JOHN FORESAW a day in the distant future when God would make all things new.

He heard a voice from the throne of God saying, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

This week, we summarize the final two chapters of Revelation and John’s vision of the world that is to come. The new Jerusalem, a massive city about 1,380 miles on a side (roughly the distance from New York City to Dallas), descends from heaven and puts an end to the need for sun and moon, for God Himself will be its light.

And with our 300th episode, we wind down the six-year run of Unraveling Revelation. There is certainly more to explore in Bible prophecy, but due to recent health challenges we need to cut back on our work commitments and allow ourselves more time to rest.

We invite you to follow our weekly program The Bible’s Greatest Mysteries, where we will continue to dig deeply into the Word of God. The Bible’s Greatest Mysteries is available at YouTube.com/@TheBiblesGreatestMysteries, the Gilbert House Ministries channels for Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV, or our free mobile app (available at GilbertHouse.org/app).

AFTER BEING imprisoned for a thousand years, Satan returns and leads “the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle”. Is this Armageddon or a second war altogether?

We believe the millennial reign is a literal thousand year period that follows Armageddon, and so the conflict described in Revelation 20:7–10 is a second war. How is it possible if, as we’ve said in an earlier episode, Gog is the Old Testament concept of Antichrist, and the Beast was thrown in the lake of fire before the thousand years (Rev. 19:20)?

Excellent question. To be honest, we don’t know. It’s possible “Gog” is a title rather than one specific entity. It may also be that because Gog is a spirit being and not a man, the normal rules of life and death don’t apply. However, we must admit that amillennialists, who don’t believe in a literal thousand-year period of Satan’s confinement, would say that the answer is simple: Revelation 20 and Ezekiel 38–39 describe the same war.

We disagree, mainly because we find it impossible to believe the world wold be in its present state while Satan is bound and Jesus reigns on Earth.

We also discuss the fate of the dead at the Great White Throne Judgment. There appears to be something different about the dead who come from the sea and those given up by Death and Hades. The sea is a biblical symbol of the abyss and primordial chaos (i.e., Leviathan). In Job 26:5–6 we read, “The [Rephaim] tremble under the waters and their inhabitants. Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.” The parallel verses suggest a link between the Rephaim (spirits of the Nephilim destroyed in the Flood) and the sea (the abyss/chaos), and Sheol (place of the dead) and Abaddon (which Derek argued in The Second Coming of Saturn was the Hebrew concept of Tartarus).

Note that Job 26:5 in the Septuagint is rendered, “Are not giants brought forth from beneath the water and its neighbors?”

In short, we believe Revelation 20:13–14 is not just a description of human dead, but the final judgment of the Nephilim.

MATTHEW 24:29–30 is often used to support a post-tribulation rapture. Is that really what Jesus meant?

The verses read: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matt. 24:29–30, ESV)

Alan DiDio, author of the compelling new book They Lied to You About the Rapture, tells us that, taken in context, that verse refers to the Jewish people and that the rapture of the church is a separate event.

He also explains the significance of the number 7 in Revelation and the timeline of the events described in the book. We also discuss replacement theology, the belief that the church has replaced Israel in end times prophecy, and why it isn’t biblical.

We conclude that God probably end times prophecy somewhat difficult to understand because the fallen realm studies it, too!

NOTHING STARTS Christians arguing faster than asking about the timing of the Rapture.

Alan DiDio, author of the compelling new book They Lied to You About the Rapture, explains that while he (and we) believe in a pre-tribulation Rapture, we are often just as guilty of spreading misconceptions about this event as those with other views.

Alan explains how we know the doctrine of the pre-trib rapture did not begin with John Darby—mainly because there are numerous writings from Christian theologians prior to Darby, going back to Irenaeus of Lyon in the 2nd century AD, who expressed this view.

For a special offer on They Lied to You About the Rapture, visit the SkyWatch TV store: https://bit.ly/swtv-didio

Revelation 20 tells us Satan will be bound for a thousand years. We think this is a future event, but some prophecy scholars think we’re in the thousand-year period now, while others believe it’s just symbolic.

