Last of the Last Days

By Thaddeus Kedziora

Last of the Last Days is dedicated to refuting the unbiblical error of Replacement Theology. It scripturally proves that Nero was not the biblical fulfillment of the Antichrist. It chronicles Israels disobedience and Gods plan of national restoration for Israel through the Tribulation process.

It also discusses the next prophetic event for the church, which is the Rapture, followed by the Judgment Seat of Christ. It culminates in evidence that we are living in the Last of the Last Days, before Jesus Christ returns to Earth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490880631

Thaddeus Kedziora

Thaddeus Kedziora has a master’s degree in social sciences and has retired after thirty-two years as a letter carrier for the USPS. He has spent over thirty years studying Bible prophecy and twenty years leading a home Bible church.

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Copyright © 2015 Thaddeus Kedziora.

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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-8064-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8065-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8063-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015907659

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/22/2015

Contents

Chapter One Where to Start

Chapter Two To Equip the Saints

Chapter Three Who the Beast Was Not

Chapter Four Sola Scriptura

Chapter Five Why the Church is Not Israel

Chapter Six Israel’s Restoration

Chapter Seven The Crossroads—How to Be a Citizen of Heaven

Chapter Eight Israel—Scripture Blending with the Future

Chapter Nine The Gap

Chapter Ten Israel—Getting Back to Her Future

Chapter Eleven The Day of the Lord

Chapter Twelve The Rapture

Chapter Thirteen The Rapture—How Soon?

Chapter Fourteen The Judgment Seat of Christ

Chapter Fifteen The Tribulation

Chapter Sixteen The End of the Last Days

Chapter Seventeen The Least of These

Bibliography

CHAPTER ONE

Where to Start

In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God (John 1:1). The word was God. This is the essence of God, His Word. Aside from direct revelation, God’s Word is the primary means to know about God. General revelation, however, also provides man with the evidence and information that God exists (Romans 1:20, Psalm 19:1). Throughout history many people have claimed direct revelation from God. It is through these so-called claims of direct revelation from God that many religions have formed. It is equally valid that many former Christian organizations have perverted the Word of God so much as to become apostate.

Why would God, who sent not only His Word but also His Son to represent Himself, then throw us a curve ball by hiding the meaning of His Word in incomprehensible, individualistic, or erroneous symbolism? Why would God not let us understand the reason that He sent His Son to die? Either we believe that God wants us to understand His Word, or it is a cruel hoax that God has put on man. Has God confounded man’s understanding of His very essence as He confounded man’s understanding of his own language at the tower of Babel? When everyone speaks his own individual foreign language, no one understands anyone. Interpreters are needed in order to understand each other. That interpreter is none other than the Word of God. Without God’s Word and understanding of it, we have only man’s word against God’s and man’s tradition against God, and man’s laws against God. God’s Word is His oath and covenant with man. It is truth.

Now if God’s Word is true, the only way for Satan to cast doubt on God’s Word is to confound man’s understanding of it. As Scripture says, Satan sows weeds among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-25). This is Satan’s greatest tool; he sows questions among God’s answers. What better way to disrupt God’s Word than to interject into man’s thinking that there are not one, but two ways or many ways to interpret God’s Word! Scripture does not make enough sense to us or is not clear enough, so it must be allegorical, symbolic, or it must mean something else. Satan could have just claimed that the Bible is false, but a more effective tactic surely would be to try to convince mankind that God does not mean what He says in His Word or that His Word could have an interpretation or meaning different from what God has actually intended. It seems illogical that God would call His final book to man Revelation and then steep His Word in unintelligible symbolism. Why not call His last book to man The Great Mystery, The Big Unknowable Secret, Something I Want You to Know But I’m Not Going to Tell You, or Take a Guess? God made no mistake. Man did, when he first listened to Satan tell him that there were two ways to understand God’s Word: one literal and one allegorical.

Why would Satan want prophecy, or more importantly, the book of Revelation misunderstood? For the answer we must go to the end of God’s Word, Revelation 20:10. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They were tormented day and night forever and ever. Now if I’m Satan, and this passage is in the last book of God’s Word to man, I had better find a way to confuse their understanding if I’m going to have any credibility at all. Why, you might ask? The more people that do not understand or the more people who are confused as to the correct interpretation, the less people will read the book of Revelation and comprehend that Satan is defeated in the end. Satan wants to keep the book of Revelation a dark secret steeped in so much symbolism and allegory that no one can understand definitively. This cleverly orchestrated deceit crept into man’s understanding by the way of a thing called dual hermeneutics (the understanding that there are two ways to understand Scripture—one literal, the other allegorical or symbolic.)

