In the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24), Jesus provides us with numerous pieces of information that help us understand the times in which we live now. I'm aware that some commentators believe everything He spoke of in that chapter has already taken place, but I disagree. While Jesus was certainly talking about events that were not that far off into the future from His perspective (like the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70), He also looks way down the timeline to the days prior to His physical return, which will close the Tribulation period.
Anyone who knows anything about Preterism knows that those folks, by and large, believe Jesus returned "spiritually" in AD 70 in judgment against Israel, using the Roman armies for that purpose. The big problem with this view is that is completely counters what the angels stated to the disciples in Acts 1, where they noted that this same Jesus, who was just physically taken up into the clouds during His ascension, would come back to this earth in the very same way. The implication and intended meaning is that Jesus will return physically just as He left physically.
As far as Jesus is concerned, we know that throughout the Scriptures, the Bible speaks of the Messiah's physical coming to this earth. He certainly did that 2,000 years ago, but the religious leaders of Israel rejected Him as Messiah. He came to His own, and they received Him not. Many other portions of Scripture speak of His second physical coming and this is what Jesus is ultimately alluding to in His Olivet Discourse. It is during this enlightening discussion He holds with His disciples there that He provides them ultimately with 9 birth pangs that will lead up to His physical return. We want to begin covering those birth pangs in this and in our next installment and then we will move back into Revelation picking it up with Revelation 4. As usual, the video for this installment as well as the PDF notes used in the video are available at the link above, on SermonAudio.com and this article covers roughly the first 23 slides used so far.
Olivet Discourse
Found in:
Matthew 24
Mark 13
Luke 21
Moving toward a one-world government requires:
A complete economic crash
A severe food shortage
Civil wars rising to an unprecedented level
Club of Rome
Has divided the world up into ten areas
Daniel 7:23-24 “A fourth kingdom on earth, Which shall be different from all other kingdoms, And shall devour the whole earth, Trample it and break it in pieces. The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; Heshall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings.”
The fourth kingdom noted above will "devour" the entire world. This does not mean the "known" world because it is looking well into the future. It is referencing the entire world that this fourth and final kingdom will devour. In essence, Antichrist will ultimately rise as sole ruler of this coming world kingdom, which began and has ties to the very first kingdom noted in Daniel 2, ruled by Nebuchadnezzar. This first kingdom marks the beginning of the "times of the Gentiles."
The ten horns/ten kings are the same as the ten toes of Daniel 2. We simply have a bit more information here in Daniel 7 and...
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