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Before The Last Battle, by Arthur E. Bloomfield; Old but thought-provoking on end times
Topic Started: Apr 22 2008, 05:48 PM (1,280 Views)
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Before The Last Battle, by Arthur E. Bloomfield. Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, Inc., 1971. Paperback.
Foreword by Harold J. Brokke This deep knowledge of the Bible has caused him some trouble with teachers who are mere echoes and not true voices of Bible prophecy. He has a rule that “if scripture has not been completely fulfilled in the past, it must yet be fulfilled in the future.” He does not believe that the prophets used what some call “poetic license” and were experts in hyperbole.
7 Preface Either God has written the greater part of the Bible in vain or the Prophetic Word will come into its own on a grand scale.
8 After one of Daniel’s visions, he said the thing was true, but the appointed time was long. As we approach the end, we see more clearly. If the commentators of 100 years ago had known about the marvelous return of the Jews and their success in restoring the promised land, they would not have applied the prophecies concerning Israel to the church. When the Jews were settled and prosperous in their own chosen lands all over the earth and Palestine was a part of the Turkish Empire, unproductive, incapable of supporting a large number of people and very hostile, no commentator would dare talk about a prosperous and powerful Jewish nation.
Arthur E. Bloomfield
Eustis, Florida
15 Almost all the confusion in the religious world today is due to the fact that the churches have been looking at the Bible as history, and so, looking in the wrong direction, they have no view of the goal. There is a “time of the end” thoroughly developed in the Bible. The viewpoint of the Bible is always forward.
17 Adam to Flood 1600 years. Flood to Babel 100 years. Babel to Abraham’s call 300 years. Abraham’s call to Exodus from Egypt 430 years. Exodus from Egypt to Temple dedication 500 years. Temple dedication to return from 70-year exile 500 years. Return from 70-year exile to birth of Christ 500 years. This dispensation has been running now for over 1900 years, so we are actually living on borrowed time. That which is begun in Genesis, the book of beginnings, is finished in the Bible, usually in Revelation, the book of consummations.
19 There are three main lines of prophecy in the Bible: The Nations-Daniel The Jews-Ezekiel The Church (and the kingdom)-Revelation It might be asked, “Why didn’t God tell the whole story in one place?” The reason would be evident if you tried to do it. Minute details concerning side issues cannot be put into the main narrative without destroying its continuity. The Old Testament prophetical books may be grouped into two general classes: (1) those that deal with both their own times and the future, and (2) those that deal only with the future. This groups the prophets as follows:
20 BOTH CURRENT AND FUTURE Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Amos Micah Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah ALL FUTURE Joel Obadiah Nahum Habukkuk Malachi (Zephaniah has only a little concerning his own time. Zechariah mentions the time but not the place: his prophecy is nearly all future.)
21 Some people think God is doing the best He can to make the world better. That is not it. Some people think God is going to let the world become totally evil and then burn it up. That is not it.
23 Gen. 9:9-12 It would be unworthy of God to make so solemn a covenant with a mental reservation that, although He would not destroy the earth with a flood, He would destroy it with something worse-fire. Rev. 4:3
24 The fire does not strike all the earth at once. People live through it. Again, we have been told that after Christ and the saints (working for 1000 years) have perfected the world and its inhabitants, God will burn up the whole thing and create something new to put in its place. Mark 13:19. If Christ reigns until He has destroyed death, then how can He burn up the earth? God says He will make all things new, not all new things.
26 It was for the joy that was set before Him that Christ endured the cross and the shame. Heb. 11:13.
32 The church is not the kingdom, but it is a part of the kingdom. Matthew is the book of the kingdom, yet Matthew is also the book that records the beginning of the church. So, Jesus could say, “The kingdom of heaven is like unto,” and then speak in parables that could apply only to the church.
33 The Millennium is not the length of the kingdom; it is the length of time necessary to perfect the kingdom on the earth. The goal of the church is not a reformed world or a better world in which to live in sin. The goal of the church is a people qualified to rule, a people qualified to be the Bride of Christ. Matt. 11:11, 13, 14. The church began at Pentecost; the kingdom began with John the Baptist.
