/p>\n

Multitudes of the earth’s inhabitants will be touched and influenced by the judgments of the Tribulation to seek the Lord. This is shown in Isaiah 26:9 „With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee earnestly: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.“<\/p>\n

Isaiah 26:9 teaches that God’s judgments poured out upon the world will cause the inhabitants of the earth to learn righteousness. This is the first purpose of the Tribulation.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

How will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

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In order for us to learn righteousness, men must hear the message of righteousness and accept it. From whom will men hear the message of righteousness during the Tribulation?<\/p>\n

Revelation chapter 7, reveals that near the beginning of the Tribulation 144,000 Jewish servants of God will be sealed\u201412,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel.<\/p>\n

These 144,000 Jewish men will have a head knowledge of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ before the Tribulation judgments begin. After the Tribulation begins, they will believe God’s Word, repent of their sins, believe in Jesus as their Messiah, Saviour and Lord, and experience the new birth. God will call them and send them forth as His bond servants. Since they will already have a head knowledge of the Bible, God will flood their minds and souls with light and truth, and will empower them with His Holy spirit. As mighty teachers, like the apostle Paul, they will go throughout the world calling men to repent of their sins and have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

God allowed the writer of the book of Revelation, the apostle John, to see in vision the 144,000 Jews and the results of their teaching:<\/p>\n

9 after these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands; 10 and they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. 11 and all the angels were standing round about the throne, and about the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, 12 saying, Amen: Blessing and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. 13 and one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These that are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and whence came they? 14 And I say unto him, My Lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they that come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:9-14).<\/p>\n

John was amazed when he saw this great multitude standing before the throne of God. It is clear that this innumerable host of people will be brought to God during the great Tribulation, the period of God’s wrath, as a result of the teaching of the 144,000 Jewish servants of God. They will wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. In other words, they will have their sins washed away by the precious blood of Christ during the Tribulation because they will put their trust in Him. People are saved, or cleansed from their sins, in exactly the same way today.<\/p>\n

The statement „… when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness,“ studied in the light of related Bible passages, surely teaches that the major portion of the inhabitants of the world will hear the good news that Christ died to save sinners. The greater number of them will come to know the righteousness of God. They will experience regeneration.<\/p>\n

The almighty God knows what He is doing in sending His tribulation judgments upon the world. The Great Tribulation will not be simply an expression of His wrath and indignation against sin. Rather it will be the showing of His overwhelming, yearning, passionate love for the souls of men
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\nThe Second Purpose of the Tribulation\u2014
\nTo Rid the World of Wickedness and Wicked Ones<\/i>
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Although a great host will turn to God during the Tribulation, the time of Jacob’s trouble, some will have hearts so callused by sin that the terrible judgments of that day will only harden them more. Instead of repenting of their sin, they will grow increasingly wicked. They will hate God, curse Him, and openly defy Him.<\/p>\n

These wicked ones will come up under a certain wicked and godless leader, during the Tribulation. He will claim to be God and will demand that all the peoples of the world worship him. The Bible calls this wicked one antichrist.<\/p>\n

God will destroy all the wicked ones of the world and will rid the world of wickedness during the seven years of the Time of Jacobs Trouble. This is the second purpose of the Tribulation.<\/p>\n

<\/i>God told King David of the time He will destroy all the wicked. David sang as if this had already taken place, because he knew that with God it was already accomplished. He sang, „Thou hast rebuked the nations, thou hast destroyed the wicked; thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever“ (Psalm 9:5)<\/p>\n

God told Isaiah of the time He will rid the world of wicked ones and wickedness. Isaiah spoke about that time in these words: „The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall sway to and fro like a hammock; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again“ (Isaiah 24:20).<\/p>\n

God revealed to the apostle John that at the end of the seven years of tribulation Satan will be taken out of the world and locked up. John’s vision is recorded in Revelation 20:1,2: „And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 and he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.“<\/p>\n

So when the seven years of God’s judgments are ended, the second purpose of the Tribulation will have been accomplished\u2014the world will be free of wickedness and wicked ones.
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\nThe Third Purpose of the Tribulation\u2014
\nTo Break the Power of the Holy People<\/i>
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God has yet another purpose in pouring out upon the world one judgment after another during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. A messenger from heaven informed Daniel that the tribulation judgments will continue till they break the power (will) of the holy people.<\/i> The messenger said, „and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power [will] of the holy people, all these things [tribulation judgments] shall be finished“ (Daniel 12:7). This is the third purpose of the Tribulation.<\/p>\n

