The End: A Study of Revelation and End Time Prophecies

By Ken Hathcoat

People are fascinated with Revelation and end times. Unfortunately, Revelation studies and Bible prophecy books still remain a puzzle for many Christians. Most end time books are either unnecessarily confusing or overly simplistic in their conclusions. The End is a study of Revelation that presents a clear, concise, and thorough biblical analysis of the major end time events without simplistic explanations or wordy, seminarian language. The End is more than a commentary on Revelation and end time prophecies. It offers fresh insights and applications on these subjects for your daily life

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ken Hathcoat
• Release date: Apr 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781511401296

Ken Hathcoat

Ken Hathcoat was involved with the Navigator ministry in college and throughout his twenties. He has developed and taught Christian Education curriculum, spoken numerous times from the pulpit, and led various small group studies for over 30 years. He and his wife of 37 years have two sons and make their home near Fort Collins, Colorado.

Book preview

The End

A Study of Revelation and End Time Prophecies

Revised Edition

Ken Hathcoat

Copyright © 2015 Kenneth A Hathcoat, LLC

All rights reserved.

Distributed by Smashwords

No part of this publication (except those images labeled as public domain) may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture reference in this publication are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Other versions used include: the New American Standard Bible (NASB), copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. All rights reserved. Used by permission. The Amplified Bible, copyright © 1954, 1958, The Lockman Foundation, copyright © 1962, 1964, 1965, Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission. The New King James Version (NKJV); copyright © 1979, 1980. 1982, by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved, The Revised Standard Version (RSV); copyright © 1946, 1952, 1971 by Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. References, Copyright 1959 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-1511401296

ISBN-10: 151140129X

Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

To my eldest son Kyle, who challenged me to rewrite this book and make a difficult subject easier to understand.

CONTENTS

1. Why Study End Times

2. A Brief Primer on Prophecy

3. Numbers and Symbols

4. The Churches

5. The Rapture

6. The Antichrist

7. Seven Seals

8. Seven Trumpets and Two Witnesses

9. Seven Bowls and Babylon

10. Armageddon and The Great End Time Battle

11. The Millennium

12. Judgment

13. The Eternal Future

Endnotes

About the Author

1

WHY STUDY END TIMES?

Proverbs 25:2

It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.

When someone finds out that I have authored a book on Revelation and end time prophecies, the next question they usually ask is, Are we in the end times? They rarely seem satisfied with my answer. It depends on what you mean, I say. If you mean, ‘Do I believe Jesus is coming soon to take His Church back to Heaven?’ the answer is the same answer it has been since His Ascension: yes. It could be at any time. On the other hand, if you mean, ‘Do I think that Jesus is physically coming back soon to earth to rightfully claim what belongs to Him and begin His reign on earth as the Conquering Messiah?’ then the answer is ‘no,’ because the Tribulation has not even begun yet. I usually get a blank stare at that point. As I mentioned, that answer doesn’t seem particularly helpful to them.

Most Christians I encounter aren’t interested in thinking about, let alone studying, end time prophecies. They just want simple answers, and Revelation and end time prophecies aren’t simple. If they were, then we wouldn’t have so many divergent opinions on the interpretation of end time prophecies from conservative, Bible-believing theologians, whose theology is nearly identical on most other key biblical issues. Studying Revelation is intimidating for most Christians and it doesn’t seem particularly relevant to their lives. Don’t think I’m being harshly judgmental. Several years ago, I was in that same camp. My journey into the study of Revelation and end time prophecies may very well be one that sounds familiar to you.

As a Christian involved with the Navigators in college, I immersed myself in applying and teaching the bread and butter aspects of the Christian life: quiet times, prayer life, evangelism, Bible study techniques, and key doctrinal and topical issues like the deity of Christ and determining the will of God. When someone approached me with statements like, Man, I really think we’re in the end times or Such-and-such event that we’re seeing now is actually spoken of in Revelation, I would politely nod, smile, and think to myself, That’s nice, but I have more pressing things to think about in my Christian life. That remained my attitude about Revelation for much of my adult life.

