(updated 12/21/2024)
Hello gentle reader,
Obviously, I know better than to ever attempt to set a date regarding the timing of Bible prophecies. Anyone who does so loses all credibility in my mind. No, the “matter of timing” for this writing is actually the timing of when something isn’t. I can’t believe that since 2015 when I developed this teaching, no one else has apparently figured out that the Bible provides clues as to when the return of Christ is not. Of course, being retired provides me far more time to read and re-read, over and over the Holy Bible until certain things become obvious. I have noticed connections in the Bible that you won’t find in any Study Bible regardless of who has written it. With a background as an engineer and a natural curiosity, it suited me to attempt to figure out what I refer to as mysteries in the Bible. Now, I haven’t figured out the blaring, obvious ones, but solutions to some of the more subtle mysteries began slowly forming in my mind over a period of years. This writing is one such solution that took my breath away when it suddenly came into focus after watching the 2014 or 2015 Strategic Perspectives conference DVDs with Chuck Missler (RIP) and friends.
My intention is to develop this into an actual paper as typical with my other writings on this site. For now, I am briefly composing this without providing additional research and without benefit of a spelling or grammar checker. My apology for its coarseness. I want to do this now since there are a lot of people saying “we are in the end-times”. Perhaps, I can write something here that will provide my perspective on this and take your breath away, also. Let’s delve right into a confluence of prophecies that merge together for an amazing revelation concerning the Lord’s return.
Egypt to suffer immensely according to Isaiah
What follows is a prophecy from the Book of Isaiah concerning Egypt. It is not known to have occurred in recorded history, therefore, it is a future prophecy yet to be fulfilled. Interestingly, Isaiah indicates that the Lord will directly participate in Egypt’s punishment and seems to be responsible for the nation’s unrelenting suffering:
♥ An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom; and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers; and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord GOD of hosts. And the waters of the sea will be dried up, and the river will be dry and parched,
and its canals will become foul, and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up, reeds and rushes will rot away.
There will be bare places by the Nile, on the brink of the Nile, and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched, will be driven away, and will be no more. The fishermen will mourn and lament, all who cast a hook in the Nile; and they will languish who spread nets on the water. The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton. Those who are the pillars of the land will be crushed, and all who work for pay will be grieved. (Isaiah 19:1-10 ESV, emphasis mine)
These verses indicate that the Lord himself is going to cause civil war to break out in Egypt that will likely affect nearby nations. As the turmoil in Egypt increases, its leaders will seek advice from pagan practitioners to solve their problems. Ultimately, the Lord will set a harsh king ruling over the Egyptians as the solution they likely would not have chosen for themselves. Once war has ceased in the nation, the Egyptians will continue to suffer grievously because the Nile river will diminish to the point that it no longer exist as Egypt’s predominant asset or its most valuable resource. From the above passage, there is no way to anticipate when these events will occur, only that they will.
If you will note the bolded text in the verse passage above, it is the verse of Isaiah 19:6. If we look at that verse from some of the more popular versions of the Bible such as the ESV, KJV, NASB, NIV, and the NKJV, then only the KJV seemingly points out something different than the other versions. The KJV text of Isaiah 19:6 refers to a manmade change in the rivers feeding the Nile river rather than a fouling of its waters described in the other Bible versions:
♥ And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. (Isaiah 19:6 KJV emphasis mine)
Isn’t that interesting? It is especially interesting if you look at the rivers that feed the Nile and note that Ethiopia completed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam across the Blue Nile in 2023. In times of drought and given a fairly constant water evaporation rate of the broader river formed behind that dam, there are valid concerns that the waters level of the Nile in Egypt could be negatively impacted. While that would not be enough to cause the fulfillment of the above prophecy, it is certain to be a contributor that only became possible just very recently.
Quick summary
What do we know so far about Egypt according to Isaiah? At some point in the future, there is going to be civil war in Egypt and a “fierce king” will emerge to rule over it. During this same time period or following it, the Nile river is going to severely dry-up causing great hardship on all who are in any way dependent on the Nile for food, employment, transportation, etc. Clearly, the economy of Egypt will be in utter shambles if the Nile will no longer serve its purpose as a large river. Life will become very difficult for any Egyptians who remain in Egypt.
