The False Prophet by Ellis Skolfield

End Times
3Resurrections
Posts: 79
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:32 am

Re: The False Prophet by Ellis Skolfield

Post by 3Resurrections » Wed Dec 16, 2020 10:35 pm

Hey again Steve7150,

There’s one very glaring problem with Scolfield identifying the great tribulation period with the ENTIRE church age. In Matthew 24:21, Jesus said that this greatest of tribulation periods would never again be equaled or surpassed at any time in history AFTER that great tribulation (which would “IMMEDIATELY be followed by Christ’s return). This necessitates that history on this earth would continue to trudge along after that great tribulation and Christ’s return, with regular bouts of tribulation for Gods people in this world continuing to occur, but with none ever duplicating that former “great tribulation” period.

What made those “days of vengeance” so horrible to pass through was not the number of casualties, nor the stress of the war conditions, nor the persecution from Nero or the Jews hostile to the faith. These paled in comparison to the prophecy Jesus gave about the complete, 7-fold presence of the most wicked of unclean spirits returning to torment that wicked generation in its “last state” (Matt. 12:43-45). No other civilization or city in the past, or at any time future to AD 70, would have this demonic plague in full force descend on a single city to torment its inhabitants. Rev. 18:2 says that “Babylon the great” / Jerusalem during its fall had become the “habitation of devils, and the hold (phulake - a prison) of *EVERY* UNCLEAN SPIRIT...”

Just how were all these unclean spirits “imprisoned” within the walls of Jerusalem? By the people whom they were possessing being imprisoned within Jerusalem, first by the warring Zealot factions, and finally by the Romans laying siege to the city. If the demoniac of the Gadarenes could have been tormented by a legion of devils within, just imagine how many devils could have been present in a city that held captive anywhere from 2-3 million people within its walls. Unimaginable torment would have abounded.

Isaiah 24:21-23 also predicted this same imprisonment of evil angels in AD 70 era Jerusalem that would simultaneously punish the “host of high ones that are on high” as well as the “kings of the earth” (the high priests of Israel). Both groups would be gathered together and “shut up in the prison”, and after many days they would be “found wanting” - meaning they would be GONE. With this combined eradication of the high priesthood and the entire demonic realm and its kingdom powers, the Lord of hosts would then reign gloriously in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.

Never again after that time would this demonic realm be around to torment a city or nation as Jerusalem had once suffered during their “last state” in the AD 70 era. This is why that period was called the “great tribulation” that was like no other tribulation either before or after it.

steve7150
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Re: The False Prophet by Ellis Skolfield

Post by steve7150 » Thu Dec 17, 2020 6:33 pm

In Matthew 24:21, Jesus said that this greatest of tribulation periods would never again be equaled or surpassed at any time in history AFTER that great tribulation (which would “IMMEDIATELY be followed by Christ’s return). This necessitates that history on this earth would continue to trudge along after that great tribulation and Christ’s return, with regular bouts of tribulation for Gods people in this world continuing to occur, but with none ever duplicating that former “great tribulation” period.






"For at that time there will be great tribulation ,the kind that has not taken place from the beginning of the world until now and never will again" Matt 24.21
Jesus didn't necessarily call this the greatest of tribulation periods , he said "there will be great tribulation" which there was. The next portion i think is hyperbole which Jesus often used for emphasis. Certainly there have been many historical events just as bad if not worse. For example WW1 & WW2 covered entire continents rather then one city.
As far as Jesus coming in the clouds , i also think this is not literal but symbolic of judgment on Jerusalem. All the things associated with the second coming did not happen but Jerusalem was indeed judged.

3Resurrections
Posts: 79
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:32 am

Re: The False Prophet by Ellis Skolfield

Post by 3Resurrections » Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:57 am

You’re right, Steve7150, that Jesus didn’t necessarily call this the GREATEST of all tribulations ever. What He DID say was that there had never been and would never again at any time in humanity’s future be the PARTICULAR KIND of tribulation like that of the “great tribulation” period immediately preceding His return. “Such as” in Matt. 24:21 means “similar in kind”.

