Awaken Bible Prophecy Update 6-12-24 – Messiah 2030: What to Consider

Is the Tribulation a seven or three-and-a-half year period?  Assuming there is a Rapture, is it pre-Trib or post-Trib?  In the context of a Tribulation as described in Revelation, how does this time of Judgment impact Israel?  How does it affect the church or the rest of the world? Daniel’s 70^th week is a significant aspect of any end-times discussions.  How does it play into how we view the nature and length of the Tribulation?  A key figure in eschatological deliberations is Antichrist.  What does he have to do with these considerations?  When and how does he come on the prophetic scene?

These questions and more arise in the viewing of the (for now) 3-part, 7-hour presentation titled Messiah 2030.

Transcript:

Is the Tribulation a seven or three-and-a-half year period?  Assuming there is a Rapture, is it pre-Trib or post-Trib?  In the context of a Tribulation as described in Revelation, how does this time of Judgment impact Israel?  How does it affect the church or the rest of the world? Daniel’s 70^th week is a significant aspect of any end-times discussions.  How does it play into how we view the nature and length of the Tribulation?  A key figure in eschatological deliberations is Antichrist.  What does he have to do with these considerations?  When and how does he come on the prophetic scene?

These questions and more arise in the viewing of the (for now) 3-part, 7-hour presentation titled Messiah 2030.  While watching this, many questions, issues, and problems arose in my mind.  I think the presentation is significant enough that everybody should see it and come away thinking very deeply.  It’s a serious, remarkable, and extremely detailed, effort that examines many, many prophetic indicators in the Bible to arrive at a conclusion that is – frankly – contrary to my pre-Tribulation Rapture thinking and that of many others.  Yet, I cannot ignore what is said and calculated based on the nature of Scripture.  Messiah 2030 digs deeply into the prophetic significance of the numerical indicators God provides throughout His Word.  It provides a detailed calendar-based timeline stretching from the time of the prophets through the book of Revelation – all based on the Genesis 7-day creation period, and what that means as a template going forward.  In fact, it calculates not only the year of Jesus’ return in His 2^nd Coming, but also specifically the month and very day.

Ultimately, Messiah 2030 makes conclusions that create a post-Tribulation Rapture scenario.  This is obviously extremely contrary to my fervent pre-Tribulation Rapture belief.  God does not incorporate anything in His Word that is incidental to His purposes; neither does He put anything coincidental in Scripture.  Everything has a purpose and nothing is accidental.  Given that and the post-Trib conclusion that is an integral part of what is determined in Messiah 2030, what are we who are pre-Trib to think?  Are we completely wrong, or is there something that may be missing in this presentation, as detailed and adhering to Scripture as it surely is?

We’ll examine these matters in a moment.  First, let’s pray and read from God’s Word.

<PRAY>

Scripture:

Revelation 3:7-13

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Isaiah 26:20-21

Come, my people, enter your chambers,
and shut your doors behind you;
hide yourselves for a little while
until the fury has passed by.
For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity,
and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it,
and will no more cover its slain.

Messiah 2030: What to Consider

• Messiah 2030 was brought to my attention by one of my online followers – h/t to Jaap from Belgium
• Jaap came away from watching the presentation as I did, that is with various questions and concerns despite what appears to be overwhelming evidence for the conclusions that are reached
• My first thought is that just because the conclusion reached is different than what I believe doesn’t mean that these videos and the data should be ignored
• Just like in any apologetics situation, we don’t simply say that this is the way it is and you can’t ask any questions
• No, any theological position must allow true seeking inquiries
• We are not like the cults that won’t allow the leader of his doctrine to be questioned, because if you do that, you’re a heretic
• I think we must engage a thorough and thoughtful effort that is wholly Scripture based such as Messiah 2030 and see what we come up with

• From the best I can tell, the authors of Messiah 2030 are Messianic Jews
• As a friend remarked when I told him about this, he said the Messianic Jews often have solid insight
• We can see why this would be the case for devout Jews who have studied the Torah – the Old Testament
• They initially wanted to know God more deeply from His Word but from the perspective of the Jewish religion
• When those Jews realize Jesus is their Messiah, they’re able to use their Old Testament understanding and couple that with the New Testament, often resulting in a profound depth of faith

