The Last Hour: Your Simplified Guide to End Time Events and How to Be Ready

By Matthew Odhigu

It is the last hour!

Have you ever given a deep thought about the end of our human civilization and the world? Have you ever asked if the end-time events predicted in the Bible will happen literally? Will hundreds of millions of Christians really disappear from the face of the earth one day at the same time? Will the deluge of cataclysmic upheavals resulting from the great tribulation happen literally? Will Jesus return to this earth and walk the streets of Jerusalem for the second time? How much time do we have left?

This fascinating book has pulled together the pieces of the puzzle into a simplified end-time event map in chronological order. You will discover for yourself that the handwriting on the wall is unmistakable; this is the earths final moments. You will learn how to get on Christs ark of salvation and how to escape the coming judgment.

As you read the pages of this book, God will speak to your heart and give you insight beyond what words can express. Your life will be radically changed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jul 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514497463

Matthew Odhigu

Matthew Odhigu is a seasoned Bible teacher and a passionate intercessor committed to raising intercessors for the end-time harvest. He lives in South Australia with his family.

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Copyright © 2016 by Matthew Odhigu.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016910655

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5144-9748-7

                Softcover        978-1-5144-9747-0

                eBook             978-1-5144-9746-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified Bible. Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Rev. date: 07/01/2016

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Section 1 The Certainty of the End of the World

Chapter 1 The Certainty of Christ’s Second Coming

Chapter 2 The Timing of His Coming

Chapter 3 The Signs of His Coming

Section 2 Sequence of Events

Chapter 4 The Various Views of the End Time

Chapter 5 The Chronology of Events

Chapter 6 Overview of the Book of Revelation and Timeline

Chapter 7 Illustration from the Seven Jewish Feasts

Section 3 The Rapture of the Church

Chapter 8 Rapture of the Church

Section 4 The Great Tribulation

Chapter 9 The Seven Seal Judgement

Chapter 10 The Seven Trumpet Judgement

Chapter 11 The Mark of the Beast

Chapter 12 The Seven Bowl Judgement

Section 5 Post-Tribulation Events

Chapter 13 Marriage Supper and Millennium Reign of Christ

Chapter 14 Resurrection and Final Judgement

Chapter 15 Conclusion—Time for Decision!

Bibliography

INTRODUCTION

T he second coming of Christ and the end of this world has remained a fascinating subject that has probably generated debates and controversies more than any other subject in human history. For many, this is a subject shrouded in mystery with too many unanswered questions. Some of these questions inc lude:

Will millions of Christians really disappear from the face of the earth one day at the same time? Will this happen literally, and who will qualify for this catch-up? What would happen to the world and our civilization when this happens?

Will there be an evil genius called the Antichrist taking the world stage at some point in the end-time agenda? How possible will it be for one man to command authority over nations in an era of thriving democracy and human rights?

What does the great tribulation entail? Will the horrific plagues described in the book of Revelation happen literally?

Will Jesus Christ really return physically to this earth and walk the streets of Jerusalem again? Will He reign physically on earth for a thousand years? What will His government look like and what will happen to the government of all nations of the world?

Will this world and its civilization really come to an end one day? Will this world be wiped out like the world of Noah?

Is there a literal place called heaven where the righteous will reside? Does hell really exist where unsaved people are tormented in flames forever?

What will happen to Satan and his host of demons?

Will God make a new earth? Who will inhabit the new earth?

Any scientific correlation with all these end-time events? And many more questions related to this subject.

While attempting to answer the many questions thrown up, the main aim of this book is to create awareness on the imminence of Christ’s second coming and prepare believers to meet their King at the sound of the trumpet. It is so easy to be sucked into the worries and cares of this life that one tends to forget that we are at the brink of eternity and the choice of where to spend eternity can only be made within our brief stay here on earth. If we build all our hope only on this temporary world, the Bible says we are of all men most to be pitied. This book will attempt to provide a clear sequence of events based on scriptures and how these events are being fulfilled in our time.

I pray that as you read this book, the Holy Spirit will reveal the heart of God to you far beyond what is written in the pages of this book to the extent that you will both understand the times and trim your lamp to receive the Bridegroom as soon as the trumpet sounds.

SECTION 1

The Certainty of the End of the World

CHAPTER 1

The Certainty of Christ’s Second Coming

R ight from the beginning of creation, God laid out the plan for man’s salvation and the end of sin. In other words, the Creator of the universe has set times and seasons for every event under the sun. God declared to the serpent at the Garden of Eden after the fall of man that the seed of the woman will bruise the head of the serpent. After about four thousand years, Jesus Christ (the seed of the woman) came to the earth to fulfil that prophecy through His death and resurrection. The head of the serpent speaks of the authority of Satan; and we see Jesus declare after His resurrection that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. He took the keys of death and hell, crushed the authority of Satan, and rose triumphantly from the dead, having purchased eternal redemption for man kind.

