Jim's Eschatological Info

The word “woe” was apparently one of Jesus’s favorite words as He is quoted in the Gospels using that word 31 times. It’s a Greek word ouai translated as grievous sorrow or distress. Jesus used it mostly to castigate the Jewish lawyers, Scribes, Pharisees, and other hypocrites in general. Sometimes He used it to admonish towns or areas, such as Chorazin and Bethsaida for their non-acceptance of His preaching.

In Revelation the word is used by an angel when describing to the apostle John three specific “woes”. These warnings of coming woes arise when the final three trumpet blasts are sounded announcing the three final bowl judgments poured out on the earth from God. “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!” (Revelation 8:13b). The first woe (fifth trumpet) is detailed in chapter 9 where Satan is seen cast out of heaven, opening the bottomless pit (abyss), and releasing demonic beings including the destroyer (king of the abyss). This results in great torment of mankind and the killing of the two witnesses. “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows his time is short.” (Revelation 12:12). “One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.” (Revelation 9:12). The second woe detailed in chapter 9:13-21 describes a horrific world war starting in the Euphrates River area that kills one third of mankind, nearly three billion people! That’s sixty times the death toll of World War II. “The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.” (Revelation 11:14). The third woe is, of course, the last trumpet announcing the final bowl judgment from God which includes the largest earthquake the world will ever experience, great hailstones upon men, the battle of Armageddon, and ending with the coming of Jesus to establish His Kingdom.

While the first four trumpet/vials will affect primarily nature (created things- vegetation, seas, rivers, the sun, and the heavens) in turn affecting mankind, these last three “woes “are poured out on mankind directly. That is why they are treated separately. Collectively, they partly fulfill the woes pronounced by Jesus during His ministry on earth. Needless to say, this will not be a pleasant time on the earth for the unrepentant. For those of us who belong to our Lord Jesus, it should not be a time of woe but of rejoicing as we see the day of His coming is at hand.

Maranatha, Jim

This sixth session of our bible study entitled “Chronological Eschatology” based on the book “Last Days Events-Sequence and Synchrony” has been posted. It is part one of events that are prophesied to occur during the first half of Daniel’s seventieth week. You can find it here: Chronological Eschatology: Events During the First Half of the 70th Week Part 1 (youtube.com)

Maranatha, Jim

Here’s a quote from Amos that you need to underline in your bible. “Surely the Lord does nothing, unless He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7). The Hebrew word translated “surely” means indeed or doubtless. This is God’s M.O. He is trustworthy and can be counted on to do this every time. Isaiah puts it this way; “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.” (Isaiah 42:9). Prophesying about Judas’s betrayal, Jesus told His disciples; “Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He.” (John 13:19). Also, when speaking of His death and resurrection, He told them this: “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.” (John 14:29).

Every God-determined event from the flood in Noah’s day till the final judgment at the great white throne at the end of the millennium is layed out for us clearly in scripture so that we will not be surprised but anticipating them. God’s not keeping any secrets from us. Those few things that are yet to be revealed as we enter last days events will surely be given to us ahead of time by God’s messengers such as the two witnesses of Revelation chapter 11. This truly is God’s M.O. A typical example is found in Genesis before God was set to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He asks a rhetorical question of those angelic beings with Him; “And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” (Genesis 18:17). The unstated but obvious answer is “of course not.” God doesn’t do anything in secret without letting His people know ahead of time. “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him.” (Psalm 25:14). Even if some prophecies in scripture may seem difficult to understand, they will be made clear to you if you’re watching, studying, and have an ear to hear what the Spirit says to the Church. Jesus sent a Helper for that very purpose. “However, when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth; and He will tell you of things to come.” (John 16:13)

If you’re expecting God to spring an unexpected surprise on you, or if you’ve been told of some secretive event soon to be carried out by our Lord, your expectation is in vain. It’s just not how He does things. He always lets us know ahead of time. It’s His M.O.

Maranatha, Jim

Immediately after the tribulation, Jesus Himself will sound a great loud trumpet dispatching His angels to gather His elect to Himself at the first resurrection. (Matthew 24:29-31). This will mark the beginning of His millennial kingdom reign on this earth. “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:31). Paul says it this way: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Also “Behold, I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

I believe this “last trumpet” also marks the beginning of another significant end time event. The announcement of the final Jubilee year. Consider this: The prophet Isaiah writing in the context of the coming millennial kingdom referred to the “acceptable year of the Lord” “when “liberty would be proclaimed to the captives”. (Isaiah 61:1-3). Jesus Himself declared that He was the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4;18-19). This is surely referring to the future announcement of a Jubilee year, the final Jubilee year. The year of Jubilee as detailed in Leviticus chapter 25 does just that, giving liberty to the captives. After seven sabbaths of years (49 years); “Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement, you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you.” (Leviticus 25:9-10)

If Jesus is returning at the start of a Jubilee year, then it will be the final Jubilee, and the trumpet announcing the Jubilee will coincide with the trumpet blown by our Lord when He gathers His elect. Since no other trumpet is subsequently sounded, it follows logically that this jubilee trumpet is the “last trumpet” referred to by Paul as quoted above. Following this logic even further leads to the conclusion that Jesus’s return (second coming) will occur on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), Tishri 10, when this last trumpet is sounded throughout the land. This also means that Daniel’s 70th week will begin on that same date, and that the abomination of desolation, set up in the middle of the week, will be at Passover (3 1/2 years from the start of the 70th week).