• This Commentary is not intended to review all of the evidentiary prophecies contained in Messiah 2030
• In something less than an hour of analysis, that would be impossible
• I’ll give you a brief overview plus several key take-aways from my perspective, then discuss the various issues I have that make it problematic for me to simply accept their final conclusion
• For anyone wondering at this point: No, this documentary hasn’t convinced me of a post-Trib Rapture
• I’m still on-board as a fervent pre-Trib guy
• We’ll get into this shortly with as many aspects as I can dredge up

Brief Thesis Overview of Messiah 2030

• The entire timeline and calendar begin with the Genesis 7-day creation account
• It all hinges on the 6 days that God worked and the 7th in which He rested
• Based on this the entire timeline from creation through the Millennial reign of Christ is 7 God-days which is equivalent to 7,000 human years
• Backing up, this means that Jesus must return in His 2nd Coming at the 6,000-year mark
• Messiah 2030 presents at least 50 OT prophecies or prophetic indicators that overwhelmingly enable the timeline to come together based on this 6,000-year interval from the beginning to Jesus’ return
• Calculation for His return begins with the decree noted in Daniel 9:25 to rebuild Jerusalem
• This is determined to be the 1st decree of Artaxerxes in 409 BC
• Note that Messiah 2030 uses the modern terminology of CE = Common Era in place of AD (Anno Domini); and BCE = Before Common Era in place of BC (Before Christ)
• Being old school in this regard, I don’t particularly like this change and usage, so I refuse to use it
• Continuing, it is this initial date marker of Artaxerxes’ decree that is used to calculate both the time Jesus was born in 5 BC and His subsequent death in 30 AD (note there is no actual Year 0, so that 1 year must be subtracted in the calculation)
• Integral to the thinking of this presentation is the 50-year Jubilee events
• In this regard 120 Jubilee units = 6,000 years, i.e. the entire span of time from Day 1 to Day 6
• From Day 4 which is the 80th Jubilee and the 1st Coming of Jesus at 4,000 years, there are 2 more Days until the end = 40 Jubilees or 2,000 years
• I apologize that this is probably a little hard to follow just in my description, but the entire presentation shows the timeline and should make understanding clearer if you watch that
• All this means that there is a final 7th Day of 1,000 years yet to come after Jesus returns in His 2nd Coming, i.e. the Millennial period
• Also, Young Earthers should certainly rejoice in this overall understanding of creation to Jesus’ return
• The bottom line is that since Jesus was crucified in 30 AD, i.e. “cut off” per the Daniel 9:26 prophecy, there remained 2 Days or 2,000 years to His return
• This means that Jesus comes back in His 2nd Coming in 2030 AD, just 6 years from now which is currently 2024
• Based on the specificity of the calendar calculations in the timeline, the exact month and day of His return can also be determined
• According to Messiah 2030, the 2nd Coming of Jesus will be September 27, 2030
• This is considered the 1st Resurrection
• The 2nd Resurrection occurs at the end of the Millennial period
• The question then becomes how long is the Tribulation in relation to Daniel’s 70th week?
• Messiah 2030 believes that the first 3 1/2 years of this final week foretold to Daniel occurred in the aftermath of Jesus’ death but calculated from when He first began His ministry
• The result is that this initial period ends in 70 AD with the destruction of the temple
• Thus, the first half of Daniel’s 70th week has already been completed
• This means there is only another 3 1/2 years remaining
• This is the Great Tribulation that Revelation speaks of
• Of course, the conclusion is that the coming Tribulation is not 7 years in length but is only comprised of the Great Tribulation being 3 1/2 years