<\/i>Who are the „holy people“? The term the holy people<\/i> means a particular people set apart for God’s service. In the Tenach, the Old Testament, it refers to the Jewish people. The one in whom we live and move and have our being defined His purpose in creating the Jewish people with these words: „… My people, my chosen, the people which I formed for myself, that they might set forth thy praise“ (Isaiah 43:20,21) .<\/p>\n

God began the Hebrew race<\/i> with the miraculous birth of Isaac. Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah after their bodies were as good as dead (Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90).<\/p>\n

God promised Abraham that He would bless all nations through him and his seed, „the holy people.“ He confirmed His promise to Abraham’s son, Isaac, and to his grandson, Jacob. (Read Genesis 12:1-3; 18:18; 22:17,18; 26:4 and 28:14.) God selected Abraham and\u2014his literal seed, the Jewish people, and his supreme seed, the Messiah\u2014through whom to channel His favors and benefits to the rest of the world. He loves all men equally, but He chose the Hebrew race<\/i> to be the channel through which love might flow out to all people. In other words, He created the Jewish people expressly to minister the things of God to the Gentile nations.<\/p>\n

Jehovah told Moses that the children of Israel will be ministers of God:<\/p>\n

19 In the third month after the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 and when they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mount. 3 And Moses went up unto God, and Jehovah called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: 4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles‘ wings, and brought you unto myself. 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine: 6 and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and, a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel (Exodus 19:1-6).<\/p>\n

Note carefully, the children of Israel shall be unto God a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. Not only one of the 12 tribes will be priests of the Lord, but the whole nation shall be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.<\/p>\n

<\/i>Immediately after Moses delivered the above message to his brethren, „all the people answered together, and said, All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do“ (Exodus 19:8).<\/p>\n

Through Moses, God commanded His people, saying:<\/p>\n

2 I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them … (Exodus 20:2-5).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

„The Holy People“ Disobey God <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Within a very short time the Jewish people went back on their solemn promise to obey God’s Word and disobeyed the above commandments.<\/p>\n

The Lord had called Moses to the top of Mount Sinai. When he did not return to the people for a time, they began to get restless. After gathering together, they went to Aaron and asked him to make them an image to worship:<\/p>\n

32<\/b> … Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not is become of him 2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. 3 And all the peoples brake off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4 And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it a molten calf; and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 5 and when Aaron saw this, he built an alter before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to Jehovah. 6 and they rose up early in the Morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 7 and Jehovah spake unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, that thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: 8 they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed unto it, and said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 9 And Jehovah said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people: 10 now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. 11 And Moses besought Jehovah, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, that thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying, For evil did he bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. 14 and Jehovah repented of the evil which he said he would do unto his people (Exodus 32:1-14).<\/p>\n

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„The Holy People“ Went Repeatedly Against God’s Will<\/i><\/p>\n

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Beginning with the book of Exodus through the rest of the Old Testament, one record after another shows that the children of Israel, as a nation, have set their hand against their Creator and have gone against His will.<\/p>\n

As a nation they have served God only intermittently down through history. Their history has followed a pattern. First, they forsook God. Next, He turned them over to a foreign power. Then while under oppression they repented of their sin and rebellion and cried for deliverance. Finally, the Lord heard them, delivered them from their enemies and brought them back into fellowship with Himself.<\/p>\n

Examples of five such cycles are found in the Book of Judges.
\nFirst Cycle – Judges 3:1-11
\nSecond Cycle \u2014 3:12-30
\nThird Cycle \u2014 3:31-5:31
\nFourth cycle 6:1-8:35
\nFifth cycle -10:3-12:6<\/p>\n

God exercised much patience toward the Jewish people through many cycles. He tenderly cared for them through each one in the hope that they would turn to Him and serve Him. When they persisted in their stubborn refusal to turn to Him, however, His wrath finally arose against them, till there was no remedy.
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\n

weiter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 2 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES   The sign of the end of the age\u2014a world war accompanied by famines, earthquakes and pestilences\u2014is God’s warning that the Tribulation, the time of Jacob’s Trouble, is approaching. Besides this sign, God in His Word has given us a number of additional signs that unmistakably identify the … <\/p>\n

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