The Antichrist's 7-Year Treaty & Israel's Great Escape

Welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a 30-minute walk through the Scriptures, teaching in-depth Bible truths that change people's lives. Now here's your host, Les Feldick. Good afternoon for all of those of you here in the studio, and as we announced I think a couple of weeks ago, we'd like our television audience to realize that we put four of these programs together in one afternoon, consequently you'll see the same faces four weeks in a row, and I guess the most important thing I'm concerned about, people probably think I've only got one shirt, but this is all just done in one afternoon, and we make four programs out of it, and we just have a good time, have a coffee break between each program. We always like to emphasize we are just an informal Bible study, we have no axe to grind, we don't condemn others who may not agree with us, and neither do we twist arms and say you have to see things the way we see it. We just like to teach the Word, and encourage people to get into the Book and study it on their own. As I pointed out in one of my classes the other evening, most of us have been so brainwashed that we think a lot of things are in here, and they aren't. We think they ought to be in certain places where they aren't, and so this becomes just as important in Bible study as to not only see what is here, but realize that a lot of times there are some things that aren't in here, which we may have thought really were. Well again I'd like to welcome the people in the Oklahoma City area who can now pick our program up on Saturday evening at 7.30 on Channel 69, and of course we've got other stations coming on board across the country, and we just trust that we're bringing honor and glory to the Lord's name by doing so. Now again I'm going to just come right back to where we left off. You remember we've been talking about the Antichrist, the kind of a person he would be, and how that he is going to sign a seven year treaty with the nation of Israel, and now I'd like to have you turn with me to Daniel chapter 9 once again. Now we're going to get out of Daniel some day, don't worry, but we have to take it as it comes. Back in Daniel chapter 9 verse 27 where we see so clearly that this Prince that shall come, this Antichrist, this vile person, this King of fierce countenance, this man who is going to come in with peace and prosperity on his platform, and he's going to just literally bow people over with his charismatic personality, and the triggering thing that is going to reveal who he really is, and that's why I maintain we as believers will not see this happen, because it can't happen until after we're gone, is that he's going to sign a seven year treaty with the nation of Israel. Now let's look at verse 27 once again, and we've looked at it I know almost every week now for a month or more, but let's look at it once more. And he, this man of sin, this Antichrist, shall confirm, or make the covenant with many the nation of Israel for one week. Now remember going back almost 7-8 weeks now, that Daniel's prophecy was a 490 year period of time, going all the way back to Nehemiah's return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls. And 483 of those years were fulfilled just before the crucifixion, probably on Palm Sunday. And then according to the Old Testament prophetic program, even though there might have been a small interval of time between the death, burial, and resurrection, and the ushering in of this final seven years to complete the 490 years, and we've been trying to show that nothing in the Old Testament indicated that that would be split open and stretched out over almost 2,000 years before the final seven happened. But they are going to still be fulfilled, and so this is the triggering mechanism that kicks God's time clock back in gear. Now you want to remember that when those 483 years were completed, and Israel rejected the King and the Kingdom, God put His whole program on hold. His time clock stopped, and it hasn't run now for the last 1,900 and some years. But as soon as this individual signs a seven year treaty with Israel, then you're going to have seven literal years unfold, and then Christ returns. Now the language I think is plain enough, that then in the middle of the week, or in all of that seven years, He is going to cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, in other words the Temple worship to stop. Now in order for the Temple worship to stop, it has to be in operation. So we gather from this that Israel is going to rebuild her Temple, and she's going to have it. Now whether she'll have it the whole three and a half years, that's beside the point. It's going to be operating by the midpoint of this seven years. Now this is one reason I think that the Antichrist will be an apostate Jew, is because when this fellow signs this seven year treaty with Israel, they are going to be so enraptured with this fellow that he is promising them the peace and the prosperity they've been looking for. He's going to guarantee their borders against any of their enemies, and he's going to give them permission for Temple worship, and this is everything they're dreaming of. And as I've referred to so many times in the last several weeks, when