"But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;"
Jeremiah 23:39
"Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:"
Jeremiah 24:10
"And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers."
I considered this concept and perhaps gave a fleeting commentary a couple years back on this site in regard specifically to the Ezekiel 38 war and how much was going to happen because of the weapons of warfare man possesses and how much is direct divine judgment by God and natural phenomenon such as volcanism; earthquakes and even the great torrent and hailstorm God directs on His enemies. I can certainly see how a sort of hybrid attack could occur with this war because that would be a way the enemy could get in the gate; if they literally used horses and old style equipment a mountain attack down into a plain could certainly entertain an element of surprise.
I realize there are many verses which certainly could indicate nuclear war; particularly in the pestilence for instance that could occur as a result of either radiological or biological weaponry in the 2nd through 4th Seal judgments and the destruction of Babylon the Great which is destroyed by fire in one hour. This sounds like a directed attack; but a lot of other stuff even the trumpet judgment where a third of earth is wiped out seems to result directly from demonic hordes. Armageddon could start out that way also (with the Ezekiel 38 and perhaps other peripheral events concurrent events or things leading up to it). Overall; however we have to keep in mind that God has a specific series of judgments; and in the Ezekiel 38 war whenever the exact timing of it is results in no uncertain terms in the enemies KNOWING who God truly is.
I have suggested that the 1/6 who survive it could be instrumental in seeing the return of children of exile by kings of the earth quoted in Isaiah. If this involves Russia and associated nations it means more may survive from there than anywhere else as it appears some make it into the Millennium. Those in Armageddon no doubt in the valley of Meddigo have taken the mark; and are drawn there for total destruction.
Amos 4:7 And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
This passage; perhaps shows how God spares some and affects others when a nation overall is wicked. It is in the midst of passages in much of the book of Amos describing God's judgments on Israel. We can say in general that idolatry and wickedness lead to catastrophic physical suffering; and this can be true if we worship false gods or we attempt to create a God or Christ that is according to our imaginations.
Our Deacon was explaining briefly a fairly well known concept of all major civilizations deteriorating after about 300 years; along with many of the sins we see today he used ancient Rome as an example. As I see it if we ARE Babylon then our destruction comes suddenly and is complete in the final part of the Great Tribulation; and if for some reason we're not; then we may go through longer judgments related to the seal judgments of war; famine and pestilence which is God's usual pattern of judgments. So I see three possibilities ahead:
1) The Rapture is indeed very soon; likely this year and we will not see too much happen between now and then
2) The Rapture is at least a few years away and some limited judgments may occur in the interim; OR
3) The Rapture; despite all indications to the contrary is more in line with the Jewish 6000 year calendar and therefore limited or possibly total destruction comes to America with a possibility of some restoration and improvement of things; or even some sort of revival coming.
Even with possibility #3 overall it would seem that sadly something much greater than what happened almost 25 years ago will have to occur for any substantial attitude change toward repentance nationally. Even that would still likely be short lived.
All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased. ( Jeremiah 30:14).
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. ( Isaiah 10:20).
Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. ( Zech 11:17).
Let us be of those who heed the call; likely those in Israel before Antichrist comes into the Temple after the Rapture.
Isaiah 26:20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
and again in Zephaniah 2:3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.
Psalm 31:20 "Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues."
There will no doubt be many hidden in the earth; still a small portion of all humanity as most perish at that time. Again we see that God has His purposes: Two-thirds of all the nation of Israel will be cut off and die,[a] but a third will be left in the land. ( Zechariah 13:8); and man will be in general mors scarce than gold as to the few who survive ( Isaiah 13:12).
Today with the famine for the Word of God ( Amos 8:11) we undoubtably will have the literal famine; war and pestilence with the seal judgments or individual precursors very soon. Knowing these scriptures with a proper declaring of His promises is imperative; not worthless words
I am not one to put my faith in politics and am not going to attest to any clear evidence our Commander in Chief is a Christian.