We discuss the millennial reign, the binding of Satan, and the differing views of the thousand years of Satan’s captivity.

THE BIBLE describes three feasts around the time of the final battle of the age.

Two of these feasts are gruesome. The first takes place at the end of Revelation 17 when the Beast and the ten kings who serve him—supernatural entities, not human political leaders—turn on the great prostitute, Mystery Babylon, “and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire.” (Rev. 17:16)

The next takes place as believers rejoice in heaven at the fall of Babylon. This is the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:6–10).

Finally, there is “the great supper of God,” a sacrificial feast for the “birds that fly directly overhead” (i.e., vultures and carrion birds) to “eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” (Rev. 19:17–18). For centuries, Bible commentators have noted the parallels between this feast and the one at the end of the war of Gog and Magog (Ezek. 39:17–18). It’s not a coincidence; John described the same event as Ezekiel. In other words, the war of Gog and Magog ends at Armageddon.

What’s more, Jews of the Second Temple period understood that “the mighty” in Ezekiel 39:18 and 20 were “the Travelers” of verse 11—that is, the Rephaim, spirits of the giants (Nephilim) who died in the Flood.

This shouldn’t surprise you. After all, this battle is the culmination of a long, supernatural war that began in the Garden of Eden.

THE GOSPEL is encoded into the very letters used to write the first verse of the Bible.

Carl Gallups, author of the forthcoming book Golgotha’s Groaning, shows us why we can’t separate the New Testament from the Old because God’s covenant with us is built into the alphabet used by the prophets.

THE GOSPEL is encoded into the very letters used to write the first verse of the Bible.

Carl Gallups, author of the forthcoming book Golgotha’s Groaning, shows us why we can’t separate the New Testament from the Old because God’s covenant with us is built into the alphabet used by the prophets.

ISRAEL PLAYED an essential role in God’s plan to redeem humanity through the Messiah, Jesus. That role is not yet complete.

Messianic believer Larry Stamm (LarryStamm.org), author of Jewish Roots of Christianity, explains how replacement theology—the belief that Christians have replaced Israel in end times prophecies—falls into Satan’s trap of making God out to be a liar.

THERE ARE great gulfs between the Judaism of today and the way it was practiced in the time of Jesus. And this has affected how Jews and Christians interact.

Larry Stamm (LarryStamm.org), author of Jewish Roots of Christianity, joins us to share his personal testimony as a Jewish believer in Yeshua, explain why it’s become difficult for Christians and Jews to discuss the faith, and tell us how a better understanding of the roots of our faith will help us to share the good news with our Jewish brothers and sisters. 

TECHNOLOGY to make our lives easier and more secure will be important tools to build the infrastructure of the prophesied global government.

Josh Davis, author of Rise of the One-World Mind, explains how Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and artificial intelligence will help bring about a one-world government and a single religion that worships the Antichrist.

THE WOULD-BE rulers of Earth are weaponizing language to brainwash us into accepting global government. 

Josh Davis, author of Rise of the One-World Mind, joins us to explain how media, both legacy and social, are being used to push us towards the future kingdom of the Antichrist.

IT’S GOOD the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are only carrying out God’s orders.

Curtis Liebl, author of The Four Horsemen: The Winds of Theopolitical Change, explains that the horsemen have been riding for centuries, but only doing what God directs (or allows)—and that prophecy could only be fulfilled with riders acting as God’s change agents on Earth.

THE FOUR HORSEMEN of the Apocalypse are usually depicted as evil. What if they’re actually God’s agents?

Curtis Liebl (note: Derek mispronounced Curtis’s name, and we apologize for the error!), author of The Four Horsemen: The Winds of Theopolitical Change, explains why connecting Revelation 6, Zechariah 6, and Daniel 7 opens up a whole new understanding of the four riders.