• This is all of great interest to us who hold to a 7-year Tribulation period, but here is where it gets somewhat tricky – I think – for the Messiah 2030 perspective
• Since the calculations determine that Jesus must return in the Fall of 2030 at His 2nd Coming, then the Great Tribulation must begin 3 1/2 years earlier
• How does it begin?
• It starts with the Daniel 9:27 desolation of abomination, i.e. the desecration of the temple by the “one who makes desolate”, a.k.a. the Antichrist
• One other point before I summarize some of these ideas . . .
• Messiah 2030 determines that the “he” who makes a strong covenant in Daniel 9:27 is not Antichrist
• Rather, “he” is God, referring back to Daniel 9:4 in Daniel’s prayer regarding “God who keeps covenant”
• Additionally, “the people of the prince who is to come and destroy the city and the sanctuary” is not Antichrist, rather it was Jesus Christ because of the curse that came with the Jews crucifying Him
• This destruction thus happened in 70 AD
• These various pieces are shown to prove that Daniel 9:27 does not mean Antichrist necessarily comes from Roman lineage, nor does it mean that there is an entire 7 years remaining in Daniel’s 70th week
• There are only 3 1/2 years remining in Daniel’s 70^th week according to this perspective
• The other implication is that there is no covenant agreement associated with Antichrist to kick off the 7-year Tribulation

Messiah 2030 Idea Summary

• What I just reiterated is a lot to absorb
• Here in summary are the major ideas from Messiah 2030 that I think are important to discuss
• I’ll note them, then discuss their implications in the next section with the various concerns, issues, and problems that I see:

• As mentioned, Jesus returns in His 2nd Coming on September 27, 2030
• Antichrist desecrates the future temple 3 1/2 years earlier in Spring 2027
• Obviously since the temple isn’t yet built, it must be completed sometime before Spring of 2027 along with sacrifices and oblations also having begun
• There is a remarkable correlation of compelling prophetic connections throughout Scripture, all tied literally and symbolically to the 7-Day creation period
• Because the assumption and calculation of the first 3 1/2 years of Daniel’s 70^th week is that this period follows after the ministry and crucifixion of Jesus until the destruction of Herod’s temple in 70 AD, that means there is only another 3 1/2 year period designated as the Great Tribulation until Jesus returns in His 2^nd Coming
• Thus, there is not a coming 7-year Tribulation, only the 3 1/2 years, i.e. the final 3 1/2 weeks remaining
• The Rapture and the Resurrection occur simultaneously at the end of the Great Tribulation upon the 2^nd Coming of Jesus
• Thus, there is no pre-Tribulation Rapture
• Thus, the true church goes through the Great Tribulation in the same manner that Israel does
• In this prophetic perspective, Replacement Theology is turned on its head
• Everything is focused on Israel
• Rather than the church replacing Israel so that all of God’s promises to Israel are meant for the church, in this case all of the promises made for the church are effectively given to Israel
• Just to be cute and to give a name to this phenomenon, we’ll call it Displacement Theology
• The Two Witnesses in this scenario obviously do what they do during the Great Tribulation
• Presumably when they are resurrected and called “up here” to heaven, this is when the church is then likewise Raptured

