Spiritual Gifts: Their Meanings and Structure

Here are some snippets from my book.  If you would like more, let me know.  If you want the whole thing feel free to follow this link to Amazon:  Spiritual Gifts: Their Meanings and Structure.  If you do not have an Amazon account, please leave comment (which will not be published) and I can send you a copy at the same price, $9, no shipping costs.  I have limited supply.

• From Introduction chapter:  Why do a study on the spiritual gifts? Because the gifts are something that the church was supposed to be using and I feel that we are falling short of what was expected. Without the gifts being used the church is not fulfilling all of its potential. We wonder why we are not reaching all the lost souls in this world, yet we are not doing all we need to do be doing. We are not doing the one thing that each of us has been called to do.
• From Cessationism vs Continuationism chapter: One major problem with understanding the gifts is that we have to know if the gifts are still available or not.  Some believe that the gifts have died out when the Apostolic Age ended.... When did Scripture end?  Was it perfected in 70 A.D. with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple like Preterism claims?  The Futurists think that Revelation, the last book in the Bible was written about 85 to 90 A.D.
• From the main part of the book:Why did the early church need apostles? They needed someone to carry on the miracles and message of Christ. The message of Christ was new to everyone. The whole world did not know what following Christ meant since He ascended into heaven. The apostle (lower cased) had to be the deliverer of the word and to take care of people who wanted to follow Christ. They chose local leaders to carry on the functions and leadership of congregations while they were away. They started churches and watched over them. They handled problems of doctrines and teachings. They gave authenticity to others. With this in mind let us define in detail the gift of apostle..... Greek-“apo” plus “stellos”. Apo means “from somewhere”. Stellos means “send out”. The word means someone who was sent from somewhere.  Hebrew- “shaliah”.  It means emissary or one sent on a mission, such as a missionary.  Clarification and meaning of this gift: One chosen by God to be sent out with a unique mission. A specific mission might be starting a church, acting and speaking on His behalf.

Each chapter is dedicated to a different gift and follows the same pattern; why did the early church have it, why does the church still have it, what are the types of this gift, what personalities and issues happen with this gift, the etymology, clarification, and some misconceptions.  Loaded with a full inventory at the end.  Great for class studies or personal growth.

For more here on my blogs:  Spiritual Gifts Overview and Gift of gifts

(97) Making a Name

After the global flood, Noah left the Ark. The very first thing that God said to Noah in Genesis 9 was, 

• 1 "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth."

And just a few verses later God reiterated this command when he said,

• 7 "As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."

One of the commands from God that the human race was supposed to do was fill the earth. The only way to do that is if they started to migrate and move out to other areas. But as we read in Genesis 11 this is not what some certain pieces of the human race did. Some chose to settle in the plain of Shinar. That is part of the problem but what they did next is by far worse.

They were working together and they decided to build a structure that would reach to the heavens. They did this so that they would not be scattered over the earth. Their idea was in direct opposition of what God wanted. But there is even more to this story.

If we read deeper into this passage we know that this plain of Shinar is the Mesopotamia fertile crescent region. This is the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. The main city between these rivers is what is known today as Babylon. Hence the Bible calls it Babel, which means "confused".

If we notice how the scripture here is laid out, this story lies between one story about Shem, a son of Noah, and his decedents in chapter 10 and another story about Shem in chapter 12.  Why is it in between?

Shem can be translated as "Name". Jewish people sometimes call God, HaShem, or "the Name". So, why is this surrounding this story at Babel? If we go back to Genesis 10:8-10 we see a man with the name of Nimrod. It says Nimrod's kingdom was in Babel. Nimrod can be translated as "rebellious". It can be assumed that he is the one who was starting this tower to reach the heavens since it was his kingdom. What was his rebellion? Notice what they said when they were building the Tower, "Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves". In other words, the name of God is not what they were worshiping. They were going to worship their own name.  Nimrod is the first shadow of the anti-Christ, someone who tries to raise his name above God's.

They were one language and were doing this, so God in order so save humanity from itself divided them. Only the name of God should be worshiped.  When mankind thinks their name is higher or just as important as God we can see that all they have is confusion.

