TRUTHS FOR THE TRIBULATION PERIOD

RETURN TO SYLLABUS

PROVERBS 29:1-27
Lesson #48
TRUTHS FOR THE TRIBULATION PERIOD

• Memory Verse: Your choice.
• In our study of Proverbs we have seen many of these proverbs before in one aspect or another. We have applied them to our lives personally through our study of this book.
• In this lesson, because we have seen these same principles before, now we are going to apply them to the Tribulation Period of seven years that is yet to come on this earth when the Antichrist will reign.
  
• “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” (1)
  • Key words: reproved (correction).
  • The person that has to be constantly corrected for his behavior is not learning what God wants him to learn.
  • Instead he is hardening his neck. That phrase means he is becoming stubborn in his sin.
    • God continually called the Israelites stiff-necked people in the Old Testament because they did not learn. (Exo 32:9 Exo 4:9)
    • The hardening of the neck is a determination to not look around you to see what God is doing but to look straight ahead and continue in the wrong path where you are walking.
    • The hardened neck is the beginning of the process of a hardened heart.
    • When a spiritual dividing line has been crossed (that only God knows when) there is no remedy or turning back.
      • In the tribulation period God will put extreme pressure on the Jews to turn them to Christ.
      • This pressure will force them to look around and see that God wants to bring them to Christ.
• ^“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” (2)
  • Key words: righteous (pure life); wicked (lawless evil).
  • Those people that have authority have the responsibility before God to live a pure life as a model for all those under him.
  • Of course, only the believer in Jesus Christ can live a pure life free from the penalty of sin, the presence of sin, and the power of sin because he has the fountain of forgiveness in repentance through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
  • The people that live under a leader that rules through lawless evil will not live in peace and blessings. This verse tells us to choose wisely those that rule over us when we have the democratic right to choose.
    • This will be a reminder to the people that live during the coming Tribulation period when by democratic means the world will choose the Antichrist to rule over them for seven years.
    • Only the second coming of Jesus Christ will prevent the total annihilation of the Jews and Israel.
• ^“Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.” (3)
  • Key words: wisdom (skillful living).
  • A parent rejoices when he sees his child make wise choices in life and lives in the moral ways of God.
  • As we have seen in the book of Proverbs, to keep company with harlots has a double meaning.
    • =1= It refers to immoral sexual choices that involve sex outside of marriage.
    • =2= It refers to impure spiritual choices that involve the giving of oneself to false religions.
      • In the tribulation period of seven years, the Jews will mistakenly choose the Antichrist to rule over them thinking that he is their prophesied Messiah.
      • However, in the middle of the tribulation period they will understand his lies and flee from his persecution.
• ^“The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it.” (4)
  • Key words: judgment (discernment).
  • A leader by discernment decides how he will rule his people, whether he will rule in righteousness or whether he will rule with selfish power; whether he will rule to favor the people, or whether he will rule to favor himself. For example:
    • The most evil ruler to ever reign in human history will be the Antichrist that will seek world power and domination. He will receive bribes (gifts) to gain power and overthrow legitimate governments for world domination.
    • He will be indwelt by Satan in the middle of the tribulation period and will be Satan’s personal ambassador on earth receiving power from him.
  • What this proverb does not tell us is that Jesus Christ will come and destroy the Antichrist at His second coming at the end of the tribulation.
• ^“A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.” (5)
  • During the tribulation period of seven years, no one will be able to trust his neighbor because evil will reign supreme.
  • The Antichrist will use lies, intimidation, bribes, and coercion to control people setting one neighbor against another.
    • However, the believer in the tribulation period will be guided by the Holy Spirit to discern the truth.
    • The true believers in the tribulation will be able to supernaturally identify other believers. He will know if he can trust his neighbor.
  • The Antichrist and his workers will be destroyed at the second coming of Christ.
• ^“In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare: but the righteous doth sing and rejoice.” (6)
  • Key words: transgression (lawbreaking); righteous (pure life).
  • To follow the Antichrist who will break all of God’s laws of decency during the tribulation period will bring a snare or a trap to the person that does not discern good from evil as Proverbs has taught us.
  • The snare is the deception of the Antichrist that entices people to believe he is Christ.
  • The only people in the tribulation period that will be able to sing and rejoice are the believers in Jesus Christ that can discern good from evil. (Rev 7:9)
• ^“The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.” (7)
  • Key words: righteous (pure life); wicked (lawless evil).
  • The poor in material goods are always those who suffer at the hands of evil rulers. The reason is because the evil ruler, like the Antichrist, reigns to serve himself and not to serve the people.
