The Appointed Day - Part 4

“And he [the Antichrist] was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months” (Revelation 13:5).
 
Let’s take a moment to set the stage. As this age comes to an end—the 6th Day of God’s prophetic great Week—the Antichrist is taking center stage and gathering forces to come against Israel, just when the Jews are declaring “peace and safety.” In the natural, things look bleak.
 
And then God turns out the lights. The sun, moon, and stars no longer shine. The whole earth is engulfed in total darkness all at the same time. It is the final sign of this age. It signals a pivotal time in God’s timetable. The Light of the World—Jesus Christ—is about to appear in the sky to the entire world. As the 7th Day dawns, His coming splits Mt. Zion, making a way of escape for the Jews, as He gathers His Body to Him and takes us to our prepared place in Heaven.
 
We escape to stand. What does this mean? Daniel 7:26 explains: “But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it forever.” Yes, Christ the Head and His Body are the heavenly, immortal government who takes out the Antichrist. Our rulings unleash the trumpet and bowl judgments on the earth (Revelation 8 & 9). Scripture calls this God’s vengeance against evil. Yes, we finally get to participate in bringing down Satan and his evil hierarchy!
 
Scripture also calls this the Wrath of that Day—the 7th Day, the Day of the Lord, the Appointed Day. It’s all part of what we like to call Operation Consume and Destroy. The judgments just so “happen” to echo the plagues Moses brought against Pharaoh.
 
Notice that the Antichrist’s authority on earth is limited to 42 months—the same time period that is the last 31/2 years of Daniel’s 70th Week prophecy, and the first 31/2 years of Christ’s millennial reign.
 
To the natural world, it looks like World War III. From our heavenly view, we know it as treading upon the enemy. It’s the war against the Beast--the War of the World. Revelation 19:15 describes it this way: “Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”
 
How this war ends may surprise you. It’s not exactly the ending that most people have heard. So stay tuned.