(96) Two Meals

Genesis 3:1-6

• 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
• 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
• 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 
• 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
• 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
• 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

The woman, being Eve, saw that the tree was good for food and she ate from it.  After she was deceived by the serpent (satan) she took the fruit of the tree and ate it.  He added doubt to what God had said.  He did not tell the full story.  And because she fell into desire and disobeyed God and listened to satan instead of the word of God, sin entered this world.  Death came.  Disease took hold.  Hair started to fall out.  Skin could now be blemished.  Desires became evil.  Eyesight and hearing became impaired.  Hate entered.  Relying upon our own decisions over God's plan was now impacting all historical events.  When they took this meal the human race died.  All flesh was ruined.

The human race lost its path to God.  Reconciliation was now needed.  People like Noah, Abraham, Issac, and Jacob had faith and God kept them safe in His arms.  But the rest of the human race became slaves to our desires and each generation died more (if possible) than the generation before.  Even God's people, the chosen ones of Israel, eventually succumbed to the evil desires of this world and become slaves to Egypt.  God heard their cries but reconciliation was still needed.  God gave them the Law but they still could not bring the reconciliation by these works.  The human race was still dead.

All because of one meal.

Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:14-23 (combined)

• While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.”
• And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “Take this and share it among yourselves. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins;
• do this in remembrance of Me.
• Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in My Father’s kingdom.”

Almost 4000 years after Adam and Eve ate from the tree, Jesus Christ came and gave up His life.  His life will be the reconciliation that the human race needed.  His life will give us life renewed.  To undo the damage that Adam did, Jesus came.

To reverse the curse, Jesus added a blessing.  To heal the ruined flesh of the human race Jesus offered His flesh.  To bring back life, Jesus offered His blood.  Because of Jesus the human race is alive again.  The pathway back to God was complete.  The truth by the word of God was given back to man and turned back the deception of the word of the serpent.

All because of another meal.

This meal is communion.  Take and remember His sacrifice.  This Resurrection Sunday remember all that He did for us.

(95) The Secret to Creation

The very first verse in the Bible says so much.  Not only does it show how the whole universe was created, such as universal laws, the physical world, and how all life began, Creation Thoughts and Creation Lessons, it also shows who created it all.  But there is a secret hidden in the verse that many will never see.  In English, the most common translation is of course, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth".  As most sane people would know and understand, the Bible was not written in English.  It's original language for the most (for we have to remember it wasn't all written at once) is Hebrew.  So let's look at the text in Hebrew.  Genesis 1:1

• Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz.

Here is a breakdown of this verse:

1. Beresheet means in the beginning.  Time is referenced here.  The beginning of all we know.  And all we know starts at one point...in time.
2. Bara means out of nothing.  Absolute void.  This is referencing the big bang.  All of a sudden out of nothing comes everything.
3. Elohim means God.  But it is a plural noun with a singular (bara) verb.  This is referencing the fact that God is omnipresent but also that God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.  There is a strong meaning here that emphasizes a Trinity.
4. Hashamayim means heavens.  Space is referenced here.  This is a plural noun.  All that is out there beyond our existence is hashamayim.  Yes, that could also mean the place where God dwells.  But in this instance it is talking about creation of a physical universe.
5. Ve'et is translated as "and".  This goes without saying what it means.
6. Ha'aretz means earth.  Matter is being referenced here.  At first the earth did not have a shape and no dry ground was here.  This means earth as in "not space".  Our physical planet.

All of that has been referenced before and written about.  Most Christians would understand all that has been said above, at least understand it.  But there was one word that was skipped over.  No one really ever discusses it.  The word "et" is never talked about.  The reason why is probably because it cannot be translated, until now.  In Hebrew it is never translated in English.  Look at this example:  Genesis in Hebrew.  In all references this word is never translated.   Why?

The letters are et in English letters.  But in Hebrew they are actually alef and tav.  Alef is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and tav is the last letter in the Hebrew alphabet.  So why is it there and what does it mean?  If we understand that this term is not a real word we can figure this out.  Alef tav means the beginning and the end.  Does that sound familiar?  Jesus said in Revelation He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  That is translated from Greek.  In Hebrew it is I am the Alef and the Tav, the beginning and the end.  Jesus is right there in creation.  But even more fascinating is the placement of the word.