  • When Jesus Christ returns to the earth at the end of the tribulation period of seven years, he will reign in righteousness. His kingdom will serve God by meeting the needs of the people, both those who are poor materially and those who are poor spiritually.
• ^“Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath.” (8)
  • Key words: wise (believer in Christ).
  • The city in the snare in the tribulation is Jerusalem.
  • Those who have no respect for the value of the human soul are scornful.
  • The Antichrist that will deceive the world into believing that good is evil and evil is good is the prime example of a scornful person. The snare is the lie that the Antichrist is the Messiah.
  • Even though the Antichrist will persecute and kill many believers in the tribulation period, believers that know how to live skillfully in Jesus Christ will win at the end of the tribulation when Christ comes to vindicate His believers.
• ^“If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest.” (9)
  • Key words: wise (skillful living); foolish (lifestyle of the fool).
  • Believers in the tribulation period that live skillfully guided by the Holy Spirit will have lot to contend with when they seek to stand firm for the truth of God.
  • The tribulation example will be the two witnesses that confront the evil of the Antichrist.
  • The Antichrist will not relent until he kills God’s two witnesses. However, God will raise them from the dead.
• ^“The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul.” (10)
  • Key words: upright (just); just (righteous/believer).
  • The most bloodthirsty human ever to live will be the Antichrist.
  • His hatred for God’s people, the Jews and the Christians, will be expressed in persecution, death, and slavery that will make Hitler’s persecution of the Jews seem mild.
  • While the Antichrist puts himself beyond salvation when he becomes indwelt by Satan at the middle of the tribulation period, believers will preach the word of God during the tribulation hoping to persuade some unbelievers to come to Christ before they receive the mark of the Antichrist.
• ^“A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.” (11)
  • Key words: fool (no God for me); wise (skillful living).
  • The believer in Christ that lives skillfully in the Word of God will always win in the end because he lives his life based on the truth of Jesus Christ.
  • The ultimate example of a fool will be the Antichrist who will be a gifted orator.
    • In deception he will seem to have all wisdom and truth.
    • However, all of the world will see his destruction at the end of the tribulation period when Jesus Christ, the ultimate example of one who lives skillfully, will come victoriously to save the Jews.
• ^“If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.” (12)
  • Key words: wicked (lawless evil).
  • All those that promote the Antichrist in the tribulation period will deceive people with the big lie that the Antichrist is the Messiah. (2The 2:11)
  • The prime example is the false prophet that will do the work and promotion of the Antichrist as the prophesied Messiah.
  • However, all unbelievers will die at the battle of Armageddon including the Antichrist and the false prophet when Jesus Christ returns to earth. (Rev 19:20)
• ^“The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the Lord lighteneth both their eyes.” (13)
  • Unbelievers who lack the indwelling of the Holy Spirit are spiritually poor. They and the deceitful false prophet will come to the light of realization that they gave their lives to Satan when they spent the tribulation period in the worship of the Antichrist instead of the worship of Jesus Christ.
  • But for them it will be too late when Jesus Christ comes back to earth in glory and light.
• ^“The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever.” (14)
  • Key words: judgeth (discern).
  • The king that reigns forever is Jesus Christ.
    • God promised King David that his descendant will be the King that will wear a crown forever.
    • God promised King David that his descendant will be the King that sits on a throne forever.
    • God promised King David that his descendant will reign in truth, justice and righteousness forever.
    • Read Jer 23:5 (2Sam 7:13-17)
• ^“The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” (15)
  • Key words: reproof (correction); wisdom (living skillfully).
  • God’s rod of correction results in living skillfully for the believer.
  • The child left to himself is the person without correction during his time of growing to maturity.
    • The ultimate example of this child is the Antichrist.
    • He will be filled with pride, evil intent, violence, the depths of deception and ultimate wickedness.
• ^“When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.” (16)
  • Key words: wicked (lawless evil); transgression (lawbreaker); righteous (pure life).
  • In the tribulation period, there will be a large multitude of people that give their hearts to Jesus Christ even though they will have to pay a heavy price for their testimony, and even though sin will increase under the reign of the Antichrist.
  • Read Rom 5:20
  • Believers will see the fall of the Antichrist and all non-believers at the second coming of Christ.
• ^“Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.” (17)
  • The believer that corrects his children and teaches them the ways of God will see the reward when Christ returns to set up his kingdom on earth for 1000 years and his children are present.
  • Christ’s kingdom will function in righteousness and peace without the presence of Satan for 1000 years.
  • Read Zec 14:20-21
• ^“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (18)
