END TIMES (ESCHATOLOGY)
This section shows how this present age will end according to God’s plan in the Bible. What follows is only a basic overview of the end times, as there are a number of subtitles that fall under this heading. Please see RAPTURE, RETURN OF CHRIST, HEAVEN, HELL, SOUL SLEEP, PURGATORY, JUDGMENT, DEATH, RESURRECTION, REVELATION, RUSSIA WILL FIGHT ISRAEL, MILLENNIUM, ARMAGEDDON, ANTICHRIST, MARK OF THE BEAST (666), FINAL STATE, RETURN OF CHRIST.
Rapture
It is the position of this author that the rapture, when Christians are taken out of the world, will takes place before the seven-year tribulation. (See RAPTURE. The Revelation of Christ will take place at the end of the Tribulation, see RETURN OF CHRIST)
Before the tribulation, Jesus will return and take Christians out of the world by first giving us new bodies that will never die (1 Corinthians 15:51–53), and then bring us to heaven (John 14:1–4); this is called the rapture. The word “rapture” is not in the Bible, but it is called being “caught up.” “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:15–18).
Sorry to say but the worst for the Earth is yet to come. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved” (Matthew 24:21–22). But we escape! We are “caught up together with them in the clouds…Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:17–18). All of these signs given above are during the tribulation, and those who are saved during the tribulation are from after the church age. The church is not mentioned in Matthew chapter 24, but Israel is. In verse 15 it says, “Stand in the holy place,” which is the temple. In verse 16 “Judaea” was to flee, not any other country. In verse 20 believers of that time are to pray that their flight be not on the “sabbath day.” How could Christ forget Sunday, or churches? Because we will be raptured before the tribulation period.
In the book of Revelation, the tribulation takes place between chapter 6 and chapter 19. The church is not mentioned during that time, but Israel is mentioned several times. Did Christ forget his bride, the church? No. For there is one time the church is mentioned during the great tribulation (Revelation 6–19), but it is not on earth where the tribulation will be but in heaven at the marriage supper of the Lamb. In the Bible the “Lamb” represents Christ (John 1:36), and His “wife” is the church (Ephesians 5:31–32).
Revelation 19:1 takes place “in heaven,” and then in verse 7, His servants rejoice and say, “For the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” Then in verse 11: “And I saw heaven opened,” for Christ and the armies of heaven are preparing to leave and come back visibly to earth to destroy the Antichrist and his armies at the battle of Armageddon (vv. 14–21; see ARMAGEDDON). So the marriage of the Lamb with His bride is not only taking place in heaven but during the time of the great tribulation here on earth. That is one reason the rapture is called the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13)—because we will miss all the suffering of the tribulation. After the great tribulation will be the millennial reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 20:1–15; see MILLENNIUM), and then the beginning of eternity (see FINAL STATE), during which will have a “new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1, see RAPTURE).
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52).
The Bible tells us in Matthew 24 that near the “end” we can expect an increase in the following:
After the great tribulation will be the 1,000-year millennium reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 20:1–15; see MILLENNIUM), and then the beginning of eternity (see FINAL STATE), which will have a “new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21–22, more on the rapture will follow).
The tribulation will last for seven years, and most believe the last three and a half years are called the “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21), though this name also appears to be used for other times (Revelation 2:22, 7:14). *I am not setting any date for our Lord’s return.
How are we to interpret the great plagues and disasters that the Bible said will come upon the earth? Some believe we should not interpret them literally, saying that they are only figurative, mystical, allegorical, etc. But all the plagues that Moses warned Pharaoh of in the Old Testament were later fulfilled literally (see INTERPRETATION).
The great tribulation will last seven years (Daniel 9:27), the “week” in this verse is, according to Strong’s, “seven, period of seven, days or years”; the context requires it to be a week of years. No one makes a “covenant” (peace treaty) “with many” for seven days (see Leviticus 25:8 for how time is expressed elsewhere). It will be before the signing of this treaty that the rapture will take place. Christians will be taken out of this world, “caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air,” and those left behind will face the worst time this world has ever known. Things on this earth will not get better, but worse: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1). “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world” (Matthew 24:21). The Antichrist will make his mark necessary to “buy or sell” (see MARK OF THE BEAST, 666). But thankfully, the believers will be taken out of this world first, before the tribulation.
