IN MEMORY OF CHUCK MISSLER

IN MEMORY OF CHUCK MISSLER

                I was saddened today to see that Chuck Missler (one of my prophetic heroes) had passed away. He was basically one of the cornerstones of the modern prophetic movement. He brought prophecy into the mainstream, or at least into the mainstream of those who care about such things. As an engineer and a pioneer in computerized systems he brought a scientific acuity and precision to prophecy that brought great respect to the field and I would dare to say that probably most prophecy teachers today first cut their teeth on his teachings.

                I will miss his presence in the prophetic landscape for he was one of those who brought Israel out of the dusty pages of history and into the limelight of God’s purposes in last day events.

                I have often said that if you can’t understand Israel, you can’t understand bible prophecy, for Israel is quite literally the physical template representing all that is going on spiritually in the world.

                The apostle Paul hit the nail on the head when he said in 1 Cor. 10:6-11:

                “Now these things happened as examples for us that we should not crave evil things as they also craved. And do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and stood up to play.” Nor let us act immorally as some of them did and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer. NOW THESE THINGS HAPPENED TO THEM AS AN EXAMPLE AND THEY WERE WRITTEN FOR OUR INSTRUCTION UPON WHOM THE ENDS OF THE AGES HAVE COME.”

                One might almost conclude that Israel led us by showing us what NOT to do and that is true to a certain extent. And yet within the framework of their teachings God laid all of the foundations of the Christian faith. In fact I dare to say that the name of Jesus would have long ago sunk into the dusty pages of history if it was not for the Old Testament. (See Luke 24:27) It was in Israel’s types and shadows that God laid out through Moses that Jesus is proved beyond doubt to be the promised Messiah. He is written into every item of the Sanctuary. He is the God who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth. He is the very Word made flesh who dwelt among us even as the sanctuary was first made so that God could dwell among His people.

                Asaph said in Psalms 77:13, “Thy way Oh Lord is in the sanctuary…” and it is true. Even the word “template” is related to the word “temple” and the sanctuary of Moses set forth the patterns of salvation, and atonement, and justification and sanctification and glorification and the future indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It prefigured the death and resurrection of Christ, the washing and regeneration by the Word, the light of the Holy Spirit shed upon the word of God and our prayers mixed with the incense of the Holy Spirit that ascend before God.

                The bread and the wine with which we celebrate the Passover today, Jesus Christ distilled from the sanctuary service, as well as from Passover, for they represented His blood and body sacrificed for the sins of the world. And by these same means He is still delivering us out of Egypt. The Most Holy Place was a picture of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the Law of God written on our hearts once the veil had been removed in Christ. In short every Christian truth we believe in today first found its beginnings in the sanctuary.

                Today Israel has become a very popular subject in large portions of Christianity and we have much to learn from them. But we also need to remember that Israel taught us what not to do as well as what to do. If we forget that lesson in our time we will be in grave danger.

                Today many Christians and Messianic Christians as well treat Israel as if they can do no wrong. After all, they are God’s chosen people; should we not follow them? Should we not respect them? Should we not revel in God’s future for them? Well, yes. God has a great future planned for Israel, but we must not forget that they have some mud to go through first and yet in what they are about to do, we should be most wary.

                Even as we speak, Israel is in the process of selling out to the global agenda. We are told in Daniel 11:39 that many shall divide God’s land for gain, (as in the land for peace deal.) Concerning the antichrist and his coming takeover of Israel, Daniel says: And he will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and he will cause them to rule over the many and will parcel out land for a price.” Daniel 11:39 And in case we don’t know when this will happen, Daniel 11 opens right up into Daniel 12 when Michael stands up and there will be a time of trouble such as has never been since there was a nation.

                In all of these negotiations going on in the land of Israel we are watching Israel fall into a trap, for according to Scripture, Israel will first receive the antichrist as their Messiah. This is why we see them embracing the global agenda today and indeed becoming the center of it.

                It has always been Satan’s drive and desire to rule and reign in the place of Christ and that is exactly what he is doing right now. So because they have rejected Yeshua to this very day, they will embrace the antichrist as their only hope, but it won’t turn out well.

                Jesus warned the disciples in Mt, 24:15 concerning the last days before His return saying:

                “Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand) then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains and let him who is on the housetop not go down to get things out that are in the house; let him who is in the field not turn back to his cloak. But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days! But pray that your flight may not be in the winter or on a Sabbath; for then there will be a great tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall and unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” Mt. 24:15-22

                In this passage Jesus makes reference to Daniel 12:1 and the great tribulation that occurs at the end of time.  And then Jesus said in verse 9: Go your way Daniel for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. Many will be purged, purified and refined; but the wicked will act wickedly and none of the wicked will understand. And from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1290 days.

