End Times 101

Norman E. Nabatar
Davao City, Philippines, 2016
 Table of Contents

1. Why 666?......................................
2. The end of age in Matthew 24
3. So, when is the end of age (time)?
4. When did the Millennium begin..
 Introduction
The turn of world events begs to ask the
question where we are headed. The Middle East
conflict is now worse than when the cold war was
still on. The newly independent former Soviet
republics now wants to join the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) or the European
Union (EU), or both. However, Europe is now
faced with a new threat from Arab immigrants and
refugees fleeing the fighting in Syria and Iraq
which has also drawn Turkey, Lebanon, Iran, Saudi
Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait keeping us wondering
whether the “day of the Lord” is again upon us in
the scale of the desolation of the nations when
Jerusalem fell. When President George Bush, Sr.
had asked President Jacques Chirac for support in
the first Persian Gulf War of 1991, his vision of Gog
and Magog had prompted the latter to consult the
foremost theological professor of the University of
France in Lausanne. Without a definitive timeline
and a total perspective of end time prophecy, a
scanty understanding of Gog and Magog based
only on Ezekiel’s prophecy can be misleading.
Frequently asked questions:
1. Why 666?
Let us begin with the pertinent scripture
reference – Revelation 13:16-17:

{13:16}And he causeth all, both small

and great, rich and poor, free and bond,
to receive a mark in their right hand, or
in their foreheads: {13:17} And that no
man might buy or sell, save he that had
the mark, or the name of the beast, or
the number of his name.

Six is next to the sacred seven, which it mimics

but falls short of. Revelation 13:18 tells us that 666
is the mark of the beast. 6 is man’s number,
opposed to 7 which is the number of divinity. 1. 6 is
man’s number which signifies man’s limitations
and falling short of the glory of G-d. 2 But Christ is
not mere man but the Son of G-d.3 Three 6’s are in
opposition to Christ’s three characteristics as
Messiah: king or prince of Israel, high priest in the
temple of Solomon and prophet. The anti-Christ
possesses these three characteristics in opposition
 to Christ’s by falsely assuming these
characteristics of Christ with the intention to
deceive. Thus:

{13:18} Here is wisdom. Let him that

hath understanding count the number of
the beast: for it is the number of a man;
and his number [is] Six hundred
threescore [and] six.

2. When did the Millennium

begin?
The Millennium is best reckoned as beginning at
the end of the 1260 years defined in phrase “time
times and half a time” (Dan 7:25; 12:7; Rev 12:14)
“42 months,” (Rev 11:2; 13:5); “1,260 days” in (Rev
11:3; 12:6); and “three and a half days” (Rev 11:9
and 11:11) and “midst of the week” (Dan 9:27). The
same also began in 70 AD when the daily sacrifice
ceased for the last time. The temple being the
highest place for worshiping G-d, the events
affecting its state is significant. 70 AD begin the
“saints given over” to the Roman empire as the
physical temple in the concept of the Old
Testament, is destroyed. 1330 marked its end with
the separation of church and state in the concept of
the New Testament. This defined, tells us when the
Millennium begins there being no gap in time as
Jesus Christ and His might and power are firmly
established. The Lord is in a hurry for those who
were slain for the Word of G-d (Rev 6:9-11). In 1330
the 1260 years ended after the rebellion of the
German princes, Franciscan friars, and
philosophers who advocated the separation of the
church and state abrogated the pope’s authority to
confirm the emperor-elect leading to the
Declaration of Rense in 1338, forever instituting
this reform.

And he shall confirm the covenant with

many for one week: and in the midst of
the week he shall cause the sacrifice and
the oblation to cease, and for the
overspreading of abominations he shall
make [it] desolate, even until the
consummation, and that determined
shall be poured upon the desolate. (Dan
9:27)
3. The end of age in Matthew
24.
{2}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. {3} And as he sat upon
the mount of Olives, the disciples came
unto him privately, saying, Tell us,
when shall these things be? and what
[shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of
the end of the world?

Matthew 24 may confound some theologians

because Christ said,

{34}Verily I say unto you,

This generation shall not pass,
till all these things be fulfilled.

after he enumerated all the things that will be the

sign of his coming and the end of age. The
generation of Jesus' disciples had passed away, but
the end of age had not come. But all the things that
he enumerated did happen - in 70 AD, at the fall of
Jerusalem, exactly as he foretold! It was not the
end of age, however. Not yet. But the signs of his
coming and of the coming end of age were referred
to by Jesus as akin to the events that accompanied
the fall – meaning that the end of age will come as
in the fall of Jerusalem. Then Jesus continues, with
a parable of a fig tree, also found in Matthew 24,
saying:

{32}Now learn a parable of the fig tree;

When his branch is yet tender, and
putteth forth leaves, ye know that
summer is nigh:

