Look Up For Your Redemption Is Near

By Dr. John M. Mendola

Look Up For Your Redemption Is Near invites readers on a profound and illuminating journey that transcends the confines of time itself. In this captivating book, the author delves deep into the realms of the past, present, and future, leading readers towards a profound sense of hope and joy.

With meticulous attention to detail, this compre

• Language: English
• Publisher: Woodbridge Publishers
• Release date: Apr 19, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869328892

Book preview

Look Up

For Your Redemption Is Near

Copyright © 2008, John M. Mendola

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other— except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the author’s prior permission.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise specified, are from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Copyright © 1977, 1984, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers. • Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973.

All rights reserved. • Scriptures marked NIV are from The Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan

Publishing House. All rights reserved. • Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version.

Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982. Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers. • Scriptures marked ASV are taken from The Holy Bible, American Standard Version. Public domain. • Scriptures marked WEB are taken from the World English Bible.

ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-916849-99-0

ISBN (Hardcover): 978-1-917184-00-7

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Table of Contents

FOREWARD

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1: History and the Bible

Chapter 2: Archaeology’s Impact on the Bible

Chapter 3: The Mystery of the Rapture

Chapter 4: The Wrath of the Lamb

Chapter 5: The Signs of the Times

Chapter 6: The Unveiling—The Coming of the Antichrist

His Name

Where He Comes From

About the Lawless One

Temple Predictions

Assassination Attempt

Mark of the Beast

Worshipping the Beast and Blasphemies

Armies against Him

Armageddon and the Second Advent

Withholding Force

The Coming of Our Lord

Chapter 7: Babylon in Prophecy

Chapter 8: The Last Days

Israel in Prophecy

Genesis–Genealogy

Ezekiel 39

Chapter 9: Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin

An Overview of the Book of Daniel

Daniel Chapter 1

Daniel Chapter 2

Interpretation of the Dream

Daniel Chapter 3

Daniel Chapter 4

Daniel Chapter 5

Daniel Chapter 6

Daniel Chapter 7

Daniel Chapter 8

Daniel Chapter 9

Daniel Chapter 10

Daniel Chapter 11

Daniel Chapter 12

Chapter 10: The Divine Outline

An Overview of the book of Revelation

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

ABOUT THE MINISTRY

TESTIMONY

BIOGRAPHY

STUDY AIDS

FOREWARD

Many Bible students find the study of biblical prophecy confusing.

My practice when approaching a subject that I know little about is to find the simplest thing written on it. Then I move on to something a little more difficult and then to something more difficult still.

John Mendola has produced an easy-to-understand summary of key areas in the study of what the Bible has to say about future things. Digesting these studies will prepare the way for deeper work in these areas. I recommend his writings as a great place to lay a foundation.

Pastor Carl Westerlund

Director / Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa School Of Ministry Carl Westerlund has been in pastoral ministry since 1968.

He has been on the staff at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa since 1987. He directs the School of Ministry, which is an alternative seminary program.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Romans 8:28 states, And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

For that reason, I would like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for calling me to write these lessons for you. I thank my mom and dad for their prayers that kept me alive through my teens; my sister, Donna, and her husband, Whitey, for all their help; Evangeline, my wonderful wife, for being grounded in the Word and supporting my long hours of study; my two sons, Joshua and Caleb, for allowing me to experience the true love that a father has for his sons. Thanks to my pastor, Chuck Smith, of Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California, for his anointed, sound, biblical teaching; Pastor Carl Westerlund for always being there; all of our friends at Calvary Chapel Monday night Bible study; the Harvest Praise Band for their encouragement; the sisters in daycare for all of their love and patience for the children; Greg Laurie for his powerful messages; Cathe Laurie for her inspiration; the late Tara Inouye for all her hours donated to the ministry; Greg Dowd for being a great friend; Tom and LaDonna Jaso for their years of prayers and support; Israel K. and all of the brothers and sisters at Psalms for the World India for their intercessory prayer; Earl Williams at IBI Bible College for his support with our India project; and David, Latisha, and Lukas for their friendship, love, and help.

INTRODUCTION

With the hustle and bustle of today’s schedules and demands, it is extremely hard to stay focused on things that matter. Can you imagine yourself being Moses? After a traumatic beginning of being hidden and away from his loving family, then being found and adopted by royalty, raised by royalty with all its privileges, only to end up running away into the desert and spending forty years there, then another forty years out in the wilderness. Talk about an oxymoron—royalty to poverty, feast to famine.

God asked him to become a leader, and even with all of his education and privilege, he felt inadequate and gave God an excuse. He finally became a leader and followed God’s plan for the Children of Israel. He walked close to God and was given the Ten Commandments; but he never got to the Promised Land, due to disobedience of God’s instructions. Moses lived through all that; but it was 3,500 years later when in his glorified body, he was awarded the great privilege to enter the Promised Land with Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration to be with Christ in His hour of need (Matt. 17:3). This scenario should encourage us all to obey God’s plan for our lives and continue to move forward with our dreams and visions, even when we don’t feel adequate to the calling. God so often uses ordinary people to do extraordinary accomplishments. Is He calling you?