I'll let others argue that point; nonetheless I am grateful that today as with other recent meetings he has consulted on the phone with Mr. Putin. There is apparently some sane conversation; albeit Russia is intransigent on achieving its goals which seem pretty evident to include almost complete annihilation of the country in question where they have been at war since 2022. There have been other discussions which may bring temporary peace; at least to the African nations he has brokered peace with Rwanda and Congo last week. In terms of the expanded Abraham Accords we certainly can't avoid implications that either lead toward or will ultimately broker the covenant confirmed with many in Daniel 9:27; since the 2 state solution obsession lives on after decades of failed efforts. Nonetheless; I am grateful for every day we don't have judgment on this country; but mark my words the time is coming. War; famine and pestilence in the seal judgments are coming in their fullness soon; and perhaps some other things will have partial fulfillment beforehand.
I am sorry to say that there has been things in my life regarding sin that have dragged me into a feeling of hopelessness and doom. I can probably say that all of us here need to walk consistently in the Spirit to overcome; especially today. The doom that is coming SHOULD make us motivated to warn others to flee the wrath to come; whether it be the Tribulation or hell (a sort of simultaneous thing if we read ( Revelation 6:8). I believe Satan wants us to be afraid that we will be left behind. Truly the Lord warns us in Luke 21:36 to be praying we are worthy to escape all these things to come to pass; and that same concept is shown by the overcomers in the Philadelphia church in Revelation 3:10. Let us submit our lives fully to the Spirit
Rather than go into a lengthy discourse into the whole progression once again of Revelation which no doubt I have assayed to do in postings in the last couple years; I thought the topic at hand discussing what will be the inevitable rise of Antichrist whoever and whenever it comes to fruition as it intersects the end of the church age; and encompasses the judgment beginning at the house of God as our current danger ( 1 Peter 4:17) would be the primary focus.
Some have mentioned the Rapture itself as being a sort of judgment. The issue of whether the Rapture is for all believers or a reward for faithful ones tends to divide; but we can certainly say that some will be jarred to their senses; whether losing a child or infant in that event; or not knowing what happened to the other person. Certainly some will be aware that they missed out and thought they would be going and that could be the ultimate judgment finalizing the church age and forcing those left behind to be "Tribulation saints". In any event martyrdom will be the destiny for the vast majority of those in the Tribulation so to anyone listening don't be left behind. Up until now God has held everything back; the full economic collapse; and the famine and pestilence that will break out killing 1/4 of the earth at that time; likely the after effects of the war in the 2nd Seal Judgment. We need to keep in mind that appears to be before the Mark of the Beast which occurs at some point near the time 1/3 MORE of the earth is killed in the trumpet judgment #6. God says that man will be rarer than the gold of Ophir ( Isaiah 13:12). He says that the dead bodies will be from one corner of the earth to the other ( Jeremiah 25:33). Truly if He had not cut the days short no flesh would be saved ( Matt. 24:22).
Let us be sober minded and vigilant; and not put our hopes in the riches of this world as we can't take it with us. Let us redeem the time left. ( Eph. 5)
Are we having World War 3 ? ? Are we having earthquake nationwide ? ? Are Christians being killed for spreading the gospel of grace ? ?
Matthew chapter 24 speak of the Tribulation and we are not even close. We are seen bits and pieces.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Matthew 25:8-11
8All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9Then 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.
10And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
To really know when the Tribulation will start, there's has to be a event from Heaven happen first.
1 Corinthians 15:52
Inamoment,inthe twinkling ofan eye,at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound,and the dead shall be raisedincorruptible,and we shall be changed.
That's right, the Rapture or the gathering in the clouds by the sound of on trumpet from God will happen first and then the Tribulation will start, but there's hope.
Titus 2:13
Looking for thatblessedhope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
May we all look up today in the clouds for that blessed hope in Christ Jesus.
Ray , in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 the Rapture is true and real .
Sins. The beginning and trying to assess why God allowed it in the first place.
I will start this posting with a human vantage point for a different perspective on the sacrificial love of God through His atonement.