There are several reasons why the fall of

Jerusalem, particu-
larly, the destruc-
tion of the temple
of Solomon, the
highest place for
worshiping the
Lord, is the focal
point of end time
prophecy. Foremost among them is the battle to
take over the temple as it stood for everything that
is of G-d. He who sits as high priest of the temple,
is the representative of G-d and if he is also prince
or king of Israel, as well as able to prophecy, then
he is the Messiah.
 Contrary to the common belief of the meaning
of the scriptures in Matthew 24:36, 42; Luke 12:39;
and 2 Peter 3:10 that the Lord will come like a thief
in the night so we can throw concern away, it
cautions us to stay awake as only those who are
asleep will not know when the thief comes (1 Thes
5:4), that it may not surprise us (Rev 3:3) and to be
clothed as not to be shamefully exposed in our
ignorance of the Lord, our Master’s coming (Rev
16:15). For the Lord told Noah when it was time
(Gen 7:1), but of two men in the field, two in bed
and two women grinding, one of each was taken
up, the others left (Matt 24:40-41; Luke 17:34-36).
Furthermore, the parable of the fig tree spoken of
by Jesus when asked about the end of age implies
that clear recurring signs like the seasons will show
the time of its coming (Matt 24:32; Mark 13:28-29;
Luke 21:29-31).

Jesus said, in Matthew 24:36 (cf: Mark 13:32):

{36}“No one knows about that

day or hour, not even the angels
in heaven, nor the Son, but only
the Father.”
 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord
(Gen 6:8) who was a righteous and blameless man,
and he walked with G-d (Gen 6:9). So, Noah knew
the day or hour because the Lord instructed him
and told him when it was time to go. Thus, in
Genesis 7:1:

The Lord then said to Noah,

"Go into the ark, you and your
whole family, because I have
found you righteous in this
generation.

In New Testament times, we find in the Book of

John, the Holy Spirit, also called Advocate, or
Counselor. When Jesus was taken up, he left the
Holy Spirit to help guide the apostles and other
disciples to the truth and will tell them what is yet
to come (John 16:13). The Spirit will make known
what it has received from Jesus which comes from
the Father (John 16:14-15). So we know what the
Father knows through the Holy Spirit because we
believe in Jesus.
3. So, when is the end of age
(time)?
There is compelling reason to believe that the
vision the prophet Ezekiel saw of the temple of
Solomon (Eze 43:4) after its reconsecration or
rededication was the temple that the prophet
Daniel spoke of as being reconsecrated after “2300
evenings and mornings” from the time that the daily
sacrifice ceased and the
abomination that cau-
ses desolation is set up
in the temple (Dan
8:14). Since 70 AD, the
temple had not been
used for daily sacrifices.

There were two destructions of the temple

which ceased the daily sacrifice. First in 587 BC by
the neo-Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar which would
not be rebuilt and its reconstruction finished until
the time of the Persians in 516 BC and rededicated
a year later.4 The second and last time was in 70 AD
by the Romans. Since then, all attempts at
rebuilding the temple failed.
 For it to be reconsecrated from this date, it has
to be rebuilt which means that it will be
reconstructed and within that year of its
completion, reconsecrated or rededicated.

In Numbers 14:34, we find that a day is like a

year, such that:

For forty years-one year for each of the

forty days you explored the land-you
will suffer for your sins and know what
it is like to have me against you.

The same day=year format is followed in

Ezekiel 4:4-6:

{4} Lie thou also upon thy left side, and

lay the iniquity of the house of Israel
upon it: [according] to the number of
the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou
shalt bear their iniquity. {5} For I have
laid upon thee the years of their iniquity,
according to the number of the days,
three hundred and ninety days: so shalt
thou bear the iniquity of the house of
Israel. {6} And when thou hast
accomplished them, lie again on thy
right side, and thou shalt bear the
 iniquity of the house of Judah forty
days: I have appointed thee each day for
a year (Ezek 4:4-6).

2300 mornings and evenings or 2300 days means

2300 years from 70 AD, the year of its last
destruction. It will closely follow the events during
the Persian's rebuilding and reconsecration. This
would simply follow this pattern as Jesus said, it is
like the season, so know when the fig tree is in
bloom. After its rebuilding, it will be reconsecrated.
This will be 2370. Perhaps, by now you understand
why the Bible, a small book, can tell of times well
into the future. You also may have observed the
redundancy by which events are told over and over
again with little more than a phrase to differentiate
one from another, for example, “the day of the
Lord.”

In the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, which is

significant because it provides for new architectural
dimensions to the temple, as well as new
boundaries for the land that will become the
inheritance of Israel, the prophet saw the glory of
G-d return to the temple. Theologians believe that
the vision refers to the third temple rebuilt,
reconsecrated and the shekinah settling. This is
Jesus Christ, the glory of G-d, in His second coming
and the end of age.
1
Fausset's, s.v. “Anti-Christ,” studylight.org.
2
Ibid.
3
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God,”
4
(Albright's chronology)