But nearly fifteen years’ ago, nagging thoughts about the future in general and specifically, the Tribulation, would not go away. One day, when planning an adult Christian education curriculum, God clearly led me to examine Revelation. It was not something I wanted to do. Studying Revelation, let alone teaching it, seemed like an impossible or, at least, an impractical task. But I delved into Revelation and the more I researched and meditated on this book, the more I realized the importance of this often ignored book of the Bible. This eventually led to several presentations on Revelation, which in turn, led me to write this book.

One of the motivations I had for writing this book was the frustration of reading other books on Revelation and end time prophecies. Whether they were scholarly works designed for seminary courses, or overviews designed for a general Christian audience, they seemed to be lacking defensible arguments and rebuttals to alternative views. That’s not to say the books had no supporting Scripture for the author’s views, but their works seemed to reflect an attitude that a solid, analytical, Bible-based rationale for the theories they were presenting was not necessary.

By this I mean that a simple interpretation of an event or passage would be presented by the author and usually applied to some current event and then the author would move on. But this approach would leave me with questions for the author such as, Are you basing your complete argument on merely one or two passages of Scripture? If so, can you explain why these passages of Scripture apparently supersede other scriptural arguments? What about other major competing theories? If those competing theories are wrong, can you show me why those theories should be ignored? Why state your conclusions to the reader as if they were so obvious when, in fact, many end time passages are very difficult riddles? From current end time authors to authors from the past, I rarely saw answers to my questions. Therefore, I was convinced I needed to find them myself.

But, as I said, many Christians aren’t particularly convinced that they ought to seek the answers to those types of questions in Revelation and end time prophecies. The irony is that many also know that this issue is important but maybe they just don’t realize how important it is. If I were to do a study on the Book of Romans, one of the key words I would notice in that book would be faith. It would be fair to say, then, that faith would be a theme that I would expect to observe through most of Romans, and that faith is therefore an important topic in that book. What follows are the approximate frequencies the following key words (and, therefore, related themes) are found in the New Testament:

• Marriage/Husbands/Wives: 30 times

• Sexual immorality: 31 times

• Children: 38 times

• Money/Greed/Giving: 70 times

• Prayer/Pray: 212 times

• Love: 235 times

In 216 chapters of the New Testament, the Return of Christ is either directly or indirectly referenced over 300 times. I would say that makes it a pretty important subject, one that is deserving of study.

Non-Christians are also fascinated with apocalyptic themes. Any time there is a Nostradamus special on TV, people will tune in. The Mayan 2012 Dooms-Day was hyped throughout 2011 and 2012, and people tuned in. Any movie containing the word Armageddon or any science special discussing apocalyptic consequences of asteroids, global warming, or some other-worldly catastrophe will always get an audience. What this tells me is that there is a mystical fascination with the end of the world and, indirectly, an interest in Revelation, which of course, is the biblical story of end of the world.

So if those two points are valid, why aren’t Christians more motivated to study Revelation and end time prophecies?

Scoreboarders

What is a scoreboarder when it comes to the book of Revelation? Picture this scene for a moment: a visiting quarterback confronts his counterpart on the opposing team at the end of their football game. This quarterback complains that he feels the referee cheated, the opponent’s defense played dirty, the ball was too slippery and they didn’t have the right cleats for the field conditions. He goes on in this way until the opposing quarterback points to the large, electronic sign above the end zone bleachers that says, HOME 77-VISITOR 3 and in current slang says, Scoreboard, dude and walks away.

The quarterback who won doesn’t need to argue the points his opponent brought up, some of which may be relevant and some minor or even petty. What is relevant to the issue of those two teams playing is the score at the end of the game. Someone can complain, make excuses, or analyze stats ad nauseam, but the bottom line will always be the scoreboard.

In the same way, many Christians take a scoreboarder approach to Revelation. Not just young Bible study students, but scholarly pastors and theologians such as J.B. Phillips, for example. His introduction to Revelation in his paraphrase of the New Testament (The New Testament in Modern English) reads:

It is thought by many that the symbols and figures of the book would be understood by the Christians to whom the book was first sent, but that the key to their interpretation has now been lost. ¹

He goes on to list five main themes that generally occur in Revelation, principally, God’s victory over Satan. What Phillips is basically saying is this: Don’t sweat the details in this book. It’s an unsolvable riddle anyway. Satan loses and God wins in the end. Scoreboard.