For those of us who have parents that have any vestige of characteristics of a human being we tend to think about the significant events as a child in regard to playing ball with them; birthdays and other celebrations and basically what we are getting out of them for ourselves. Once we are older if we ourselves have any true morals we realize that their value stems from what they do the vast majority of time whether working a job to provide for the family or staying at home and all the discipline and work involved in rearing a child. In short we learn to sacrifice ourselves after our early years being protected from such efforts and essentially living in a bubble (although the world more and more often is intruding on that these days).
As to an earlier post from the other day and my discussion warning those who have immediate joy but no root in themselves I am fairly confident to say that those who meditate on Christ's sufferings as well as His glorification as their motivation for worship rather than some emotional high they are getting from their religious experience are more than likely those truly saved.
When Christ was alive Satan had no power over Him but in God's plan he did have humans used to do Satan's bidding as there were no coincidences in events leading to the cross it was all prophesied and planned to redeem His children from sin and death.
Now going back to Adam and Eve we see a similar sort of innocence as with children today (who are able to grow up absent from horrors of starvation; war; pestilence and abuse). Sadly that is likely a minority of maybe 20 percent of kids worldwide if I were to estimate; taking into regard how many abortions occur each year.
The first sin brought the promised punishment of death eventually.
Q:The vision of Daniel sets the Law of the Spirit as the Ancient of days. "Judgement was set" in v.10 validates "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son."What is the significance?"
A: Firstly the fulness of Jesus Christ as stated in the Gospel is doctrinally correct. Jesus Christ shall judge on the basis of the Law. The phrase one "like the Son of man" refers to him. This explains the Law of Gradation which carry appropriate tags. In.v10 we have two sets of numbers. "And ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him." Against this number we have in the vision of St John"two hundred thousand thousand" the latter is retained to torment those who have sinned again 'heaven and thee'.(Re.9:16)
One example we have from the life of David. He is set as the man after the heart of God, after the likeness of his Son. "TheLordsaid unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."(Ps.110:1) The Law is spoken. But what did David do? "And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel." (" and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it"-1 Chr.21:1-2) and we read,"And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel."(21:7) So theLordsent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men." (v.14) 70x1000 explains David sinned against the Law of the Spirit. Multiples of seven. Similarly 144,000 explains the firstfruits and the Gospels sets them follow the Lamb and the are preserved according too his purpose (Re.14:1). All the martyrs in Matt.23:35 and in Re.15:2 are the 144,000 who have got victory over the beast. They were sealed in Re.ch.7.From David's example are we not created after 'our image and after our likeness?" Do we break the everlasting covenant by interpreting the word of God as we will to our convenience?
"But I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence."
Here we have judgment specifically on Israel and He is determined that his word of God shall execute judgment over those who rejected the Gospel. For Israel when God came down on the mount Sinai it was the trumpet for alarm. The Lamb who was prevailed upon to open the book with seals does not differentiate the Gentiles from the nation of Israel. We see this in this passage Re.6:3-8:
"And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see./And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword./And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand./And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine./And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see./And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." The command number Four is a tag for the Word. So one fourth part of the earth is assigned for the disobedient.
God tells Jeremiah thus: "Thus saith the Lord; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity." (15:2)
The prophet in his lament uses three, sword, famine and pestilences as judgment over the nation and they proved that they were reprobate silver and worthless.
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour./And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets."
Prior to this in ch.7 we have more or less the same events in heaven as was at the beginning when the new song was sung (5:11-14) The elders once again show foreknowledge this time with regards to the wave of persecutions that were currently going on under Caesar Domitian. The short colloquy between Apostle John and the elder tells us that. "What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?" It tells us that the elders identified John as coming there from among them. The line,"For the time is at hand."(1:3) sets John as a contemporary, and it is right about the nascent Apostolic age going through some 10 waves of persecution.