  • All through the Bible God promised to His believers a time when all injustices, deceptions, inequalities, and evil intentions would be put down and righteousness would reign. This vision was given to David to be fulfilled by Jesus Christ.
  • That promise will be fulfilled when Christ returns to earth to reign for 1000 years.
  • He will rule this earth with perfect justice and law. Therefore the vision of a kingdom of truth, justice, and holiness is our vision of hope as we await Christ’s coming.
  • Read Jer 17:7
  • Read Tit 2:13
• ^“A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer.” (19)
  • Key words: understand (discern good from evil).
  • This proverb speaks about a servant that has a rebellious attitude and will not obey his master even though he understands what he is supposed to do.
  • In the millennial kingdom when Christ will reign with a rod of iron for 1000 years obedience to Christ will be required.
  • For those who do not obey means instant death. (Zec 14:16-21)
  • Read Rev 2:27 (Rev 19:15)
• ^“Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.” (20)
  • Key words: fool (no God for me)
  • In the tribulation period there will be two people that will be hasty in their words…the false prophet and the Antichrist.
  • The fool that says no God for me will be in a better spiritual condition than these two who give their lives to do the work of Satan by destroying the lives of Jews and Christians. God will avenge His people.
• ^“He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.” (21)
  • The child of God is the believer in Jesus Christ that matures in his faith to serve the living God.
  • He will be part of God’s personal family forever.
  • He will serve God in the millennial kingdom as he becomes a co-ruler with Jesus Christ. The servant is also God’s child forever.
• ^“An angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression.” (22)
  • Key words: transgression (lawbreaker).
  • This proverb speaks about the Antichrist that will be the greatest lawbreaker of God’s law in all of human history.
  • He will change laws to suit his own agenda and to promote his own control over the world. (Dan 7:25)
• ^“A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.” (23)
  • Satan began as the cherub angel Lucifer that rebelled against God because he was filled with pride. His pride has continued through the centuries to finally become personified in the person of the Antichrist in the tribulation period.
  • When the Antichrist is destroyed at the second coming of Christ, Satan will be bound for the 1000 year reign of Christ.
  • The humble in spirit are those that God will elevate to leadership in the millennial kingdom of Christ.
• ^“Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul: he heareth cursing, and bewrayeth it not.” (24)
  • Key words: bewrayeth (betray).
  • The greatest thief in human history will be the Antichrist who will deceive many in the world away from a personal relationship with God. The person that helps him as an accomplice is the False Prophet.
  • People that approve of, promote, and work for the Antichrist in his deceptions will put at risk their own soul for power and riches in the tribulation period.
• ^“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” (25)
  • In the tribulation period, the persecutions of the Antichrist will attempt to put fear in the hearts of believers,
  • However, those believers that fear God instead of having fear of the man, Antichrist, will win in the end when Christ returns for those who belong to Him.
• ^“Many seek the ruler’s favour; but every man’s judgment cometh from the Lord.” (26)
  • Key words: judgment (discernment).
  • People will seek the Antichrist’s approval during the tribulation period.
  • However, the believer that follows God’s ways and the guidance of the Holy Spirit will discern that the Antichrist is not God’s Messiah.
• ^“An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.” (27)
  • Key words: unjust (non-believer); abomination (hated); just (righteous/believer); upright (just); wicked (lawless evil).
  • The example of the unjust man is the Antichrist who will fulfill all the evil, wicked, and lawless things expressed in the Proverbs.
  • The tribulation period is a period of time when the battle between God and Satan will be played out on earth so that all men can see the contrast between good and evil, God and Satan.
• Summary:
  • The tribulation period will be God’s showcase of what evil will do when Satan reigns in the person of the Antichrist.
  • The millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ that will follow the tribulation period will be the showcase of what God will do when holiness characterizes a kingdom.
  • All of the book of Proverbs gives us this dichotomy between good and evil, between God and Satan.
    • Therefore this chapter gives us a glimpse into this great contrast, and that man must make a choice between God and Satan.
    • In the tribulation period the choice will be between Antichrist and Jesus Christ.

Homework
Proverbs 30

• Application of Pro 29
  • What do you think is the snare in transgression? (6, 8, 25)
    • The snare is the Antichrist’s deceptive lie that he is the Messiah come from God.
  • What do you think is the vision (18)
    • The vision is that God’s people will serve God under the rulership of Jesus Christ who will reign forever in holiness, truth, and justice.
• Preparation for Pro 30
  • Read Pro 30:1-33
    • What are the answers to the questions in verse 4?
    • There are two things the author of the proverbs desired from God? Why did he want these two things? (7-9)
    • What are the characteristics of the generation these proverbs describe? (11-14) When in time will this generation live? (Read 2Tim 3:1-7)
• Memory verse: Pro 30:12