Lesson 1 - Indicators of Christ's Return

The following lesson is the 1st of 7 lessons taken from my presentation on Technology and Bible Prophecy

Technology and Bible Prophecy

Technical Insights for

Bible Prophecy

by

Dwight Wickersheim

2018

Lesson 1 – Indicators of Christ’s Return

Background

·       My Personnel Background

o   Married to Virginia

o   Three sons; Tony (deceased) , Tim and Ryan

o   Have five grandchildren; Melissa, Timmy, Matthew, Emma and Ella

o   Live in Mesa, Arizona

 

·       My wife and I attend Trinity Church in Mesa, AZ

 

·       My Professional Background

o   B.S. and M.S. Degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering

o   Worked for 32 years in the Defense Industry at Lockheed Martin

o   Specialized in Nuclear Effects on Military Equipment

o   Retired from Engineering in 1999

 

·       Lectured at Colleges, Bible Schools, and Churches on Bible Prophecy, Nuclear Technology, and Military Strategy

 

·       Authored Book on Bible Prophecy entitled WW IV, Aug 1982, Aeternus Publisher

 

Technology and Prophecy Outline

       Lesson                 Description of Lesson

1.     Indicators of Christ’s Return

2.     Prophecy Overview

3.     The Four Horsemen

4.     When the Stars Fall

5.     War with the Beast

6.     Kingdoms of the World

7.     A Time of God’s Wrath

 

 

Major Prophetic Indicators of Christ's Return

·       Israel becomes a Nation

 

·       Jerusalem, the Center of World Conflict

 

·       The Arab Nations become Wealthy

 

·       The Formation of Military Alliances

 

·       Specific Scientific Technologies in Bible Prophecy

 

 

Israel becoming a Nation

·       Israel gathering again as a world nation.  This activity began on May 4, 1948 and is continuing with the influx of Jews from all over the world.  Israel has always been a key element in God's time table of events and this rebirth could signal the beginning of fulfilled "end time" prophecies.

o   “For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod or idol.  Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in the last days.”      Hosea 3:4,5

o   “In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.”    Isaiah 11:11

o   "Come, let us return to the LORD.  For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.  He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day That we may live before Him.”     Hosea 6:1,2 (A thousand years as one day, Psa 90:4, 2 Pet 3:8)

 

Note: All Bible quotes from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) by the Lockman Foundation

Jerusalem, the Center of World Conflict

·       Jerusalem will be the center stage of world conflict.  Jerusalem was dedicated as the capital of Israel in 1948.  In 1980, the official legislative body of Israel declare Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.  This act brought Jerusalem as a concern before all nations.  Jerusalem is not only the capital of Israel, but it is significant to two other major religions, Christianity and Islam.

 

·       In 1995, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act. This landmark bill marks the first time in history that U.S. policy recognizes that Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel and that the U.S. embassy should be established there.  However, the US Embassy remained in Tel Aviv awaiting Israeli and Palestinian agreements on self government. On December 6, 2017, President Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and has moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

 

o   “On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.”   Zech 12:3

o   "When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.”         Luke 21:20

o   "For behold, in those days and at that time, When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations, And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; And they have divided up My land.”          Joel 3:1,2

 

·       Since King David’s reign in 1000 BC to the 1967 war, Jerusalem has been captured, overrun, or destroyed 48 times.

 

The Arab Nations become Wealthy

·       A third sign that could indicate we are in the latter days is shown by the Arab nations becoming wealthy. 

 

·       For centuries, the Middle East was underdeveloped and straddled with a poor economy, but with the discovery of oil reserves in the last century, the Middle East countries have become wealthy. 

 

·       Today, Moab and Ammon comprise all of Jordan and parts of Saudi Arabia.

o   “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days,” declares the Lord,   Jer 48:47

o   “But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the sons of Ammon,” declares the Lord.    Jer 49:6

 

·       The ancient land of Elam is located at the mouth of the Euphrates river and consists of the rich oil lands of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia.  These lands are now the focus of military activity for the world economy.

o   “But it will come about in the last days that I shall restore the fortunes of Elam,” declares the Lord.   Jer 49:39

 

The Formation of Military Alliances

·       It is clear from prophecy that the advent of Christ will be proceeded by wars.

o   “wars and rumors of war.”  Matt. 24:6

o   “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,”   Matt. 24:7

 

·       The Bible speaks of specific military and political alignments that will occur in the final wars.  Eze. 38 speaks of a military alignment between a powerful nation Rosh (Russia) to the far north of Israel and the Middle East nations of Persia (Iran, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan), Ethiopia (Cush, Sudan), and Put (Libya).

o   “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.  "And I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; Persia, Ethiopia, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops-- many peoples with you.”      Ezek 38:2-6

·       On the other side of the military alignment are Sheba (Yemen) and Dedan (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Kuwait) and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages (Europe and United States). 

o   “Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all its villages, will say to you, 'Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?”  Ezek 38:13

 

·       Some of these alignments have already been demonstrated in the Gulf war (1991) and the Iraq war (2003) and appear to lining up again with Russia and Middle East nations.