Whether these observations are accurate, only time will tell, though the reasoning appears to be sound. Another heads up to add to your last days watch list. Keep studying. Keep watching. We live in exciting times!

Maranatha, Jim

Our current bible study based on the book “Last Days Events-Sequence and Synchrony” Is now updated with session 5 detailing events that start the 70th week. It deals with two significant soon coming events, the “confirmation of the covenant” from Daniel 9:27, and the opening of the 7-sealed scroll of Revelation chapter 5. The Los Amigos Bible Study – YouTube

Maranatha, Jim

Today marks the anniversary of Eschatontrails. It’s been three years since my first blog post on January 14, 2020. Since then, over 200 posts have been viewed over 16000 times including views from 67 regular subscribers. Remarkably, these views have come from 71 different countries. The top three countries are the US, Canada, and China.

If you’ve been blessed in any way by these posts, please leave a comment. Or, better yet, if you have not subscribed, click on the main link to the blog Jim’s Eschatological Info – “What I say to you I say to all: Watch!” (Mark 13:37) (eschatontrails.com) scroll down and subscribe. You’ll only get posts and nothing else. I’m truly thrilled that our Lord seems to be using the blog to minister to a small but growing and wide-spread viewership. I plan to continue blogging about eschatological topics as long as I am able. I do enjoy comments, even if they are critical. Iron sharpens iron.

Maranatha, Jim

Our current study “Chronological Eschatology” Mystery Babylon-part 2 has been posted. Chronological Eschatology: Mystery Babylon Part 2 (youtube.com)

If you missed Part 1, you can find it here: Chronological Eschatology: Mystery Babylon Part 1 (youtube.com)

I would encourage you to at least click on these videos and subscribe to the you tube channel. Also click the “like” button. These actions help ranking on you tube and help to make them present to a broader audience.

Comments are appreciated.

Maranatha, Jim

Two of the most misinterpreted verses in the New Testament are John 14:1-2. “In My Father’s house 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 and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (NKJV) The typical interpretation usually sounds something like this: ‘I’m going to heaven where my Father is and I’m going to prepare a dwelling there for each of you, so that when you die, you’ll reside with me in heaven’. But is that really what Jesus is saying? Let’s examine these scriptures using sound hermeneutics allowing scripture to interpret scripture and considering context and the original intended audience.

Let’s start with the term “My Father’s house“. It is used directly only once elsewhere in the New Testament and is also found in the gospel of John. “And He said to them who sold doves, ‘Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!'” (John 2:16). The NIV uses the same term when Mary and Joseph were searching for their son: “Didn’t you know that I had to be in My Father’s house? But they did not understand what He was saying to them.” (Luke 2:49). So, we see that these references are clearly to the temple in Jerusalem. Old Testament references also back this up. The temple in Jerusalem is frequently called “the house of the Lord” or “the house of God” or something similar. Therefore, Jesus was not referring to some place in the spirit realm, but to the physical temple when using the term “My Father’s house”. This is certainly how Jesus’s immediate audience (the disciples) would have understood Him.

The word “mansions” could be translated simply as rooms or abodes. This fits well with the temple complex, as there were many rooms on site to house the priests who were serving there. A little earlier, Jesus had told His disciples that they would serve with Him as priests judging the twelve tribes of Israel. “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have foll0wed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matthew 19:28). (Also, Luke 22:30).

Jesus said He was going to prepare a place for them. (where He was going, they could not come; Matthew 13:33,36). Where He was going that they could not follow was to the cross to provide redemption for them followed by a short visit after His resurrection to the heavenly temple carrying His own blood into the holy of holies as the ultimate sacrifice. (Hebrews 9:11-12). That’s what prepared the “Way” for them to attain to the place designated by Jesus. He then spoke of His second coming when He will reign on the earth from the temple in Jerusalem. That’s when He’ll receive them to Himself so they can be where He is, residing in the priestly rooms of His glorious temple, judging the twelve tribes.

Be sure to look up all the scriptures I quoted above. I believe they will help you properly interpret John 14:1-2. Jesus is not in heaven building condos for His people as some interpret these verses.

Maranatha, Jim

It’s that time of the year again, and again I remind you, if you’re not already in the habit, to read thru the entire bible in 2024. It just might be the most significant accomplishment you complete next year. My wife and I are just completing reading thru the scriptures in 2023. There are many resources available to help you this. This year we used Bible Gateway and used the Old/New Testament reading plan in the NIV version. You can find it here: Bible Gateway – Reading Plans

I urge you not to ignore the primary method the Creator of this universe has chosen to communicate with His special creation. A thorough knowledge of His Word is imperative in these last days. Make 2024 a year of personal growth.

Maranatha, Jim

Session 3 of Chronological Eschatology is now posted on you tube. Its focus is still on pre-tribulation events, specifically the maturation of Mystery Babylon. The identification of MB is an important topic for the last-days church. This study is part 1 which will conclude with part 2 next week.

Chronological Eschatology: Mystery Babylon Part 1 (youtube.com)