It was 1997. I had a call to write a book. Yet, like so many of you, I had several time dilemmas: a full-time corporate job with an average of fifty-six hours per week; CEO of my own company (which requires international travel); husband to a beautiful wife; father of two energetic boys; and a committed passion for full-time Christian ministry. As He did to Moses, God gave me a call and direction to start writing this book. But my excuse was the lack of any more time in the day to commit to this project, and I felt discouraged because I kept hearing a voice in my head saying, You’ll never finish the book. Yet, I still had a strong tugging from the Holy Spirit to move forward with this project. But how? The solution was to set aside small chunks of time. So I started writing each chapter individually and called them chapter books or mini-series books.

Now here I am many years later to testify that the book is finished! Needless to say, the majority of my research and much of my writing was done either over the Atlantic or Pacific oceans or in airports or hotels in France, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, India, etc.

Look Up For Your Redemption Is Near is a compiled overview of what the Bible has to say about the past, present and future events of history. A brief synopsis starts with biblical history and then builds a solid foundation on the things, events, and people which God foretells. At this time in history, many prophecies have already come to pass just as foretold.

Next, I move into archeology and the Bible. This section lays down some facts and archeological discoveries that support the Bible. I move on to a current issue today—Babylon and its importance in prophecy in history and the future. This leads into end times—Israel’s place in prophecy, the rapture of the Church, the coming prominent world leaders, apocalyptic judgments the world will face, and the Second Coming of Christ.

As a side note, I am not a fan of religion, because religion is man’s attempt to reach God. Faith is based on the teachings, promises and truths of God’s Word, often spoken to us via Christ our Lord or the Holy Spirit. Keep in mind that throughout all biblical writings, there are ample verses about God’s promises and prophecies, especially in the books of Daniel and Revelation, that have already been fulfilled or are being fulfilled as this book is being written. There are still several major events, prophecies, and destinies to be completed before Redemption. In particular, these two books will be the primary focus of this study and will help you, the reader, to better understand two of the most prophetic books in all of history, including the Old and New Testaments.

My prayer is that from this study, your eyes will be opened to what Scripture has to say regarding the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My passion has been to present the Scriptures in an accurate and easy-to-understand way so you can see, comprehend and accept what God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is trying to communicate to you with compassion and loving-kindness. Your part is to do as the Bereans did in Acts 17:11 and search out the Scriptures diligently to discern what the Holy Spirit is telling and calling you to do.

May the peace and guidance of the Holy Spirit be with you and your studies of the Scriptures.

In the name above all names—Jesus Christ—I welcome you to this open door toward understanding your future.

History and the Bible

Chapter 1:

History and the Bible

Recently we entered a new millennium; it is obvious that mankind in his emptiness is reaching out and searching for the truth. Through the New Age movement, humans have turned to meditation, Eastern philosophy, and other ways to become self-reliant. Since mankind is searching for the truth, I felt it appropriate to start this series by sharing some of God’s prophecies and their fulfillment as recorded in history. I encourage you to go to the library and read up on the early leaders in world history, as well as the nation of Israel. You will learn some very fascinating facts and you may have your eyes and heart opened; then you will look up and recognize that your redemption is near.

History shows that the first world empire was that of Babylon (586 BC), under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who was then conquered by the Medes and Persians under the command of Cyrus. Next came the Grecian Empire under the command of Alexander the Great. Finally, the last world empire was Rome, headed by Julius Caesar, among others.

Rome, in the first century, conquered the civilized world. Since the Roman Empire, we have not had a world empire, although many leaders have tried (for example, Napoleon and Hitler). Leaders have come and gone and will do so until the end of this life as we know it. But, the leadership of God has and will continue throughout history. He has provided windows to His plans by putting prophecies into His map book—The Holy Bible.

One such incident is recorded in Daniel 2 when King Nebuchadnezzar (King of Babylon) had a dream. The king said to them: ‘I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream’ (Dan. 2:3 NASB). Not knowing what it meant, he called in his magicians, conjurers, sorcerers, and master astrologers to interpret its meaning. They asked the king to tell them the dream and then they would take time to learn and declare the interpretation. But the king said,

The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation (Dan. 2:5b-6 NASB).

In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan. 2:31–35), he saw a large statue with a head of gold, chest, and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet made partly of iron and partly of clay. He saw a rock being carved out, but not by human hands. The rock smashed the statue on its feet, destroying it without leaving a trace, and then the rock that destroyed the statue became an awesome mountain and filled the earth.

None of the wise men were able. So the king sent out a decree to kill all the wise men; this included Daniel (who was a prophet of God) and his friends. But Daniel used discretion and discernment and spoke to the captain of the king’s bodyguards, Arioch, regarding the reason for the decree. He was permitted to go to the king, and he requested time to learn about the dream and the interpretation.

Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king. But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. (Dan. 2:27–28).