you read little comments from some of the rabbis in the Jerusalem Post, the Messiah that they're looking for is the perfect description of the man of sin. They're looking for a man who will rule the world in peace, they're looking for a man who will elevate Israel to the epitome of all the nations, but that all the nations would enjoy the peace that could flow from their Messiah ruling the nation of Israel. So this guy is going to come on the scene, sign this seven year treaty, and the Jews are going to think that they've finally arrived. They no longer have to maintain that tremendous military machine, they can lower their taxes, they can have a prosperity of domestic production, and what have you. But this verse says that in the middle of the week, he's going to cause all of that to stop. He's going to turn on the Jew, and he will usher in that final 3 1⁄2 years. Now I've put my timeline back on the board for just predominantly the Tribulation. After the departing, which we talked about last week from II Thessalonians, after the Tribulation, what shall that wicked one be revealed? He's going to sign the seven year treaty with Israel, but in the middle of that seven years he's going to go down to Jerusalem, probably from his headquarters in Europe, move into the Temple complex, set up his headquarters, defile the Temple, and force the Jew to worship him as God. It's going to be Hitler's Nazism all over again, only a thousand times worse. Now then, go on to Matthew 24 again, where we'll pick up where the God of creation, and I think if I've emphasized anything over the last 2 1⁄2 years of teaching on television, is that Christ is the Creator God of the universe. He is the very author of this Book, and He Himself refers to this verse we just read in Daniel. He says in verse 15, and this is where we closed again last week, and I've been hitting this for several times over the last few weeks for emphasis. Again he says, "...when ye therefore see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, that is, in Jerusalem in the temple, whoso readeth let him understand." Now get the setting again. This is Jesus in His earthly ministry, He's talking to the twelve, and He's talking as if it's going to happen in their lifetime. He gives no indication that there's going to be a big time span in between all this. He's talking to them as if they should be ready for it. Now this is in accord with all of Scripture until you get to the Apostle Paul. Then all of a sudden we realize that instead of Israel going out to the nations with the Gospel, what does God tell Ananias in Acts chapter 9? Don't be afraid of old Saul of Tarsus coming into your home, because I have commissioned him to be the Apostle of the Gentiles. See what a difference that makes? But Jesus isn't speaking that way, He's speaking as if all these things are about to happen. Now I'll read on. Verse 16. Now I always like to emphasize time words. Until is a time word, then is a time word, and now He says, "...at that point in time when the Antichrist comes in and defiles the temple, and causes the Jews to stop their worship of their Old Testament system, then let them who be in Judea flee to the mountains." Now keep that in your computer up here, and we'll refer back to it in a little bit. Now verse 17. Verse 17. Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. Now there's been a lot of talk about the remnant Jew in the Tribulation. Some think it's the 144,000, but it's amazing that of all the reading I've done concerning the remnant of Jews who will be saved during the Tribulation, nobody I feel explains this portion of Scripture. Now look at this portion of Scripture. This is not 144,000 young Jewish men, which Revelation says they will be. This is an admixture of a whole society. Now look at them as we come down through them. Let him who is on the housetop not come down. Now if you know anything about Middle Eastern lifestyle, folk who had retired and were living in a nice comfortable retirement situation, their patio wasn't out the back door, but up on the rooftop. So Jesus is referring to people who were probably quite well to do, who were no longer in the mainstream work force, but they were now enjoying a life of relative ease on their patio. Now He says to that remnant of Jews who are going to be in this exodus out of Jerusalem, don't you bother to stop and take your clothes out of the closet. Well now just be sensible, just be logical. What class of people are going to be more concerned about the clothes in their closet than they are about getting out of a place of danger? Well the wealthy, the well to do, they may have some expensive dresses and suits and so forth. Well I can't leave them behind. And so Jesus said, if you're in that category, don't you take time for it, because time is going to be of the essence. That's one class of people. Now let's move down to verse 18. Verse 18. "...neither let him who is in the field return back to take his clothes." Now what class of people are we talking about? Working people. Probably the younger people between 25 and whatever who are still out there working every day. They're doing the common everyday tasks of life. And to that class of people He says, don't you turn back to take anything out of your house or your clothes. Wherever