Implications of Messiah 2030 – Concerns, Issues, & Problems

Displacement Theology

• Because there is so much that can be said concerning all of this, I’ll do my best and hope that it is coherent and does justice to the topic
• Let’s begin with considering this idea of Displacement Theology, whereby the entire Tribulation, being only 3 1/2 years, is Israel-focused AND the church is incorporated into the Judgment punishments that are due to Israel
• This really is the overarching conclusion one must take away from the Messiah 2030 scenario
• Throughout the Old Testament – the Torah – we see the Biblical narrative of Israel, God’s Chosen People
• We see in these Scriptures how God placed His Name upon the land of Israel and specifically upon the city of Jerusalem as the place where He dwelt
• More than that, God promises to ultimately restore Israel to the land where they will dwell forever in God’s presence
• It’s in this context that the church is swallowed up into the promises meant for Israel
• Throughout the narrative God deals with Israel directly and with the nations surrounding her that influence her to turn from Him
• Time and again, God gives the people of Israel the choice of following Him or not
• In if-then language, God says that IF you turn your heart to Me and obey My commands, THEN I will bless you
• However, IF you choose to follow after pagan gods and commit the abominations of the nations, THEN I will bring terrible judgment and punishment upon you
• This happened twice
• First it occurred following the invasions of Assyria and Babylon
• Gracious and loving as He is, God restored His people to the land
• You’d think that would have been an enduring lesson . . .
• If you cross God, you suffer for it
• But maybe the people remembered only His grace in their restoration
• They certainly believed they could disobey Him without consequences
• This they did in the most egregious act of all – rejecting God Himself in human form
• Because they killed Jesus, God’s curse lay upon Israel
• That resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD and the literal extinction of the nation in 135 AD
• Thus, the Biblical era for God to deal with Israel came to a halt for the time being
• Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, this brought about the birth of the church
• For the next 2,000 years of the Church Age, this is where God’s efforts were concentrated
• Yet, He had promised a final restoration of Israel, so at some point He had to return His focus to the Holy Land and His people, the Jews
• After all, the Bible specifically says that Israel will return to Him in the latter days, at the point when they recognize Jesus as Messiah and proclaim Him through the words, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord”
• Upon that event happening, God opens the floodgates of blessing upon Israel and the world, and we enter the Millennial period
• From this, we can easily see that Israel still has a time of Judgment and punishment coming because even in dispersion throughout the world, few Jews have turned their hearts to Jesus as Messiah
• God has to do something so as to cause them to make this prophesied turn to Christ
• This is the purpose of the Great Tribulation
• But this is where the idea of Displacement Theology runs into a problem
• What does the true church that already knows Jesus as Savior and Lord have to do with this scenario directed toward Israel in these final days?
• How is it that the church gets conflated with Israel and is subject to the same Judgment and punishment as Israel?
• Does that make any sense?
• What about the rest of the unbelieving world?
• These God-hating, Christ-rejecting people are scattered throughout the nations
• How is it that the focus on Israel affects them?
• Will God deal with them, or does He leave them alone as He rains down plagues on Israel?
• In one sense I have no problems with the Messiah 2030 timeline since it is Israel-focused as it must be to accomplish God’s prophetic purposes
• In the other sense, however, I fail to see how either the church or the rest of the unbelieving world are dealt with in this scenario
• Some part of the overall picture is missing

Antichrist

• We all know that Antichrist will be a real individual
• He is the lawless one, the man of perdition that Paul describes in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10
• Most students of Bible prophecy believe he is the rider on the white horse revealed (or unleashed) in the opening of Seal 1 in Revelation 6:1-2:

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

• It is almost universally acknowledged that he is the Beast, who rises out of the sea in Revelation 13:1-10 and for whom the Mark of the Beast is created so that the world will worship him i.e. the Beast, the rider, and Antichrist are one and the same
• I don’t know if Messiah 2030 believes this rider is Antichrist and is also the Beast or not
• If not, who would they think he is?
• Again, the vast majority of those who are aware of Bible prophecy also believe that it is this Antichrist who commits the abomination of desolation in the future, yet-to-be-built, Jewish temple in Jerusalem
• One major issue that arises from Messiah 2030 is whether or not it is Antichrist who is referred to in Daniel 9:27:

And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

• Is it the Antichrist referred to as “he” who makes a strong covenant for one week, i.e. 7 years?
• Is this the same individual making the abominable desolations?
• According to Messiah 2030, the answer is no
• They believe the context of the surrounding text and their timeline narrative shows that “he” is God in the person of Jesus Christ
• As such, their perspective is that this destroys the idea that Daniel’s 70^th week must still completely happen
• It does this because Antichrist isn’t desecrating the temple at the Midpoint of the 7-year Tribulation
• Rather, there is no Midpoint in their 3 1/2 year Great Tribulation scenario
• Antichrist causes the temple abomination at the very beginning of the Great Tribulation and thus is actually the catalyst to start it
• This is why they count backward from Fall 2030 3 1/2 years to Spring 2027 as the beginning of the final weeks of Daniel’s prophecy
• Messiah 2030 warns that this revelation may cause cognitive dissonance for those who hold a 7-year Tribulation, pre-Trib Rapture view
• In my case: yes and no
• Now, if you’re like me, you may look at this situation and have some questions similar to mine; for instance . . .
• Does this mean that Antichrist as the rider on the white horse in Seal 1 is unveiled and immediately desecrates the temple?
• How does this work?
• The implication of that white horse rider is that he comes as a man of false peace with his crown and his bow that has no arrow
• Messiah 2030 plans a Part 4 to their video series which is to be released sometime this summer
• Maybe they’ll address this at that time
• Until them I can only speculate and ask questions
• How is it that this man who appears peaceful on the world stage immediately goes to the temple and desecrates it?
• How does he present this persona to the world?
• When?
• How does he have access to the temple?
• That’s a holy place for the Jews
• Shouldn’t this man have built up some level of trust with the Jews in some way so as to even get close to the Holy of Holies?
• For him to burst forth and just go do this deed simply doesn’t work for me
• The way this world operates is that things take time to develop
• Just as the birth pains leading up to the Tribulation – of whatever length it might be – take time to progress, along with increasing in duration and intensity, so it is with literally everything else that goes on
• A woman doesn’t become pregnant and immediately pop out the baby
• There is a 9-month gestation period during which many changes occur with the woman and the child in her womb
• Only then at the end do the contractions start leading to the birth
• That’s how the world in general operates
• Things take time to happen
• Thus, how can this Beast – the Antichrist – simply appear and go do this abominable deed?
• I have a logical problem with that scenario
• But there’s much more
• The big question is whether Daniel 9:27 refers to Antichrist or Messiah?
• I’ll let you watch Messiah 2030 to gain an understanding of why they believe it’s not Antichrist
• For our purposes I want to introduce Charles (Ken) Bassett
• Back in 2021 Terry James reviewed a book that Ken wrote titled Can We Know?
• As you’ll see from the link in the Transcript to Terry’s review, he found the idea intriguing that Christians indeed might be able to determine who the Antichrist is before he’s actually revealed
• Ken renamed the book to God Says Count the Number 666
• He also wrote a follow-up book titled Empire of the Antichrist, which delves into more detail and is a worthy follow-up to the first book
• Ken and I have been in communication and I asked him for his thinking on Messiah 2030
• Concerning this issue of Antichrist, this is what he has to say:

In Daniel 9:27, if we assume the “he” who confirms the covenant is also the “he” who breaks it, then that person must be the AC for the following reasons:

Grammar – The immediate antecedent of “he”—the one who confirms the covenant—is the so-called “prince” who appears in the previous verse—the one whose ethnic group, or “people,” destroyed the city and the sanctuary in 70 A.D., i.e., the Romans. 

Consequently, according to the rules of Hebrew grammar, both the “covenant maker” (v. 27) and the “Roman prince” (v. 26) have to be the same person. And since that “prince” does something only the AC will do—namely, destroy the city and the sanctuary (Dan. 9:26; Lk. 21:20; Rev. 13:7)—then both the “prince” and the “covenant maker” must be the AC.

Context – The stated purpose of Daniel 9 is to explain what Daniel saw in chapter 8. (This is what the Angel declares in verses 9:22-23.) Consequently, the “prince who confirms and then breaks the covenant” in chapter 9 must be the “little horn who takes away the sacrifice and casts down the sanctuary” in chapter 8. And since that abominable act is something only the AC will do, then the “covenant confirming prince” of chapter 9 (who appears as the “little horn” in chapter 8) must be the AC.

Logic – If the covenant maker is God (as some people claim), and if God breaks his covenant with Israel during the Tribulation in order to chastise them, then it doesn’t make sense he would send Michael the Archangel to defend the Jews at the same time (v. 12:1). It is therefore doubtful the “covenant maker” is God.

Parallel Passage – In Daniel 11 (verses 21-45) the so-called “vile king” is clearly the AC. We know this is true because verse 11:31 says this king will commit the abomination of desolation, which is the defining act of the AC. But the “prince” of chapter 9 will do the same thing (v. 27). And that means the prince of chapter 9 and the vile king of chapter 11 are really the same person. Both men are the AC. Hence, chapter 9 simply adds an important detail to the AC’s career (not mentioned elsewhere), stating that the AC will “confirm” (negotiate/strengthen) the very treaty he will later break.