If we understand the symbolism in the Bible, numbers are very symbolic.  Such as 3 is unity, 5 is grace, 12 is completion and so forth.  Seven is the number of God, perfection.  That is why Menorahs have seven lamps.  Revelation is filled with signs of sevens.  Jesus told Peter to forgive 70 times 7.  There are many other references to seven.  Now go back and read the passage in Hebrew.  There are seven words.  The word in the middle is Alef Tav.  Jesus is in the middle of creation.   What's even more interesting is that if you go through all of the first chapter, each part that describes a piece of creation--light, animals, and plants, the word Alef Tav is in the middle of each verse!!!!

John 1:3:

• All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

(94) What are the Keys?

Matthew 16:19 has Jesus saying, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”  What does that mean?  

If we go back to the Greek, which was one of the lingua franca at the time, especially in the Asia Minor/Palestine area, the word 'keys' is from the word 'kleis'.  It is in the New Testament six times.  It means authority.  What are these keys?  They are not actual literal keys like someone gives to others to let themselves into a place.  In each reference it is symbolic of holding some kind of power over something else.  When Jesus says that we have the keys of the kingdom it means that we have been given authority on this earth.  We will be heard from heaven.  We will be given authority from heaven.  Why?  We are kings!  See Lesson 79  This is the background, the big question is where did the keys come from?  Keep in mind some of this is just an opinion because the Old Testament doesn't mention keys although other terms are used in there that are connected.  Such as "dominion", "rule", and "subdue" have clearly the same concepts.  We are to rule.  But 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 2:2, and John 12:31 says that satan rules the earth.  Now how could both be right? Somewhere along the line satan gained the keys to this world.  And that day came the day that Adam fell.  We bowed down to satan and he became the ruler of the world.

We were supposed to rule this world and live forever; one with God (Elohim) the Creator but Adam disobeyed God and basically gave satan the keys to the earth.  We handed dominion over to him.  We died that day.  Our souls and bodies were now able to die.  Our bodies now decayed.  Our souls now went to the grave (Sheol) waiting for judgement.  There are two parts to Sheol; Hades and Paradise. When Jesus's body died, His soul went to Paradise and released all the souls.  The souls went back to their bodies, Matthew 27:52-53.  These resurrected saints gained life again and were taken to heaven when Jesus ascended.  We lost the keys and the only way we could get it back is if God Himself came and took them back.  While He was in Paradise he took back the keys for us.  Revelation 1:17-18 says, "When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, 'Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.'"

We now have been given the keys to the kingdom.  Peter passed on those keys because the church was founded on him.  We are the church.  We have those keys.  Jesus holds the keys to death and Hades.  Satan has no more dominion over us, unless we don't use those keys.  Death will not stop us.

(93) Timelines of the Ages

Lesson 92 talks about when the end of the world may happen.  A huge discussion was started about the terms "age" and "world" and the ideas of preterism versus futurism.  That sparked a few more discussions.  This lesson will show you the idea of what the ages of mankind, Israel, and covenants all look like on a chronological scale.  Below is the timeline of man's existence.  Based on lesson 92, which is based on scripture, the time of man's reign is 6000 years.

The Main Black Line:  As you see there is "time" before man.  Only God is eternal.  All else was created.  However at the right hand end of the timeline you see an eternal future.  This is the promised eternal life that Jesus stated in John 3:16 and is a common theme in all of Christianity.  The rest on the line just shows years in 1000 year increments.  Hence, a total of 7000 years that includes the Reign of Christ.

The Blue Boxes:  These just show important historical events of mankind that deal with Biblical concepts.  The first set of numbers in each box is the year since the creation of man.  The second number is the modern acceptance of a calendar.  The Second Advent (2nd Coming of Christ) is not on here due to space, but it would be at 6000.  The "rapture" is also not on here because it could be anytime between the creation of Israel in 1948 and the end around 2063.