That’s why this point scripture makes of the imprisonment and then the eradication of the entire demonic realm in Jerusalem is so important. The world had never experienced before having the ENTIRE demonic realm held captive in one city to torment the inhabitants. After that, once the entire demonic realm and Satan were all destroyed by the close of AD 70, that was a guarantee that this PARTICULAR KIND of tribulation would never occur again in the future after Christ’s second coming in AD 70. This should give us at least some encouragement for our current troubled times.

And if you think that “all things written” about the “days of vengeance” that immediately preceded Christ’s second coming did not already happen, then the entire testimony of scripture on this topic is false. EVERY prophet that ever spoke or wrote since the world began had at least something to say about the last days approaching AD 70 and Christ’s return at the end of that age, according to Peter in Acts 2:19-24.

Were they all liars?

steve7150
Posts: 2597
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:44 am

Re: The False Prophet by Ellis Skolfield

Post by steve7150 » Fri Dec 18, 2020 6:34 pm

These paled in comparison to the prophecy Jesus gave about the complete, 7-fold presence of the most wicked of unclean spirits returning to torment that wicked generation in its “last state” (Matt. 12:43-45)








Jesus did apply this to "this generation" but did not mention or allude to (as far as i can see) Jerusalem 70AD. I think you are applying "man's last condition" to 70AD. I can understand that because of your focus on that event but it seems more of a generic warning to me. Also didn't the Romans have to come back & destroy Jerusalem in 135AD again?

3Resurrections
Posts: 79
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:32 am

Re: The False Prophet by Ellis Skolfield

Post by 3Resurrections » Sat Dec 19, 2020 9:46 am

Hey Steve7150,

That particular “*THIS* WICKED generation” can’t possibly be referring in a generic sense to “man’s last condition”. Look at the complete context of Matt. 12:38-45. Christ was speaking to the scribes and Pharisees - that evil “generation of vipers” who had just asked Him for a sign. He told them that “a WICKED AND ADULTEROUS generation” seeks for a sign, but that no sign would be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas.

That particular 3-day-3-night sign was directly given to that generation He was speaking to, and they would reject it. The men of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba would all rise up in judgment of THAT generation for rejecting the sign they were given, because Jesus who was then “HERE” in front of the Pharisees was greater than either Jonah or Solomon.

Jesus and the disciples had been steadily casting devils and unclean spirits out of the inhabitants of the cities of Israel during His earthly ministry. This was the continuing process of “spoiling his house” Jesus spoke of in Matt. 12:29 after having earlier “bound the strong man” / Satan with a chain at the beginning of the millennium long before that. Demon possession seemed to be as prevalent as the common cold at that time in Israel, because all 70 disciples who were sent out to heal the sick joyfully returned after successfully casting out devils in Christ’s name. Yet for all that display of power done in His name, Christ continued to be doubted. This is why Christ called them “a FAITHLESS and PERVERSE generation” before casting the devil out of the man’s young son (Matt. 17:17).

All those unclean spirits that were cast out of individuals in Israel while Christ was among them would then wander through dry places, seeking rest and finding none. Then after Christ and the disciples had “emptied, swept, and garnished” the individual “houses” in Israel, the unclean spirits would return later to that nation in its “last state” in their last days, bringing with them the 7-fold complete demonic realm of those even more wicked than the former horde of unclean spirits had been. These would all then re-enter the very same empty “houses” that they had lived in before. This rendered that wicked generation’s “LAST state” in a worse condition than it had ever been during the time Christ and His disciples had FIRST cast out devils from Israel’s inhabitants.

You mentioned Rome’s later conquest of Jerusalem in 135 AD. But even Rome considered the AD 70 conquest the official take-down of the nation and its temple, because they staged the Roman triumph just after AD 70’s victory over Jerusalem. They reserved Simon bar Giora for death following that triumph parade, since they (and he) considered him the titular “king of Israel” over the rebel forces.

They didn’t even consider Masada’s remaining stronghold to be important enough to delay that Roman triumph until that fortress was taken. THE TEMPLE and its priesthood was the heart and soul of the nation. Daniel 11:31 called the temple “the sanctuary of strength”, and when that power was crushed, the nerve center of the nation was gone. Once the genealogical records of the tribes were burned up by the end of AD 70, there was no way to restore a viable high priesthood to serve, even if another temple could have been built. An unbroken lineage descending from ZADOK was required, or the entire line would be “polluted”, as Ezra 2:62 stipulated. And as God intended it to be (Mal. 4:1).

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