The Complete Guide to End Time Bible Prophecy

Thomas Farr

• Publisher: URLink Print & Media, LLC
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781647532307
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Bibles

I became frustrated with experts on this subject who totally contradicted each other. They are all "experts", but someone is wrong! This made me question my own pet theories. So I discarded all my preconceived ideas and my denominational influences and studied purely from Scripture. I was able to learn many things that I had never known; things I had never heard of. I was able to tie all the loose ends together and arrive at a logical timeline of end time events. Things finally make sense!

CHAPTER 1

War with Damascus and Surrounding Countries and Israel’s Recovery

Matthew 24:4-8

We will start out with the words of our savior, Jesus the Christ as He spoke to us in Matthew 24:4-8. Here we will see that he is giving us, in a nutshell, a quick summary of events leading up to the time known as the tribulation period. Christ here refers to that time as “the beginning of birth pains” (NIV), or “the beginning of sorrows”, (KJV).

Matthew 24:4-8; [4] “Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. [5] For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. [6] You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. [7] Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. [8] All these are the beginning of birth pains.”

Here we have a quick summary of events leading up to the time known as the Tribulation. Notice that Christ states, “the end is still to come”. This is not the birth, but only the beginning of labor.

Lest there is any misunderstanding I do not believe that we are in the time of the beginning of labor yet. I suppose that I would call the time that we are in the “Braxton Hicks contractions” of prophecy. It makes you think that it’s here, its close, but this isn’t it. We will discuss our present time in chapter 13 of this book.

The rest of this chapter (and several others following this) will be expanding on the brief message that Christ has given us here. Supporting scriptures will fill in details.

In Revelation 6:1-8, I believe that God is giving us another summary of events of the beginning of birth pains. The parallels are uncanny. As we progress we will examine these parallels.

Revelation 6:1-8; [1] “I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” [2] I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. [3] When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” [4] Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword. [5] When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. [6] Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” [7] When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” [8] I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.”

I believe that the Antichrist will be intimately associated with the battle of Damascus, whether arising from it or instigating it; this isn’t sure, (probably instigating it because we see him mentioned first when both are listed), but he will be there.

As we begin we will examine events that will happen in “the beginning of birth pains” that our Lord told of in Matthew. One of the first events will be a battle between Israel and the Islamic countries surrounding Israel today. I will be referring to this as “the Damascus battle”, because Damascus will be a key player in this event.

This portion will introduce Damascus and its pivotal role that it will play in prophetic events. It will describe the battle, some of the participants and its immediate results.

Isaiah 17:1-11; [1] “An oracle concerning Damascus: ‘See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. [2] The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. [3] The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites,’ declares the LORD Almighty. [4] ‘In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away. [5] It will be as when a reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the grain with his arm- as when a man gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. [6] Yet some gleanings will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs,’ declares the LORD God of Israel. [7] In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy one of Israel. [8] They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made. [9] In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation. [10] You have forgotten God your savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, [11] though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain.”

We find in Isaiah 17:1 that Damascus is destroyed. It is a “heap of ruins”. Today, at the time of this writing, Damascus prides itself on being the oldest perpetually inhabited city on earth. It has never been a heap of ruins, or uninhabitable. But it is prophesied that it will “no longer be a city”. Since Damascus is the oldest perpetually inhabited city this verse is pivotal in prophesy. This is an indicator that points to a specific event. When it is mentioned that Damascus is destroyed it can only be referring to this event. This is why I refer to this conflict as “the battle of Damascus” even though many other cities and countries are involved.

In Isaiah 17:2 we find that “The cities of Aroer will be deserted”. The name means “ruins”, but by the context I believe that it is speaking of the condition of Syria after this battle rather than a group of cities especially since Aroer is a territory, not a city and the context is clearly speaking of Syria and Israel. There is also a place referred to as Aroer in the Gaza area. Interestingly, all these areas are mentioned in the context of the battle of Damascus, so what is being referred to here is really not important. They will all face destruction. This area will be deserted, a place for sheep to lie down in.

In Isaiah 17:3 we find that there will be much destruction.

First the “fortified city” or “fortress” (KJV) will disappear from Ephraim. Ephraim is in central Israel, north of Jerusalem. Damascus will lose its governing power over Syria. And the “remnant of Aram” (present day Syria) “will be like the glory of the Israelites”. This is showing that Israel will be nearly destroyed in this battle. This is the word of the “LORD Almighty”.

