What Happens at the Midpoint of the Tribulation?

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, I'm ready to go again, and I think you're all still in Matthew chapter 24, and we're going to jump right in where we left off at verse 15. But again, for our television viewers, we want to remind you that all the past programs are available on videotape, and we're just amazed at how folks are using these tapes. They're instituting their own home Bible classes using them. Some are using them in their churches and their Sunday school classes. And of course, a lot of them just use it for their own private study. My one fellow called one time, and he said, how many times can I run this tape before it wears out? So we know they're using them. And then of course, as we've been mentioning the last couple weeks now, books number five and six are finally ready, coming off the printers. And those of you who have already ordered them, you'll be getting them shortly. For those of you who are unaware of it, you just write to us or call us on the 800 number, and we'll give you the cost of them. We put them out for about 20 cents over what it costs us, but then we cover the postage. So we're not making anything on them. It's not a gimmick for making any money. And in our studio audience this afternoon, we have the gentleman who is responsible, he and his wife, but I think Jerry has done most of it, for finishing up number five. He's on the screen, and he has totally transcribed number six, and I think he's already just finished number seven. And he has just recently retired, so he's got a lot of time to sit in front of that computer, and he just has to hear my voice over and over. And then on top of that, bless his heart, he's in class every Thursday night. So he's either a glutton for punishment or something, but anyhow, we just want to thank Jerry so much, because Sharon was just getting overloaded out there in Colorado and couldn't find the time, and so Jerry stepped in and just sort of was our saving grace, I guess. And we wanted to give him the credit for it, and of course, Nancy, we've shown her. Where are you, Nancy? Nancy's back there. We've put her on the camera before. But Nancy does all the in-between footwork here in Tulsa. So she's the one that gets all the order forms ready and printed, and she's the one that just sort of ramrods the Tulsa class and finding a place to meet and so forth. And then, of course, we've got Margaret and Harold over here. They're our bookkeepers. They're the ones that take care of all our finances, and I'll tell you what, you know, everybody does it just as unto the Lord. We don't have any salaries in our business, and we just are so thankful for all these that are willing to give of their time and their talents. So much for that. I guess we'll get right back now into Matthew 24, verse 15. Now remember as we came into this chapter, I think I mentioned the fact that this is all tribulation. Jesus is strictly speaking prophetically about the final seven years. Now naturally we are already seeing a great increase in earthquakes. We're certainly seeing a phenomena of unruly weather. We're seeing wars that even the United Nations can't handle. But it's nothing compared to what will break loose once the tribulation begins. In fact, I've used this illustration over the years, and I'll probably use it many more times. It's just like when a high school drama class gets ready for their annual class play or their drama, and oh, maybe about a month before the curtain rise, why the rest of the class that's not involved with the direct production will start advertising, will start gathering the props and so forth that the cast will need. But that's all preliminary, and it isn't until the curtain rises that the drama begins. Well that's the way I look at all the things building up to the tribulation. We're seeing the props being gathered. We're seeing the stage set. We're seeing all of the advertising, if you please. My, how many preachers lately aren't preaching prophecy. And I think it's as it should be. I know I've got one dear friend there in Muskogee, and he says every time he writes, let's just teach that prophecy. Well that's well and good as far as it goes, but you can't just stay on just one horse. We have to teach the whole Scripture, the whole counsel of God. And as I said earlier, I know that's where people's interests lie, is either before or after, but we're going to have to deal with it here and now too. But anyway, beginning now in verse 15, we're at the midpoint of the tribulation. The first three and a half years have been culminated by the events in verses 5 through 13, or 12 really, 13 and 14 go all the way on to the end. But now in verse 15, Jesus says, Now just as soon as you see those three words, Daniel the prophet, if you've ever read or heard of someone ridiculing Daniel's book of prophecy as a fake and as something that's been inserted by Jews somewhere along the line, you come right back to this statement here. What more proof of the validity of a point of Scripture than if Jesus spoke of it Himself. The same way with Jonah. I know Jonah may be hard for the unbeliever to accept, but Jesus Himself gave proof of it. Because He said as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the fish or the whale, so shall the Son of Man. Well if Jesus said it, how can we help but believe it? He's the author of this book. He's the author of creation, and when He puts His stamp of approval on it, we better believe it. He expects us to. So anyway, He's referring back to Daniel the prophet, and Daniel says that when this individual stands in the holy place, that is in the tribulation temple, now maybe I should put it on the board. We did in one of