Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ Jesus,
We’re nearing the end of this series of messages related to the “End Times” events. I’ve not tried to do a deep dive. It would take many messages to do this, and God has other things He wants me to write. I will have to leave this to you as students of God’s Word. I have provided you with plenty of information concerning the Rapture, the Tribulation, and will finish in this and the next message with the Tribulation and introducing and speaking to the Second Coming. My prayer is you will take away from this we are on the doorstep of going home – literally – and these are very real events. In these last of the last days, God is pouring out His grace and transferring wealth to those Believers who have shown they can be trusted with God’s Word and His money to finance His Kingdom and the Gospel to the world. What an amazing time of which to be a part. I praise and thank God He has me here in this time and place to be a part of and witness the incredible events to come.
In the last message, we spoke to the second half of the Tribulation which has names such as “The Great Tribulation” or “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble.” The first half of the Tribulation satan will be setting up Israel for the second half when he goes all out persecuting them. In the first half, satan will be persecuting the Gentiles who become Believers after the Rapture. There will be many. As mentioned in earlier messages, this will be the time of the greatest revival ever seen in the earth. In the second half satan will break the seven-year peace treaty he signed with Israel by the abomination of desolation and will begin an all-out attempt to wipe out every single Jew. Two thirds will be killed, dwarfing the Holocaust of World War II. The Gentiles who come to accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord will also suffer terrible persecution in the second half. The entire seven years is God’s judgment against the unsaved with God pouring out His wrath in the second half.
In the previous message, we also learned that Jesus will return to Israel once it, corporately, repents for having rejected and killed Him, The Messiah. When Israel corporately calls out to Jesus, The Messiah, saying, “Blessed is He that cometh in The Name of The Lord,” Jesus will speedily return in what we know as the Second Coming. Now, we’ve been largely taught Jesus will return with ten thousands of His Saints and touch down on the Mount of Olives. This will happen, as prophesied, but it will not be the first place Jesus visits on earth upon His return. The first place He will return to is a place known in Scripture as Bozrah and as Mt. Seir. Let’s investigate.
During the second half of the Tribulation, the beast, or the antichrist, is given authority to do whatever he wants for 42 months. We find this foretold in Revelation 13:5.
Revelation 13:5
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Because of the terrible persecution that begins, as Jesus said in Matthew 24:16-18, the Jews are to drop everything and flee immediately. But to where? Revelation 12:6 tells us God has a place prepared for them.
Revelation 12:6
And the woman [Israel] fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
The “woman” is symbolically referring to Israel. She is to flee to a place God has prepared for her to remain for 1,260 days, 42 months, or three-and-one-half years. Revelation 12:14 tells us the woman, Israel, is to flee “into the wilderness, into her place” to hide from the antichrist.
Revelation 12:14
And to the woman [Israel] were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent [satan].
“for a time, and times, and half a time” is a Hebraism. Time is a year. Times is two years. And half a time or half a year. This equates to three and one-half years or 42 months.
To understand the place where the Jews are to flee, this place God has prepared, let’s first look at Micah 2:12.
Micah 2:12
I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.
Bozrah means “sheepfold” in Hebrew because its natural features are like a sheepfold. Bozrah is also referred to as Mt. Seir in The Scriptures. The modern-day name for Bozrah is Petra. Bozrah is the Hebrew name, and Petra is the Greek name of the area and city. Petra is in southwestern Jordan, 94 miles south of Jerusalem in the Edomite mountains in the Wadi Musa or the Valley of Moses (spoken about in the previous message).
The Scriptures in Matthew 12:15-18 tell the Jews that when the abomination of desolation occurs, they must act speedily and decisively and flee into the mountains. Flee immediately from wherever you are at when this happens. Don’t return home to pack or take time to pick up things; rather flee immediately.
Daniel 11:41
He [antichrist] shall enter also into the glorious land [Israel], and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.”
Daniel 11:41 explains why the antichrist does not pursue after the Jews into Bozrah (Petra) until the end of the Tribulation. The Jews are supernaturally protected by God as we can see in Daniel 11:41 when the Scripture says, “but these shall escape out of his [antichrist’s] hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.” The borders of modern-day Jordan encompass the land of Edom, Moab, and Ammon. Jordan will be one of the few countries who will not pledge allegiance to, sign a treaty with, or be under the control of the antichrist. However, there will come a time near the end of the second half of the Tribulation at which, out of rage and desperation, the antichrist will come against the million or so Jews located at Petra.
Jesus also gives us some insight into the plight of the Jews who flee to Bozrah in Matthew 24:28.
Matthew 24:28
For wheresoever the carcase [Israel] is, there will the eagles [Gentile nations] be gathered together.