Egypt becomes utter waste & desolation according to Ezekiel
Let’s focus our attention now to the 29th chapter of Ezekiel. It, too, concerns Egypt. We need to note something before discussing this chapter. Ezekiel 29:17-21 refers to events that have already taken place in the past and likely have no additional future fulfillment. Conversely, Ezekiel 29:1-16 concerns what this author believes is a future prophecy that is directly connected to the Isaiah 19 prophesy that was just discussed. Here it is:
♥ In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
“Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; speak, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lies in the midst of his streams, that says, ‘My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.’
I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales; and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams, with all the fish of your streams that stick to your scales. And I will cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your streams; you shall fall on the open field, and not be brought together or gathered. To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens I give you as food.
Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD. “Because you have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel, when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the LORD. “Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ therefore, behold, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush.
No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.
“For thus says the Lord GOD: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the land of Pathros [upper Egypt], the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. And it shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that I am the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 29:1-16 ESV emphasis & [comments] mine)
Similar to the Isaiah 19:1-10 prophecy, Ezekiel says that the Lord will cause war in Egypt resulting in tremendous destruction. The Lord will also be against Egypt’s waterways which he will affect by apparently drying them up.
Unlike Isaiah 19:1-10, the Ezekiel prophecy describes a more thorough punishment that brings a new depth of isolation and desolation to Egypt not found in Isaiah’s prophecy. The extensive devastation to the country results in Egypt becoming just so much worthless land incapable of supporting life. So complete is the Lord’s ruining of Egypt that its inhabitants depart, leaving it continuously devoid of both human and animal life. Only after a period of 40-years will the Lord reverse this situation and bring the Egyptians back to their homeland. However, the Lord will keep Egypt among the lowest of nations from that point forward.
Why this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled
Let’s consider some key elements of this prophecy so we can answer an obvious question. How do we know that this prophecy has not been fulfilled in the past?
- As a rough estimate, the House of Israel was removed to the Assyrian Empire 135-years before this prophecy was written (note that the House of Israel consisted of the northern ten tribes of the divided kingdom). Why is this important? In verse 29:16, Ezekiel writes that the House of Israel will never rely on Egypt again. Since the House of Israel has not existed as a nation from about 720 B.C. to the current date of 2024 A.D., this prophecy can make no sense unless it is meant for a future when other prophetic events begin occurring. One of those future events will be the House of Israel being restored and/or being revealed. Therefore, the House of Israel would necessarily have to be in place (in the future) before it could even be possible for it to decide not to rely on Egypt.
Note: most of Ezekiel’s prophecies concern the House of Israel and of those, most are undoubtedly for the future (see Prepare to Meet Your God, O Israel | T.W. for an excellent explanation of this and the reasoning behind it). - Without doubt, bad events have befallen Egypt in the past. However, never has war so torn the land and drought devastated its waterways that it has ever been described in recorded history as “a desolation and a waste”. Furthermore, this future desolation will be so vast that it will apparently affect neighboring countries and their cities to the point that the Egyptians experience a diaspora of their own. Egypt’s inhabitants will, at some point in the future, leave their homes and be dispersed potentially thru-out the world. These calamities never happened during Ezekiel’s lifetime and they are not known to have happened since his long past death.
- Near the end of that Ezekiel prophecy, the Lord says he will restore Egypt, but that it will be “…the most lowly of the kingdoms…[and] so small that they will never again rule over the nations.” For at least many decades to this present time in 2024 A.D., Egypt has maintained a sizeable military and a more than sufficient economy to the point that it is far from being “lowly” or “small”. This further supports that this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled in the future.