our classes a while back that in Israel's history we've really had two temples in the past, and the third is about to come on the scene. The first temple of course was the one built by Solomon, and that goes back not quite, I'm going to say 960 B.C. thereabouts, just in round figures, because David was about a thousand and he ruled 40 years before Solomon did. So about 960 B.C. we had the first temple. Then the second temple was the one that was rebuilt first by Ezra as they came back from the Babylonian captivity, but it was pretty makeshift. It wasn't anything like the beauty of the temple of Solomon. After all they didn't have the numbers of Jewish people, they didn't have the accumulated wealth, and so it was just more or less a makeshift structure. So then when Herod the Great came along 50 or 60 years before Christ, he was a rather pompous individual anyway, and he loved to build beautiful things. So he was rather embarrassed that Israel's temple was nothing like Solomon's, and so Herod the Great really began remodeling and extending and enlarging the second temple, which is a remodeled one of Ezra, and so I'll put up here plus Herod. That was built then at Christ's first coming, at His first Advent. That's the temple that the disciples were just talking about here in Matthew 24. After all every Jew was rather proud of their temple. It was beautiful, and if you ever get to Israel, one of the tourist sites of course is the Model City, and in that Model City there is a replica of the temple as near as they can reconstruct it. It was beautiful. It was gorgeous. But see Herod put a lot of work and expense, he even put in great retaining walls and filled it in order to enlarge the mountain on which Solomon's temple had stood. So Herod's complex was even much larger than Solomon's. Now our guide gave us an interesting little insight. When Herod was building the extension on the mountain, they had to fill it of course with a lot of what we today would call fill, but it was kosher fill. They made sure that there was nothing in that fill dirt that would defile. And now that would be something, wouldn't it? To haul in all that dirt and maintain that it was undefiled, I imagine by any corpses or bones or anything like that, but it was filled with kosher dirt. I thought that was quite an interesting sidelight. But anyway, the Tribulation Temple then will become the third temple, and as most of you are aware if you watch current events at all, the Jews are more than ready to rebuild their next temple, which I refer to as the Tribulation Temple, which is from our point in time today still future. Not very far we don't believe, but it hasn't begun to be built as yet, but it will be. Now this is one of the proofs that we have from Scripture that there will be the temple rebuilt in Jerusalem at some point before the middle of the Tribulation. Now that's all we know. We do not know that it will be built before the Antichrist signs the treaty, or immediately after or whenever, but this much we know, that by the time the Tribulation has reached its midpoint, the temple is going to be operating. Now let's go back to Daniel for the sake of our television viewers, because every day we get letters from people who have just now caught the program for the first time. So we have to constantly remember these folk who have not heard us teach for the last four years. Do you believe that we've been on almost four years? I think two more tapings, isn't it honey? Two more tapings and then we'll have completed already four years of this. My, it seems like maybe one. But anyhow, in Daniel chapter 9, we have the seventy weeks, or the seven years that Daniel prophesies concerning the nation of Israel. And that begins in verse 24, where he says, "...seventy weeks are determined upon thy people," now this of course is God speaking through the prophet, "...seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity," that's the work of the cross, "...and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy." And then he goes on to explain the breakdown in these time elements, and we won't take time for that in this program. But then when you come down to verse 26, beginning, the middle of the verse is what I want to look at, but I guess we'd better start at the beginning, "...and after three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off," now normally we equate that with four hundred and eighty, four hundred and ninety-three years, no, four hundred and eighty -three years. We've got to leave seven years off, four hundred and ninety years total, minus seven, so at the end of four hundred and eighty -three years, Messiah was to be cut off, not for Himself. In other words, He didn't die because He deserved it, He died for the sins of the world, of course. "...and the people," now here comes the prophecy, "...and the people of the prince that shall come," now that sounds like a little double talk, but when you sort it out it all makes sense. The people of the prince that would come would destroy the city. Now we've got to back up then. That means that the prince that shall come, the Antichrist, would come out of the empire that destroyed the temple and the city Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and who was that? That was Rome. And so that's why the Bible has been looking forward to the end time when the Roman Empire would be revived, as we call it. The Roman Empire is coming back on the scene in almost every way imaginable throughout the European community. Oh, how many of you, I think it was one of the more famous Bible teachers, somebody gave me a copy of it. I wish I could give the credit, remember which one it was, it might have been Jack Van Impey or whoever, that the European