The church age is between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel 9:24–27. It was “after” the 69th week that “Messiah be cut off [Jesus crucified]…and the people [Rome] of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” So these events must take place before the last “week” of years (seven years). In prophecy, gaps do occur (see INTERPRETATION); the church is not mentioned at all in the Old Testament, and the church age would fall between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel. The Rapture takes place at the end of the church age, and God will again begin to work with the nation of Israel during the seven-year tribulation, which is the 70th week of Daniel. God is not finished with Israel, and we cannot take the promises of Israel and apply them to the church. As a footnote, we should seek to be a blessing to Israel and Jews. God says, “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.” This was said not only to Abraham and to Isaac but to the whole nation of Israel (Genesis 12:3, 27:29; Numbers 24:9). And though God has blessed Ismail (the father of the Arabs), still the land that Israel has was given to them by God (Genesis 17:7–8, 18–21). Paul says when speaking about the nation of Israel, “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.” This is found in Romans 11:1–2, and in verses 25–26 God in the future works through Israel again. The rapture of the Christian believers marks the end of the church age and the beginning of the tribulation.
The end of the church age is not marked by a growing faith but a departure from the faith. The Antichrist cannot be revealed until there is first a “falling away” from the faith (2 Thessalonians 2:3). This has already happened as the vast majority of “Christianity” no longer trust Christ for salvation but sacraments, good works or their church. (If one doubts what I write here then he would only need to ask people what they are trusting to get to Heaven, very few would say they are only trusting Jesus Christ for their salvation.)
Now is the time to be saved, before the awful time of persecution of the Antichrist. And after the rapture, there will be people who will be saved during the tribulation (Revelation 7:9–14), not by the church age believers, who are mostly Gentiles, but by the “hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (Revelation 7:3–8). The passage plainly says they will be Jews, not Gentiles, so any church or person who claims to be of this group would first have to prove he is of Jewish descent. God will be working with the Hebrew nation again to win people to Himself because the church will be gone. The great tribulation is called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7: “Jacob” is Israel). It is not the trouble of the church; we won’t be here.
Christ gave the examples of Lot and Noah: “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” This was given for the end time, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” And as both Noah and Lot were removed before God’s judgment fell, so in the future Christians will be raptured before the tribulation (see Rapture).
(Please see RAPTURE, RETURN OF CHRIST, HEAVEN, HELL, SOUL SLEEP, PURGATORY, JUDGMENT, DEATH, RESURRECTION, REVELATION, RUSSIA WILL FIGHT ISRAEL, MILLENNIUM, ARMAGEDDON, ANTICHRIST, MARK OF THE BEAST (666), FINAL STATE.)
This section shows how this present age will end according to God’s plan in the Bible. What follows is only a basic overview of the end times, as there are a number of subtitles that fall under this heading. Please see RAPTURE, RETURN OF CHRIST, HEAVEN, HELL, SOUL SLEEP, PURGATORY, JUDGMENT, DEATH, RESURRECTION, REVELATION, RUSSIA WILL FIGHT ISRAEL, MILLENNIUM, ARMAGEDDON, ANTICHRIST, MARK OF THE BEAST (666), FINAL STATE, RETURN OF CHRIST.
Rapture
It is the position of this author that the rapture, when Christians are taken out of the world, will takes place before the seven-year tribulation. (See RAPTURE. The Revelation of Christ will take place at the end of the Tribulation, see RETURN OF CHRIST)
Before the tribulation, Jesus will return and take Christians out of the world by first giving us new bodies that will never die (1 Corinthians 15:51–53), and then bring us to heaven (John 14:1–4); this is called the rapture. The word “rapture” is not in the Bible, but it is called being “caught up.” “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:15–18).