40-year dispersion
A key element to Ezekiel’s prophecy is that the Egyptians are going to be displaced out of their homeland for a period of not less than 40-years. Additionally, it is important to note that everything that is going to happen to the Egyptians, is all purposely due to the Lord. It will be the Lord God who passes the sentence against the Egyptians and causes all the calamities that follow. When the Egyptians are out of their country for 40-years, their cities that are wasted and desolate will remain that way for those same 40-years. At the end of the 40-years, it will be the Lord who also returns the Egyptians to their land and restores the country. However, the Lord will permanently keep Egypt in a state of relative impoverishment and below all other nations as a constant reminder of its past treatment of Israel.
Quick summary
According to Ezekiel, the Lord will cause war in Egypt and he decimates its waterways so that it becomes essentially worthless and uninhabitable. It will remain that way for a timespan of 40-years until the Lord reverses Egypt’s misfortune, but only enough so that it exists as one of the poorest of countries.
Clearly, the Isaiah 19:1-10 prophecy and the Ezekiel 29:1-16 prophecy are related and most likely predict an overlapping time-period of events in the future. However, we currently know little else about these prophecies and certainly cannot predict when their fulfillment takes place. There is a greater significance to the Isaiah and Ezekiel prophecies just discussed which will be brought to light with this next prophecy.
Zechariah’s last prophecy
The Book of Zechariah is rich with prophecy even if we are not sure of what some (or a lot) of it means. Let’s focus our attention on the last chapter of that book, Zechariah 14, where he writes his final prophecy describing the time around our Lord’s future return to Jerusalem. Note that the “feast of tabernacles” in this passage is also known as the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Ingathering:
♥ And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses. And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. (Zechariah 14:9-15 KJV emphasis mine)
♥ And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. (Zechariah 14:16 KJV)
♥ And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. (Zechariah 14:17 KJV)
♥ And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. (Zechariah 14:18 KJV emphasis mine)
♥ This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. (Zechariah 14:19 KJV)
While the entire 14th chapter of Zechariah is quite interesting and worthy of study, for our purposes, only the last 4-verses (v.16-19) are necessary to examine. Also, in those 4-verses, there is a reference to “the plague”. That plague is mentioned earlier in the chapter and all the mentions are bolded. I point out this “plague” to note that humankind possesses a weapon technology that produces a near similar effect to the plague. It is called a neutron bomb and, in the right conditions, can disintegrate a person’s flesh and organs before their partially consumed bones can strike the ground. The particular verse describing the effect of the plague is Zechariah 14:12. Let’s get back on track and discuss the significance of the Feast of Tabernacles in regards to Egypt.
The Feast of Tabernacles during the Millennium
A quick reading of Zechariah 14:16 should be sufficient to conclude that the Millennial Kingdom of Lord Jesus will have been established and proceeding with the business of the kingdom by that point in time. The details of clean-up, deciding who is in charge of what, the rebuilding of infrastructure, and a thousand other tasks are all encompassed in the phrase, “And it shall come to pass….” As made clear in that verse, all the enemy nations that will come against Jerusalem (presumably at the battle at Armageddon) will be required to make the annual trip to Jerusalem to worship King Jesus and perform the Feast of Tabernacles which is described in the Book of Deuteronomy:
♥ Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. (Deuteronomy 16:13-15 NIV)
Author’s comment on worship and keeping the Feast
This author suspects that the Lord’s requirement of a nation’s annual worship and keeping of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem will be conducted by consolidated family groups representing their respective nation. Additionally, it is also suspected that the worship and feast-keeping go hand-in-hand with each other during a single travel period to Jerusalem rather than being two separate travel periods to Jerusalem. Why? The logistics of moving large numbers of people from all over the world would make the consolidated family groups and single travel periods necessary, especially as population levels exponentially grow over the 1,000-years of the Millennium. For these reasons, it is strongly suspected that referring to either event of annual worship or the Feast of Tabernacles separately is actually a shortened reference to both events together.
Punishment for dishonoring the Lord
It seems surprising, but Zechariah 14:17 indicates there will be nations that refuse to go to Jerusalem and worship the Lord Jesus and, per the above Author’s comment, do not participate in the Feast of Tabernacles. That is unfortunate since the Bible does not indicate that the worship and Feast are optional; they are mandated by the Lord. If you are curious about who these persons are who will populate the countries of the world in the Millennium, then there is a brief discussion about them here The Last Moment of Accountability.