community's unit of currency, any of you happen to see this? The logo on it is a beast, upon writing is the woman, as spoken of in Revelation. That's already current on their currency. It's unreal, and I'm not a sensationalist, but when I see things like that, I think my land is amazing. How even an ungodly world, as Europe certainly is, are falling right into the very format of the Book of Revelation. Well here anyway, the people that shall come, which was Rome, they would destroy the sanctuary, and out of that people, the Roman Empire, would come this man who would be the world ruler then at the end. Now then verse 27, this great world ruler who will come on the scene, out of the revived Roman Empire, which of course we're seeing in Europe, he will confirm the covenant with many, now that's Israel, for seven years. Now I know a lot of our prophetic preachers, as soon as that so-called peace treaty was signed, then they jumped on the bandwagon, and then they came back and said, well see Daniel said he would merely confirm that this is the peace treaty, and then the Antichrist would confirm it. Well, who am I to disagree with him, but I am, because that peace treaty that was signed last fall is no peace treaty at all. Very few people understand the feeling of the Israeli people in general. And from what you've been seeing in the news the last couple of weeks, there's no peace in Israel tonight, and in fact we were more or less scheduled, you know, to take another tour over there, but I'm glad now we didn't because of the turmoil. But there hasn't been a peace treaty signed yet. It's coming, and how it will lay out, I of course don't pretend to know, but they are going to sign a peace treaty with this individual who I feel will come up out of the European community now, the revived Roman Empire. He's going to sign a 7 year treaty, and the day that he signs that treaty, the clock kicks in gear. Now up until then, God's time clock has stopped. We know that from the crucifixion and the resurrection when Israel rejected everything concerning the Old Testament prophecies, God's clock stopped. And we have the church age, an undetermined period of time that no one can set a date on. No one should even try to guess because that's strictly in the mind of God. But once this man signs this treaty with Israel, then the clock kicks back in gear and there's going to be 7 years. Just no argument about it, there will be 7 distinct calendar years, scriptural years. Now remember a year in scripture is 12 30 day months, 360 days in a year. So in the middle of the 7 years, in the middle of the week, He, this One that shall come, we call Him the Antichrist, He will cause the sacrifice and the oblation to stop. Now where and where only can the Jews offer sacrifices and oblations? At the temple. So we know they have to have a temple, plus the fact that Jesus said they would have it. So here in the middle of the 7 years, this man is going to come and demand or command that all sacrificial worship and all the temple worship of Israel will come to an end, and then to make it even the more hideous, He will cause an abomination, the over spreading of abominations, He shall make it, the temple, desolate. Now I personally think that Antiochus Epiphanes, the little Syrian dictator that I think was a type of the Antichrist back in Daniel's prophecy, and I think he's also referred to in Isaiah, he was a pipsqueak in history, he didn't amount to much, but he's a big deal in Scripture because he defiled the temple by sacrificing a hog, a sow, on the altar. And of course the swine's blood was the abomination. And I think that's what this man will do. I think he'll do much the same thing. In fact, oh, several months ago, some secular Jews who were trying to make their point against the Orthodox Jews. Now, you know, there's quite a difference of opinion, even in Israel, between the Orthodox Jews and the secular Jews. And so here, oh, several months ago, I remember it was in the Jerusalem Post, where some of these secular Jews had smeared swine's blood on a synagogue. And now you can just about imagine what that would do to an Orthodox Jew. So I think that's what the Antichrist will do as well. He will perform that abomination of desolation by sacrificing an old hog on that beautiful temple altar that Israel will no doubt have rebuilt. And then everything, Daniel goes on to say, that's been determined, everything that's been prophesied will be poured out upon the desolate, or the desolator is a better word, which of course is the man Antichrist. Now this is what Jesus is referring to, that in the midpoint of the Tribulation, this man will come into Jerusalem, come into the Temple, and will defile it. All right, now then come back with Me, if you will, to Matthew 24. And so Jesus is talking to Jews again, strictly to Jews. And so to the Jews He says, even though it's 2,000 years down the road, verse 16, "...then let them who be in Judea," now remember that's the area around Jerusalem and southern Israel, "...flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house." Because time is of the essence, and they aren't going to need it anyway. And remember this is an analogy to the escape out of Egypt. Much of it is a parallel. And just as God protected and provided for the Jews in the wilderness, He's going to protect and provide for these escaping Jews coming out of the environs of Jerusalem at the midpoint of the Tribulation. Now this is not the 144,000. This is a cross section of any society. Here we're going to have men, women, young women, children, the whole cross section fleeing from Jerusalem. All right, start with verse 17, "...let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house." Now I've taught this