Isaiah 17:4 verifies this destruction. “In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away.” We find that Israel, the father of the nation known today as Israel was originally named Jacob. When God speaks of Jacob He is referring to Israel. It has been said that today Israel has threatened the “Samson option” of defense. This is that if Israel is threatened with certain destruction it will unloose all of its military capability, (presumed nuclear) rather than let anyone just walk over them. During the “Cold War” it would be likened to the idea of “mutually assured destruction” or “Better dead than Red”. This appears to be what happens here. It doesn’t say that this is what occurs, but it isn’t unlikely. I will not say that this is certain to occur, but it is a logical conjecture.

Isaiah 17:5 goes on with an illustration. It likens the destruction of Ephraim to a grain harvest. Even though the field is harvested there is always a little bit that is overlooked.

Isaiah 17:6 continues the thought with a likeness of olive harvest. No matter how thorough you may be, there’ll be some left. Not every one will be destroyed, but it will be close!

Isaiah 17:7 and 8 make an interesting statement. It says that “In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eye to the Holy One of Israel.” And Isaiah 17:8 elaborates on this thought by stating that they will not look to their idols, their false gods. By the wording it would appear that this is a revival of mankind in general. It doesn’t say, “Israel”. It says, “men” which would mean “mankind” and would include Jews. So we have “men” turning to “the Holy One of Israel” which would be Christ. But in short order they turn back again! We will find that humanity is deceived by the antichrist and turns their worship to him! They haven’t changed their heart. They only turn their eyes to Him, not their hearts! Only when God changes their hearts and Israel rids itself of its idols, with the help of God, is there true repentance as a nation that lasts. Isaiah 27:9 “By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned for, and this will be the full fruitage of the removal of his sin: When he makes all the altar stones to be like chalk stones crushed to pieces, no Asherah poles or incense altars will be left standing.” Only when the idols have been disposed of (and God will help with that!) will their repentance be complete. This isn’t speaking of only the idols of the ancient world; it is speaking of anything that becomes a God to a person, anything that will keep a person from God. The significance for the Jews is that they haven’t repented! So this is not the “Day of Atonement”, they have not, as a nation received Christ, but they may begin to consider Him. It seems likely that they are instead sidetracked at this time by the antichrist. But they are compelled to repopulate the land and annex the lands of their attackers. We will see this later in this chapter.

Isaiah 17:9 reiterates the destruction of the enemies of Israel, “because of the Israelites”.

Isaiah 17:10 then makes the heart breaking statement that, “You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress.” This could very likely be the satanic intervention of the antichrist deceiving them away from the true Christ. They haven’t had a change of heart. This also places this battle before the battle of Magog in Ezekiel 38, 39.

Because, as we will see in chapter 3, at the Magog war Israel does have a change of heart, they do repent! This repentance doesn’t happen here. When it does it will be a permanent condition, as we will see. Also as you will see in chapter 5 of this book, at this time there will be a “Foolish shepherd” set over them; (Zechariah 11:15-17) the antichrist. Because of their not turning to God in truth, their crops will fail. This is interesting because this goes hand in hand with Matthew 24:7, and Revelation 6:6 which both speak of famine. Isaiah 17:11 continues the thought of their crops failing because of their unbelief.

In this next portion we will find the participants in this battle listed. Here we will find a more detailed description of the battle itself. We will also find some reasons for the judgments being handed out by God. This portion will describe the destruction quite graphically, giving details that can best be related to modern warfare, making that possibility very likely.

Amos 1:3-2:3; [1:3] “This is what the LORD says: ‘For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because she threshed Gilead with iron sledges having iron teeth, [4] I will send fire upon the house of Hazael that will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad. [5] I will break down the gate of Damascus; I will destroy the king who is in the Valley of Aven and the one who holds the scepter in Beth Eden. The people of Aram will go into exile to Kir,’ says the LORD. [6] This is what the LORD says: ‘For three sins of Gaza, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom, [7] I will send fire upon the walls of Gaza that will consume her fortresses. [8] I will destroy the king of Ashdod and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, till the last of the Philistines is dead,’ says the sovereign LORD. [9] This is what the LORD says: ‘For...