Leaving aside the sealing of 144,000 in Ch.7 let us trace backwards where we have the four winds "I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea."(Dan.7:2). The commotion that spawned nations has hit the doldrums by divine command, so this continuity of the nations (that began with the night vision) is now hit a hiatus that explains the nations warring with one another; it is a sure sign to the end times. Jesus warned us. "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places./All these are the beginning of sorrows."(Matt.24:7-8)
This silence in heaven shall be broken by the angel that has everlasting covenant to preach. (Re.14:6-7) What is this everlasting gospel but the same gospel preached by the Apostles, and the Acts is part of the Bible. The everlasting covenant and the gospel go hand in hand. The angel declares it in heaven and man treats it as manna in the wilderness was the angel's food. The silence in heaven refers to the present state.
Luke 21:2 - And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
The word mites is actually the Greek word LEPTA. It is equivalent to either 1/5 or 1/8 of one cent. It is not worth very much. It is the least value of the copper coins in their day, and she cast in two of these. Mark tells us that when the rich men gave their money, they gave out of their wealth. They gave abundantly.
Luke 21:4 - For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.
Penury actually comes from a Greek word that means lacking. This is another place where the translators could have given us a better English word.
Luke 21:8 - And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived:
The word deceived is where we get our word planet from, PLANAE means led astray, for many shall come in my name, saying, I AM, and notice in the text it says I am Christ. Some English texts say I am He, but all it says is "I AM" in the Greek text.
That is the name of God from the book of Exodus, I AM that I AM, the Yahweh God of the Old Testament. He says people are going to be going around saying I AM; and the time is drawing near: Jesus says go ye not therefore after them.
Luke 21:9 - But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
The Greek word for by-and-by is the word immediate. The end is not immediate, not even close. Got a long way to go! So even the events that are happening now with the increase in earthquakes, and in the increase in pestilences and diseases, this is just the beginning. This gives us an indication that we are moving closer, but the end it is not yet.
GOD's Kingdom is among us,not as a ruler of the world though the Power that it has,it yet is not ruling the nations,quite the opposite, who really is ruling them in whole world is the Devil- Luke 4:5-7-,he offered it to JESUS saying:All this power will I give thee,and the glory of them:for that is delivered unto me;and to whomsoever I will I give it.
The world is in the way the Devil likes,so where is the Kingdom of GOD?The Kingdom of GOD MUST be conquered in LITERAL fulfillment of Revelation 6:1-2; 11:15-18; 12:10-12,take a look.By the way,where is the warriors of GOD's Kingdom?Sleeping?Or,by analogy,being guided by the angel of Sardis or Laodiceans- Revelation 3:1-6&14-19?Terrible,so terrible as happened in the Samuel's time: 1Samuel 5:1-2 & 13:22-23,take a look.The people of GOD MUST awake though it be midnight,we are living in perilous times:2Tim.3:1-This know also,that in the last days perilous times shall come.But here's the promise of our GOD?
Ps.91:
5Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;
nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness;
nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7A thousand shall fall at thy side,
and ten thousand at thy right hand;
but it shall not come nigh thee.
8Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9...thou has made the Lord...most High,thy habitation;
10There shall no evil befall thee,neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11He shall give His angels charge over thee,to keep thee in all thy ways.
12They shall bear thee up in their hands,lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:..and the DRAGON shalt thou trample under feet( Revelation 12:9-11)
14...therefore will I deliver him:I will set him on high,because he hath known my name.
15He shall call upon me,and I will answer him:I will be with him in trouble;I will deliver him,and honour him
16With long life will I satisfy him,and shew him my salvation
"The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men./From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth." (Ps.33:13-14)
In the earlier post we considered heavens as stretching from end to end. God has his throne from which every circle of the earth is in line of His vision. Each heart is a circle in His sight. This is what resonates in the Parable of Jesus.
The rich man in the Parable could have seen Lazarus if he cared to. There was nothing of His nature in him. Smug and self indulgent his eye only saw what he sought. The seed, planted by God in his heart in effect was as though sown there at all. It is to which Jesus referred,"Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up."(Matt.15:13) Shadow of the Almighty was what empowered Peter, Paul, Elijah and many others. Now the key verse refers to every believer's security. God is figuratively is like an eagle with outstretched wings."my God; in him will I trust./ Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence./He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler."