34 Jesus did not mean that John the Baptist would not be in the kingdom; but, rather, that the least person in the kingdom would be greater than the greatest man that ever lived on this earth.
36 It is easy enough to say, “The Rapture is the next event. Therefore there are no signs of the Rapture; all prophecies of things to come before the Rapture have been fulfilled.” But that leaves whole sections of the prophetic Word that could never be fulfilled. It makes a shambles of prophecy.
37 In fact, all denominations could defect to Antichrist; and probably most of them will, but new societies will start and the church will go right on, stronger than ever, “conquering and to conquer.” Matt. 24:32-34. Luke 21:27-28. The beginning of these signs is not the Rapture, as so many have supposed, but conditions preceding the Rapture.
38 The tendency among churches that cannot change will be toward the Roman Church, which does not materially change. God’s church of the last days will be more truly a Bible Church than we have ever had. It will be born of prophecy and will have the forward look with the exclusion of all extra scriptural doctrines. The church of the last days will be a world-wide church on a scale that we have never known. When Communism is put down the whole world will be open to the gospel. Churches will not go into new fields and with their man-made doctrines compete with each other. This time it will be genuine Bible teaching with the grand climax always in view. The whole world will have to be made acquainted with the terms of the gospel or this tribulational preaching would have no meaning. Everywhere Communism goes, false gods and heathen religions disappear.
39 The subject of the kingdom is so involved in controversy that it is difficult even to attempt an orderly analysis. The difficulties are further increased by an attempt, made by some, to show a difference the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. Others try to show a difference between the gospel, and the gospel of the kingdom. There is only one kingdom and there is only one gospel. There is only one commission to preach the gospel; that commission was given to the church. As we study the subject throughout the Gospels, we find that the kingdom is the reign of Christ in person on this earth. It will begin with the return of Christ and last forever. The kingdom is the climax of all prophecies concerning the Jews, the nations, and the church.
40 They are the kingdom which comes down from heaven and is established over the nations of the earth (Dan. 7:27). The kingdom is now being formed in heaven. Every soul saved on earth adds one to the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom is not now growing on earth. The gospel we preach is the gospel of the kingdom. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” It is the kingdom of heaven because it comes down from heaven.
43 THE DISPENSATION OF GRACE began with the church and it will end with the church. The Rapture does not end the day of grace, for there will be people saved after the Rapture. PHILADELPHIA and LAODICEA are the two significant churches of the last days of the age. The church, as an organization, will go through the tribulation, but not those individuals who were saved before the resurrection day came. THE LITTLE HORN of Dan. 7:8 and Dan. 8:9 will rise before the Rapture.
45 A NEW WORLD EMPIRE will be set up, at least partially, by the little horn prior to the coming of Satan. The new world empire will not cover the whole world to take in every nation. Its extent is indicated by Rev. 13:2. The lion, bear, leopard and beast are Daniel’s symbols of the four empires from Babylon to Rome (Dan. 7:1-8, 17, 23, 24). This seems to indicate the territory to be included in the new empire. It may, however, include more. Ezekiel, after outlining this same general area, adds, “and many people with thee” (Ezek. 38:9). THE RETURN OF THE JEWS starts before the Rapture. Ezek. 36:1-8. The mass return will be miraculous (Isa. 11:11-16). Three very definite things herald the return of the Jews: (1) The prosperity of the land (Ezek. 36:8). (2) The expulsion of many Jews to Egypt (Deut. 28:68; Hosea 8:13). Great persecution will precede their deliverance (Ezek. 38:8; Ezek. 37:1, 2). (3) The appearance of the “ensign” (Isa. 11:12; Isa. 18:3). The return of the Jews will not be by the consent of Antichrist, but in spite of him (Isa. 11:14-16).