• As you can see, Ken isn’t buying what Messiah 2030 is selling in regard to this intriguing figure in Biblical prophecy
• We also exchanged ideas concerning the overall timeline that Messiah 2030 sets forth, and Ken makes an interesting observation:

The validity of any theoretical timeline absolutely depends on having established the correct the starting point. Hence, I agree with the 7000-year theory, but with one caveat which I’ve never seen anyone mention: the 7000-year countdown could not have begun until Adam sinned (there would’ve been no reason to start such a countdown, if everything was “very good” and sin had not yet entered our universe); and Adam almost certainly would not have been put to the test until he was at least 30 years old (the age at which one has sufficient maturity to handle spiritual responsibilities and can be tested/used by God, e.g., Jeremiah, Jesus, the priests of Israel, etc.) Consequently, in my opinion, even though the author of this series arrives at the right conclusion (that Christ will return sometime around the year 2030), he does so in spite of his calculations, not because of them.

• In other words, the validity of the 6,000-year timeline and the actual date of Christ’s return is wholly dependent on when the counting begins
• Ken threw out 30 years as an offset
• What if the offset is only 7 years because God created Adam as a grown man who was effectively 23 years old?
• That doesn’t affect the date we know about Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, but is there something missing along the way that impacts the final date of 2030 to maybe move it back to 2037, perhaps even after a 7-year Tribulation?
• In the absence of someone else taking a deep dive into the timeline data, all we can do is speculate
• However, since this entire Antichrist timing issue is important in my estimation, let’s consider some other possible factors regarding a 7-year overall Tribulation versus only a 3 1/2 year period

Tribulation

• There are a couple factors that influence my thinking concerning the nature and length of the Tribulation

1. The character of God
2. What should we as true believers in Jesus Christ expect from Him?

• Messiah 2030 presents an almost cold, Old Testament style prophetic outline of Biblical history and what is to come
• I view it in a sense as a legalistic dictate of God’s Law and its outcome
• As such, I have to ask – despite this presentation presumably crafted by Messianic believers: where is the grace of Christ in this future outcome?
• We know that God has two primary sides to His nature: that of justice and that of mercy
• Messiah 2030 presents the just God fulfilling His Word against Israel
• He judges and punishes Israel in the Great Tribulation, then mercifully delivers those who finally worship Jesus Christ, just as He promised throughout the Torah
• God’s character is on display as to how the fate of Israel plays out
• But note, as mentioned earlier, what’s the role of the church in this scenario?
• We see in Lamentations 1:5 how Jeremiah mourns for Jerusalem:

Her foes have become the head;
her enemies prosper,
because the Lord has afflicted her
for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.

• Note that it’s due to the multitude of Israel’s transgressions that God has afflicted the holy city
• This is added to in Lamentations 1:12:

“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which the Lord inflicted
on the day of his fierce anger.”

• Because of her transgressions, this kindled the anger of the Lord upon Jerusalem; thus, He afflicted her
• I think some very powerful verses tell whom God’s wrath falls upon

Nahum 1:2

The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
the Lord is avenging and wrathful;
the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries
and keeps wrath for his enemies.

Romans 1:18

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

• It’s very clear in these verses alone that God’s wrath is reserved for His enemies. i.e. those who are rebellious & disobedient – the ungodly and unrighteous who suppress the truth
• If we read Ezekiel 2-3, God describes Israel as a rebellious house 7 times, then four more times in Ezekiel 12
• I think Israel qualifies as an enemy of God at the time described by Ezekiel
• In complete contrast we have 1 Thessalonians 5:9:

For God has not destined us [i.e. true believers] for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ

• To emphasize this point, here is Hebrews 7:25:

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

• This should tell us something
• Why would God subject us as believers to the afflictions shown to Israel when we who are in Christ have been cleansed by His blood and freed from the penalty of our sins?
• The people of Jerusalem never repented and were thus not released from the sin debt they incurred
• We who trust and follow Jesus have been delivered from that curse of affliction
• God has forgiven our sins and forgotten them as far as the east is from the west
• How then does it make any sense that we are required to endure the same penalty for the abominations against God as either unbelieving Israel, or the secular, Christ-rejecting world today?
• Here in Lamentations 3:64-66 we get a sense of what God’s grievance will result in:

“You will repay them, O Lord,
according to the work of their hands.
You will give them dullness of heart;
your curse will be on them.
You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under your heavens, O Lord.”