If you were to corner a scoreboarder and ask for their thoughts on Revelation, it would be, more or less, something like J.B. Phillips’ introduction to Revelation: Jesus speaks to John about some churches, stuff happens in Heaven, antichrist comes and creates chaos and death, mark of the beast, Jesus comes again, Satan thrown in Hell, New Earth, New Heaven: scoreboard. And that is enough information a scoreboarder needs to know about Revelation and end time prophecies. In fact, if the Bible were 66 individual books on a scoreboarder’s bookshelf, the books with the most dust on them would probably be Song of Solomon, one of the Minor Prophets, and the Book of Revelation.

Now this may sound like I think little of scoreboarders but that is not so. I used to be one and many of my friends—mature, Bible-believing Christians whom I respect and love—have this attitude toward Revelation and end time prophecies. In their minds, passages on Christian living, the Gospel, and Bible history are more relevant and germane to their everyday Christian life than end time prophecies. Frankly, it would be hard for me or anyone else to argue against that position as a committed believer in Jesus Christ.

As a former scoreboarder who now believes in studying end time prophecies, what would my response be to a scoreboarder? I already listed how many times the Return of Christ is mentioned in the New Testament but consider these other points as well. Why would God, in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, give His last recorded message to the Church and the Tribulation generation to enlighten them about the final history of mankind only to have it be essentially ignored by His people? In Revelation 22 alone, Jesus issues two warnings, four reminders of His return, and two assurances of the truth of the message in this book. In Revelation 1:3, John pronounces a blessing on those who read aloud the words of Revelation. While numerous other passages in the Bible pronounce a blessing for those who read, meditate, and keep the Word of God, Revelation is the only book of the Bible which pronounces a blessing for those who read the book itself. That doesn’t sound like something that should be scoreboarded. It sounds like something that should be studied.

The symbolism of end time prophecies is disturbing

Christians do not understand the symbolism of these prophecies and even those symbols that are understood can be jarring and disturbing. There is the prostitute with a cup of blood in her hand who is Mystery Babylon in Revelation 17. Jesus returns with a sword issuing from His mouth in Revelation 19. Blood from the winepress of God spreads out as high as a horse’s bridle in Revelation 14. We must be honest; these are alarming symbols. When Christians read these passages they are uneasy and reluctant to want to learn more.

Studying end time prophecies is difficult and time consuming

To study the book of Revelation, you need to be familiar with all end time prophecies in the Bible. In other words, you cannot simply study Revelation by itself. You will quickly get lost and extremely frustrated. For example, most of what we know of the antichrist is found in Daniel, not Revelation. Most of what we know of the Millennium is found in Isaiah and Ezekiel, not Revelation. This means that any meaningful study of the end times must include a thorough examination of Matthew 24 and Luke 21, passages in 1 Peter and 1 Thessalonians, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Zechariah, and all end time prophecies. For anyone who does not have a passion for this work, this can be a daunting task.

Creating a timeline for prophetic events is complex

Revelation appears to generally flow chronologically, but not necessarily directly sequentially. In other words, events seem to move from newest to oldest but that doesn’t necessarily mean that events immediately occur one right after the other. Sometimes there is a significant time lag between events, even though the text does not seem to indicate one.

What’s more, there are clearly interludes and what we would call flashbacks that then directly merge back into the real-time flow of the chronology of the prophecy. All this being said, it is difficult to time-line what is happening and when. This makes this book even more confusing, in many ways, than examining Old Testament end time prophecies by themselves, for in those prophecies, there is no real timeline.

Many Christians fear they will get the interpretation wrong

Revelation 22:18-19

18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

Proverbs 30:5-6

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.6 Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

Many pastors and laymen read the passages above and basically interpret this to say, If you don’t get the message of Revelation right, you’re in big trouble. Therefore, many choose to ignore this book, rather than try to understand and explain it and end time prophecies. I’ll discuss this passage later in more detail in chapter 13, but for now, it is enough to say that ignoring Revelation and end time prophecies is not a sensible application of this passage.

