The final

Consummation
of the age of
Grace
The return of the King
henry epps
The final Consummation of the age of Grace

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 The final Consummation of the age of Grace

Preface

Matthew 24:1-24 (KJV)

1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and
his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the
temple.

2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things?
Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone
upon another that shall not be thrown down.

3 And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came

unto him privately, saying; tell us, when shall these things
be? In addition, what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of
the end of the world?

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no
man deceive you.

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and

shall deceive many.

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye

be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but
the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against

kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and
earthquakes, in divers places.

8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

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9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill

you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one

another, and shall hate one another.

11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive

many.

12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall

wax cold.

13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all

the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the
end come.

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of

desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the
holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the

mountains:

17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take

anything out of his house:

18 Neither let him, which is in the field return back to take

his clothes.

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19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that
give suck in those days!

20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither

on the sabbath day:

21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since

the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

22 And except those days should be shortened, there should

no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be
shortened.

23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or
there; believe it not.

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and
shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

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Jesus warned his disciples of the state of the world to come,

a world of power, money, and sex. Modern churches that
dilute the word of God for Mammon and today churches are
just like the world system. Preachers that at one time
demanded self-discipline and personal humility are now
proud arrogant entertainers seducing the people with myths
and false dreams.

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Chapter One

The prophecy of Daniel about the

Consummation of the age

Daniel Chapter 12

In addition, at that time Michael shall stand up—Michael the

archangel, as has already been observed, was ever reputed
the guardian of the Jewish people.

Every one that shall be found written in the book—All that

truly fear, love, and obey the Lord, On the phrase, "written in
the book, the book of life," etc., .

Daniel 12:2

Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth—this

prophecy has been referred to the future restoration of the
Jews. It will be also true of the state of humankind at the
general judgment.

Daniel 12:3

And they that be wise—Those who are thoroughly instructed

in Christ's word and doctrine, shall shine—shall be eminently
distinguished in the Christian Church by the holiness of their
lives, and the purity of their creed.

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And they that turn many to righteousness—They who, by

preaching Christ crucified among their brethren, shall be the
means of converting them to the Christian faith; shall be as
the stars—bright luminaries in the Gospel kingdom of Jesus
Christ. This also may be applied to the case of holy and useful
men, particularly the faithful ministers of the Gospel, in the
Day of Judgment. See James 5:20 (note), 1 Corinthians 15:41-
42 (note).

Daniel 12:4

Shut up the words, and seal the book—when a prophet

received, a prediction concerning what was at a considerable
distance of time, he shut his book, did not communicate his
revelation for some time after. This Daniel was commanded
to do, 8:26. See also Isaiah 29:10, 11; Revelation 22:10.
Among the ancients, those were said to seal, who in the
course of their reading stamped the places of which they
were yet doubtful, in order to keep them in memory that
they might refer to then; again, as not yet fully understood.
This custom Salmasius, in his book De modo Usurarum, p.
446, proves from Hesychius.

Many shall run to and fro—Many shall endeavour to search

out the sense; and knowledge shall be increased by these
means; though the meaning shall not be fully known till the
events take place: THEN the seal shall be broken, and the
sense become plain. This seems to be the meaning of this
verse, though another has been put on it, viz., "Many shall
run to and fro preaching the Gospel of Christ, and therefore

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religious knowledge and true wisdom shall be increased."

This is true in itself; but it is not the meaning of the prophet's
words.

Daniel 12:5

Behold there stood other two—probably two angels. We

know no more of them, unless they be the same as those
called saints, Daniel 8:13 (note), which see. The river was
most likely the Tigris.

Daniel 12:6

The man clothed in linen—Gabriel in a human form. Thus he

is represented, chap. 10:5.

Daniel 12:7

Which was upon the waters—by this description, he was

standing on the water. This is very similar to the description
of the angel, Revelation 10:5, 6, and in the seventh verse
there seems to be a reference to this prophecy "a time,
times, and a half." See the note on Daniel 7:25 (note).

Daniel 12:8

I heard, but I understand not—could not comprehend what

the time, times, and half time should refer to. These make
three years and a half of prophetic times answering to one
thousand two hundred and sixty years.

Daniel 12:9

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The words are closed up—the prophecy shall not be

understood, but in its accomplishment; and then the depth
of the wisdom and providence of God will be clearly seen in
these matters. See on Daniel 4 (note). We must wait "till the
time of the end;" and this, it appears from the following
calculations, will not arrive before the TWENTIETH CENTURY.
We here see the reason why these prophecies are at present
so imperfectly understood. God has sealed them.

Daniel 12:10

Many shall be purified—during the interim, the great work of

God's providence and grace shall be carried on in the
salvation of men; who, in the midst of trials, temptations,
and difficulties, shall be purified and made white—be fully
saved from their sins.