46 THREE AND ONE-HALF YEARS is not the length of the reign of Antichrist, but the time he persecutes the saints who are saved after the Rapture. It has nothing to do with Daniel’s Seventieth Week. THE 144,000 ISRAELITES SEALED. They are saved after the Rapture, the same as the Tribulation Saints. But due to the fact that they are in Palestine, over which Antichrist has no power at the time, they are not subject to the persecution suffered by the Gentile converts. THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES. The trumpets and vials are the same. The trumpets are from the standpoint of heaven and the vials from the standpoint of earth. THE TWO WITNESSES operate between the sixth and seventh plagues. The time of their testimony is 3 ½ years. There is no record of anyone being saved during the seven last plagues. The Dispensation of Grace has come to an end.
47 The two witnesses (Rev. 11) are sent from heaven. We are not told who they are. Their works suggest Moses and Elijah. Compare Mal. 4:5, 6.
63 Before Hitler there were about twenty million Jews in the world. That number is being restored.
66 “Drive the Jews into the sea.” Eventually, the Arabs will drive the Jews out, but that will be the second crisis. Ezekiel 35 deals with what is happening now and what will happen from now till the second crisis is resolved.
69 The first crisis started with one man, Hitler. The second crisis will be the work of one man, Antichrist.
71 Israel should possess all the land from the Mediterranean Sea to the River Jordan, and from the Red Sea to Lebanon, and some parts of Jordan and Syria.
78 They will again cross the Red Sea on dry ground.
83 Armageddon comes from a Hebrew word meaning “hill of Megiddo.” It is a low plateau in the northwestern part of present-day Palestine, the battleground of ancient times. But there is no mention of any battle being fought there in the last days. Armageddon is the gathering place. The battle is fought at Jerusalem (Zech. 14). Joel 2 also describes the battle, as does Rev. 19:11-21. Nobody would ever read Russia into Ezekiel 38 if he did not have Russia in mind and was trying to make it fit into the prophecy.
85 Rosh is the Hebrew word for first or chief. It is not the name of any place or country (or people). Nathan J. Stone, in Moody Monthly (about 1948), wrote: “Whatever justification there may be for referring the names mentioned in Ezekiel 38 to Russia and cities in that land, such interpretation of the Hebrew words is purely arbitrary. It is not based on the root meaning of these words. This is particularly true of the word Rosh interpreted as Russia…. This is based on Hebrew vowels invented a thousand years after the Old Testament was written. The word rosh never means anything but first or chief.” The Pulpit Commentary gives both translations and says either one is possible, but rosh occurs 456 times in the Old Testament and nowhere is it translated as a proper noun. Russia comes from a Finnish word meaning rowers (of a boat).
88 In fact, it would be quite difficult to make the Jews put Russia in place of rosh when one of their most sacred holidays was Rosh Hashana, the first day of the new year. GOG AND MAGOG. This term applies to a super-enemy of God. It is used the same way in Rev. 20:8.
89 When Satan operates in person on the earth, he is known as Gog and Magog. The dragon is Gog in Ezekiel and the beast is Magog. The land of Magog, Antichrist’s empire, is divided into three parts: 1. Meshech and Tubal 2. Persia, Ethiopia, Libya 3. Gomer, Togarmah and their bands Three of those countries were in existence in Ezekiel’s day
90 and would remain to the end. These Ezekiel could call by name-Persia, Ethiopia, Libya. The others, Ezekiel called by the names of their founders. Ezekiel identifies these lands by the names of the grandsons of Noah. Gen. 10:1-3. MESHECH AND TUBAL. These men settled somewhere in the neighborhood of the Caucasus Mountains between the Black and Caspian Seas. This now belongs to Russia, but in the past it was independent and probably will be again under Antichrist. Persia is now called Iran. Ethiopia is the oldest continuing country. Libya is North Africa. Gomer settled in Turkey. His descendants peopled most of Europe, especially the northern parts. Togarmah was the son of Gomer and would therefore have the same line of descent.