If Satan could hide the literal and true meaning of God in the muck of symbolism and allegory, then the imminent return of Christ and the demise of Satan could be hidden from mankind, as well. It really is a brilliant plan for Satan to render 30% of the Bible useless. Prophecy has always been fulfilled literally, not symbolically or allegorically. Why would God symbolize His prophetic Word so much that no literal understanding could be agreed upon by any two individuals? Satan has sown weeds and thistles among God’s Word. Not only has he nullified 30% of God’s Word to the undiscerning, but also he has nullified the very heart of prophetic understanding. Confusion rules with amillennial, pre-millennial, post-millennial, pre-tribulation, post-tribulation, and mid-tribulation interpretations. But at the core of the matter is lost the necessary and imminent return of Christ.

Today’s church is sleeping. Roman Catholicism is at the forefront and has been since the theologian Augustine proposed this unbiblical, allegorical understanding of Scripture. We should not uphold how great such a theologian is and how powerful Roman Catholicism is above how great the Word of God is. Thomas Aquinas appealed that through reason man could prove the existence of God. What possible reason would God have to blind His elect to the truth? What would God accomplish by symbolizing His prophetic Word to the point of confusion concerning the timetables of prophesied events? What reason would God have to cover the corresponding time of the millennium, the rapture, or the return of Christ? What reason would God have to separate, confuse, and switch the prophetic fulfillments of the church and Israel? All of these problems arise when we do not take the Word of God for what it is: the Word of God. When we understand Revelation literally, it fits the giant puzzle. Another piece fits exactly where it should. When we spiritualize prophecy, everyone gets his own puzzle with its own pieces, but some do not fit, and some are missing. Reason and Scripture point doctrinally to singular hermeneutics, or the literal understanding of prophetic Scripture.

Yes, if I were Satan, the most ingenious method to keep nonbelievers from believing the truth would be to offer multiple truths. From this comes the thinking that either everyone is right, everyone is wrong, or it does not matter. If either is perceived as valid, the result is the same; non-belief. This gives nonbelievers ammunition to continue in unbelief. Statements arise like, Even you Christians can’t agree on anything? or Why are there so many denominations or religions? or Everyone believes what they want, so what makes your way right? It is without surprise that this would be their reaction.

For example, when people spiritualize the two witnesses in Revelation chapter 11 as representing the church, when people contend that the church has replaced Israel, when people contend that Nero was the beast or the antichrist without any clear and convincing biblical proof, it is then that Christians should point to God’s Word and earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 3). By God’s Word, prove it. Has God said, If anyone fits the general description of this person, that’s good enough for me? Has God’s Word ever referred to Israel as the church? As the old commercial asks, Where is the beef? Close is not good enough for God; God is into details.

CHAPTER TWO

To Equip the Saints

What is the purpose of all evangelists, pastors, and teachers? The Bible says, "and He himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-13). The job of all pastors and teachers is to equip the saints, to prepare God’s people for works of service.

All books and commentaries of the Bible are written to equip the saints. Philip asked the Ethiopian eunuch, Do you understand what you are reading? He responded, How can I unless someone explains it to me? (Acts 8:30-31). The Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah 53:7. He was having difficulty understanding about whom Isaiah was talking. The eunuch asked Philip, Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself, or someone else? Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus (Acts 8:34-35). Philip began to equip the eunuch with knowledge of what the Scripture was saying. Peter says even the prophets themselves

Searched the scriptures intently and with greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things (1 Peter 1:10-12).

The prophets were not equipping themselves; they were equipping us. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9). Christ had made all saints, you and I, to be His priests (Revelation 1:6 and 5:10). Every believer in Christ is a priest who is to fill a priestly role. Every believer has direct access to God. Every believer is now an ambassador for Christ. Every believer is to be obedient to God. Every believer is to study God’s Word, teach it to others, and make disciples. We are all priests of the kingdom of God.