Sorry to say but the worst for the Earth is yet to come. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved” (Matthew 24:21–22). But we escape! We are “caught up together with them in the clouds…Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:17–18). All of these signs given above are during the tribulation, and those who are saved during the tribulation are from after the church age. The church is not mentioned in Matthew chapter 24, but Israel is. In verse 15 it says, “Stand in the holy place,” which is the temple. In verse 16 “Judaea” was to flee, not any other country. In verse 20 believers of that time are to pray that their flight be not on the “sabbath day.” How could Christ forget Sunday, or churches? Because we will be raptured before the tribulation period.
In the book of Revelation, the tribulation takes place between chapter 6 and chapter 19. The church is not mentioned during that time, but Israel is mentioned several times. Did Christ forget his bride, the church? No. For there is one time the church is mentioned during the great tribulation (Revelation 6–19), but it is not on earth where the tribulation will be but in heaven at the marriage supper of the Lamb. In the Bible the “Lamb” represents Christ (John 1:36), and His “wife” is the church (Ephesians 5:31–32).
Revelation 19:1 takes place “in heaven,” and then in verse 7, His servants rejoice and say, “For the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” Then in verse 11: “And I saw heaven opened,” for Christ and the armies of heaven are preparing to leave and come back visibly to earth to destroy the Antichrist and his armies at the battle of Armageddon (vv. 14–21; see ARMAGEDDON). So the marriage of the Lamb with His bride is not only taking place in heaven but during the time of the great tribulation here on earth. That is one reason the rapture is called the “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13)—because we will miss all the suffering of the tribulation. After the great tribulation will be the millennial reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 20:1–15; see MILLENNIUM), and then the beginning of eternity (see FINAL STATE), during which will have a “new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1, see RAPTURE).
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52).
The Bible tells us in Matthew 24 that near the “end” we can expect an increase in the following:
- False “Christs” “and shall deceive many.”
- More wars, not less: “wars and rumours of wars”; “For nation shall rise against nation.” (Man is not more civilized; he in truth has more knowledge, he can make “bigger bombs,” but he still drops them on people.)
- There will be more hunger: “there shall be famines.”
- There will be more disease: “and pestilences.”
- Our planet will become more unstable: “and earthquakes, in divers places.”
- More religious deception: “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.”
- More sin: “iniquity shall abound.”
- Less love: “the love of many shall wax cold.”
- The worst is yet to come: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.”
After the great tribulation will be the 1,000-year millennium reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 20:1–15; see MILLENNIUM), and then the beginning of eternity (see FINAL STATE), which will have a “new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21–22, more on the rapture will follow).
The tribulation will last for seven years, and most believe the last three and a half years are called the “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21), though this name also appears to be used for other times (Revelation 2:22, 7:14). *I am not setting any date for our Lord’s return.
How are we to interpret the great plagues and disasters that the Bible said will come upon the earth? Some believe we should not interpret them literally, saying that they are only figurative, mystical, allegorical, etc. But all the plagues that Moses warned Pharaoh of in the Old Testament were later fulfilled literally (see INTERPRETATION).
The great tribulation will last seven years (Daniel 9:27), the “week” in this verse is, according to Strong’s, “seven, period of seven, days or years”; the context requires it to be a week of years. No one makes a “covenant” (peace treaty) “with many” for seven days (see Leviticus 25:8 for how time is expressed elsewhere). It will be before the signing of this treaty that the rapture will take place. Christians will be taken out of this world, “caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air,” and those left behind will face the worst time this world has ever known. Things on this earth will not get better, but worse: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1). “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world” (Matthew 24:21). The Antichrist will make his mark necessary to “buy or sell” (see MARK OF THE BEAST, 666). But thankfully, the believers will be taken out of this world first, before the tribulation.