• Does this sound like something that God will subject His children to?
• Do you think He will pursue true believers in Jesus because of His anger and destroy us?
• In my humble opinion, anyone believing this kind of nonsense has no concept of God’s character
• Let’s also consider the issue of tribulation (little “t”) versus The Tribulation (capital “T”)
• It is true in the New Testament that the Greek word used in both instances is the same, i.e. thlipsis
• It means “persecution, affliction, distress, tribulation”
• But in context is the end result of the usage equivalent?
• We are told that as Christians we are not spared from tribulations, i.e. affliction, distress, or persecutions
• In fact, we should expect this in our Christian walk
• But from where do these tribulations arise?
• They come from the hands of men, many of whom are certainly instigated by Satan to harm the people of God
• But, are they supernatural in origin?
• Obviously, there are not
• Yet, what do we see in either a 7-year or 3 1/2 year Tribulation?
• The Judgment plagues are initiated by God and include such horrific events as waters turning to blood throughout the earth, unnatural heat from the sun turned up to extra-scorch, complete blackouts with no sun or light whatsoever for an indeterminant time, the release of demonic entities that either harm or kill, and somewhat lesser troubles
• Nobody can tell me that there is anything equivalent between the endurance of the saints today and yesterday through various tribulations and The Tribulation encompassing the 21 Judgment plagues
• The Tribulation is God’s wrath pure and simple directed at the enemies of God for rejecting His Son, Jesus Christ
• We who believe in Jesus have no part in that
• Thus, regardless of the length of the Tribulation, there’s no Scriptural and literal way to come to the understanding that the true church will be forced to endure these atrocities

Church Age

• Using a Dispensational understanding of Biblical history, we know that Israel was the focus of God’s attentions up through the crucifixion of Jesus, and will be again during the Tribulation
• We have this 2,000-year interval however that we call the Church Age during which God focuses on the church and not Israel
• This in itself is an important idea to grasp because it indicates the difference between Israel and the church
• Israel receives her due punishments and rewards for her beliefs and actions
• These come through the requirement to end her punishment and to finally gain her reward to live in the land of Israel fully blessed by God
• The church receives what is due it as well – but this is separate and different
• For those who are faithful, we gain eternal life with Christ
• Even before that, God has promised to snatch us away from this hostile and alien world that is not our home before all these cataclysmic troubles in the form of the Tribulation come over the earth
• Our reward is various crowns, and to rule and reign with Christ in the Millennial kingdom
• This is a much different end result than the promises to Israel
• For those who have abandoned the faith in the apostasy of these latter days, they will suffer no differently than the unbelieving world
• It’s another reason why the church cannot be lumped into the outcome put forth by Messiah 2030
• To emphasize this point, consider Hebrews 8:10,12:

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.

• God promises Israel this new covenant that will take place during the Millennium
• The result of this is that at that future point God forgives and forgets all their sins
• But hasn’t this already happened with true and faithful believers in Christ?
• God has to subject Israel to the Tribulation so as to change their hearts in order for Him to forgive and forget
• Haven’t the hearts of Christ-followers already undergone this transformation?
• Haven’t we already attained such a promise?
• Why then would God make us experience the same penalty as Israel?
• As God’s treasured children and the beloved Bride of Christ, hasn’t the work of Jesus already been done with and in us?
• Hasn’t it been finished such that our salvation is only necessary a single time?
• Do we need to be saved again through the work of enduring the Tribulation?