Having said this let us consider this enigmatic line "And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;"(Re.19:11). The angel is addressing to all the fowls that fly in the mid-air. They are the cloud of witnesses and the rapture that Jesus in his temple discourse alluded to. "All the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." The Son of man in the sun means the shadow of the Almighty.
This shall explain what the single measurement of man-angel signifies. (Re.21:17) We put on glorious bodies. (2 Co.5:1-5)
"Of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;"
Ground also implies human existence where disobedience sown by one man brings a bumper crop of misery. Labor is wasted and famine and pestilence are ever waiting to come in. Tree of life judged man who ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What good is to use killer weeds and have the forever chemicals in the water you drink? What good is to save a burning brand out of fire only to have it set your own house in fire?
Only God is good and who is restoring the world ravaged by sin. "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." ( 1 John 3:8). The West is as much compromised by the works of the devil. We often heard ad nauseam the six millions Jews perishing in the holocaust. Do we hear as much of lives lost by the West. In 1943 was the Bengal famine owing to the wrong policies of Great Britain. Three million lives perished by their policies. Have they even publicly acknowledged their guilt? It is thus nations have shown their hypocrisy.
The West has thus interfered in the 'Jewish question' of the last century to see another kind of ethnic cleansing and genocide now going on before them in the present times. Growing up complacent and being complicit in their crimes does not leave the future generation free from guilt. It is sin where faithless generation shall flounder in the moral morass of their fathers. It is what law of sin demands the devil's due since sinful man is a servant to the devil.
The ground is only one part. Without considering both ground and the heavenly places carnal wisdom gives the ungodly a wrong prognosis. War on terror in Iraq led to something least expected. It has been thus from the beginning.
Every believer was called and has received gifts freely so we need understand that we are growing in our lives by faith and our works we do as natural extension of His grace. God sets Ezekiel as a watchman and by giving the word in the form of a roll he is to eat it. So it is the word that has to work. "And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear." This being the case we do according to the grace given and leave the Lord to deal with the rest. At the fag end of my life I work being confident that it is God who is in charge of my life.
We live in perilous times and the signs all are out. Weird climate, flashfloods, tornadoes wildfires makes breadbaskets blighted and plagues and pestilences ravage body and mind; those who made little of truth are fed by steady dose of misinformation and for those who rejected the truth the AI is a wakeup call. The imposter churches and their congregation shall have no hiding places except they receive the word of God as intended. Literalism has shown as inadequate. Knowing these I work to present daily what is revealed to me. So I leave it at that. With joy and peace in Him,
1-JESUS came out from the Temple,the disciples came to Him and shew Him the stones of the Temple.
2-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.
The testimony of JESUS is the Spirit of prophecy.What He said was LITERALLY fulfilled in the year 70AD,40 years after His ascension. There should never again be built another similar Temple,the den of the thieves never came to be rebuilt as it was.
Notice that concerning the destruction of the Temple,it has nothing to do with Mount Olives;
Mount Olives has to do only with the DESTRUCTION of the WORLD of Devil in the current time,from now on.
Israel was destroyed from 70 to 1948,1878 years of severe punishments and curses- Deuteronomy 28:15-68-the Temple there should never again be built another.The father of the Jews- John 8:44-will be cast down into the bottomless pit,that he should deceive the nations no more- Revelation 20:1-4.
-2ND EVENT-DESTRUCTION OF THE DEVIL's WORLD & SIGNS OF JESUS's COMING
3JESUS sat upon the mount of Olives.The disciples came unto Him privately,saying:Tell us,when shall these things be?
1-What shall be the sign of thy coming?
2-And of the END of the world?
