Read an Excerpt
Foreword
The world is fascinated with the future of planet Earth. The rich and powerful are digging underground cities, looking over their shoulders at the possibility of a nuclear mushroom cloud on the horizon. Average citizens are stocking up on dehydrated foods, water supplies, and weapons for the world tomorrow.
Will Russia once again become the mighty U.S.S.R.? Will Iran attack Israel with new superweapons made possible by America’s $150 billion gift? Will there be a major terrorist attack on America?
Will Israel be ready for the coming war in the Middle East? Will North Korea launch an intercontinental ballistic missile targeted for New York City? Will the global financial markets crash, leaving the world swimming in absolute poverty?
Matthew Hagee has taken the prophetic road map provided by Daniel, Jesus of Nazareth, and John the Revelator to show us the world tomorrow. Your Guide to the Apocalypse is a page turner that fully explains how the world as we know it will end!
—John Hagee
Author of Four Blood Moons and Jerusalem Countdown
1
The Unveiling of a Mystery
Behold, I tell you a mystery.
—1 Corinthians 15:51
Imagine you are at a trade show and the latest designs in your industry are on display all over the showroom floor. As usual at these events, the executives, engineers, and salespeople from each company have done all they can to distinguish for the buyers why their new design, new product, or latest innovation should be preferred over the competition’s. But there’s something different at this trade show.
In the center of the showroom is a massive curtain hung in a circle, stretching from ceiling to floor, so that it hides one of the offerings. The huge veil is too thick to see through, and guards are stationed all around it to prevent anyone from lifting it up and sneaking a peek at what awaits on the other side. The room is buzzing about this display. Everyone is curious about the revelation that is to come. They are all speculating without any real clue, because none of them has been on the other side.
Some guess that whatever is hiding behind the curtain is nothing impressive, and they attempt to convince others of their view. They go so far as to accuse anyone who does not agree with them of being ignorant and closed-minded. While they have no understanding of what’s behind the curtain, they are committed to claiming it’s a hoax.
Others carry on about how awesome this mystery must be. They imagine what is about to be unveiled. They hypothesize about how you can gain access to the product and who you need to know to get in. They are better meaning than the skeptics, but at the same time, they do not possess any more knowledge than the first group. They have not been on the other side of the veil, but at least they are willing to believe that something is really there.
Suddenly, while the crowd presses in closer to the mysterious curtain, someone touches your shoulder and motions for you to follow him. Cutting a path through the crowd, he takes you to the other side. A guard steps aside to let the two of you pass. Then your guide leads you to the curtain, separates it where the edges meet, and pulls back one side to reveal to you what everyone else is wondering about. There it is!
This, in effect, is what the Bible does for those who study biblical prophecy. It pulls back the curtain, revealing what others are merely speculating about and struggling with regarding what will happen when the world as we know it comes to an end. The word apocalypse comes from the Greek language and refers to “an unveiling.” Just as in our example about someone unveiling the hidden trade-show display to you, so Scripture unveils the mystery of the end times.
And isn’t the fate of the world something you’d like to know about?
Even more important, don’t you think you ought to understand what you need to do to be ready for what is to come?
The Absolute Truth
We live in a world that offers several options displayed on the show floor about how we should live. More so than at any other time in history, whatever we choose to do or not do, be or not be, identify with or detest, anything goes! The issue that some choose to ignore and others face in their own way is this large, heavy curtain that is in front of all of us. Call it the end times, the apocalypse, the last days, or anything else you please—it’s there. All of history has led up to this moment, and the entire world and heaven above are awaiting its unveiling.
What is crucial is choosing the correct source of information about what lies ahead. We need a reliable guide, like the man in my story who escorted you to the curtain and pulled it aside. The one and only reliable guide is the Holy Scriptures.
In a world where people take for granted that there are no absolutes, the Bible is in reality the absolute truth. This book I have written will demonstrate the Bible’s prophetic accuracy when describing the events that would occur in world history long before they ever happened. Therefore, the Bible is not just in the ballpark; it is absolutely on target. We can trust it when it comes to deciding what major world events will happen next.
Several parts of the Bible refer to the end times. Let’s consider a few of the passages in the Bible that let us know what truths God is revealing:
~ The disciples received an unveiling when they asked Christ, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). Christ went on to speak about the events that would be happening to the Jewish people and the nation of Israel from the first century until what is known as the Great Tribulation.
~ The apostle Paul received an unveiling that he shared in his writings to the church of Corinth: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52). He mentioned the same revelation to the church in Thessalonica, to whom he wrote, “We who are alive and remain shall be caught up together…in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). This word picture is describing what is known as the Rapture, when Jesus returns to claim His followers and remove them from the earth before a time of judgment.
~ The apostle John, on the isle of Patmos, experienced an unveiling that he recorded in the first chapter of the book of Revelation: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice” (verse 10). That voice was the voice of the Alpha and Omega—Jesus Christ—who presented to John an unveiling of what must take place.
By reading and studying such texts, we seize the opportunity to understand what others can only wonder about. What an amazing privilege it is to have this foresight!
Right now, the leading governments of the world are engaged in a massive power struggle. It involves military strength and strategy, economic influence, and diplomatic policy. Coercion, sanctions, and plain old schoolyard bullying are going on. Why? Because they all desperately want to be the first to know who is going to dominate the world as the next global superpower. China, Russia, Iran, Europe, and the United States are speculating about a matter that was settled long ago.
If you take the time to study Bible prophecy, then you know that the curtain has already been pulled back. You have been given a clear glimpse of what is now only slowly being leaked by the major news outlets of our day.
