return. In fact, the only thing be tween us and the Rapture is the “shout.” After this comes the Tribulation. This is the period of seven years, actually with the last three-and-a- half years known as the Great Tribu lation, “the time of Jacob’s sorrow.” During this time the antichrist will make himself known. The antichrist will make a covenant with the people of Israel, and show himself, as it were, the big hero and protector of the Jews, the man of peace! At the end of these first three-and-a-half years, he will break the treaty and reveal himself as the unmitigated malicious foe of God’s chosen people. He will set himself up in the temple of God and force Israel, as well as the nations of the world, to render obeisance to him. At the end of the Tribulation, a time of unprecedented trouble and bloodshed, there will be the Battle of Armageddon. In the strict sense, this is really not a battle at all. While during the Tribulation there will be continuous battles and warfare, yet now, at the end of the seven-year period, all of the nations of the world will meet together on the plains of Megiddo (which means “the place of slaughter”) for the last great showdown. As that time approaches, the Lord Jesus Christ will speak, and by the word of His mouth these forces will be annihilated completely. This will then usher in the millen nial reign of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the earth during the prophesied kingdom age. During these thousand years, righteousness shall cover the earth even as the waters cover the sea. Following this, the Bible tells us that the devil is loosed for a season. After this there will be the new heaven and the new earth. This com plete renovation only involves areas where man’s sinfulness has pervaded. This does not mean that heaven which is the throne of God. Norman Cousins, writing in the
Saturday Review of Literature, states, “In three to five years Egypt and Israel may have nuclear weap ons. When that happens, the possi bility that regional nuclear attacks can be kept from mushrooming into world nuclear war will shrink to the vanishing point.” Such a view indeed sounds apocalyptic. Orthodox Jews have prayed for two millenniums. “May it be thy JOINT PARTNERS "How much do you work for the Lord?” he was asked, "How many hours in a day?” “From sun to sun,” was the strange reply, "Unceasingly I work and pray.” “Why, friend, you are mad,” the other cried, “We humans must rest now and then!” “Ah, then, I will haste to explain my good plan, That makes me the happiest of men. My labor begins with the new morn ing dawn. And then when the day is done, My substitute's place, in a far hea then land, Has only his work just begun, And the money I earn, though not very much, Is divided between him and me; So I work for the Lord twelve hours at home, And twelve hours over the sea. And I think when I’ve entered the bright glory land, And all of those dear heathen appear . . . Redeemed now and saved through the Saviour’s blood, I’ll be glad I worked double down here.” will, 0 Lord our God, the God of our fathers, that the temple may be speedily built in our day. There we will serve Thee with awe as in the days of old, as in ancient years.” The historian Israel Eldad, writing in Time magazine, has said, “We are at the stage where David was when 19
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