Appendix XIII
The Perfect Prophet
“So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return
unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:11
When Jesus gave the Olivet Prophecy, His words possessed great strength and precision. He was not simply analyzing the geopolitical landscape of the Roman world and offering a theory on how things might turn out. Jesus was not speculating about the future. He was not guessing about what the last days would be like. Jesus was speaking history in advance, and His message had pinpoint accuracy. To illustrate this point, consider the first words He spoke regarding the future of the temple.
“...There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.” (Mt. 24:2)
With these words Jesus was predicting the total and absolute destruction of the most important structure in all of Judaism. Additionally, He made this announcement at a time when there wasn’t a shred of evidence that such a catastrophic event would take place. But take place it did.
In 70 AD (forty years after Jesus’ prediction), Titus and his Roman army arrived at the walls of Jerusalem on the day of the Passover. Upon their arrival, Roman soldiers fortified their position and built battering rams to be used against the great city. At this point, the siege on Jerusalem began. The Roman army numbered 30,000, while the Jews who opposed it numbered approximately 24,000.
According to the Roman historian Tacitus, Jerusalem was crowded with 600,000 visitors. After five months, the walls of the city were battered down. Additionally, the temple was gutted and burned. When writing about this event, the Jewish historian Josephus stated that the destruction of Jerusalem was so complete it looked like a site that had NEVER BEEN INHABITED.
How could Jesus have known this was going to happen? How could He be so certain that the Temple would be destroyed so completely? The answer to this question lies in who Jesus was.
The scriptures declare that Jesus was not only the Savior of the world who lived as a man two thousand years ago but was also the very God of the Old Testament – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was the One who spoke to Moses, inspired the prophets, and created the universe. When speaking to the great religious leaders of His day, Jesus said, “...before Abraham was, I Am” (Jn. 8:58). Here He was identifying himself the same way He did to Moses before sending him to Egypt to lead the Israelites out of bondage (Ex. 3:13-14). The gospel of John identified Jesus as the Word of God manifest in the flesh (Jn. 1:1-5). That Word has eternally existed and works in partnership with God the Father in governing the universe.
As the God of the Old Testament, Jesus made an extraordinary statement that identified Him as unique from all other beings. This uniqueness is reflected in His power to make pronouncements concerning the future. Notice what He says through the prophet Isaiah.
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure... (Isa. 46:9-10)
Here, Jesus Christ, as the God of the Old Testament, is saying that He is not only the Creator of the universe but also the Governor of its destiny. It is He who declares how the great story of God’s plan will play out.
With this in mind, consider just some of the prophecies Jesus spoke either directly or through His servants concerning the end time:
- His church would exist.
- It would be persecuted.
- It would preach a powerful gospel as a witness.
- There would be a great apostasy within the church.
- A man of sin would arise.
- The sheep would be scattered.
- A confederation of nations will emerge in Europe under the leadership of a power known as the beast.
- Gentiles will encompass Jerusalem.
- There will be a famine of the hearing of the word.
- A great religious leader will proclaim that the beast is Christ.
- A mark will be issued which will identify those who have surrendered their will to the beast.
- God’s people will be taken to a place of safety.
- Satan will pursue this people in an attempt to destroy them but will fail.
- Satan will then turn his wrath on those in God’s church who are left behind.
- Prophetic Israel will go into a horrible captivity.
- There will be a great persecution on the remnant of God’s people, resulting in a great martyrdom.
- Two witnesses will emerge and do great miracles and testify against the earth.
- Two and a half years into the great tribulation, God will prepare to unleash His wrath through trumpet plagues.
- Before these plagues are unleashed, He will provide a special seal on the forehead of those He calls His servants.
- There will be silence in heaven for the space of about half an hour.
- Seven angels will be given seven trumpets which, when sounded, will rain down unimaginable devastation upon the inhabitants of the earth who have rejected Him.
- At the last trump, the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible and meet Him in the air.
- There will be a great wedding feast attended by the bride and Jesus Christ as well as a guest list that will read like a “Who’s Who in the Universe.”
- Seven angels will pour out seven last plagues from seven vials.
- Christ will return to earth with His saints.
- He will stand on the Mount of Olives.
- The Mount shall cleave in two.
- There will be a great battle.
- Satan will be bound for a thousand years.
- The beast and the false prophet will be destroyed.
- God’s millennial kingdom will be established.
- Peace will be restored under the leadership of Jesus Christ and the saints.
- At the conclusion of the millennium, a great resurrection will take place in which the billions who have never known God or His plan will be converted.
- Satan will be loosed for a little season.
- A final rebellion will be crushed.
- There will be a Great White Throne Judgment.
These are just a few of hundreds of events that are going to begin to happen in the next few years. God’s end-time servants are very much aware of these events and it is their calling to proclaim them with power and force.