The Red Range:  Two major covenants deal with the destruction of man.  Perhaps the Adamic Covenant should have been placed at the beginning of this one and may change given any more thought.  After God spared Noah He promised not to destroy the Earth with water, but the next time (promised inferred) by fire.  The world will be destroyed by fire.  Maybe this is how the New Heavens and New Earth will be started.  Once the old goes away, the new will come.  Maybe the destruction by fire will be after the 1000 year reign; for now it will stay there.

The Blue Range:  There are three ways that God gave mankind that dealt with the shedding of blood to save the relationship between Himself and us.  The Abrahamic Covenant had man circumcised. This circumcision was a cutting of the flesh.  With the flesh cut, man would rely upon God.  And with that God counted Abraham as righteous.  If man could have kept faith there would not have been any need for anything else.  But the Israelites would turn away from this covenant.  They would fall into captivity.  But after 400 years (210 actually in the land of Egypt) God called them out.  He then gave them a new covenant, the Ten Commandments.  The shedding of blood would now be of a spotless lamb; Abraham saw this.  It was created to show that man by himself could not get the relationship back.  The Law could never be kept perfectly, hence the shedding of innocent blood was still needed.  If man could have kept the Law then no killing would have been needed.  Jesus was sent because the Law would not be sufficient since man distorted the Law.  Pharisees and teachers of the Law created religion, Matthew 23.  When Jesus laid down His life and shed His blood, the Law would pass and usher in the time of Grace; Abraham saw this too.  Once Jesus returns there will be no need for Grace for all who are alive in Him shall be in Paradise for 1000 years and eventually with Him in "heaven".

The Black Range:  This is the timeline of Israel.  

1.   It was first created when Jacob's name was changed to Israel somewhere around 1720 BC.
2.   They were taken into "captivity" for 210 years, 1692-1482 BC.
3.   The Creation of Israel (2nd time, judges and kings) from Moses to Jehoiachin, 1482-587 BC, during this time period the Temple was built.
4.   The Babylonian Captivity for 70 years, 587-517 BC.
5.   The Pax Romana, Rome and the Greeks spread the culture, Israel came home and was allowed to be self autonomous in many ways, 517 BC- 70 AD.  During this time period a second Temple was created, although the spiritual Temple was established.
6.   The Gentile Captivity (Age of the Gentiles), 7 gentile kingdoms will control Israel, 70-1948 AD  see Lesson 92 for list.
7.   The creation of Israel (again, the 3rd time), Jews will return until the end, 1948-2070 AD.  During this time period, a third Temple will be created.

When it all comes down to it the words age and covenant, age and world, age and eons, are all very similar.  There are many ages.  There are many covenants.  They can overlap, not a good thing sometimes.  To understand which term is being used, you have to look at the whole passage and the context it is being used.  It should be literal as much as possible unless it is being used in prophecy or poetry then the possibility of imagery could play a factor.

(92) When is the end of the world?

First and foremost, no one knows when the end of the world is.  Jesus said no one knows the hour nor the day.  As a small joke though, it does not say no one knows the year.  The only thing we can do in this case is make our best educated guess.  Even then there can be so much confusion it may not be worth worrying about.  As long as people live the best way that they can and accept the fact that God came down as a man to live in our world and died so that we may have ever lasting life, then it doesn't matter when the world will end.  Stay clear of people who claim to know when the end will come and who stand by their predictions wholeheartedly even after they were wrong.  Even the prophets who were told straight from God about the coming of the Messiah were not told when it would happen but what to look for.

With that said, can there be educated guesses that will be pretty near correct?  Sure.  This will attempt to be one of those.  This is not to proclaim that this is 100% correct.  Sure does work though.

How do we begin?  Oddly enough, we start finding the end at the very beginning.  In Genesis chapter one we are given the basis for mankind, even its term of existence.  God created all things in 6 days and then rested.  So in essence all of creation was done in 7 days, hence this is why we use 7 days in a week.  Why is this important?  It sets up all we need to know for this topic.