Revelation and end time prophecies don’t seem directly relevant

Finally, in relation to the scoreboarder rationale, if I am a Christian who believes in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture (meaning that I’ll be up in Heaven before the Tribulation starts), what is the compelling reason to study Revelation? Looking at this pragmatically, if I’m not going to be here on earth, having been taken up to Heaven before the Tribulation, what does it matter what I know about Revelation? It’s like a single person taking a marriage seminar course knowing that God wants them to stay single. It’s good information to have, but the direct relevance to their life is lacking.

I can’t refute most of these reasons for not studying Revelation and end time prophecies. The imagery can be troubling, the study is time consuming, and piecing together a sensible timeline is complex. But Revelation and end time prophecies are relevant for two main reasons.

Revelation is a road map

• Revelation shows the Church the final eras of our history on earth.

• Revelation shows the Tribulation generation what to expect and gives them hope.

• Revelation reveals to me what my perspectives and priorities are by showing what God’s priorities will be in the Tribulation age and beyond.

Hebrews 11:13-14

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

Part of acknowledging being strangers and exiles on this earth, in my mind, is being aware of what God has stated He will do in the future. It is consciously being aware that life on earth as we know it is coming to an end. While it doesn’t mean that I walk around with a sandwich board sign saying, THE END IS NEAR, it does mean, however, that the message of Revelation and those end time prophecies should actively shape my thinking regarding how I will invest my life.

Revelation is a message

• Revelation is not just a message about the evil of Satan and his antichrist. It is a reminder about the absolute wickedness of sinful men and women.

• Revelation is a reminder about the amazing grace of God. Yes, you read that right. There is a lot of God’s judgment being meted out on the earth in Revelation, but God’s grace is evident as well.

• Revelation is a reminder of the absolute, consuming holiness and justice of God. While that thought makes even forgiven, redeemed men and women of Christ figuratively take a step back and tense up, it is a very good thing that God is a God of judgment.

If you’re ready to join me in this adventure, here are three things I would ask of you. First, keep an open mind. All of us have preconceived notions of end time prophecies based on what we have heard or learned before, or based simply on what we intuitively think. As best you can, check those at the door. Secondly, like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, I also ask you to examine "… the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so…." I would not be offended at all if you were in my Bible study and scrutinized the passages listed in my arguments. On the contrary, I would be disappointed if you didn’t. Finally, don’t give up on the material. As best as I can, I will try and simplify Revelation and end time prophecies. But as I said, that doesn’t mean they will be simple. Many of the topics we will be examining are complex riddles. Just like a good math teacher can make algebra easier to understand, that doesn’t mean algebra is easy. Realize that delving deeper into this material will require thought on your part.

On my part, I commit to you that I will try to back up all of the positions I take with a logical, biblically based argument. You still may not agree with my conclusions but it won’t be because I laid out a position and simply said, The Spirit told me this was true. I also commit to you to offer relevant applications and meditations from the information we are studying. The potential problem with studying Revelation and end time prophecies is that it can simply become a historical study of the future. As I mentioned earlier, the scoreboarder’s questions to the relevance of this type of study to daily Christian living is valid:

• How does this help my current understanding of God and of people?

• How does this affect the way I live now?

Those are fair questions regarding any study on Revelation and end time prophecies. God willing, I will try to offer valid applications to those questions.

2

A BRIEF PRIMER ON PROPHECY

Acts 17:11

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

When you’re hesitant to wade into a pool on a hot summer day, the natural thought is to just dive in. It will only feel cold for a second or two and then you can get on with enjoying your swim. But the better analogy for starting a study on Revelation and end time prophecies is more like starting a painting job at home. Walls need to be taped, floors need to have tarps laid down, and paint boundaries need to be set. And even before any of that takes place, colors need to be chosen and defined. Somebody’s idea of baby blue may look more to you like sky blue when it’s up on your wall.

The point is, preparation and definitions need to be addressed before any real work takes place. The same is true for studying Revelation and end time prophecies. Before we try and interpret any Bible prophecy, we need to discuss five key concepts related to the general study and understanding of Bible prophecy.

As the general rule, a passage of Scripture has one and only one interpretation that God intended. We determine that interpretation by another fairly straightforward rule: when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense. All serious study of Scripture must start with this understanding. A given passage of Scripture may be intended by God to be taken symbolically, but generally, it still should only have one interpretation. There are many applications in a given passage of Scripture but only one interpretation.