What will be the Lord’s reaction to these disobedient nations? We know that our Lord is loving, kind, and given to extending mercy. However, we are also told information about the firmness with which the rule of Law will be applied in the Millennium. To be clear, that is the Lord’s rule and the Lord’s Law. To those whom the Lord delegates authority to, they will not be bribed for favor and they certainly will not be lax in their duties as indicated here:
♥ And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. (Revelation 2:26-27 KJV emphasis mine)
If the Lord’s delegates need a reminder of the firm hand they are expected to apply, they can model directly from the Lord who will be demonstrating little to no flexibility in his rule according to the following verses:
♥ And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. (Revelation 12:5 KJV)
♥ From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. (Revelation 19:15 NASB emphasis mine)
♥ “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (Psalms 2:6-9 ESV emphasis mine)
So, what is the punishment for disobeying the Lord in regards to Zechariah 14:16? According to Zechariah 14:17, the nation who dishonors the Lord by failing to go to Jerusalem and worship him is to suffer by not having rain on their nation. Apparently, that disobedient nation will begin to experience a full-on drought. Obviously, the effects of a drought take time to be felt. If the timespan between rainfalls normally varies from days to possibly months, then the sudden ceasing of rain cycles might not be noticed for weeks or, quite possibly, months.
Since the Bible does not specify the time period from the Lord’s ceasing of rain until the next stage of punishment by the Lord, this author will carefully exert his liberty using logic and reason to define that period. Before doing so, understand that this author always tries to interpret the Bible as literally as possible, but finds it necessary to make a small assumption about the duration of this time period that is not stated in the Bible. That being said, should the author be wrong about this time period, it matters not! It turns out that the time period between the Lord’s two distinct punishments for disobedience to Zechariah 14:16 has no bearing on the conclusion to this writing. That’s right; regardless of what that time period is, it has ZERO consequence to the final conclusion of this writing.
Let’s put this together. If a nation’s representative family groups fail to appear in Jerusalem to worship the Lord, then neither can they be there to honor the Feast of Tabernacles as explained previously in the Author’s comment above. Remember, all of it (including the feast) is ultimately about worshipping the Lord. Based on Zechariah 14:18, if that same nation’s family groups also fail to appear in Jerusalem the following year for worship and observance of the Feast of Tabernacles, then the Lord’s punishment becomes drastically worse. The Lord will further punish that nation that stubbornly continues with its impudence towards him by smiting it with “the plague”. Again, the Bible does not say the time period is a year, but that seems to be the most logical and reasonable duration.
The plague that the Lord will release upon a disrespectful nation was compared earlier to a neutron bomb. It is unlikely that the Lord will use a human device of destruction for punishment or as a means to persuade other nations to be obedient. That plague could actually be an advanced biological ‘tool’ developed by the Lord capable of ultrafast consuming of flesh for expedient removal of dissidents. Since “their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet”, it is thought that the victim’s bones will remain after the plague is done. That would certainly be a powerful visual statement for other nations that might consider not worshipping the Lord in the manner he requires. Hopefully, there is no doubt about the Lord’s resolve to rule with a rod of iron.
The example of Egypt
As a clear example of what the disobedient nation can expect for not worshipping the Lord in the prescribed manner, Zechariah 14:18-19 decribes the punishment applied to Egypt if it were that nation. Let’s briefly consider a possible sequence of those events here using Egypt as the example:
The farmers of Egypt have harvested their crops for the year and there is plenty of grain, but noticeably less than the previous year. The surrounding nations have some of their largest crop yields ever that year which infuriates the Egyptian farmers. After discussions among the consolidated family groups that are expected to appear in Jerusalem for annual ‘services’, they decide they have strength in numbers and refuse to go up to Jerusalem in protest. The Lord’s delegate who rules over Egypt (himself a former martyr of the Lord and returned to life in the first resurrection) demands the family groups go up to Jerusalem and worship or he will reduce their water allocations on top of a possible drought caused by the Lord for their disobedience. They continue to refuse and decide they will tough it out, doubting that the Lord has that kind of control over the weather.