you happen to be working, when you hear that the temple has been defiled, you move out to the mountains. If you want to escape. Verse 19. "...and woe unto them that are with child." Now what age level are we talking about? Probably young mothers in their 20's and early 30's normally. And He says to that group of people, young mothers, it's going to be tough for them. "...and woe unto them that are with child." In other words, they're heavy with child, and they're going to have to walk a long ways. But He's including them in that escaping remnant. "...and woe unto them that are nursing." Now what have you got? Young mothers who are still nursing their children. Now you see the cross section of society that we're coming up with? We've got the older, retired, more well to do people, you've got the working class people, we've got the young marrieds with their kids. A whole cross section from top to bottom, men and women, boys and girls. Verse 20. "...and pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on the Sabbath." Now you see what that shows? Since the Temple has been operating for this first 3 1⁄2 years, the Jews are going to be aware of what concerning the Sabbath day? Law and how far they can walk without breaking it. And they're going to be so aware of the Law that Jesus said, if it's on the Sabbath day, most of you won't even dare walk more than 4,000 feet or something like that on a Sabbath day. It wouldn't even be a mile. They wouldn't get out of town. And then He says, hope that it's not in the winter time, because they're going to be walking, they're going to be carrying their goods, and just hope that it isn't a miserable flight. Now verse 21, for then when the Antichrist comes in and defiles the Temple, when he turns on the children of Israel, or the Jew, and there's that Exodus. Now let me do it this way. Let's use our timeline in a two fold way. The Antichrist is going to come in, I think from Europe, from the West. He's going to go down into Jerusalem, he's going to go into the Temple, defile it, and immediately he's going to turn on the Jew. Now we're going to go to Revelation, and we're going to find that there's going to be another triggering mechanism that is going to cause these Jews to go down to the mountains, which of course are to the southwest predominantly of Jerusalem. And I call this the Escaping Remnant. It's not the whole nation, but it's going to be a remnant, a remnant of Jews from every category of life, and they're going to flee the area of Jerusalem down to the mountains. Whether it's the city of Petra or what, I do not know, it's possible. But we know they're going to flee to the mountains, and their God is going to watch over them and protect them for that whole three and a half years. Now let's read one more verse before we leave Matthew chapter 24. Matthew 24. Verse 21. Matthew 24. Verse 21. Matthew 24. Now the tribulation as we normally think of it will start here. The whole seven years is going to be tribulation, and I'll show you some things probably in the next program that are going to make this three and a half years anything but a Sunday school picnic. But here is where things really get tough, and I think we mentioned at the end of our last program. When you not only have the outpouring of Satan's wrath, but the outpouring of God's wrath on the whole human race, and it's going to be mind boggling what this planet will go through. Verse 21. Matthew 24. Verse 21. Now stop and think. Number one, those of you who heard me teach the Flood, was that an enjoyable experience? It was awful, it was climatic, it was cataclysmic, it was the end of everybody that was living at that time except Noah and his family. Then you come up through history, and I've said the more you read history, the more you realize that for 90-95% of the world's population, life was not life, it was an existence. It was a life of slavery, it was a life of just barely existing. And then you come up to World War II and the slaughter of not just the Jews, my there was a slaughter of Russians, Germans, millions came under the suffering of World War II. But Jesus said that's nothing compared to what is yet coming on this planet. And so He says, "...except those days should be shortened." Now I know a lot of people get the idea that this means that instead of running 7 years, it may run 6.5 years. I think the Greek implies that unless it would end on schedule, it's going to go the full 7 years. But if it would go a week over, or a month over, no one would survive. But since it will end on schedule, yes there will be survivors. We have to have survivors, because after all you've got to have people going into the Kingdom. Now of course the largest group of survivors will be this escaping remnant of Israel. Now let's go back to Revelation again, and let's pick up this escaping remnant in the book of Revelation chapter 11. Here again we have symbolism. Symbolism comes in so clearly, and all we have to do is decipher it, and all of a sudden the symbolism becomes a literal truth. Just as literal as if it had been written out in plain English again. Revelation chapter 11. We have to go back all the way to verse 3, where we have at the very onset of the 7 years, as soon as Israel signs that treaty with Israel, I think God is going