Transcription
Iran has been massacring its own citizens by the tens of thousands. A massive US naval armada is positioned right in place to carry out a devastating assault on the Iranian regime. Iran has threatened that any US action will spill over, they say, into a regional war. By framing protests as rebellion against God, officials have effectively turned politics into a battlefield of good versus evil. One very important factor is being overlooked, I think, in all the calculus and all the strategy, and it's this.
Well, welcome to marking the end times. I'm Mark Hitchcock, and let me just begin by thanking you again for your just amazing response to my request a couple of weeks ago that if you're not a subscriber that you click that subscribe button and become a subscriber to this YouTube channel. The response has been extremely encouraging, very encouraging. And so I just want to ask you to keep the momentum going. So if you're not a subscriber, please click that subscriber button and again also click like if these programs are helpful to you and that gets the word out even further. So I appreciate that so much. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your incredible response to that request.
Well, all eyes right now are on the Middle East as the US and Iran are locked in a battle of wills. I mean, you could really call it in some ways a battle of civilizations. It's a standoff that could result in successful negotiations or a stunning collapse of the brutal Iranian regime or maybe something in between those two. But time will tell and it may not take much time for us to know. Things seem to be moving very quickly.
What we do know is that Iran has been massacring its own citizens by the tens of thousands as the reports are telling us and it's trying to get its nuclear program up and going again and it's actively producing ballistic missiles. We also know that a massive US naval armada is positioned right in place to carry out a devastating assault on the Iranian regime. We also know that Iran has threatened that any US action will spill over, they say, into a regional war. We also know that Israel is fully prepared. They're locked and loaded and ready to respond to any aggression. The US has already shot down a threatening Iranian drone which, you know, threatened to kind of derail some of the talks. We should know which direction this is going to go, I believe, in the near very near future. And the result will have long-term consequences both geopolitically and prophetically.
But one very important factor is being overlooked, I think, in all the calculus and all the strategy, and it's this. It's Iran's Shiite apocalyptic theology and ideology. We have to remember that this is what drives the Iranian regime. This is their lens through which they view the world. For them, everything that's happening right now, they're describing it as a holy war. And we have to understand that they use their theology as a shield to justify their brutality even against their own people. In a publication called Iran Wire, listen to this statement: "Leaders in the Iranian regime are calling the protests in their nation a holy war. They refer to their response as a theology of violence." And then the article says this: "By framing protests as rebellion against God, officials have effectively turned politics into a battlefield of good versus evil." This allows them to justify structural failures and the killing of protesters as divine trials or a necessity of the age of emergence, which refers to the return of their messianic figure that they call the Mahdi. So for them, all of this that's happening is part of the necessity of the era of emergence. And the era of emergence they believe started in 1979 with the Islamic revolution. So they believe they're in the age of emergence. They're right on the cusp of the return of their Mahdi. And so I believe this is kind of a forgotten or a neglected or a little understood part of what's happening in Iran today. And so on this week's program, I want to consider how Iran's apocalyptic theology is driving much of what's happening over there and what will transpire in the future.
Now, before we get into this further, I want to just preview what's coming up in the second half of today's program. I've got two really good questions I want to answer. One of them's got several parts to it, but the first one is: In Revelation 19:12, what is the meaning of the rider on the white horse, Yeshua, having a name written that no one knows besides himself? Why would this piece of information be given to us? And then the second question, again that has a few parts to it, but it's a really good question. It says, "How can you know biblically that you're properly differentiating between Jesus appearing at the rapture and his return in Armageddon? And how can we know that we're not going to endure God's wrath or trials in the tribulation?" I've also heard that the rapture is a newer teaching and that the early church didn't teach on this topic. I've been feeling a bit discouraged lately since hearing this alternate opinion. I'm worried that we will have to endure the suffering of the tribulation. I get confused myself when I read these verses at times because I've heard them used by pastors to describe both events. So, I think those will be some really helpful informative questions for us.