None of the wicked shall understand—Because they are

wicked, and will continue in their sins, the eyes of their
understanding shall be closed, and their hearts hardened; so
that they shall not see the light of the glorious Gospel.

However, the wise—those who open their hearts to God,

that he may pour in his light, shall understand the things that
make for their peace.

Daniel 12:11

From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away—
See the notes on Daniel 11:25-27 (note).

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The abomination that maketh desolate set up—I believe,

with Bp. Newton, that this is a proverbial phrase; and may be
applied to any thing substituted in the place of, or set up in
opposition to, the ordinances of God, his worship, his truth,
etc. Adrian's temple, built in the place of God's temple at
Jerusalem, the church of St. Sophia turned into a
Mohammedan mosque, etc., etc., may be termed
abominations that make desolate. Perhaps Mohammedanism
may be the abomination; which sprang up A.D. 612. If we
reckon one thousand two hundred and ninety years, verse
11, from that time, it will bring us down to A.D. 1902, when
we might presume from this calculation, that the religion of
the FALSE PROPHET will cease to prevail in the world; which
from the present year, is distant only seventy-seven years.

Daniel 12:12

Blessed is he that waiteth—He who implicitly depends on

God, expecting, as his truth cannot fail, that these predictions
shall be accomplished in due time.

And cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and

thirty days—This is seventy-five days more than what is
included in the three years and a half, or the time, times, and
a half in the seventh verse; and as we have met with so many
instances of prophets days and years, this undoubtedly is
another instance; and as a day stands for a year, this must
mean a period of one thousand three hundred and thirty-five
years, which period is to bring all these wonders to an end,
verse 6. However, we are left totally in the dark relative to

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the time from which these one thousand three hundred and
thirty-five years are to be reckoned. If, however, we reckon
them from the above epoch, A.D. 612, when
Mohammedanism arose, they lead us to A.D. 1947, when the
fullness of the Gentiles shall be brought in; and thus a final
closure of vision and prophecy be made, as then all the great
events relative to the salvation of men shall have taken place.
Wars and contentions will probably then cease over the
whole world; Jews and Gentiles become one fold, under one
Shepherd and Bishop of souls; and the triune God be
properly worshipped and glorified, from generation to
generation, over the face of the whole earth. However, all
these conjectures may be founded in darkness. We have not
chronological data; and "the times and seasons God has
reserved in his own power."

Daniel 12:13

However, go thou thy way until the end is—Here is proper

advice for every man.

1. Thou hast a way—a walk in life, which God has assigned

thee; walk in that way, it is thy way.

2. There will be an end to thee of all earthly things. Death is

at the door, and eternity is at hand; go on to the end—be
faithful unto death.

3. There is a rest provided for the people of God. Thou shalt

rest; thy body, in the grave; thy soul, in the Divine favor here,
and finally in paradise.

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4. As in the Promised Land there was a lot for each of God's

people, so in heaven there is a lot for thee. Do not lose it, do
not sell it, and do not let thy enemy rob thee of it. Be
determined to stand in thy own lot at the end of the days.
See that thou keep the faith; die in the Lord Jesus, that thou
mayest rise and reign with him to all eternity. Amen.

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Chapter Two

The Reforming of Israel the cosmic sign of the

end!
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After World War II, Britain found itself in fierce conflict with
the Jewish community, as the Haganah joined Irgun and Lehi
in an armed struggle against British rule. At the same time,
hundreds of thousands of Jewish Holocaust survivors and
refugees sought a new life far from their destroyed
communities in Europe. The Yishuv attempted to bring these
refugees to Palestine but many were turned away or
rounded up and placed in detention camps in Atlit and
Cyprus by the British. In 1947, the British government
announced it would withdraw from Mandatory Palestine,
stating it was unable to arrive at a solution acceptable to
both Arabs and Jews.

On 15 May 1947, the General Assembly of the newly formed

United Nations resolved that a committee, United Nations
Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP), be created "to
prepare for consideration at the next regular session of the
Assembly a report on the question of Palestine". In the
Report of the Committee dated 3 September 1947 to the UN
General Assembly, the majority of the Committee in Chapter
VI proposed a plan to replace the British Mandate with "an
independent Arab State, an independent Jewish State, and
the City of Jerusalem..., the last to be under an International
Trusteeship System”. On 29 November 1947, the General
Assembly adopted a resolution recommending the adoption
and implementation of the Plan of Partition with Economic
Union as Resolution 181. The Plan attached to the resolution

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was essentially that proposed by the majority of the

Committee in the Report of 3 September 1947.