The church age is between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel 9:24–27. It was “after” the 69th week that “Messiah be cut off [Jesus crucified]…and the people [Rome] of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” So these events must take place before the last “week” of years (seven years). In prophecy, gaps do occur (see INTERPRETATION); the church is not mentioned at all in the Old Testament, and the church age would fall between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel. The Rapture takes place at the end of the church age, and God will again begin to work with the nation of Israel during the seven-year tribulation, which is the 70th week of Daniel. God is not finished with Israel, and we cannot take the promises of Israel and apply them to the church. As a footnote, we should seek to be a blessing to Israel and Jews. God says, “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.” This was said not only to Abraham and to Isaac but to the whole nation of Israel (Genesis 12:3, 27:29; Numbers 24:9). And though God has blessed Ismail (the father of the Arabs), still the land that Israel has was given to them by God (Genesis 17:7–8, 18–21). Paul says when speaking about the nation of Israel, “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.” This is found in Romans 11:1–2, and in verses 25–26 God in the future works through Israel again. The rapture of the Christian believers marks the end of the church age and the beginning of the tribulation.
The end of the church age is not marked by a growing faith but a departure from the faith. The Antichrist cannot be revealed until there is first a “falling away” from the faith (2 Thessalonians 2:3). This has already happened as the vast majority of “Christianity” no longer trust Christ for salvation but sacraments, good works or their church. (If one doubts what I write here then he would only need to ask people what they are trusting to get to Heaven, very few would say they are only trusting Jesus Christ for their salvation.)
Now is the time to be saved, before the awful time of persecution of the Antichrist. And after the rapture, there will be people who will be saved during the tribulation (Revelation 7:9–14), not by the church age believers, who are mostly Gentiles, but by the “hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel” (Revelation 7:3–8). The passage plainly says they will be Jews, not Gentiles, so any church or person who claims to be of this group would first have to prove he is of Jewish descent. God will be working with the Hebrew nation again to win people to Himself because the church will be gone. The great tribulation is called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7: “Jacob” is Israel). It is not the trouble of the church; we won’t be here.
Christ gave the examples of Lot and Noah: “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” This was given for the end time, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” And as both Noah and Lot were removed before God’s judgment fell, so in the future Christians will be raptured before the tribulation (see Rapture).
(Please see RAPTURE, RETURN OF CHRIST, HEAVEN, HELL, SOUL SLEEP, PURGATORY, JUDGMENT, DEATH, RESURRECTION, REVELATION, RUSSIA WILL FIGHT ISRAEL, MILLENNIUM, ARMAGEDDON, ANTICHRIST, MARK OF THE BEAST (666), FINAL STATE.)
Our Newest Book GOD & SPIES
GM Matheny was a US Navy saturation diver on the nuclear submarine USS Halibut. Involved in "Operation Ivy Bells". America’s most important and most dangerous of the Cold War clandestine operations. If you like good old fashioned American bravado, espionage and American history, you will enjoy this book.
Based on True Events -The Mount Everest of Spy Missions
Firsthand account of history's greatest intelligence coup. Operation Ivy Bells was not a onetime intercept of foreign intelligence, but an ongoing operation of multiple Soviet military channels, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, which lasted for years! Another reason for the high interest in our operation was the audacious nature in which it was done—with not one person risking his neck but a whole crew of a nuclear submarine.
How did I end up as a navy diver, four hundred feet down in a frigid Russian sea? After making my dad totally disgusted with me, I set out to make him happy. “Honour thy father” - I struggled with a decision to serve God. “Lord, I will give my life to you and serve you if you let me make this dive.” But I had the impression He only wanted to know one thing: “What if I do not let you? Will you serve me anyway?”
BOOK EXCERPT "The tenders in the dive chamber who are bringing in Red Diver’s umbilical cable, unexpectedly have his cable ripped out of their hands! One of the tenders says, “What’s going on?” Matheny’s fins have landed back onto the first leg of the DSRV, which keeps him from sliding back any farther. He then pulls toward him about 30 feet of his umbilical cord and makes a dash for the next leg coming down from the DSRV. He makes it, but the red light shining in Matheny’s face is reminding him he is running out of time. From his position, he can see the light shining down in the water from the entry point back into the dive chamber. He positions himself to push off the last leg of the DSRV so he can enter the dive chamber. Then unexplainably he is again jerked backward with another sharp pull! This time his face mask slams into the leg of the DSRV. Matheny hurriedly makes a grab for this leg clinging to it."
