Maranatha!
The Eve of Maranatha!
The Eve of the Tribulation is Upon Us
Maranatha! was the cry of the early church. This remarkable phrase appears only once in the Bible, and yet it is to us in this season, as it was to original church, the anthem cry of Christians.
What is so unique about this word is not just that it is found only once, but also that it is neither Greek nor Hebrew, but rather an Aramaic phrase, the common language of Israel at the time of Jesus. Used by Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 16:22), it means Our Lord come!
Jesus is Coming to Take Us to Glory
The cry Maranatha captured the hearts of believers because it claims our Lord’s promise of His eminent return to rescue us. Jesus comforted the disciples at the last supper with His assurance, In my Father’s house there are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. (Jn 14:2-3)
Jesus concludes the writings of the Bible with His final words, Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me. (Rev 21:12)
Jesus Shall Come Twice
Old Testament prophesies and Jesus’ promises point to two returns of Jesus.
The final, great end time battle will erupt with the coming of Jesus. Paul declares, Then comes the end when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. (1 Cor 15:24)
Zechariah proclaimed that Behold the day of the Lord is coming . . . And God would gather all the nations of the world to battle against Jerusalem . . . And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives . . . And the Mount of Olives will be split in two . . . Thus the LORD my God will come and all the saints with Him. (Zec 14:1-5)
John the Revelator gives the final word on this end time battle, I saw heaven open and standing there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True . . . His name is the Word of God . . . the armies of heaven were following Him . . . and on His robe and on His thigh He has His name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS . . . then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to make war against the rider on His horse and His army. (NIV, Rev 19:11-19)
Rescue from the Tribulation
But before the final end time battle, in a separate event, Jesus will come to rescue His church. The writer of Hebrews tells us, So Christ will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly awaiting Him. (Heb 9:28)
Jesus said, For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not been seen since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. (Mt 24:21-24)
Jesus described His rescue of His people from the coming tribulation, But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and took them away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Mt 24:37-38)
Paul also wrote of this, For the Lord will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet call from God, and the dead shall rise first, and we who are still alive and left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. (1 Thes 4:16)
The Tribulation is Upon Us
Jesus admonishes us to know the signs of the times. (Mt 16:3) The signs of our times, today, are that the eve of the tribulation begins now.
Today, Israel lives in relative safety. After about 2,000 years of dispersion in Russia, Europe, Africa, America, and the rest of the world, God began to re-gather the Jews with the re-establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948 and the restoration of Jerusalem to Israel in 1967.
But the security of Israel and its very existence is challenged by Iran who has threatened to wipe Israel off of the map. Iran continues to move closer to developing atomic weapons. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the world at the United Nations that Iran would have the nuclear bomb in the near future, and that action must be taken to stop them in order to ensure the survival of Israel. President Obama has signaled friendly intentions with the forces allied against Israel and reluctance to support the Jewish State on this issue, forcing Israel to act alone in a preemptive strike against Iran that must happen in the next few months.
Iran’s principal ally is Russia, and together they are supported by Germany, Iran’s principal trading partner; Libya, only recently radicalized; Sudan, which is extremely anti-Christian and anti-Jew; and Turkey, that only recently realigned from being an ally of Israel to a supporter of anti-Jewish movements. At no time in the history of the world until this year has there been such a coalition of these foes linked in their opposition to Israel.
The Prophet Ezekiel described the cataclysmic battle of Russia and its allies against Israel after Israel had been re-gathered by God. He wrote, Magog and Rosh (Russia), Meshech (Southern Russia in Asia Minor and Northern Turkey and Armenia); Persia which is Iran; Cush which is Sudan; Put which is Libya; Gomer which is Germany; and Togamah which is Turkey; would descend from the north to attack Israel. (Ezk 38:3-6, 15)
That this is a catastrophic, world changing event as the world has never seen is clear from Ezekiel’s description of what can only be the effect of nuclear weapons. He writes that as Russia, Iran, and their allies march toward Israel from the north, God declares, I will send fire on those who live in Magog (Russia) and in security in the coastlands (Europe) . . . their weapons will burn for seven years . . . for seven months Israel will be burying them . . . they will set apart men regularly employed to pass through the land and bury those and cleanse the land . . . . (Ezk 39:6-14)
The fact that Israel must preemptively attack Iran in the coming months, and the facts that today for the first time in the history of the world Iran’s allies and friends are the exact same nations identified by the Prophet Ezekiel, and that the battle would occur after the re-gathering of the Jews back to the land of Israel as prophesied, all prove that the great battle described by Ezekiel is eminent. Israel’s strike at Iran soon to knock out its nuclear weapons facilities will trigger Russia’s reaction to marshal its allies and friends of Iran, and mobilize the vast armies for the attack on Israel over the coming year. When that march begins so will the tribulation.
The Believer’s Response to the Coming Tribulation
God’s desire is that everyone might be saved (1 Tim 2:4), but the reality is that most of the world will not. As Jesus likened those who would be saved from the wrath to those in the time of the flood when only eight people in the world were saved on the ark (Mt 24:37), so too did He say at the last supper that His salvation is only for believers. He prayed to His heavenly Father, I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are yours. … and for those who will believe in Me through their word. (Jn 17:9, 20)
Although our rescue from the coming wrath is assured (1 Thes 5:9), we still battle in this season. Our commission is to go into all the world and to gather the harvest. Jesus cried out, the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. (Mt 9:37, Mk 16:15, Mt 28:19) Our mission is to bring into the kingdom of God all those souls whom Jesus prayed would believe through our word about Him.
Our weapons for spiritual warfare are not worldly but mighty in God for pulling down the strongholds of the enemy. (2 Cor 10:4) Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, and do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thes 5:16-19)
We must be emboldened by the certainty that God sent the Holy Spirit to abide with us forever (Jn 14:16), that God who supplies the Spirit to us works miracles among us (Gal 3:5), that the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Ro 11:29), and that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Php 4:13)
Maranatha!
* All citations to NKJV except as otherwise noted.
Robert Grant
Robert Grant holds a Doctor of Religious Studies and a Master of Divinity Degree from Promise Christian University, is a sole practitioner with the Law Offices of Robert Grant in California, and carries credentials as ordained and licensed in ministry with World for Jesus International Fellowship.
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