Now, as we think about what's happening in Iran, we have to remember that Iran's government is an Islamic theocracy. I think sometimes that's forgotten in all of what's happening. There's a doctrine or a foundational principle there, and I know I'm going to butcher the pronunciation of this, so if anyone speaks Farsi, I apologize, but it's called Velayat-e Faqih. And translated, it means the guardianship of the Islamic jurist. And this doctrine or this teaching was developed by Ayatollah Khomeini as part of the Islamic revolution in 1979. And Iran's constitution places a guardian jurist at the head of the state. Now, currently, that's the Ayatollah Khamenei. So this is part of their constitution that there has to be a jurist or a religious cleric to be the head of state, an Ayatollah. Behind all of this is the belief that clerics have to pave the way for the return of their Mahdi, the 12th Imam. They believe that preservation of the regime is the existential imperative. You have to have this regime in place for the Mahdi to return. So this concept then is that a Shiite jurist or cleric, an Ayatollah, has to rule and be reigning there and ruling until the return of the Mahdi, who's this hidden Imam. And of course, the hidden Imam, the Mahdi, is the messianic figure in Islamic eschatology. According to their view, he was born in 868 AD. He's the son of the 11th Imam who died. And this 12th Imam communicated with his followers through four deputies until 941 AD. But then he went into total occlusion and hiding. And there's been no direct contact with him after that. He's been hidden since that time, but he's expected to reappear in the end times. He's going to usher in, they believe, justice. He's going to put down tyranny, which I find very ironic because they're the most tyrannical regime in the world. They believe he's going to put down tyranny and bring global peace under Islamic rule. And they believe right now that we're in the era of what they call the era of emergence. This is the time just before the emergence of the Mahdi. Again, they believe that started in 1979 with the Islamic Revolution. So, the Mullah regime believes that it's the responsibility of the regime to prepare for the end times, for his emergence.
Now, here's what's terribly troubling about this. This is a quote I read online this week: "Iran's clerical leadership believe that the Mahdi's return will be hastened by global destruction and war. These radical scholars teach that apocalyptic war is a necessary requirement for the Mahdi to be revealed. In this view, Iran's struggle against Israel and Western civilization is part of a divine plan for the return of the Mahdi." So, the Mahdi will return after an apocalyptic war. And they believe that they can hasten his return. They can speed it up. And then they call what's happening now "preparing the ground." The regime views its rule as a mechanism to hasten the reappearance of their Mahdi. That's how they view themselves. So Iran has what some have called an apocalyptic foreign policy. Their foreign policy is based on these apocalyptic views. One person puts it like this: "Some hardline factions in Iran argue that global chaos and war are necessary precursors to the Mahdi's return. This perspective can lead to the view that negotiated long-term peace is detrimental to their ultimate theological goals." Now, that's very interesting in light of the negotiations that are ongoing right now, that they believe that long-term peace is detrimental to their ultimate theological goals. So, we have to remember that our nation right now, our leaders, and we need to be praying for them because they're doing the best they can to avoid an all-out destruction, but they're not negotiating with rational counterparts. They're not equal in their approach to peace and stability. They're not on equal footing. They're coming at this from two totally opposing vantage points.
A senior Iranian Ayatollah named Muhammad Mehdi Mirbagheri said this: "In order for the hidden Imam to reappear, we must engage in widespread fighting with the West." So they see this all as part of this era of emergence leading to the coming of their Mahdi. So they see all this chaos, what they call a holy war, as part of the welcome mat for the Mahdi. So even the uprising among their own people, they justify what they're doing because it's part of this holy war. It's part of the coming of the Mahdi. And of course, the enforcers of all of this are the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. They're 150,000 strong. And they're the dedicated apocalyptic zealots who will preserve the regime at all costs. They're doing the dirty work of violently putting down these protests, murdering tens of thousands of innocent people, their own people. So that's who our leaders and our nation and Israel are dealing with. Joel Rosenberg is a well-known Bible teacher, a Jewish Messianic Jewish believer. He describes the Iranian regime as an apocalyptic genocidal death cult. And that's about the best way I've ever heard it described: an apocalyptic genocidal death cult.
So, with all that we don't know about what's going to happen in this current crisis, we do know the Bible is clear that a showdown is coming between Iran and Israel, and there's no way for us to stop it. It was prophesied 2,600 years ago by the prophet Ezekiel. So, we may delay this current crisis from exploding into a regional war through these negotiations. The regime might collapse through an attack from the United States and/or Israel. But a future Iranian invasion of Israel is certain because God predicted it in Ezekiel 38 and 39. And we can know it's going to happen because the chapter right before that, Ezekiel 37, predicts a return of the Jewish people to their land in the end times, something that we've seen with our own eyes since 1948. So, we can know Ezekiel 38 and 39 is going to happen because we're witnessing right now the fulfillment of Ezekiel 37 as the Jewish people are being re-gathered from all over the world back to their land. Almost half of the Jews now in the world live there. So, we have validation and proof that the prophecies of the Bible are true in Ezekiel 37. So, we know that Ezekiel 38 and 39 will happen as well. And what we see today, I believe, is a lead-up to it. Now, I don't know what's going to happen in this current standoff, and no one on Earth does, but we know where it's ultimately headed. And in an incredible, ironic prophetic twist, Iran's belief that they can hasten the coming of their Mahdi by triggering an apocalyptic war may play a key part in setting the stage for Iran's involvement and defeat in the Gog Magog war that's predicted in the Bible.