Peter says, Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you, to give the reason for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15). The shepherd or teacher of the flock is to specialize in equipping the saints and preparing them to answer difficult questions biblically. The word equipping was used in biblical times as the medical term for setting bones. It also means one is made complete and able to deal with any situation that arises. If a military man is only trained in desert warfare, what will happen if his next encounter is in the jungle or snow-covered mountains? He will be at a deep disadvantage because he has two enemies, not one. The natural elements, if he is not properly equipped, could kill him, as well as his adversary.

Not all pastors, teachers, and writers are Christians. This is why the Bible calls Christians to be discerning. John tells us to test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone into the world (1 John 4:1). Paul told Timothy, For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

You may have heard someone say, You can make the Bible mean whatever you want it to say. The purpose of this book is to prove that statement to be a fallacy. One way to get varying interpretations on prophecy is to adopt a method of spiritualizing or allegorizing all biblical prophecy. This is without doubt the greatest curse perpetrated on understanding and interpreting Scripture. This view of spiritualizing all prophecy is known as amillennialism. This method of understanding Scripture originated with Origen, the most learned ancient Christian scholar, but became the bedrock of Roman Catholic theology, and later the reformed churches, because of the teachings of St. Augustine.

Amillennial means no millennium. John says in Revelation 20:4, They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years, and again in Revelation 20:6, They will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. Amillennialists avoid literalism in interpreting prophecy. Augustine contended that Satan was bound at the first coming of Christ. Revelation 20:3 indicates that when Satan is bound, he will no longer be able to deceive the nations for a thousand years. Common sense will tell any cognizant human being that Satan has never been bound in the history of the world. Evil, in fact, pervades throughout recorded history. Peter implores us to be alert for your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

Amillennialists contend that we are now living in the kingdom of God since Christ spiritually reigns in the believer’s life. Though the Holy Spirit does dwell within the believers, in John 18:36, Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place. Even though Christ established a spiritual kingdom on earth, the kingdom of God will be a literal and physical kingdom with Christ reigning on earth (Zechariah 14:9) and from Jerusalem, which will be the capitol of the world (Zechariah 14:16-17).

John Walvoord in his book The Millennial Kingdom writes, "The modern liberal scholar, who is also an amillenarian, feels free to use the spiritualizing method rather freely in areas other than prophecy whenever it suits his fancy, and being bound by no law of infallible inspiration need not be concerned if the result is not consistent. The spiritualizing method, once admitted, is not easy to regulate and tends to destroy the literal method. While the amillennial use of the literal method is general among conservatives, among liberal groups it has less standing and use."¹ The general result—and sometimes purpose—of the amillennial approach is to keep individuals subservient to the ecclesiastical processes. It places emphasis on the church’s teaching versus the Holy Spirit’s teaching. It sets the stage for a hierarchical system where only the few can interpret the Scripture’s true meaning. And it sets the stage for the corruption and perversion of God’s Word. For instance, the ecclesiastical leaders of amillennialism prevent laity from teaching Scripture apart from seminary training. In addition, they would only consider themselves as worthy to administer the ordinances of baptism and communion.

Man’s ability to access God directly and at all times was made available by God at the Crucifixion (Hebrews 10:19). Mark 15:38 says, The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This happened at the exact moment of Christ’s death. This event points out a number of important lessons for us. First, since the Holy of Holies’ temple curtain was about four inches thick, this was no accident. Second, it was torn from top to bottom, which indicated that it was not man who tore the curtain, but God. Third, this now exposed the Holy of Holies to everyone, not just the high priest. Everyone then had direct access to God without having to have the high priest offer a sacrifice for him. God was now doing away with the priestly line and duties because God now made Christians to be a kingdom and priests (Revelation 1:6). Now we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled and having our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:19-22). These statements show that the individual himself or herself now has access to Christ directly. The church or temple is not now in control of being the go between, between Man and God, it is Christ Himself who is the mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).

It is interesting to note that the Jews sewed the curtain back up and continued to offer sacrifices in the temple until it was destroyed by Titus and the Roman armies in 70 A. D. It is clear from the book of Hebrews that Christ’s sacrifice was once for all (Hebrews 10:10). And when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins he sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12). This points to John 19:30 when Jesus said, It is finished. Amillennial approaches would contend that the keys to the kingdom of God are possessed by the ecclesiastical hierarchy alone. They are, however, possessed by all who hold to the Word of God, as well as those who withhold the Word of God. Most people are familiar with Matthew 16:19 in which Jesus gives the keys of heaven to Peter. Roman Catholicism bases its entire hierarchical system on this verse. However, Jesus also declares, "Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the