4JESUS gave a list of signs,saying what AT FIRST will happen:
(1)Take heed that no man deceive you;
(2)For many shall come in my name,saying,I am Christ( John 5:43-48);and shall deceive many;
(3)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;
(4)For nation shall rise against nation,and kingdom against kingdom;
(5)and there shall be famines;
(6)and pestilences;
(7)and earthquakes,in divers places;
JESUS warned:All these are the beginning of sorrows.At first,all these things must come to pass,but the END is not yet.In fact,it is a PRETRIBULATIONAL PERIOD
Jesus went out from the Temple:His disciples showed Him the buildings of the Temple.JESUS said:See ye not all these things?verily I say unto you,There shall not be left here ONE stone upon another, what He prophesied fulfilled LITERALLY in 70AD,the testimony of JESUS is the Spirit of prophecy.Temple was destroyed in 70AD,Israel was banned from their land,and were scattered around the world for 1878 years,from 70AD-1948AD,100K died under the army of Romans's attack.Israel suffered severe and great punishments for 1878 years in LITERAL fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28:15-68.Take a look.The WORD IS GOD,self-executing,understand?
Then JESUS went to the Mount of Olives,there the disciples privately asked two important things to Him,saying:
1 - What shall be the sign of thy coming?
2 - and of the END of the world?(the current Devil's world)
JESUS LISTED A TRIBULATIONAL PERIOD-BEGINNING OF SORROWS, AND SAID HOW WOULD BE THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE TIME
The testimomy of JESUS is the Spirit of PROPHECY.He listed several events linked to His Coming,and to the END of THIS current Devil's world.
Matthew 24:4-8-Jesus said:
v.4-Take heed that no man deceive you;(this the first concern of JESUS).It seems many have not kept the warning of JESUS and are being deceived by false and devilish theories spread in the world mainly by Internet.
v.5-For many shall come in my name,saying,I am Christ;and shall deceive many;
(Soon will manifest the Beast of the earth who has two horns like a lamb,actually a false lamb,a false messiah,AN IMPOSTOR. John 5:43, 2Thessalonians 2:3-4, Revelation 13:11).
v.6-And ye shall hear of WARS and RUMOURS of WARS;seefor ALL THESE THINGS must come to pass,but the END is not yet.
v.7-For NATION shall rise against NATION,and kingdom against kingdom:
there shall be famines;
pestilences;
earthquakes in divers places.
8All these are the beginning of SORROWS.(Pre-tribulational)
There are currently wars and rumors of wars. Ukraine+UN/Russia is the biggest currently.
Nation rising against nation. UN stands for United Nations and UN is against Russia and probably China and Iran who seem to be natural partners. The US is pushing WW3 hard with blowing up Russia's pipeline, funding nefarious labs in Ukraine, overthrowing their government, putting carriers close to strike, putting assets in south china sea. They are doing everything that a country would do if they wanted to start a world war. They are not moral peacekeepers by any means, that was an idea of the past. It's based on greed, lust for power and evil. Immoral lost people are in charge. Look at the Biden admin staff- the health director is an overweight transvestite. They are committing federal crimes in public such as treason and interfering in presidential elections by changing voter laws and human trafficking on a huge scale to bribe and import voting power. They took over all the DAs so they don't prosecute themselves and the supreme court are cowardly and are not challenging any of their open criminal activity.
I think the wars and chaos will cause famine. We saw how the covid scare created shortages and panic. Many in the US were artificially created such as locking down ships from docking from Long Beach harbor, and employee shortages. Prices are skyrocketing and there are now probably more homeless than ever in the US. Artificially forced minimum wage at high levels means more laid off workers and automation, but may lead to shortages and closures. There's currently minor pestilences from crickets, cicadas, and regional bug issues. Not aware of any mass earthquakes yet, but I agree that these are to come. I think it will be obvious when its happening. But as we saw with covid, fear causes people to act like irrational wild animals and cause us much harm.
Many think there will be a WWIII now,oh no,there will not be,absolutely.We just entered in the current seventh and last millennium,so there will not be WWIII,absolutely.JESUS listed the events that must happen in this beginning of the seventh and last millennium or seventh and last GOD's Day. Matthew 24:1-8:
PRE TRIBULATIONAL PERIOD-BEGINNING OF SORROWS
Verses 1- 2:->JESUS went out and departed from the Temple.His disciples came to Him and showed Him the building of the Temple. JESUS said:See ye these things?I say unto you,There shall not be left here ONE stone upon another.JESUS disappointed his disciples, evidently.