The Jewish Agency, which was the recognized representative

of the Jewish community, accepted the plan, but the Arab
League and Arab Higher Committee of Palestine rejected it.
On 1 December 1947, the Arab Higher Committee
proclaimed a three-day strike, and Arab bands began
attacking Jewish targets. The Jews were initially on the
defensive as civil war broke out, but gradually moved onto
the offensive. The Palestinian Arab economy collapsed and
250,000 Palestinian-Arabs fled or were expelled.

David Ben-Gurion proclaiming Israeli independence on 14

May 1948, below a portrait of Theodor Herzl

On 14 May 1948, the day before the expiration of the British

Mandate, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency,
declared "the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel,
to be known as the State of Israel". The only reference in the
text of the Declaration to the borders of the new state is the
use of the term, Eretz-Israel.

Avraham Adan raising the Ink Flag marking the end of the
1948 Arab–Israeli War

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The following day, the armies of four Arab countries—Egypt,

Syria, Transjordan and Iraq—entered what had been British
Mandate Palestine, launching the 1948 Arab–Israeli War;
Saudi Arabia sent a military contingent to operate under
Egyptian command; Yemen declared war but did not take
military action. In a cablegram of the same day from the
Secretary-General of the League of Arab States to the UN
Secretary-General, the Arab states gave a justification for this
"intervention". After a year of fighting, a ceasefire was
declared and temporary borders, known as the Green Line,
were established. Jordan annexed what became known as
the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Egypt took control of
the Gaza Strip. The United Nations estimated that more than
700,000 Palestinians were expelled or fled during the conflict
from what would become Israel.

Israel was admitted as a member of the United Nations by

majority vote on 11 May 1949. In the early years of the state,
the Labor Zionist movement led by Prime Minister David Ben-
Gurion dominated Israeli politics. These years were marked
by an influx of Holocaust survivors and Jews from Arab lands,
many of whom faced persecution and expulsion from their
original countries. Consequently, the population of Israel
rose from 800,000 to two million between 1948 and 1958.
During this period, food, clothes and furniture had to be
rationed in what became known as the Austerity Period.
Between 1948–1970, approximately 1,151,029 Jewish
refugees relocated to Israel. Some arrived as refugees with
no possessions and were housed in temporary camps known

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as ma'abarot; by 1952, over 200,000 immigrants were living

in these tent cities. The need to solve the crisis led Ben-
Gurion to sign a reparations agreement with West Germany
that triggered mass protests by Jews angered at the idea that
Israel could accept monetary compensation for the
Holocaust.

The immigrants came to Israel for differing reasons. Some

believed in the Zionist ideology, while others moved to
escape persecution. There were others that did it for the
promise of a better life in Israel and a sizable number that
were expelled from their homelands, like Iraq. The refugees
were often treated differently according to where they were
from. Jews of European descent were considered critical to
the strengthening and peopling of Israel, so they were
generally allowed to enter Israel first and thus were given
abandoned Arab houses to live in. On the other hand, Jews
from Middle Eastern and North African countries were
viewed by many Ashkenazi Jews as lazy, poor, culturally and
religiously backward, and a threat to established communal
life in Israel and remained in transit camps for longer periods
of time. During the 1950s, the standard of living gap between
Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews widened so much that tensions
developed between the two groups. This tension first moved
to hostility during the Wadi Salib riots in 1959; other
instances of domestic turmoil would occur over the following
decades.

Immigration to Israel during the late 1940s and early 1950s

was aided by the Israeli Immigration Department and the

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non-government sponsored Organization for Illegal

Immigration, called Mossad le-aliyah bet. Both groups
facilitated regular immigration logistics like arranging
transportation, but the latter also engaged in clandestine
operations in countries, particularly in the Middle East and
Eastern Europe, where the lives of Jews were believed to be
in danger and exit from those places was difficult. The
Organization for Illegal Immigration continued to take part in
immigration efforts until its disbanding in 1953.

In the 1950s, Israel was frequently attacked by Palestinian

fedayeen, mainly from the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip,
leading to several Israeli counter-raids. In 1950 Egypt closed
the Suez Canal to Israeli shipping and tensions mounted as
armed clashes took place along Israel's borders. In 1956,
Israel joined a secret alliance with Great Britain and France
aimed at regaining control of the Suez Canal, which the
Egyptians had nationalized. Israel overran the Sinai Peninsula
but was pressured to withdraw by the United Nations in
return for guarantees of Israeli shipping rights in the Red Sea
and the Canal.

In the early 1960s, Israel captured Nazi war criminal Adolf

Eichmann in Argentina and brought him to Israel for trial. The
trial had a major impact on public awareness of the
Holocaust. Eichmann remains the only person ever to be
executed by an Israeli court.

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