·       This passage in Ezek 38 may also refer to the war of Gog and Magog in Rev 20:7-9

 

 

Scientific Technologies in Bible Prophecy

·       Probably the most significant of all the end time signs is the prophets visual description of modern day scientific technologies and military weapons such as aircraft, tanks, and missile warfare. 

 

·       This fifth sign has one basic difference with the previous four, it does not cycle in and out of history.  The development of technical advances continues to increase and is perhaps the best clock to gauge the time prophesied for the last years before Christ's return.

 

·       Scientific and military technologies found in the Bible consist of the following:

o   Worldwide telecommunications

o   Flying machines such as airplanes and helicopters

o   Men riding on tanks

o   Men hiding in submarines on the floor of the sea

o   Ballistic Missile Technology

o   Nuclear Weapons Effects

 

Understanding Technical Description in the Bible

·       Daniel could not understand some of the visions he was given and asked for more explanation.  He was told that the people at the end would understand the vision. 

o   “I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked,” ‘My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?’ He replied, "Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.  Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.”  Daniel 12:8-10

 

·       Factors affecting the Author and his Prophetic Vision of Future Technologies

o   His personal knowledge of technical things

o   His inadequate language for describing modern technologies

o   His perspective or location when viewing the event

o   His vision of these technologies could be literal or symbolic

 

·       Technical descriptions that are found to be literal by the author’s view are explained by our current technology and military weapons.

 

Some Current Electronic Technologies

·       World Wide Telecommunications

o   Rev 14:6  And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; (Gk word aggelos means messenger or angel)

o   Rev 13:15  And there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

o   Rev 11:9  And those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.

 

·       Computer and Internet Technology

o   Dan 12:4  "But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.“

o   Rev 13:16-17  And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their forehead, and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

 

Conventional Military Weapons

·       Airplanes

o   Jer 4:13  "Behold, he goes up like clouds, And his chariots like the whirlwind; His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!”

o   Ezek 38:9  "And you will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.”

·       Helicopters

o   Joel 2:4-5  Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run. With a noise as of chariots They leap on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people arranged for battle.

o   Rev 9:7-10  And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads, as it were, crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.  And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions.  And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle.  And they have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months.

·       Tanks

o   Rev 9:17  And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone.

·       Submarines

o   Amos 9:2-3  "Though they dig into Sheol, From there shall My hand take them; And though they ascend to heaven, From there will I bring them down.  "And though they hide on the summit of Carmel, I will search them out and take them from there; And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea, From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them.

 

Ballistic Missile Technology

·       "Immediately after the distress of those days "'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”   Matthew 24:29

·       "But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT,  AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.”   Mark 13:24,25

·       “And the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.  The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.  Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.”   Rev 6:13-15

·       “And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.”  Rev 13:13

 

 

 

The Effects from a Nuclear Explosion

·       “Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it.  For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will be dark when it rises, And the moon will not shed its light.” Isa 13:9,10

·       “All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.”   Isaiah 34:4

·       "And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light.  All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you and will set darkness on your land," Declares the Lord GOD.  "I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among the nations, into lands which you have not known.”  Ezek 32:7-9

·       “And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.  The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.”  Joel 2:30,31

·       “Before them the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.”  Joel 2:10 

·       "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.”  Matt 24:7

·       "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,”  Luke 21:25 

·       “ And the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were smitten, so that a third of them might be darkened and the day might not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.”  Rev 8:12

 

Radiation Effects from a Nuclear Explosion

·       Radiation decays with a half life, but never completely dies out

o   "Then they shall go forth and look On the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm shall not die, And their fire shall not be quenched; And they shall be an abhorrence to all mankind."    Isa 66:24

·       The Effects of Radiation Fallout

o   ""A man's foot will not pass through it, and the foot of a beast will not pass through it, and it will not be inhabited for forty years.  So I shall make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated lands. And her cities, in the midst of cities that are laid waste, will be desolate forty years; and I shall scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them among the lands.”  For thus says the Lord GOD, "At the end of forty years I shall gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered.”  Ezek 29:11-13 (Strontium-90 half life 29 years)

o   Will not the land tremble for this, and all who live in it mourn?  The whole land will rise like the Nile; it will be stirred up and then sink like the river of Egypt.  "In that day," declares the Sovereign LORD,  "I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.  I will turn your religious feasts into mourning and all your singing into weeping.  I will make all of you wear sackcloth and baldness on every head.  I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.”  Amos 8:8-10

o   “The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.  The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water--the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.”  Rev 8:8-11

·       The Effects of Prompt Radiation from a Nuclear Explosion

o   “This is the plague with which the LORD will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.  A similar plague will strike the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.”  Zech 14:12,15

Week One Summary

·       There are numerous prophecies in the Bible that indicate we are in the latter years before Christ returns to earth.

·       Several of these prophecies appear to be lining up over the last 70 years.

·       The best indicator that these prophecies apply to our generation is the specific scientific technologies described by the prophets.

·       As future technologies are developed such as ballistic missile defenses and cruise missiles, the window of time for the occurrence of these specific prophecies will diminish.

·       It appears that our generation will see the return of Jesus Christ.  Christ said:

o   “when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.  Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”  Matt 24:33,34

o   "Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door.  Mark 13:29.

o   "Even so you, too, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near.  "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place.  Luke 21:31,32