At this point in the Tribulation, Israel will be a carcase, or a corpse, because two-thirds of the Jews will have been killed. The “eagles,” or “vultures” in some versions, are the Gentile nations. There is going to come a point in the Tribulation where Israel and the Jewish people will literally be a carcase of itself. This would be after the abomination of desolation has occurred and the killing of Jews has been ongoing for a period of time.
We get further insight into the location where the Jews are located and into what Jesus’ Second Coming truly entails in Isaiah 63:1-4. We’ve been taught from most of the pulpits Jesus’ Second Coming occurs when He appears on the Mount of Olives with the Saints. But this is not the case. The first location Jesus will come to in His Second Coming is Petra or what the Hebrews have known as Bozrah. And, as we can read in Isaiah 63:3, Jesus comes alone. He alone comes to save the Jewish remnant.
Isaiah 63:1-4
1 Who is This that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
2 Wherefore art thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments like Him that treadeth in the winefat?
3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with Me: for I will tread them in Mine anger, and trample them in My fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments, and I will stain all My raiment.
4 For the day of vengeance is in Mine heart, and the year of My redeemed is come.
Isaiah 63:1-4 prophesies of Jesus appearing at the Mount of Olives. Verse 1 tells us that Jesus has appeared at the Mount of Olives after having appeared in the land of Edom, at Bozrah. Notice His garments are referred to as “dyed” and “red” in verses 1 and 2. Jesus did not leave Heaven with red garments. He left with white garments. They became red because, as described by Jesus in verse 3, He, alone, treads upon the armies of the antichrist at Bozrah in His anger and His fury. His garments are completely stained red from the blood of His vengeance, protecting His redeemed.
Revelation 19:11-13
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself.
13 And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God.
Revelation 19:11-13 again refers to Jesus with a vesture dipped in blood. Some wrongly teach this is Jesus’ blood. No, Jesus’ blood is in the Temple of Heaven as propitiation for all sin. The blood of Revelation 19:13 and Isaiah 63:1-4 refers to the blood of the armies of the antichrist that Jesus battles at Bozrah (Petra). Jesus first descends to Bozrah and defeats the antichrist and the armies of the antichrist. Then Jesus returns to Heaven to gather the Saints to come back to the earth, again, at the Mount of Olives. As Revelation 19:13 describes, Jesus returns to the earth with vestures, or raiment, dipped in blood. The antichrist returns to Jerusalem to enslave it and wipe out what remains of the Jews in Jerusalem. There are still some Jews remaining in Jerusalem, hiding, that did not flee to Bozrah (Petra).
If we’re wondering why Jesus would return, first, to Bozrah, and not to Jerusalem, His prized city, it is explained to us in Zechariah 12:7.
Zechariah 12:7
The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.
Zechariah tells us that though God greatly prizes His City of Jerusalem, He will not allow “the tents of Judah,” which is referring to the Jews that fled to Bozrah (Petra), to be destroyed because He values His “own” above anything else.
As mentioned, the antichrist, defeated at Bozrah by Jesus, will take what is remaining of his army, along with several other Gentile nations in the region, and come and take Jerusalem to destroy the other Jews, still hiding in Jerusalem, in his rage and fury. He also wants to completely claim Jerusalem knowing it is God’s prized city. However, Jesus, our King and Lord, The Lion of Judah, will execute His wrath and fury against the antichrist and the armies that dare take Israel and Jerusalem. Jesus, also known as Melchizedek, The Priest and King of The Most High God, is back to claim His city, His nation, and His earth. And He, Jesus, appears at the Mount of Olives with us, His Saints, to wage war against the antichrist and the nations of the world that align with the antichrist. What a glorious day this will be!!! And we get a front row seat. Can it be any more awesome!!
Zechariah 14:2-5
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.
4 And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
The next message will deal with the battle that will take place and the establishment of The Millennial Reign by Jesus Christ over this entire earth. One thousand years of peace enforced by Jesus, The Word, and His Saints, us. Positions of rulership for the Saints will be determined at The Bema Seat in the marriage chamber in Heaven during the seven-year Tribulation. The positions are determined by what we, as Believers, have done with ALL that Jesus’ salvation purchased for us (protection, deliverance, prosperity, and healing and wholeness) while we were in the earth and the heart attitude with which we did it. And my Brother Doug McClure, I look forward to ruling for and with Christ right alongside you!
I want to close this message with one declaration. Regardless of when we might believe the Rapture will occur, please understand the antichrist can do NOTHING until the Church is removed from the earth in the Rapture. This means he, the antichrist, cannot even sign the seven-year peace treaty with Israel, which marks the start of the seven years of Tribulation. This, and this alone, destroys all arguments for the Rapture occurring at any other time, no matter how the timing is packaged. Jesus warned us clearly not to be deceived because we will be like the virgins with no oil believing the Rapture occurs later. He will come as a thief in the night. There will be no sign. We can’t know the day and hour, but we can know the season, and we are in it!
Blessings in Christ Jesus! Grace and peace be multiplied unto you.
Larry