to send the two witnesses to Jerusalem. The two Jews who are going to proclaim salvation to the nation of Israel right at the beginning of the 7 years, and I think it'll be out of their ministry that the 144,000 will be sealed and designated, and sent out into the world to again proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom. The King is coming, and He's going to set up His Kingdom. Well anyway, in order to pick up the time factor, I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days. Now real fast like, how long is that? Three and a half years. Now we'll pick them up in verse 12, and at the end of the three and a half years they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. In other words, they've been killed, and the whole world is going to see their bodies laying on the streets of Jerusalem. Now remember before the advent of television and Telstar, those of us who are old enough we can remember hearing sermons on this and reading this, and we'd say, How in the world will everybody on earth see those two dead bodies laying on the streets of Jerusalem? I mean it was a big hang up. But here we are, satellite technology and the streets of Jerusalem are in our living room just as plain, and every household will see those two Jews laying on the streets of Jerusalem to rot in that hot mid east sun. And then after they've laid there for three days, they stand up on their feet, God calls them back to life, and He calls them back to heaven. Much the same as Elijah, and as Christ's own ascension I guess we could equate it. And so they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up into heaven. Now this is the miraculous again, as I've said as soon as God starts dealing with Israel, the supernatural comes in and becomes almost everyday. So they ascend up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them. Now I don't know if they're going to have it on the 530 news going up, but it wouldn't surprise me. This is going to be world news. Now verse 13, this is what I really wanted to come to. And the same hour, where are we in the tribulation? Midpoint. And the same hour there was a great earthquake, that is in the area of Jerusalem. And the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain a men seven thousand, and the remnant were affrighted, and they gave glory to the God of heaven. Now be careful, is there salvation in merely ascribing glory to the God of heaven? Well I know a lot of people do that constantly. So these Jews, even though they recognize now that the God of heaven is certainly working in their midst, it's not a salvation experience. But because of their physical fear of what is just taking place, what are they going to do? Well what refugees have always done, they leave the city, and so they're fleeing for their life. Not all, but a remnant. Now come over to chapter 12, verse 5 and 6. Now here in the symbolism again, the woman is the nation of Israel, and so this woman brought forth a man-child, in other words the Christ child. And here we leap the ages from the time of His birth to the rule of His kingdom, two thousand years or more. And so she brought forth a man-child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and now it backs up again to the ascension, and her child was caught up unto God and to His throne. Now He's ascended. Now in verse 6 we leap back again to the midpoint of the tribulation, and the woman fled into the wilderness, that is the mountains that Jesus spoke of, where she has a place prepared of God, that they the Godhead should feed her there, and again what's the number? 1260 days or 3 1⁄2 years. Now come across in that same chapter then, verse 13. When the dragon saw that he was cast into the earth, he persecuted the woman, that is the nation of Israel. Verse 14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness down to the mountains, to her place prepared of God, and she's going to be there a time one year, times two years, and a half a time, three and a half years, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. Now then come back with me very quickly to Exodus chapter 19, and I don't know if I'm going to have time to finish it, but let's hope so. Exodus chapter 19. I've said over the months that we've been on the air, and those of you who have been under my teaching for a long time, so much of what takes place in Genesis and Exodus we see a repetition in Revelation. Well this is exactly what you have. The same setting of Exodus with Israel fleeing out of Egypt, with the Egyptian armies behind them. Now look how God looked at it. Exodus chapter 19, verse 4. And he says through Moses, "...you have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bear you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself." You see what it says? Now flip back again real quickly to Revelation chapter 14, and the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness. Now put all this together. What happened back there when Israel was escaping? Pharaoh sent his armies and his chariots out to destroy them. Where did God stop Pharaoh? At the Red Sea. The Antichrist is going to do the same thing. He's going to send an army after these escaping Jews as they are being hurried along by the escaping power of God. But what's going to happen? They'll be destroyed.