Summary

• Believe it or not, there are still other questions and concerns that we can raise in this brief analysis
• My wife asked me why I’m even bothering to do this, and you might have the same question
• I think Messiah 2030 is compelling and extremely well done
• It is a serious effort that requires a serious analysis and response
• It’s worth thinking about because of the very fact that it seems to contradict the belief that so many of us hold concerning the pre-Tribulation Rapture and even a 7-year Tribulation
• From what I’ve discussed, you hopefully see that there are gaps here that center very much on the difference between Israel and the church
• I venture to say that few people watching and absorbing what is presented will think along these lines
• As such, it may even be that some number of pre-Trib Rapture believers will change their minds and be convinced that the Rapture and Resurrection must both take place at the end of the Great Tribulation
• The presentation certainly confirms to those who are already inclined toward this view that they are correct in their understanding
• What this exercise has done for me is to solidify my belief that there indeed must be a 7-year Tribulation and that it must be preceded by the Rapture of the true church
• The common understanding both camps have is that Israel is the focus of the 3 1/2 year Great Tribulation
• From the data presented in the Messiah 2030 calendar calculations, I cannot tell you with any certainty from a detailed timeline how the first 3 1/2 years come about in a 7-year Tribulation
• Yet, I look at the text in Revelation and see that God pours out His wrath upon the unbelieving rest of the world – not just on Israel
• This must happen, and to encompass all Judgments by focusing just on Israel seems to miss that point
• After all, these various supernatural Judgments affect the entire earth because God must deal with the Gentiles along with the Jews
• It’s certainly possible that God will cram all 21 Judgments into 3 1/2 years
• The question is whether it’s to His advantage to separate the two halves of the Tribulation, such that the first half deals mainly with the rest of the world, while the second half then focuses on Israel
• In that scenario, the ministry of the Two Witnesses makes more sense to me
• Rather than them witness in the Great Tribulation, there’s a missing piece
• Consider what occurs when Antichrist kills them as stated in Revelation 11:9-10:

For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 

• Everyone around the world observes this drama
• Upon their death, those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth
• Thus, everybody is impacted by the plagues they call down
• Everyone leaps for joy when they die
• Why? Because they’ve been a torment to the entire earth – not just Israel
• There’s a big timing problem that accompanies this as well
• If the assumption by Messiah 2030 is that when the Two Witnesses are Raptured, and this is when the Rapture for all believers occurs, how is it that everybody on the earth is rejoicing and sending presents?
• Presumably there’s not much of a time lag between the Witnesses being resurrected and Jesus coming down in His 2^nd Coming
• But what happens at that time?
• Supernatural is off the charts
• Because of so much death and destruction, it’s hard to imagine all these earth-dwellers making merry and sending presents to each other
• The battle on the plains of Armageddon is begun
• Who has time or inclination to send presents around the world at this culmination of history on the planet as we know it?
• Does this make sense?
• But if the Witnesses do their thing during the first half of a 7-year Tribulation, and are killed by Antichrist just prior to when he desolates the temple at the Midpoint, all this falls more logically into place

• So what’s the bottom line on this?
• It seems to me that somehow the timeline has to shift
• I can’t tell you exactly how, but in my estimation – take it or leave it – there must be a 3 1/2 year period prior to the Great Tribulation, the first half of Daniel’s 70^th week
• Maybe in the mystery of God, it’s effectively a repeat from the 1^st century with its 3 1/2 year period?
• Maybe this second time mirrors that earlier period?
• I’ve previously put forth a timing scenario related to the Shemitah that in no way shape or form comes near to the exacting detail presented by Messiah 2030
• In this I suggested that the Tribulation begins in 2030 with the Rapture occurring sometime prior
• In this picture that I’ve painted, that means Jesus would return in His 2^nd Coming around 2037
• Who’s right? – who’s wrong? – who knows?
• The one thing I’ve said for a long time is that not a single one of us who teach on Bible prophecy is going to get everything right
• All we can do is try to study, and learn through the leading of the Holy Spirit
• Why He allows us to come to such different conclusions is above my pay grade
• But that’s certainly what appears to happen
• God looks down at our futile efforts and says, “Nice try. Well done.  However, you’re not God, so I’m going to pull a few tricks out of My hat.  You’ll see the big picture when we’re all gathered together to watch home movies some night in the future.”

• In conclusion, be of good cheer
• God will not abandon us
• Many of us are weary
• He knows our limitations
• The time is near when He will give us rest
• For that we can say, “Praise God!”