ARMAGEDDON WILL be fought at Jerusalem. A mysterious group of warriors called “Joel’s army” by some will play a role—but they’re not the good guys.

We revisit the scholarly explanation behind identifying the Temple Mount as Armageddon. In a nutshell, the name is based on the transliteration the phrase har mo`ed (“mount of assembly”) from Hebrew into Greek. Then we discuss who will be involved in that battle.

Ezekiel identifies giants as warriors in the army of Gog (the Antichrist), both as “the Travelers” (Eze. 39:11, “travelers” being a term used by the Canaanites for the spirits of the Rephaim) and as “the mighty” (Eze. 39:18), which is confirmed by the Septuagint translation which renders “mighty” as gigantōn—giants.

We explain why Joel’s army is not something you want to be part of. At the end of Joel chapter 2, God tells the prophet that the army, an instrument of His judgment on the Day of the Lord, will be destroyed (Joel 2:18–20).

AS WAR continues in Ukraine and reignites between Israel and Hamas, we discuss what appears to be a deliberate effort to trigger World War 3.

Why would European leaders insist on continuing a war with Russia that Ukraine cannot win even with Europe’s direct involvement? What will emerge from the fractured state of Syria? Why does Hamas persist in a conflict that’s seen its home destroyed and its people displaced?

The answers can only be spiritual because otherwise they make no sense. Ultimately, we’ll look back on these wars as preliminaries to the war that ends with Armageddon.

THE MIDDLE EAST is in turmoil as factions fight for control of Syria. One, backed by Turkey, controls Damascus while others backed by the US and Israel control the south and east of the country. 

It’s fascinating but a fact: The prophet Ezekiel foresaw a day when Turkey would be at the center of the geopolitical and theopolitical world.

The situation is fluid and recent developments have taken many observers, including us, by surprise. Where this ends only the Lord knows for sure, so we return to Ezekiel 38 and 39 and compare that prophecy with other biblical references to the Day of the Lord.

WE ARE SEEING what could be the sentiment that brings the world together to follow the Antichrist to war.

Building on last week’s discussion of the changing reality on the ground in the Middle East, especially with Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, we look at what might be the “hooks” God uses to drag Gog of Magog (the Antichrist) to Israel for the final battle of the age, Armageddon.

ISRAEL’S PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu says he doesn’t intend to allow the armed forces of Al Qaeda offshoot HTS south of Damascus. Is this a step toward fulfilling the land promised to Abraham’s descendants in Genesis 15?

We discuss a new report from Avi Lipkin in Israel where he describes a new Middle East, with an Israeli-Druze autonomous zone across southern Syria from the Golan Heights to the Euphrates River, and a Kurdish autonomous zone east of the Euphrates connecting to the Kurdish zone in Iraq, linking to Israel’s allies in Azerbaijan.

Would this fulfill prophecy? That's up for debate, but one thing is certain—we are living in prophetic times.

SINCE OCTOBER 7, 2023, a growing number of Christians have concluded that we should not support Israel for reasons ranging from theft of the land from native Arabs to the church replacing Israel in end times prophecy.

We disagree. While we acknowledge that Israel is ruled by fallen, sinful humans just like every other nation on Earth, and we affirm that all have sinned and will not go to the Father except through Jesus, we also recognize that Islam has a 1,400-year history of bloody conquest in its wake. Arabs and Jews have been trying to negotiate a two-state solution since at least 1936, even though the land “from the river to the sea” was promised to the Zionist movement by the League of Nations in 1920 (Article 22 of the League of Nations Covenant; the British Mandate for Palestine was approved by the League of Nations Sept. 16, 1922).

The bottom line is this: A plain reading of verses like Isaiah 54, Romans 11:1–5, and Zechariah 12:8–10 make clear that a day is coming when a remnant of the Jews in Jerusalem “will look on Me, on Him whom they have pierced, [and] they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over Him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”

In context, it’s clear that those verses do not apply to the church—they are directed specifically at Israel and the Jews.