What JESUS prophesied about the Temple it fulfilled LITERALLY in the year 70AD, the Temple was destroyed,Israel was banned from their land and scattered around the world for 1.878 years, from 70AD to 1948AD, more than 100K died under of the Roman's attack.
JESUS went to the Mount of Olives, there the disciples privately asked TWO things to Him:
1-What shall be the sign of thy coming?
2-and of the END of the world?(END of the current Devil's world)
JESUS listed several events linked 1st:to His Coming;2nd: about END of this current Devil's WORLD.
Mat.24:4-8-JESUS said:
4-Take heed that no MAN deceive you;(this was the first concerns of JESUS)
5-For many shall come in my name,saying,I am Christ;and shall deceive many; (Soon will manifest the MAN Beast of the earth like a lamb,a false lamb,false messiah,AN IMPOSTOR,as said JESUS- John 5:43, 2Thessalonians 2:3-4, Revelation 13:11-18.
6-And ye shall hear of WARS and RUMOURS of WARS; ALL THESE THINGS must come to pass but THE END IS NOT YET.
7-NATION shall rise against NATION, kingdom against kingdom;(Will G7,G20,EU,UNO,be DISSOLVED from now on? Pe.3:7, Re.11:18, Micah 4:3).
-and there shall be famines;it is fulfilling LITERALLY
- and pestilences;In fulfillment;
- and earthquakes-divers places;
8 All these are the beginning of SORROWS(Pre-tribulational)
Revelation series focusing on God's destruction rather than those of the world's armies: SEALS 2-4
INTRODUCTION
I am going to continue with the second through the fourth seal of Revelation here. My purpose is not to nit pick about every time death occurs because of man's weapons of war or whether it is by other means. The overall emphasis is to show how all the future events are ultimately controlled by the Lord and in a sense "choreographed" that way. Indeed; whatever the means surely the time of Jacob's trouble will be like no other in terms of the level of destruction on the earth. ( Jeremiah 30:7; Matt. 24:21).
Since this is the case; we can't just look at statistics here to determine how awful things will be. That is clear from seeing that just EIGHT souls were saved on Noah's ark. Clearly there are many more than that; albeit a small percent of the earth at large that survives to repopulate in the Millennium. The demonic release "en masse" from the bottomless pit and probably other places in the underworld is what makes it so horrible as they will clearly be tormenting men by the 5th Trumpet. The giant hybrids of Noah's day were destroyed but we never saw a time of such horrible devastation by agents of evil as is to come.
War famine and pestilence
Deuteronomy 32:24-25 states: I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague;
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
25 In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign.
These themes of war; famine and pestilence are rife throughout the Old Testament in Ezekiel; and several passages in Jeremiah along with the solemn warnings of Matthew 24 and of course Revelation which we are discussing now. (also see Luke 21:11).
God has judged this way as we see from the passages in Jeremiah in the past in order to take vengeance on the idolatry of Israel. The same thing will happen again.
When surveying the different dispensations (or eras for those who don't like that term) we see the same God granting grace and forgiveness even with different roles of the Holy Spirit; different methods of worship based on the old or new covenant(s) and in general a frequent transition from times of relative peace to turbulent wars; famines; and pestilences. One of the great mysteries is how man couldn't sin when in Eden before the fall; and yet how we can't go back to that state but must go through the cross and the "second Adam" in order to obtain righteousness and good standing once again with the Lord ( 1 Cor. 15:45).
The origin of sin itself came with what some may call "esoteric" knowledge (knowing the difference between good and evil). Violence and murder were to come quickly with Cain and it necessitated the first death of an animal in order to cover Adam and Eve. If all of nature was as it is stated in Isaiah 11 (focusing on verses 6-9) which is the description of the Millennium on God's Holy Mountain then death and slaying something would not be anywhere on earth before that time. This of course pointed to Christ's sacrifice and the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 was to come immediately after man's fall as well.