But there is one exception to this rule and it surfaces when we study prophetic Scripture. There are several passages in the Bible where we see two distinct future events in one single passage that the Scriptures are discussing. While the idea of there being more than one interpretation cannot be used in most prophetic Scripture, it still occurs enough that without an understanding of this concept, the study of end time prophecies will quickly result in trying to solve an unsolvable riddle. This concept of seeing two or more future events in a prophetic passage of Scripture is what I will refer to from this point on as the concept of layered prophecy.

Layered Prophecies: The Mountains in the Mist

Layered prophecies¹, as I would define them, are similar to the theological term sensus plenior, but there is a key difference. Sensus Plenior is a Latin term that literally means the full meaning or deeper meaning of a passage of Scripture. Strictly speaking, this concept refers to that additional, deeper meaning, intended by God but not clearly intended by the human author, which is seen to exist in the words of a biblical text (or group of texts, or even a whole book) when they are studied in the light of further revelation or development in the understanding of revelation. ²

Let me translate that verbiage with my own definition. For most conservative theologians, the concept of sensus plenior basically means that when the prophets of the Old Testament were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write, they themselves were not always completely aware of the full extent of the words they were writing. These words would have greater illumination, a greater or fuller meaning to future prophets who would interpret them in the light of Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

To illustrate the concept of sensus plenior in general, consider Acts 8:29-34 for moment. This is the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch.

²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, Do you understand what you are reading? 31 And he said, How can I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?

As far as this passage in Isaiah was concerned, Phillip could simply answer the eunuch and say, The writer is referring to someone else. He is speaking of the coming Messiah. But, for the sake of illustrating sensus plenior, what if the Ethiopian eunuch was reading another Messianic prophecy, say Psalm 22:14-18.

14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— 17I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

In John 19:23-24, John, writing through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, attributes this passage to Jesus.

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be. This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

Go to your Bible and look at the heading of Psalm 22. This psalm is clearly labeled as a Psalm of David. David was hunted in the wilderness by Saul. He felt forsaken by God, and by the people of Israel. He wrote this Psalm in that state of mind. The Holy Spirit did not somehow possess him against his will and involuntarily move his hand to write those words. David was writing what was happening to him, pouring out his heart to God. But inspired by the Holy Spirit, for David was also a prophet, David’s words were also indirectly referring to someone else, and that Someone else was the Messiah. Some conservative theologians think David was not aware that he was speaking of someone else when he wrote Psalm 22. Others like me think that notion smacks of spiritual arrogance, for how can we truly know what thoughts or questions David might have had about these passages?

Regardless of whether David had any inkling of God’s full intention or not, consider Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch again in Acts 8. If the passage the eunuch was reading was Psalm 22:14-18, and the eunuch asked Phillip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else, Phillip could have answered him, Both." That is what we mean by sensus plenior. It is a passage that indirectly references two events, one in the here and now and one that cryptically describes a future event.

Are there other prophetic passages of Scripture where we see this concept of sensus plenior occurring? We already mentioned one Messianic passage written by David, referring to David, that also speaks of a coming Messiah. The table below illustrates at least three more Psalms of David where this occurs.

Once again, in all of these passages, David was not simply talking about himself, nor, as we have said, was David possessed by the Holy Spirit and only talking about the coming Messiah. As a friend of mine is fond of saying, it was both/and, not either/or. David was zealous for the Lord, he did want to yield his body and life to the Lord’s will, and he was proclaiming and testifying to God’s mercy and grace. But David was also used by God in writing his Psalms to speak simultaneously and indirectly of another coming One.

The difference between sensus plenior and layered prophecy is that the concept of sensus plenior deals with an event that is happening now but also describes something in the future. Layered prophecy primarily deals with the idea that a given passage of prophetic Scripture may be directly describing at least two separate future events. As far as the concept of layered prophecy is concerned, Jesus Himself, the Living Word, the Author of all Scripture and its interpretation, showed us this concept of interpreting prophetic Scripture.

In Matthew 24:15, Jesus gives the disciples a sign for the last days that his disciples are to look for as a warning for them to leave Jerusalem.