Paperback 273 pages, $12.90 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1075452430
Kindle $6.30 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TCSLFWR
What others are saying.
Pastor Marvin McKenzie (February 7, 2018)
“Garry Matheny is a friend and a fellow preacher. Prior to his salvation he served in the Navy as an elite saturation diver. He was involved in one of America’s most important and dangerous clandestine operations."
"Garry does a marvelous job of weaving recently declassified information regarding the operation, the record of an intelligence analyst spending the rest of his life in prison for selling the details of this operation to the Russians and his own eyewitness account of the operation itself."
"If you like good old fashioned American bravado, espionage and history, you will enjoy this book.”
David Meyer (February 26, 2018)
“I could not stop reading once I started. This book is for anyone that likes stories about submarines, divers, spies and or scripture. It’s all there in this interesting book.”
Amazon Customer (March 5, 2018)
“The flow of logic of the whole episode was great. Once I started reading it I couldn't stop.”
GM Matheny was a US Navy saturation diver on the nuclear submarine USS Halibut. Involved in "Operation Ivy Bells". America’s most important and most dangerous of the Cold War clandestine operations. If you like good old fashioned American bravado, espionage and American history, you will enjoy this book.
Based on True Events -The Mount Everest of Spy Missions
Firsthand account of history's greatest intelligence coup. Operation Ivy Bells was not a onetime intercept of foreign intelligence, but an ongoing operation of multiple Soviet military channels, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, which lasted for years! Another reason for the high interest in our operation was the audacious nature in which it was done—with not one person risking his neck but a whole crew of a nuclear submarine.
How did I end up as a navy diver, four hundred feet down in a frigid Russian sea? After making my dad totally disgusted with me, I set out to make him happy. “Honour thy father” - I struggled with a decision to serve God. “Lord, I will give my life to you and serve you if you let me make this dive.” But I had the impression He only wanted to know one thing: “What if I do not let you? Will you serve me anyway?”
BOOK EXCERPT "The tenders in the dive chamber who are bringing in Red Diver’s umbilical cable, unexpectedly have his cable ripped out of their hands! One of the tenders says, “What’s going on?” Matheny’s fins have landed back onto the first leg of the DSRV, which keeps him from sliding back any farther. He then pulls toward him about 30 feet of his umbilical cord and makes a dash for the next leg coming down from the DSRV. He makes it, but the red light shining in Matheny’s face is reminding him he is running out of time. From his position, he can see the light shining down in the water from the entry point back into the dive chamber. He positions himself to push off the last leg of the DSRV so he can enter the dive chamber. Then unexplainably he is again jerked backward with another sharp pull! This time his face mask slams into the leg of the DSRV. Matheny hurriedly makes a grab for this leg clinging to it."
Paperback 273 pages, $12.90 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1075452430
Kindle $6.30 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TCSLFWR
What others are saying.
Pastor Marvin McKenzie (February 7, 2018)
“Garry Matheny is a friend and a fellow preacher. Prior to his salvation he served in the Navy as an elite saturation diver. He was involved in one of America’s most important and dangerous clandestine operations."
"Garry does a marvelous job of weaving recently declassified information regarding the operation, the record of an intelligence analyst spending the rest of his life in prison for selling the details of this operation to the Russians and his own eyewitness account of the operation itself."
"If you like good old fashioned American bravado, espionage and history, you will enjoy this book.”
David Meyer (February 26, 2018)
“I could not stop reading once I started. This book is for anyone that likes stories about submarines, divers, spies and or scripture. It’s all there in this interesting book.”
Amazon Customer (March 5, 2018)
“The flow of logic of the whole episode was great. Once I started reading it I couldn't stop.”