So, let's keep praying for our leaders to have wisdom to deal with this crisis. They have a lot on their plate, a lot to consider in dealing with all this. Our political leaders, our military leaders. We need to pray for the people in Israel as they're preparing for a possible attack. Let's also be praying for precious souls in Iran and other Middle Eastern nations to escape the darkness of their regime and its deception and to come to the light of the world, Jesus Christ. Let's also keep praying for Jesus to come. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Well, let's go now and answer those questions that I read earlier. Well, the first question we have is by Jennifer. Jennifer says, "In Revelation 19:12, what is the meaning of the rider on the white horse, Yeshua, having a name written that no one knows besides himself? Why would this piece of information be given to us?" Well, Jennifer, you're right there. In Revelation 19:12, it says about Jesus, "His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems, and he has a name written upon him, which no one knows of, but he himself." It goes on to say, "He's clothed with the robe dipped in blood. His name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses." Well, there's several different views about this, Jennifer, about what this means, that Jesus has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. Some believe that that name is actually given to us in verse 13, that it says he's called the Word of God. So it says that there's no name that no one knows but he himself. Then it goes on the next verse and says that he's the Word of God. That it's telling us what that name is. Others believe that you go on down to verse 16 and it says he has a name written on his thigh, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That that's what this name is, you know, that no one knows but he himself. In other words, these names are now being revealed. It's either the Word of God or it's King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Probably most Bible teachers though hold the view that the name is not given here, that it's a name that may be revealed at some point in time in the future. And what they would say that that's communicating is that Jesus is infinite and he's transcendent. In other words, that there are things about Jesus that we don't know. He's glorious, that what we know about him doesn't exhaust his essence. And so there are things about him that are going to be revealed in the future. So I think that's probably what it's revealing here. He's coming back in his glory. He's returning to the earth to judge. And he's got a name that nobody knows but he himself. That's how great and how infinite and how transcendent he is. And we will continue to discover things and learn things about God and about Jesus through all eternity. This is often called the inscrutability of God. That's a big theological word that just simply means that God is inscrutable, that we really can't know him. Now, we know things about him that he's revealed to us through nature and in his word and through his son, the Lord Jesus. But God is ultimately inscrutable and we need to remember that. So, I think that's one of the points that's being made here, I think, in this name that no one knows but he himself.
Now, second question by Sarah. "How can you know biblically that you are properly differentiating between Jesus appearing at the rapture and Jesus return at Armageddon? And how can we know we're not going to endure God's wrath and trials in the tribulation? I've also heard that the rapture is a newer teaching and that the early church didn't teach on this topic. I've been feeling a bit discouraged lately since hearing this alternate opinion. I'm worried that we will have to endure the suffering of the tribulation. I get confused myself when I read these verses at times because I've heard them used by many pastors to describe both events." Well, that's a really good question, Sarah. Very good. I'm sure many people have asked that. When you're reading in the New Testament, we have the coming of Christ mentioned very often. In fact, it's mentioned over 300 times in the 260 chapters in the New Testament. So, you know, more than one time per chapter, we have Christ's coming mentioned. And we believe, I believe, that there are two phases to Christ's coming, the second coming. Now, there's the rapture phase and the return phase. So, what you're really asking here at the beginning of your question is how do we know which one of those phases or stages of Christ's second coming is being referred to? Let me just mention a few things there. I think there are at least three key passages, main passages that describe the rapture: John 14:1-3, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and 1 Corinthians 15:51-57. I think those are three of the clear passages that those of us who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture would all agree are rapture passages. But I think if when you read the scriptures, you have to look at the context and determine, you know, what's being described in these passages. Does it fit better with the rapture or does it fit better with the return? You know, there are a lot of these little charts out there. I've got this one. I'll read some information to you from this, but you'll find these in a lot of books about the rapture. But just kind of a side-by-side chart with the rapture on one side and the return on the other and the differences between these two. And I think when you see these differences, it can help you understand which of these comings that the passage is referring to. Let me just give a few of these. For instance, at the rapture, Christ comes in the air. At the return, he comes to the earth. And at the rapture, Christ comes for his saints. At the return, he's coming with his saints. And at the rapture, believers depart from the earth. At the return, unbelievers are going to be taken away to judgment. At the rapture, Christ claims his bride. At the return, he comes with his bride. At the rapture, Christ gathers his own. At the return, the angels gather the elect. Matthew 24:31. The rapture is not in the Old Testament. It was a mystery. Something that had not been revealed up to that time. Whereas the return is predicted in the Old Testament. Now, for the rapture, there are no signs. So if you come to a passage where a lot of signs are mentioned, then that's referring to the return, not the rapture. The rapture is a signless, imminent event that can happen at any moment in time. Whereas the return is portended by many signs. The rapture is a time of blessing and comfort. At the very end of 1 Thessalonians 4:18, after Jesus talks about the rapture or after Paul talks about the rapture there, he says, "Therefore, comfort one another with these words." And whereas the return is a time of destruction and judgment as Jesus returns to judge the earth. At the rapture, it involves believers only. At the return, it involves Israel and the gentile nations. Here's a very important one. At the rapture, it's going to occur in a moment, in the time it takes to blink your eye. Only his own will see him. Whereas at the return, it'll be visible to the entire world. Revelation 1:7, you know, every eye will see him. So, I hope that will help a little bit, Sarah, to discern kind of these differences between these two events when you're reading passages and if those things are there, you know, on the rapture side or the return side. I wrote a book a few years ago with Ed Hinson, Dr. Ed Hinson. He's gone to be with the Lord now, but it's called "Can We Still Believe in the Rapture?" I think that might be a book that helps you. We have a chart like this in there that'll help you discern, you know, what a passage is talking about if it's the rapture or the return.