                I personally believe that with the return of Israel in 1948 and the rise of prophetic voices like Chuck Missler and many others, the unsealing of Daniel has begun to take place. It seems to center around the Abomination of Desolation and a temple which must be rebuilt in order for these prophecies to take place.

                We can rejoice to see these things finally taking place in our day, but we must also be wise, for these events are also intertwined with the greatest deceptions of all time. Satan will pose as Christ and what better place to do it than in the very city and the very temple that Christ promises to return to?

                In these things then, Satan is going to preempt the coming of Christ and those who have not been studying bible Prophecy will fall for it and they will receive the Mark of the Beast and they will wonder after the Beast because their names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life. Rev. 13:8.

                Some people will argue today that since Christ dwells in our hearts and that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, we don’t need a physical temple in Israel and they are right. But they are also wrong, for they have forgotten that Israel is and always has been the physical pattern showing what is going on in the spiritual realm.

                On the spiritual level we see happening spiritually in the church the exact same thing that is happening physically and politically in Israel. For just as Israel is preparing to embrace the antichrist, many Christians are abandoning the foundations of our faith and embracing another Christ, another Holy Spirit… another gospel  and because of it we are seeing a great falling away, a great apostasy taking place that will make way of the arrival of the antichrist. The church then is a mirror of Israel.

                We need to pray for Israel and for Jerusalem. We need to introduce them to Yeshua, their true Messiah. Yeshua is indeed their only hope… and indeed they will embrace Him, but only after they have gone through a horrible time of trouble. But when they witness the abomination of desolation taking place in their temple and they have to flee, they will begin to cry out for the true Messiah and when He comes to deliver them Zechariah says:

                “And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on ME WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a first-born.

                It is then, at their most impossible hour, being surrounded by the armies of the world at the battle of Armageddon, that the Lord will rescue them and like Joseph’s brothers recognized Joseph, so Israel will recognize their true Messiah and Jesus will ride into the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem and begin to rule the nations with a rod of Iron for 1000 years and His saints will rule and reign with him. (See Revelation chapters 19 and 20)

                These basic scenarios represent a breakthrough in our understanding of Bible prophecy which could never have been understood prior to the time when Israel miraculously returned to their own land. I believe that this is why the church largely resorted to the allegorical method of prophetic interpretation. There were too many scriptures that seemed to involve Israel and yet Israel no longer existed and the possibility of their existing as a nation once again, in their own land, with their own language, with their religion restored and a new temple built… well, the odds against it were astronomical. So the biblical scholars resorted to allegorical interpretation and replacement theology, thus transferring all promises and prophecies to the church.

                As we understand it today, partially thanks to Chuck Missler, the Gentile church did not receive the blessings, promises and prophecies by replacing Israel, but by being grafted into Israel. In other words, we become Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise by receiving Israel’s Messiah as our Savior, Lord and King. So it is only in this “grafting in that we receive the promises given to Israel. And according to Romans 11, a partial blindness has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and then God will begin to deal with Israel again.

                Now friends, as we see the issues in our world, the nations closing in on Israel, the Pope of Rome paving the way for the seat of the Antichrist in Jerusalem, the threats of division and plans for the third temple to be built, then we have to realize that these last day events are right on our doorstep.

                Bonnie and I as Messianic Jews love Israel and believe in her future. We support her by sending clothing and such to the Jewish refugees that flood into the land from places where they are providentially being driven out. IN some places all of their belongings are taken from them as they cross their borders and they arrive in Israel (if they survive) with nothing but the tattered clothes on their backs.

                We believe in Israel’s future, but we choose to see it from God’s point of view and not the world’s point of view. There are those who hate Israel and those who love Israel, but Israel is best served by coming to know Yeshuah, their Messiah. The alternative is a false messiah known as the antichrist who will drag them through the worst time of trouble that the world has ever seen

                Chuck Missler firmly believed in a pre-tribulation rapture, knowing rightly from Romans 11 that God purposes to deal with Israel and the church separately. The tribulation, being called the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble indicates a time exclusively for the Jews. I struggle with that concept because the church is just as imperfect as are the Jews and it seems to me that we all need to be refined and purified.

                Whatever the case may be, we are standing in a strong current of end time events and the soon return of Jesus Christ. We definitely need to make use of both the grace and the mercy of Christ in order to prepare as a Bride adorned for her Husband. And on this account Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish virgins is haunting. Those without oil will not be allowed into the wedding feast and so we must do all within our power to make sure that we have that oil lighting our lives. Selah