All the major prophets in the Bible prophesied about the first coming of Jesus Christ to earth to redeem mankind several hundreds of years before its fulfilment. Here are some of the prophecies:

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (Isa. 7: 14 NKJV). Isaiah’s prophecies covered a period of some fifty years (about 740–685 BC) and during that time he prophesied about the virgin birth of Jesus. This prophecy was fulfilled after almost 700 years, in 4 BC when Jesus was born of a virgin. For a woman to have conception without a man would have been inconceivable from a human point of view. This shows God’s word cannot go unfulfilled no matter how unlikely it may seem to men.

Micah, whose prophetic ministry spanned about the same time as that of Isaiah, prophesied about the place of birth of Jesus: But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting (Mic. 5: 2 NKJV). This was accurately fulfilled when Jesus was born almost 700 years later—born in Bethlehem of Judea (Matt. 2: 4-6).

Jeremiah also prophesied about the coming of the Messiah as a descendant of King David more than 600 years before the birth of Jesus (Jer. 23: 5). The point is this: if the prophesies concerning Christ’s first coming were fulfilled literally, to the letter, why should there be any doubt about the fulfilment of the prophecies concerning His second coming and the end of the world?

The testimony of Jesus

If the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets concerning Christ’s first coming were fulfilled, what do you think about the prophecies of Christ Himself? If the words of His messengers were fulfilled, how much more will the direct words of the Sender (who is the Word Himself) find fulfilment? Jesus Himself declared that heaven and earth shall pass away but not one jot of His word will go unfulfilled (Matt. 24: 35). Knowing that the scriptures cannot be broken and none of the words spoken by the Lord will go unfulfilled, let’s examine what Jesus Himself said about His second coming and the end of this age.

For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works (Matt. 16: 27 NKJV)

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left (Matt. 25: 31–33 NKJV)

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also (John 14: 1–3 NKJV)

And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work (Rev. 22: 12 NKJV)

If you read all the above scriptures in a red-letter edition of the Bible, you will see that they are all written in red letters indicating they were the direct words from Jesus’ mouth. Every one of the scriptures above and all scriptures will be fulfilled without exception. It doesn’t matter whether they are politically correct or not, it doesn’t matter if multitudes reject them as mere religious babblings, it doesn’t matter if science agrees with them or not; God’s word cannot fail.

Jesus compared His second coming to the days of Noah (Matt. 24: 37–39). When Noah, a preacher of righteousness, warned his generation of an impending judgement on the world because of their wickedness, they must have mocked and laughed at him. How could the God of love kill every living thing on the face of the earth with flood? No such thing had ever happened in the history of mankind and there is no scientific theory to support that such a global catastrophe is ever possible. It’s interesting to note that no one believed Noah except his immediate family. Bible scholars estimate that it took almost 100 years to construct the ark, and all that time, people must have thought Noah was out of his mind. Life on earth went on normally—businesses running well, economy doing well, people were getting married, and fun was not in short supply, until the day the door to the ark was closed by God Himself. Against all odds and popular opinion polls, God invaded the earth with water erupting from underground and rain from heaven in mighty torrents in the space of forty days. The Bible says, Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark (Gen. 7: 21–23 NIV). The Bible did not tell us how many people were on earth pre-Noah’s flood, but various statisticians using the information available in Genesis from Adam to Noah (spanning a period of 1656 years) to estimate population growth at the time, has put world population between 5 and 17 billion. If these figures are anything to go by, the question in many minds would be how God could destroy such a multitude of humans. This history is recorded for our learning so that we are not caught outside the ark of redemption when history is repeated.

Jesus also compared His second advent to the days of Lot in Sodom (Luke 17: 28–30). People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building until Lot went out of Sodom, and then God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

Jesus gave various parables to drive home the message of His second coming—not as a Lamb but as a King and Judge to give to everyone according to his or her works. After Jesus finished His great prophetic discourse in Matthew 24, He used three parables to further illustrate His message starting with the parable of the faithful and unfaithful servants (Matt. 24: 45–51).

The unfaithful servant didn’t think his master was coming anytime soon (Matt. 24: 48), and he got very careless—beating other servants, partying, and getting drunk. When we don’t live with an attitude of expecting the Second Coming, we are most likely to get careless with our lives. To such, the Lord will appear at a time when He is not expected and then it will be too late. For the faithful servant, he was preoccupied with carrying out his master’s instructions and looking forward to his return. Jesus will return to meet two categories of believers—the faithful and the unfaithful. Where do you belong?

The next parable Jesus used to illustrate the certainty of His second coming and the need to be ready is the parable of the ten virgins (Matt 25: 1–13). These ten virgins (representing believers) were waiting to receive the Bridegroom (representing Jesus Christ)—five were wise while five were foolish. The wise took oil with their lamps while the foolish took no oil to keep their lamps burning. It is important to note