Why is Russia in the Middle East? Why is the United States struggling to recover its once-dominant position in the world? Why is Iran chanting, “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”? And why is the U.S. State Department giving the Iranians billions of dollars to create nuclear weapons and fund terrorism? Why, at times like these, are people more concerned about the Wi-Fi password at their local coffee shop than they are about the rise of ISIS and the failure of the world’s response to radical Islamic jihad?
Why is all of this going on in the world? Some say it’s random. Others want to blame failed policies, political trends, or cultural shifts. But the absolute truth is that the Word of God spelled out these details, letter by letter and line for line, centuries before we found them trending on Twitter.
When there is no natural answer to be found, then the best place to search is in the supernatural resource of Scripture, and the facts lie in the unveiling of what has become known as the apocalypse.
Unveiled
In the pages that follow, it is my intention to introduce you to truth. There are certainly more in-depth studies that fully explain every detail and aspect of the prophetic, historical, and cultural indicators surrounding the end times and the apocalypse. My purpose is to connect some major concepts at the surface, not take you all the way through the entirety of its content in one work. I’ve also recorded some of my teaching on video, which you can find at URL to come, to give you further insight into how prophecy ties to current events.
I believe the easiest way to grasp the complex is to keep it simple, and the simple truth is that we are the generation that will see the return of Jesus Christ. To prove it, I will present three major prophetic and historical arenas as the focus of this book. These arenas were 98 percent prophecy and 2 percent historical fact when first written on scrolls, but now, centuries later, they are reversed—98 percent are history and the 2 percent left is the moment that generations have been waiting for.
The three unveilings that we will consider are the following:
First, we will look at the writings of Daniel when he gave the interpretation to King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and then later to a vision he received from the Lord. Both give an exact account of the powers that would rule the world, from the days of Babylon to the global struggle of nations at the United Nations today. Daniel didn’t miss one detail, and the portion of his vision that hasn’t come to pass describes a King and a kingdom for which there will be no end.
Then there is the answer that Jesus Christ gave to His disciples before His arrest and crucifixion. They asked Him, “What will be the sign of Your coming?” (Matthew 24:3). His answer gave an exact description of what would happen to the Jewish people and the nation of Israel from AD 70, when Titus conquered Jerusalem, until we see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30). Christ was so precise that we can track the events of history for the last two thousand years and see how every word has come to pass thus far. We can also see how the events that have not yet come to pass are about to happen.
The final unveiling comes from the first chapters of the book of Revelation. John had a dialogue with the resurrected Jesus Christ, who had specific messages for the seven churches of Asia. These letters were not only personal and written for their generation, but they are also prophetic, addressing what the church will be like throughout history until the return of Christ to the Earth.
Matthew 18:16 states, “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” We have the prophet Daniel, Jesus Christ in Matthew 24, and John the Revelator all confirming what will happen in the world until the end of time. All these witnesses testify to this conclusion: Christ is coming back and it will be sooner than many may think.
A Cause for Hope
There are people in every group, be it religious, political, financial, or just plain secular, whose personal desires don’t line up with what God has set in motion. They do all they can to claim that prophecies have been misunderstood, that the Bible is too complex to understand, and that people who preach about the terminal generation and the return of Christ are marketing fear and a doomsday gospel.
I assure you, nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible is a book of hope. The return of Christ is a promise of deliverance that is to come. What you are about to read is intended to help you understand that the same One who began the world with a word has told us how He plans to take care of those who believe in Him and have received His Son, until the last second this world turns and the first moment when eternity begins.
I said I like to keep it simple. God did not go through the trouble of revealing His plan in prophecy so that we could argue about the mailing address of the Antichrist, or so that pre-, mid-, post-tribbers (if you’re not familiar with those terms, that’s okay) could blog about why the others are a bunch of heretics. He didn’t preserve the prophetic Scriptures so that we could combine the milk and meat of the Word with the hocus-pocus of the world in trying to determine the exact date and time when the clouds will split and we will see Jesus face-to-face.
He gave us this message so that we would have a source of confidence that will build our faith in a world that does all it can to destroy it. He did it so that we can be light in an hour of darkness and so that we will do all we possibly can to make sure that as many people as we know are ready to meet the Lord when the time comes. He did it so we will be assured that His promise is true: “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself” (John 14:2–3). It’s just that simple.
This is an exciting time to be alive, and it’s not by accident that you are on this stage at this exact moment. As the curtain is pulled back on the final scenes, rejoice! God is in control and everything is going to be all right.
Let Us Pray
In my twenty years of pulpit ministry, I have always included in the introduction of my topic a prayer. I believe wholeheartedly that prayer works. I would be remiss if I didn’t offer you as a reader, and myself as the author of this work, the opportunity to agree in prayer that our eyes shall be opened to see and our ears to hear what the Word of God has to say in these final moments of the last days. So with that, I offer this prayer:
Heavenly Father, You are the Creator of heaven and earth, and You have been almighty from the beginning of time and to its end. Allow Your Spirit to lead us and guide us as we open the lamp and light of Your truth, walking along this straight and narrow path that leads to the promise of Your return and our ultimate salvation. May these pages bring hope to the readers and confidence to every heart that receives them. May our understanding of Your plan for our lives grow as we accept Your will as You have made it known in Your Word, and may we each accept our responsibility in not only watching and waiting but also working with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength to share Your love with others so that they may be ready for Your imminent return and may rejoice in Your salvation.
In the name of Christ our Savior we pray. Amen.