There is an idea of how numbers mean something.  Some call it numerology.  In the Hebrew language every mark, every letter, and every number have symbols and meanings.  Such as the letter "aleph" (Greek=alpha or our letter "a") stands for ox, strength, and the number 1,  All the other letters do the same thing.  The second letter "bet" is also the number 2.  The fifth letter is "hey", or the letter "h".  It can mean to reveal.  "Hey" also stands for the number five.  As a number, 5 stands for grace.  This is just to show you how things work.  Let's look at the numbers 6 and 7.  The number 6 is known as the number of man.  The number 7 is known as the number of God.  Notice on the 6th day, man was created and on the 7th day God rested and that day was supposed to be given to God, known as the Sabbath.

Now let's take another piece of scripture, 2 Peter 3:3-8 says:

• First, understand this: during the Last Days, scoffers will come, following their own desires and asking, “Where is this promised ‘coming’ of his?  For our fathers have died, and everything goes on just as it has since the beginning of creation.”  But, wanting so much to be right about this, they overlook the fact that it was by God’s Word that long ago there were heavens, and there was land which arose out of water and existed between the waters, and that by means of these things the world of that time was flooded with water and destroyed.  It is by that same Word that the present heavens and earth, having been preserved, are being kept for fire until the Day of Judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.  Moreover, dear friends, do not ignore this: with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.

Peter is telling us about the last days.  Many during this time will make fun of Christians who believe in the return of Jesus.  They will not use scripture to understand the universe.  They will deny that there will be a day of judgement in the end.  Peter gives us insight to when that time is.  One day is LIKE a thousand years. He is telling us that the days are symbols of years since he uses the word "like".  He is quoting Psalms 90:4 to show his point.

Now let's start putting it together.  There are 6 days for man, 1 for God.  Or in other words, 6000 years of man. God will have 1000 years and will cause rest for the earth, based on Genesis, Psalms, and Peter.  There will be 7000 years of existence for the earth.  If we looked at genealogy of man, reconciling the written secular history of man and what the Bible states by giving genealogies, the creation of man happened somewhere around 3930 BC.  Doing the math, 6000 - 3930 = 2070.  By this calculation the return of Jesus that sets up the 1000 years of rest would be around 2070 AD.

As of this writing that means Jesus came somewhere between 2016 and 2020 years ago.  His death would be somewhere around 30 AD or so.  Jesus said He would be in the tomb for 2 days and on the 3rd day rise again.  Using the number equivalency that Peter gave us that means 2000 years will go by symbolically and on the third day (one day after the 2000 years is over starts the next thousand years, hence the 3rd day).  Sometime 2000 years after Jesus dies the next thousand years starts.  But when is that?

Another prophecy states that the end cannot happen until Israel is in the hands of the Jews, Luke 21:24 says:

• Some will fall by the edge of the sword, others will be carried into all the countries of the Goyim, and Yerushalayim will be trampled down by the Goyim until the age of the Goyim has run its course.

The Goyim is "gentile" in Hebrew.  Gentiles (non-Jews) will take over Jerusalem and will have a given time period to do so.  Once the gentiles are out of the land then the end is near.  Who are the gentiles?  Rome had taken over the Palestine area many years before Jesus but allowed the area to be ruled locally with some autonomy.  Herod was allowed to be king of the Jews.  The Jews were allowed their own courts and so forth.  But in 70 AD Rome destroyed Jerusalem.  This ushers in the time of the gentiles.  This is after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Doing the math, 2000+70= 2070.

For historical purposes here is a list of the "time of the gentiles":

1. Rome 70-380 AD or so, depending on which history book
2. Byzantine 380-630 AD
3. Caliphates 630-1099 AD
4. Crusaders of Europe 1099-1187 AD
5. Caliphates 1187-1486
6. Ottoman Empire 1486-1917
7. British Mandate 1917-1948

Things really started to change in 1917.  In 1917, WWI ended and Britain gained control over the land through a League of Nations mandate.  A British Jew named Arthur Balfour, with the help of Walter Rothschild, came up with a plan to rebuild a homeland for the Jews in a movement called Zionism.  The plan was not implemented right away.  In 1948, after WWII had ended the Balfour Declaration, sanctioned by the new UN, created the state of Israel.  But Jews were highly outnumbered by Palestinians at first.  In 1950, Jewish Parliament passed the The Law of Return, officially calling all Jews back to Israel, setting up prophetically the end of the time of the gentiles.  Jesus said His return will be like the times of Noah.  Using the language that God gave Noah, man's days were numbered; 120 years until the promised destruction of the earth.  Noah had 120 years to preach about the end  and prepare for the day (Genesis 6).  After the official call for the return of Jewish people from around the world,  Jews have 120 years to return to Israel before the great destruction like Noah, this time by fire.  Doing the math again, 1950+120= 2070.

