Let’s look at the Birth-pains briefly, using some of the terms we have learned. In the first three and a half years, we have the beginning of the Day of the Lord on Rosh Ha Shanah, Tishri 1, 6001 years from creation. We will have a Yom Ha Din, the anointing of the 144,000, the resurrection of the righteous (Natzal) to go to the wedding and coronation of the Messiah. Ten days later, or probably no later than Tishri 8, year 6001, Babylon (USA) will be destroyed by Gog and Magog (Russia) and the False Messiah will take control of Europe.
On Tishri 11, year 6001, the False Messiah makes a military treaty with Israel. Gog and Magog will attack Europe and a conventional war (not nuclear) begins that will last three years. Gog and Magog will be winning. On Tishri 1 (Rosh Ha Shanah), year 6004, Gog and Magog will attack Israel. Russia was behind the attack of Israel on Yom Kippur in 1973, but the army was at home and the synagogues and were easy to recall. If they attacked on Rosh Ha Shanah it would have been harder to call up the reserves and they know that now. They won’t make that mistake again.
But in the Birth-pains the Israeli army will be defeated and the False Messiah will be unable to come to the aid of Israel. On Tishri 10 (Yom Kippur), Yehovah defeats the armies of Gog and Magog (Russia), and Israel turns to Yehovah and believes in Yeshua as the sent Messiah as one nation. Once the Russian army has been defeated the False Messiah will attack the land of Gog and Magog after their armies are defeated in Israel.
Nisan 10 will be the exact halfway point of the Birth-pains leading to the second half of the Birth-pains. The Abomination of Desolation has already been set up in the Temple, and all the services are stopped and the False Messiah comes to Jerusalem. The Two Witnesses are killed. From Nisan 10 to Tishri 10 is 1260 days, 42 months or a time, times and half a time. This equates to three and a half years. This second 1260 days will be the latter half of the Birth-pains.
On Nisan 10, the False Messiah declares himself to be God and Israel will flees into the wilderness. They have been prepared for this by the teaching of the Two Witnesses and the 144,000, so they saw it coming. They will be protected by God, believe in Yeshua and are Torah observant. The Two Witnesses were killed on Nisan 10 and their bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days. This brings us to Nisan 14 (Passover) and they will be resurrected from the dead and the world will see it.
In Year 6007 there will be a battle at Megiddo as the False Messiah confronts the Kings of the East, but this will not be the last battle. On Rosh Ha Shannah, year 6008, Yeshua returns to Mount Sinai with all the resurrected believers. He follows the route Moses took to the Promised Land. There is a battle in Jerusalem as Yeshua returns on Yom Kippur, a Yom Ha Din, Tishri 10, year 6008, and the Great Shofar is blown. The False Messiah and the False Prophet are captured and thrown into the Lake of Fire, and the judgment found in Matt 25 begins.
So, with that said, let’s pick up some additional information. The False Messiah will come to power in Europe as we have said. This will happen immediately after the destruction of Babylon (USA). He comes to power as a result of a meeting that only lasts about one hour, and this meeting is apparently a result of the fear and panic that comes from the destruction of Babylon (USA). Eleven men are in that meeting at least, and ten of the men have been given total power and authority to represent their home countries for the one hour meeting. These men will give their power and authority to the eleventh man, who says he has a plan to save them, but they need to give him power to do it. They do not have time to go back to their respective legislatures to ask for permission to do this. They need to act now because time is of the essence. The eleventh man in this meeting is the False Messiah and he will be revealed. He makes a military treaty with Israel within days (Tishri 11) of taking over Europe. He is also revealed by this military treaty.
We are going to go into 2 Thes 2.1-12 with a lot of detail and we need to know when the False Messiah will be revealed, and we have already touched on that by saying that he will be revealed when he becomes the ruler in Europe and when he makes a military treaty with Israel.
In this passage, it is clear that Paul saw this “man of lawlessness (meaning not Torah observant, Torah-less) as the opponent of Yeshua the Messiah. The False Messiah is counterfeit to Yeshua, not just opposed to him. So we are going to dissect 2 Thes 2.1-2 piece by piece which will give us more insight into our main subject of the Natzal (Rapture/Gathering).
There was a doctrine associated with Rosh Ha Shanah called “The Gathering” and we will see this term in 2 Thes 2.1, and it is what Paul is talking about here (Isa 13.2, 18.3; Psa 27.10). In the Jewish Encyclopedia called “Antichrist” it says that the passage in 2 Thes 2.1-12 can be explained “by the aid of rabbinical eschatology.” Sanhedrin 98a of the Talmud teaches that the Messiah will not appear unless mankind is either entirely righteous or entirely wicked. They say that this concept explains “what restrains” of1 Thes 2.6 and the “who now restrains” of 2.7. This may have some bearing on those verses but there will be more to it as it applies to when the False Messiah appears, but both of the above statements are true to some extent.
The False Messiah cannot rise to power as long as the righteous Kahal (assembly) is on the earth, and we do not mean “the church.” On the contrary, the “church” will contribute to the success of the False Messiah. The Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) restrains Ha Satan (the Satan) from establishing the False Messiah before his time in God’s eschatological plans. In other words, the False Messiah cannot come to the front because the Ruach restrains him until God is ready. When the righteous are removed, the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) will no longer restrain him from coming to power. So, for a short time, without the righteous in the world, the world is entirely wicked.
At the start of the Birth-pains, the False Messiah must come to power. He will reign for seven biblical years (2520 days). We have established that in Dan 9.24-27 he will be over Europe for three and a half years, then he will try to rule the world for three and a half years. But, he has been given only seven years.
When Yeshua returns at the end of the seven years to Jerusalem, all the unrighteous (wicked) are gathered together and destroyed. This leaves the world for a short time entirely righteous (Luke 17,34-37; Joel 3.12-14; Matt 13.30). The removal of the wicked is called the “Feast of Leviathan” (Matt 24.28; Rev 19.20-21; Ezek 29.1-7, 32.1-8) and the wicked are killed at a place called “Tophet” in the Valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem (Jer 7.22-34, 19.1-15). In Hebrew this valley is called “Gey Hinnom” and it is where we get the word “Gehenna.”
So, with that in mind, in Part 30 we will pick up here and get into 2 Thes 2.1-12 and dissect these verses to see if we can find out when the False Messiah appears. We are going to be able to see that with the foundational background that we have learned from this study so far, we will be able to interpret passages like this with much more understanding.
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