91 AND MANY PEOPLE WITH THEE. This completes the number and could include people from all parts of the world, nations that are confederate with Antichrist. Two important countries are omitted from this list that would naturally be named. They are Babylon and Egypt. Babylon will be wiped out as a nation by what is called the drying up of the Euphrates. The destruction of Babylon comes before the coming of Christ and therefore before Armageddon (Rev. 18). Egypt also will be completely destroyed just prior to Armageddon (Ezek. 29:6-13).
93 “Sheba, Dedan and the Merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof.” Kings of the east (Rev. 16:12) come into Palestine from the east, but could come from any part of the world. Sheba and Dedan would seem to be located in Arabia and Africa. They will be parts of an empire or a group that remains independent of Antichrist. Tarshish is Gibraltar. It was the farthest known port in the world. The young lions would be the other countries that have come out of England. They will remain an independent group, never completely subjected to Antichrist.
96 Mention has been made of horses and chariots; now we find wooden weapons. This does not sound like modern warfare. No armament factories would be left in operation. So, when the whole world is armed at once, they will have to beat their plowshares into swords, and their pruning-hooks into spears.
106 The Roman Empire included all land joining the Mediterranean Sea and did not include Great Britain.
110-111 Empire of Antichrist includes the land of the Roman Empire and land east into parts of Russia, India and China.
115 Prosperity, piety, power. This sums up Antichrist’s strategy. If Antichrist appears as the savior of the world, it would not be necessary for him to conquer free countries; they would naturally cooperate, especially if their prosperity depended upon it. Any government that turned down what Antichrist has to offer would fall immediately.
124 The word “Antichrist” is found only in I and II John. There he is anyone who denies Christ, but John recognizes that there is to be an individual coming in the last days who will oppose Christ and will, therefore, be Antichrist. The prefix “anti” may also have the meaning of ‘similar to’ as in antitype, but in John it means ‘against.’ There is no prophecy that intimates that Antichrist will be like Christ, or that he claims to be Christ, or that the world will worship him because they think he is Christ. Christ they would crucify; Satan they will worship. Rev. 13:4. There is no Scriptural support to the theory that the Jews will accept Antichrist because they think he is Christ, or for any other reason.
125 He confirms the covenant only to bring them under his power. The deal lasts only three and a half years. The only reason given as to why the world will worship him is his ability to make war. Rev. 13:4.
126 When Satan takes over in person, he will not set up an empire or a new order; he will take over one already formed. Therefore the forming of this new order will come before the revelation of Satan.
146 If a prophecy could not be fulfilled after the Rapture, it must come before.
148 The dividing of time into seven dispensations is helpful in many ways, but the Bible does not so divide itself. It is a man-made division or outline and can be carried to an extreme that actually contradicts the Bible teaching. It should be used with caution and never carried beyond the limits of a man-made outline. The Bible divisions are the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, or Testament. The Old Covenant goes back to Adam and includes all the Old Testament saints, Jew and Gentile. The Law is a part of the Old Covenant. But, inasmuch as the so-called Dispensation of Law is the final one in the Old Testament, we think of it as the one that will come to a consummation in the last days. The New Covenant is the same as the Dispensation of Grace, but it comes as a parenthesis within the Dispensation of Law. There are seven years of the old yet to run. We call this Daniel’s Seventieth Week. You may hear Luke 21:25 quoted as referring to the present dilemma in which the nations find themselves.
149 The time of this prophecy is just before the Second Coming of Christ. This age ends with the Resurrection; however, the Resurrection is not all in one piece. Enoch and Elijah and Moses were translated or raised; and a large number, possibly all the Old Testament saints, came out of their graves at the resurrection of Christ. The Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24; Luke 21) gives us the end of both ages in one view and with the events placed in order. Matthew has most to say about the end of the new dispensation, while Luke is more concerned with the old.
153 A great deal of confused thinking has been caused by a failure to recognize the fact that the Rapture comes a few years before the end of the Dispensation of Grace. There must be some time for the Tribulation Saints in the Dispensation of Grace. Sometimes people think we are teaching a Mid-tribulation Rapture, but this is not the case. The tribulation comes after the Rapture and before Daniel’s Seventieth Week.