For the end to come though, the Jews have to be in control of their land.  This is why satan has twice caused the Jews to be dispersed into the world.  Once through the Babylonian Captivity and the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome.  Three times they have called the land "home".  The first time they were led out of Egypt into the land.  The second time Nebuchadnezzar let them come home. and the third time is the charm, after Hitler and the Holocaust.  After each disaster and captivity, the Jews have always returned by the grace of God.  Twice the Temple has been built and twice it has been destroyed.  Prophecy says the Jews will build a 3rd Temple; third time is the charm.  But to do that they have to be in control over their land.  They couldn't do that until recent history.  It will happen now.  When will this happen?  The best guess is 2063 AD.  Daniel says there will be 490 years of prophecy. 

• Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and for your holy city for putting an end to the transgression, for making an end of sin, for forgiving iniquity, for bringing in everlasting justice, for setting the seal on vision and prophet, and for anointing the Especially Holy Place. Know, therefore, and discern that seven weeks [of years] will elapse between the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Yerushalayim until an anointed prince comes. It will remain built for sixty-two weeks [of years], with open spaces and moats; but these will be troubled times. Then, after the sixty-two weeks, Mashiach will be cut off and have nothing. The people of a prince yet to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, but his end will come with a flood, and desolations are decreed until the war is over. He will make a strong covenant with leaders for one week [of years]. For half of the week he will put a stop to the sacrifice and the grain offering. On the wing of detestable things the desolator will come and continue until the already decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator.

Weeks here is symbolic of the amount of years.  He said there will be 70 weeks left to end sin. The Messiah will bring in peace and forgiveness. 70 weeks of years means 490 years total. The second temple would take 49 years (7 weeks of years) to build. Then Jesus will come 434 years later (62 weeks of years). These two timed events equal 69 weeks of years (483 years).  Daniel then says the Messiah will be cut off and all the world has to go through its turmoil and destructive nature.  Then the last week of years will happen.  That means 483 years will be used to prophecy the coming of the Christ, then He will come and then will have nothing to do with Messianic prophecy until the end. The last 7 years of Daniel's prophecy is added for the end of times.  This is what many will say when the rapture and the 3rd Temple will happen.  The Christians will be taken out of the way.  In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, the man who leads people away from the truth (the anti-Christ) will get power but only when that "which is standing in his way" is removed.  What stands in his way?  The Holy Spirit.  That means the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth and the only way to do that is when the Christians who are filled with the Spirit have been removed, hence the so-called rapture. The anti-Christ will have those 7 years to wreck havoc upon the earth while portraying to be a man of peace.  After that day of the rapture the 7 years of prophecy that are left will start.

Jesus one day went into the Temple and read from Isaiah 61 which says:

• The Spirit of Adonai Elohim is upon me, because Adonai has anointed me to announce good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted; to proclaim freedom to the captives, to let out into light those bound in the dark; to proclaim the year of the favor of Adonai and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn,

But Jesus did not read this whole passage.  He stopped at "to proclaim the year of the favor of Adonai"- Luke 4: 18-19.  He stopped because He knew the day of vengeance was still yet to come. He said He fulfilled that passage.  But He only fulfilled part of it because the rest was yet to come.

As of this writing it is 2016.  An educated guess means there are only 47 more years until we see the greatest destruction of all.  Until then there will be wars, rumors of wars, pestilence, earthquakes, and other disasters and they will get worse and worse.  Christians will be saved from the wrath of God just as in the days of Noah.

Remember you heard it here first.