Now, the second part of your question is, "How can we know we're not going to endure God's wrath or trials in the tribulation?" Well, the Bible tells us that. In fact, really, all the views of the timing of the rapture all agree that we're not going to endure God's wrath. All of the views hold that. Again, you know, pre-tribers, we say the whole seven years is wrath, so we're going to be caught up before that. Mid-tribers say, "Well, the wrath is just in the last half, so we'll be caught up at the midpoint." Pre-wrathers say the wrath is going to be just at the very end of the tribulation period, and we'll be caught up about three-quarters of the way through. And post-tribulationists believe that the wrath is concentrated right at the very end, and believers will be kept through that time. So, all of the views believe that we are exempt from the wrath of God. It's just how much of the tribulation period is wrath and how are we going to be excluded from that period of wrath that's coming. But let me just give you a few verses. In 1 Thessalonians 1:10, he says we're to wait up from his son from heaven, that is Jesus, who was raised from the dead, who will deliver us from the coming wrath. So we're going to be delivered from that coming wrath. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says, "We have not been appointed to wrath, but we have been appointed to salvation." I mean, in Revelation 3:10, it says there's a promise to the church at Philadelphia, and it's a promise to all the churches where Jesus says to those who are believers in Christ, he says, "I am going to come and keep you from the hour of testing, that hour that is coming upon the whole world to test those who dwell upon the earth." So, we have clear promises in the Bible that we're going to be kept from that time of coming wrath. And I believe the whole seven-year period is the wrath of God. So, we're going to be caught up and taken out before that period of time.
Oh, another question, kind of another part to this. "I've also heard the rapture is a newer teaching. The early church didn't teach on this topic." Well, that's not true. That's a common error. It's a common falsehood that's stated about the pre-trib rapture, that the rapture was never, the pre-trib rapture was never taught in the early church. I talked about this not long ago, but Irenaeus, who lived in the second century, Irenaeus knew Polycarp, who knew the Apostle John, and Irenaeus in his writings, "Against Heresies," he mentions a pre-tribulation rapture, a catching away of God's people before the time of tribulation takes place. This is in the second century. He's one of the luminaries in the early church. Ephraim the Syrian, we have a sermon by Ephraim the Syrian from the fourth or fifth century, a clear, clear pre-trib rapture statement. There are lots of pre-trib rapture statements in the 16th and 17th centuries and even the 15th century, in England, as it was being taught there long before J.N. Darby comes along in the 1800s, you know, which is when a lot of people say, well, that's when pre-trib rapture started. No, there are all kinds of teaching about this and people who say that the pre-trib rapture is a new view, it's novel, it wasn't around until the early 1800s with J.N. Darby. They're just factually incorrect when they say that. So, I want to encourage you, Sarah. You say, "I've been feeling a bit discouraged since hearing this alternate opinion. I'm worried we'll have to endure the suffering of the tribulation." The Bible tells us we are exempt from the coming wrath. God's going to deliver us from the wrath to come. So, I hope that'll help you, Sarah, in understanding how to discern passages that are about the rapture and the return. It'll get rid of this idea that the rapture is some new teaching that's out there. So, I think those are very important things for us to understand in these times in which we live.
Now, the most important thing though is that we be looking for Christ's coming. We be living in light of that. That's the most important thing really to understand for us about biblical prophecy. Jesus can come at any time. We need to be ready. Well, as always, thank you so much for joining us today. Again, we appreciate it so much. God bless you. We will look forward to seeing you next time.