before, and we'll just review it quickly. This is no doubt a retired individual who has become quite well to do. He's no longer working, and he's probably got a lot of things in his house that he'd like to hang on to. Maybe he's collected antiques or beautiful furniture, but he's not going to have time or opportunity to take any of those things with him. He says, you better move out. The next one is the worker, the working class, and he speaks specifically of agricultural workers. "...let him who is in the field, let him not return back to take his clothes." He's not going to have time. He'd better just take the clothes on his back and get out of Jerusalem. Verse 19, another group that's going to be involved are those that are with child. That'd be the younger generation, the young girls, the young women, those that are with child and those that are nursing. Now here you have not only the mother, but her offspring. She's going to have to carry them, see? So you've got a whole cross section of the older retired, the working class, and now the younger mothers and their offspring. Verse 20, "...pray that your flight be not in the winter, nor on the Sabbath day." Because see, they're going to be back under the Law. And see, Israel's getting closer. There's a Law in the Knesset right now to reestablish the Sabbath. It hasn't passed yet, because the secular end of it are still too strong. But the Bill is there, and if they can ever get it passed, they'll re-institute shutting everything down on the Sabbath, which means they can't walk over about what? A half a mile? Now you wouldn't even get out of Jerusalem tonight if the Law said you can't walk over half a mile. So Jesus said, you'd better pray that this day to flee will not be on a Sabbath day, so that you won't be breaking the Law to leave the several miles that it's going to take. And of course, hope that it's not in the winter, because I'm a northerner by birth, and I've experienced a lot of 35-40 below zero weather, but if I had to go someplace on foot, I'd rather do it in the heat of the day as in the cold of winter. And so He's referring to that, that it not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath day. And then verse 21, here's the reason, "...for then," at this midpoint, "...for then shall be," what's the word, great tribulation, great, far greater than even the first three and a half years, "...for then shall be great tribulations such as was not since the beginning of the age to this time, nor ever should be in the future." And all you have to do is just reflect back over Israel's history. They've gone through some horrible days, haven't they? And yet none of that is going to compare to what they're going to have to go through in these final three and a half years. And then verse 22, Jesus said that these days are going to be so horrendous, they are going to take so much life that He says, "...except those days should be shortened." Now as I understand that Greek word shortened, I think it's unfortunate the way it's been translated here. It does not mean that it's going to back up a month or two, and it doesn't mean that it might be extended. It just simply means unless those days would end right on schedule, three and a half years and three and a half years, that's 1,260 days and another 1,260 days. If it would happen to go on another ten, twelve days, no one would survive. But we know there's going to be some survivors, and we'll probably pick that up in our next program. So He says, "...except those days should be shortened," or rather end right on schedule, "...there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake," in other words, for the sake of believers, "...those days shall be shortened," or end on schedule and not be prolonged because it's going to be, like I said, such a tremendous loss of life because of natural calamity, earthquake, volcanoes, cosmic disturbances. I think there's going to be great meteor storms, but not only that, but the political and the military ramifications are going to take such a heavy toll of life. And then verse 23, when things get tough, see then people turn religious, don't they? But then He says, "...be careful, for then if any man say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, here is the Messiah, or there," believe it not, "...for there shall arise," here He comes the warning as we saw back in the first half of the chapter, "...for there shall arise false Christs, false prophets, who shall show," now watch this, "...they're going to show great signs and wonders," where are they going to get their power? Not from God, from the devil, from Satan. "...and they're going to show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect," in other words, those who are believers and are still surviving. Verse 25, "...behold, Jesus said, I have told you before." And here He reminds them again, now this is all for emphasis, "...wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He," the Messiah, "...is in the desert, go not forth, behold, He is in secret chambers," don't you believe it? Because He's not going to be coming from those areas. He's going to be coming from where? He's going to be coming from heaven, and by the time the tribulation has ended, of course, it will be time for the Second Coming, when He will come in power and glory, and He will destroy all the nations that have been gathered there in the Middle East under the power of the Antichrist, and He will return to where? The Mount of Olives, which is on the east. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, OK, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, OK, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time, for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.