God did reveal the dream to Daniel, as the interpretation. The interpretation (Daniel 2:36–45) was that the head of gold represented King Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom, Babylon. The chest and arms represented two kingdoms combining their strength, and we now know that these two kingdoms were the Medes and the Persians. Daniel continued with the interpretation, telling the king that a third kingdom would rule the earth, as represented by the belly and thighs of bronze. This was the Grecian Empire. Finally, a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, would rule and crush all. Clearly, this describes the Roman Empire, whose brute force dominated the world. The Roman Empire would later collapse from within and become the individual countries of Europe. This fulfilled the next prophecy, which Daniel explained as a kingdom that would divide into smaller and weaker nations as iron and clay. He then added:

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever (Dan. 2:44).

So as can be seen now, the Bible’s coming events.

This then leads to another astonishing prophecy found in the book of Isaiah. It describes how Cyrus will conquer Babylon. "This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut (Isa. 45:1 NIV).

This prophecy was written 150 years before the event took place, and it describes how Cyrus would enter the city. History records that at that time, Babylon was a city with walls so high and wide it would be almost impossible to conquer. Yet Cyrus (of the Medes and Persians) did conquer Babylon by backing up the Euphrates River and going under the walls. There he found the gates of the city left open. Then he overtook the city by complete surprise.

When Cyrus came into power, Daniel showed him that his name was written in the scrolls of Isaiah’s writings. Cyrus was so awestruck by this that it influenced his decision to allow the Jews to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem.

Continuing with Bible prophecies, Psalm 22 contains a prophecy that predicts the crucifixion of Christ thousands of years before the crucifixion was even thought of. They pierced my hands and my feet (Psalm 22:16).

Another prophecy is found in the book of Matthew as Jesus was leaving the temple: And Jesus said unto them, See ye, not all these things? Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down (Matt. 24:2).

History records that when Titus took the city of Jerusalem in 70 AD, a soldier set fire to the temple, and all the gold melted into the cracks of the rocks. The soldiers then disassembled the temple stone by stone, gathering up all the gold—fulfilling yet another prophecy.

Before I was a believer in Christ, I was quite skeptical about the Bible and passages like these. My question was, how do I know that the Bible was not written after the fact? I mean, it would not seem like a difficult task to predict something that has already happened. As this question kept entering my mind, I felt a need to do some research into history. My research led me to the amazing Dead Sea Scrolls, which were discovered in 1947. These consist of nearly 500 scrolls and fragments, including the complete book of Isaiah.

Archaeologists have been able to date these scrolls to over 2,500 years ago.

This led to my researching the history of the nation of Israel, both ancient and modern day. I found that in the 1800s all the land in the region was neglected by the Arabs and Turks. They cut down all the trees, creating a marshland. In the 1930s, during the Zionist movement, the Jews gradually purchased back the land and started planting trees. Today, Israel is the fourth largest producer of fruit in the world. Israel fruit for all of Europe during the winter. In Ezekiel 36, the Lord states:

‘They will say, This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited. Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it’ (Ezek. 36:35–36 NIV).

Could this passage be a coincidence? Or was God telling His people He had decreed it and, yes, it would happen? Did you know that Israel is the only country in the world that has lost its land yet never lost its citizenship? The Jews were dispersed around the world; and yet on May 14, 1948, Israel became a nation, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Ezekiel 37:21: This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their land (NIV). Again I would ask the question: Is this a coincidence? Or did the Lord forewarn His people of events that would take place?

In 1967, during the Six-Day War, Israel again defended its land; and yet again, God’s Word was fulfilled: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse (Gen. 12:3 NIV). In October of 1973, during Yom Kippur, Syria and Egypt attacked Israel from opposite ends. Since Yom Kippur is the Jews’ holiest day of the year, the Israelis were not militarily prepared for battle. The Syrians attacked a twenty-mile area with nearly 1,200 tanks, while Egypt had 3,000 tanks and heavy artillery. With minimal support, the Israeli army managed to again overthrow their attackers. Incidentally, Jerusalem has had more wars fought at its gates than any other city in the world.

We are living in very exciting times, and we are seeing the fulfillment of the Lord’s words come to pass. In the early 1900s, a British scholar condemned the Bible as a hoax because of a verse stating that every people, tribe, language, and nation will witness an event that takes place (Rev. 11:9). This was impossible before TV was invented. Yes, biblical prophecy is unfolding in front of our eyes daily thanks to this invention and that of the computer and the Internet. Recently on a return flight from Europe, a young student from Switzerland was sitting next to me. He saw me reading my Bible and told me that his grandmother had been saying for years that Christ is coming back, which to him seemed like a myth. I quickly pointed out Luke 21, which says that knowledge will be increased in the end times and when we see and hear of these events taking place we are to look up because our redemption is drawing near.

The book of Revelation states, What must soon take place (Rev. 1:1 NIV). In the original Greek language, the word soon means rapidly (similar to a domino effect). This indicates that once it is ready to happen, it will happen quickly. Then I showed him Revelation 13:17, which talks about a cashless society: No one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name (NIV). If you had considered the idea of a cashless society twenty-five years ago, you would have said, No way…not possible!

However, today, with ATMs, point of sale, electronic banking, etc., one can no longer say there is no way it will not come to pass. Think about it: we are almost totally a cashless society at the time of this writing. The concept of a cashless society might seem