Arno Clemens Gaebelein (1861-1945) was one of the most respected teachers of bible prophecy in Church history. Here he gives a very good and most importantly a biblically correct synopsis of the prophetic teaching concerning the "end of the age" and the subsequent return of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ as recorded in Holy Scripture. Not the end of the world, but the end of the present dispensation, the 'calling' of the church, the body of Christ. There is no end of the world (Eph. 3:21). Judgment of the Christ-rejecting Jews and the Christ-rejecting world is the next thing on God's itinerary after the gathering of the church is finished. You do not want to be there. Relatively few in our day either believe or understand these things anymore. That will not change what 'is written'. Well worth the effort to studiously consider for yourself what the Word of God actually says concerning these critical issues. To follow the crowd of naysayers will prove to be disastrous.
It should be kept in mind that Gaebelein wrote this in 1933, which of course was before the Jewish people had returned to Palestine, that not happening until 1948. He deals with this subject though, identifying the Jewish Zionist movement that at that time was moving toward reclaiming the land of Israel; the Jews having been exiled by God since 70 AD as Divine retribution for crucifying the Son of God; and speaks to how this movement will fit into the final prophetic picture. All before the fact.
Seventy-five years later (2008) the very picture he describes is now coming into sharp focus. Zionism, the Jewish attempt to reclaim Jerusalem and to there establish the 'throne of David' from which their Jewish 'king' should rule the world, is now poised to make the final thrust. There is one major problem with that at this stage though, and Gaebelein deals with it. The Jews, as they were in his day, are today still in unbelief. They refuse to recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. The Zionist movement, to quote Gaebelein, "was and it is still a movement of unbelief, a political and humanitarian scheme, which has no use for the real Jewish hope, which centers in the promised Messiah King."
This brings up the question asked by the author in the eighth chapter of his book "The Conflict of the Ages". What shall be the end of these things? But there is an answer for that question, because as Gaebelein states below, "the God who knows the end from the beginning has made the future known". Study, study, study:
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THE CONFLICT OF THE AGES
The Mystery of Lawlessness: It's Origin, Historic Development And Coming Defeat (ch. 8)
The Mystery of Lawlessness: It's Origin, Historic Development And Coming Defeat (ch. 8)
by A.C. Gaebelein 1933
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What Shall Be the End of these Things? The Final Conflict and the Coming Victory
(excerpts)
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What Shall Be the End of these Things? The Final Conflict and the Coming Victory
(excerpts)
"What shall be the end of these things? This question was asked by the prophet Daniel some twenty-five hundred years ago after he had beheld the rise and fall of empires in his God-given visions. We look back over the history of almost six thousand years, a history of conflict, a history of wars and bloodshed, a history of human suffering and misery. Is this mournful history to continue? All attempts from the side of man in the past, to bring about a change, have failed. They are failing today. As we have seen, the process of an imagined evolution does not work. Civilization has failed and if the boasted remedies, socialism and communism, became universally applied, the promised Utopia would not come, but worse misery and disaster would follow."
"As the Bible gives us the trustworthy knowledge about creation, so it gives us knowledge about the future. The God who knows the end from the beginning has made the future known and through His chosen instruments, His prophets, has given in His Word the outcome of it all."
"As the seed of the woman appeared once in humiliation for the bruising of the heel, that is to suffer and to die, so the same seed of the woman, who died and rose again must also carry out the second part of God's program, to bruise the serpent's head, that is to defeat him and gain the completest victory over the author of sin. This final defeat and coming victory is not achieved, according to the Word of God, in a spiritual way, so that gradually the overthrow of evil takes place, but it will be brought about by the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The defeat of Satan in its finality, and the complete Victory of God, can only be brought about by that glorious coming event, when the Christ, who is now bodily present at the right hand of God, returns in person. No matter what creeds of different denominations teach, no matter what good men believe, this, and this alone is the teaching of Scripture."
"As the Bible gives us the trustworthy knowledge about creation, so it gives us knowledge about the future. The God who knows the end from the beginning has made the future known and through His chosen instruments, His prophets, has given in His Word the outcome of it all."
"As the seed of the woman appeared once in humiliation for the bruising of the heel, that is to suffer and to die, so the same seed of the woman, who died and rose again must also carry out the second part of God's program, to bruise the serpent's head, that is to defeat him and gain the completest victory over the author of sin. This final defeat and coming victory is not achieved, according to the Word of God, in a spiritual way, so that gradually the overthrow of evil takes place, but it will be brought about by the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ. The defeat of Satan in its finality, and the complete Victory of God, can only be brought about by that glorious coming event, when the Christ, who is now bodily present at the right hand of God, returns in person. No matter what creeds of different denominations teach, no matter what good men believe, this, and this alone is the teaching of Scripture."
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