So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)….

Jesus was referencing Daniel 11:31, written in approximately 539 BC. This prophecy was thought to have been fulfilled by Antiochus the IV in 168 BC when Antiochus set up an altar to Jupiter and sacrificed swine in the Temple (the desolation referred to by Daniel). If a scribe or Pharisee was present when Jesus was speaking in Matthew 24, they might have been tempted to correct Jesus and say, "Wait a minute, Jesus. You mean, ‘when you saw,’ don’t you? This event has already happened." And yet Jesus said, "When you see…" meaning, of course, a future event was coming. When Matthew 24 is examined in more detail in chapter 7, you will see that Jesus actually discussed two future events in this one verse. One event was the future destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman general Titus. The other even more future event was the occupation of Jerusalem by the antichrist.

When Daniel, inspired by the Holy Spirit, was given those prophecies in Daniel 11 in 539 BC, there was not simply one future event that was being foretold. It was actually three future events: a prophecy regarding Antiochus, Titus, and the antichrist, all centered around Jerusalem. The prophecy at first glance looks like it is only describing one event, but based on Jesus’ interpretation, we can confidently say it was not. Again, whether Daniel was fully aware of this fact or not, we cannot positively say. But in Daniel 11:21-31 and in other prophetic end time passages we will examine, there seems to be a sense of more than one event being described when we examine it in depth. It is as if you were looking at a mountain range in the foreground, but as you looked more intently, you saw a faint outline of another mountain range in the distance, mountains in a hazy mist that are nearly identical to the ones you see in the foreground, yet slightly different.

I know this sounds crazy, but I know of no better way to illustrate this concept. Hold your hands out at arm’s length in front of you. Now place your right hand directly behind your left hand, with about six inches between both hands. (In other words, your right hand will be closest to your face.) Now imagine someone standing in front of you. Wiggle just your left-hand fingers (the hand that is farthest away from your face). Your wiggling fingers are Daniel 11:21-31 describing the events of Antiochus IV. The person in front of you sees a fairly clear picture of this event. Now wiggle just your right hand fingers. Someone in front of you sees something behind your left hand moving. The wiggling right hand fingers are not as distinct as when the left hand fingers were moving, but something is definitely there. Those wiggling fingers are very similar to the left-hand fingers in front of them, but what is happening is clearly different. Those wiggling right hand fingers in Daniel 11:21-31 are describing the siege of Jerusalem under Titus as well as the future occupation of Jerusalem by the antichrist.

As I mentioned, we will find several examples of layered prophecy in various end time prophecies, all of which we will discuss later in more detail. Some of these passages include:

• Isaiah 14:12-15

A prophecy that foretells judgment against Belshazzar, king of Babylon and also against Satan.

• Daniel 11:21-45

A prophecy that discusses Antiochus IV and also the antichrist.

• Matthew 24:15-16

A prophecy that foretells the destruction of Jerusalem by both Titus and the coming antichrist.

• Isaiah 13:17-22

A prophecy that discusses the fall of Babylon of Daniel’s time, but also discusses a New Babylon that will fall in the future.

• Revelation 2 and 3

Two chapters that discuss seven local churches that the Apostle John ministered to in his day and also seven future Church eras.

Of course, we cannot take this thinking to extremes. All prophetic Scripture is not mountains in the mist Scripture. There are not two or three hidden events for every end time prophecy we see. The potential danger in this kind of thinking is making prophetic Scripture symbolically say whatever we think we want it to say. If Scripture means anything, then it means nothing.

Nevertheless, this concept of layered prophecy does exist in several places in the Bible. I am sure that through the course of this book, you may choose to disagree with some of my conclusions, but hopefully, this mountains in the mist concept of interpreting end time prophecy will not be one of them. Understanding and applying this concept will help you avoid the confusion of many who take a mistaken either/or approach to certain prophetic passages. If you don’t accept this rule of interpretation, many end time prophecies may needlessly become an unsolvable riddle, leaving you very frustrated at the passages, and possibly, very frustrated at God.

Time perspectives on prophecy

Examine the Scripture below. This is a familiar story in Luke where Jesus is in the synagogue in His hometown.

Luke 4:16-21

16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at