158 The Babylon in view in Isaiah 13 is not ancient Babylon, for none of the things related here happened to the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar.
164 Daniel also mentions three periods of approximately 3 ½ years each (Dan. 12:5-12).
168 The 1000 years will bring the world to a state of perfection, as it would have been if Adam had not sinned. The reconstruction period is 1000 years. The kingdom is everlasting. The 1000 years is not the length of the kingdom; it is the length of time that Satan is chained. Instead, we are told that He will deliver it up to God a perfect work (I Cor. 15:24-26).
169 And there was no more sea. This does not mean that there will be no more water but that the land and the water will be more evenly divided, doing away with all barren land and making every spot on the earth like the Garden of Eden. This change in the earth’s surface will probably be one of the results of the mighty earthquakes so frequently mentioned in the prophecies concerning the last days. Again, this is retrospect. John had seen every wall fall to the ground and the mountains moved into the sea, bringing whole new continents into being. He had seen the surplus water disappear.
170 Gen. 1:6-10 If, then, there was less water at the first and more dry land, where was this extra water? Genesis tells us. Instead of being three quarters water and one quarter land, the surface of the earth might have been more land than water. The animals that God created could easily have migrated to all parts of the earth where their remains have been found. Even the remote islands of the sea could have been connected to main land, as must have been the case.
171 It has been supposed by some that the Millennium is the final dispensation after which everything will be burned up; but the reign of Christ and the saints will not end in such dismal failure. Isa. 45:17.
177 Ezekiel laid siege to Jerusalem for a total of 430 (390 plus 40), indicating 430 years of the determined punishment for Israel and Judah. If we subtract 70 from the 430 (they were punished in Babylon 70 years), we have a balance of 360 years. According to Leviticus 26:18, God told Moses that these 360 years would be multiplied by seven. The number of years of worldwide dispersion for Israel is therefore 360 times 7 or 2520 years. The captivity began about 606 B.C. and was complete about 586 B.C. Seventy years from Nebuchadnezzar’s first captivity in 606 B.C. saw the first return of the captives (536 B.C.), and seventy years from the final captivity of Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. saw the final return (516 B.C.). The prophecy of the 2520 years could start any time within that twenty-year period. It is so arranged that we cannot set actual dates in advance. 2520 years from 516 B.C. would bring us to about A.D. 2004.
178 Two world wars have had only one tangible result-Palestine becoming what Ezekiel called it, the center of the earth. In the dispersion they lost all tribal identity and so were fused into one nation, just as Ezekiel said they would be (Ezek. 37:15-22). They are all known today as Jews or Israelites. There is no such thing as the Ten Lost Tribes.
186 Elam is situated east of Babylon in what is now Iran, around the Persian Gulf. Ethiopia contains two peoples: Jews (Falashas) and African Ethiopians. They have possession of the original Ark of the Covenant, and therefore will be the leaders in the great return of the Jews. The ark (Ensign) will be taken from Ethiopia to Mt. Zion at the time of the return.
187 Ezek. 41, 42, 43 Ezekiel’s Temple will be built after the Return of all the Jews to Israel and before the Coming of Christ-probably before the Rapture, during the time of world prosperity. It must be here before the Return of Christ (Mal. 3:1). The Temple mentioned by Haggai (2:9) will probably be built during the reign of Christ.
191 Rev. 20:11-15 may have been going on all during the Millennium.
Also published as A Survey of Bible Prophecy with Cyclopedic Index

Links mentioning Arthur E. Bloomfield:
http://www.williamgstroop.com/Sunday%20Classes/Revelation%202004/Class%204.htm
http://www.babylonfalls.org/ezek4andrapture17jul06.html
http://livingtext.wordpress.com/2008/01/02/arthur-bloomfield-bad-exegesis/
No I will not, No I will not
Not go quietly
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