Of course, Egypt’s family groups doubted wrong. From the day they decided not to go up to Jerusalem to worship and keep the Feast of Tabernacles, no rain fell anywhere in Egypt for the next year. The consequence for Egypt’s farmers was the lowest yield harvest they had ever known. They should have learned their lesson and sent the family groups with all haste to Jerusalem for the next annual worship/feast period, but they were furious at what they endured and the ridicule they suffered from the other nations. They decided they would show the Lord and the other nations just how stubborn they could be and how no one could force them to do anything against their will.
Shortly after the Egyptian family groups failed a 2nd year to appear in Jerusalem for their annual worship and participation in the Feast of Tabernacles, an emergency broadcast went out all over the world. The news media organizations were aghast by images coming out of Egypt. From farms all over that country were images of piles of bones where living humans had been only a few hours prior. It was estimated that tens of thousands of the Egyptian population had perished in a single minute leaving only bones as witness to where they last stood. Ouch.
Conclusion
Gentle reader, how did we get to the conclusion already? Isn’t this writing supposed to about the return of Lord Jesus? How does this last prophecy tie together with the first two? It doesn’t seem to be much about Egypt other than it mentioned Egypt as an example. How can any of this be about the Lord’s return???
These are all valid questions that one might be asking at this point. Little do you know that you have been broadsided by a big rig and don’t even know it! It took the author many years to see what is about to be revealed. I have no doubt that it was the Holy Spirit that guided me to see what follows.
1st question: Where do the Egyptians have to be in order to go up to Jerusalem to worship and keep the Feast of Tabernacles? (Egypt)
2nd question: How long does Ezekiel tell us the Egyptians will be out of their land? (40yrs)
3rd question: Are the Egyptians out of their land, yet? (No)
4th question: Is the Lord going to bring war on Egypt during the Millennium? (No! The Isaiah and Ezekiel prophecies are before it.)
5th question: Why does Zechariah specifically use Egypt as an example? (To tell us the Egyptians are in their land in the Millennium!)
6th question: What has to be true before the Millennium begins? (The Egyptians must be in their land.)
7th question: Can the Millennium begin after the Egyptians have been out of their land for only 20-years? (No, still 20-years left.)
8th question: What has to be true before the Millennium begins? (The 40-years is completed and the Egyptians must be in their land!)
9th question: Will the Lord return and establish his kingdom in the next year? in 5yrs? in 10yrs? in 20yrs? in 30yrs? (No to all!!!)
My dear gentle reader, the return of the King is not likely for at least 40 or 50-years or longer. I truly hope that by the 9th question above, this assessment makes sense. If not, then slowly go over those questions again and carefully think about the answers. Give extra attention to the 5th-8th questions.
There seems to be a lot of pastors, biblical presenters, and entire churches that are making a lot of money off of people’s fear of imminent destruction coming on the world. It seems that a lot of folks are making future decisions right now believing they are imminently about to be ‘raptured’ away from our troubled planet. What will they do if in a fews years from now they are still here and the world continues? At some point, it is suspected that many of these believers who are weaker in faith may fall away from the faith thinking it was all false. They might say that all the hoopla about end-times was false and that none of it is true. Of course, they will be wrong. Unfortunately, it might be very difficult to convince them to return to Christianity.
Cheers, the return of the King is absolutely assured to occur at some point in the future. Since we can’t be sure when that is, it may be necessary to have patience until death. This author is simply telling it as he understands it. Not wanting to end on such a depressing conclusion, have you seen the movie Passengers? It stars Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. It is definitely a PG-13 movie in a few parts, but this author considers it a hidden Christian movie of sorts. It seems, from the Christian perspective, to be filled with incidents of divine providence. If you like Sci-Fi, then consider watching it and see if you agree. It definitely has a feel-good ending and is this author’s favorite non-Christian movie! 😊
The Humbled Teacher
DAC