We see again during the Millennium period a time with man learning the art of war no more ( Isaiah 2:4); and of course Satan is said to be bound in that period according to Revelation 20. At the end of that time; however he is loosed as Revelation 21 states to deceive the WHOLE WORLD. This shows the utter hoplelessness of unregenerate man even with Christ ruling and reigning on earth at that time with the glorified saints (us). There are many instances of men in their distress calling out to the Lord in Psalms; etc. so God often can get men's attention that way; but there are times He will not respond and destruction and death commences. We dare not play with God thinking we can wait to the end to repent.
It appears; although there has been some debate on the subject; that the Mark of the Beast comes after the 5th Trumpet; and I have stated that it would seem the apparent resurrection of Antichrist would allow Apollyon to enter in him causing this "resurrection." By the time the wars; famine; and pestilences are over in the seal judgments and the carnage of the first 4 trumpet judgments occur; the world will be fully ready to embrace the mark; especially after 5 months of suffering in the 5th Trumpet which I have said previously likely will be something the Beast himself credits for ending; with the stipulation that taking the mark will alleviate further suffering; and like him will allow for immortality. I just realized something else typing this; that the lack of death as a viable option during that judgment will make that promise all that much stronger; no doubt with promises of some sort of utopian existence with the mark. Perhaps too there will be some sort of allegiance made because people will be made to feel proud for enduring such suffering and thus be given a sort of reward for that.
I have postulated as well that WE could be considered the aliens; likely categorized as an enemy who is against the freedoms of those "earth dwellers" ( Rev. 11:10 etal). At first the New Age crowd will probably embrace the concept that we have been taken to be reeducated to be made ready for the new world as it were; and hence dropping our old views on morality and sin and such things. The real madness here is that somehow mortal beings think they can defeat an immortal God in Armageddon. The logic proably will be that Christ and the saints were killed once and therefore they can be killed again. This idea of self preservation could perhaps tie in with the "mark of Cain" ( Gen. 4:15) which is even more interesting in the seven fold concept taken on anyone attempting to kill him. Those verses could be invoiked by Antichrist.
"And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you./For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."
When Christ sent his disciple he laid down the principle of Association."He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.". He that received in the name of Jesus received the Father who sent him.(10:40). If this is the case, where is the deception? We see in our times, how preaching of gospel is a ruse for Televangelists to add to their acquisitions Universities, real estate, fleet of sleek autos and aircrafts. It is of them Jesus warned, "For mayy shall come in my name and shall decieve many. They do not have to say, "I am Christ" but the principle is already laid down. They are collecting 'in my name; since the gospel stands as witness against them. All the while camera is rolling under the lights controlled to set off the preacher performing his spiel it is not for the glory of Christ but for his own brand name.
We see already the beginning of sorrows.(v.8) "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. In the post-pandemic days uncontrolled wild fires and monster surges snowstorms inundating cities are merely the beginning. Famine in Gaza, Ethiopia or in Sudan, street violence in Haiti the list can go on endlessly. These sorrows ought to make the complacent nations realize that manifest destiny for them is no different. Seek the Lord while he may be found.
In the Book of Genesis the seven days accounted for the Everlasting Covenant and the generation of Jesus. The Book of the Revelation reveals the Ancient of days (notice the plural) So we are seeing the day of wrath on the earth and the cusp of the day of regeneration.
The emblem of the slain Lamb was obliquely stated in 'the coat of skins' and in the scapegoat and Paschal lamb but in the last book we have the realities in heaven stretched over the constituted time. So the Lamb worthy to break open the seven seals are set before the foundation of the world. In the Four horsemen riding out in Re. Ch.6 thus gives us a context for all the wars famines plagues, pestilence mentioned in the history of nations. Similarly the red dragon appearing in Ch..12 'sinneth from the beginning'
The book of the Revelation serves as an envoi to the salvation epic. It fits with the narrative mode of 'kangaroo event' (the wilderness wanderings of Israel as kangaroo event for our life as sojourners and pilgrims on the earth.
Unlike the Genesis where generations of heaven and earth refers to' the day' ("that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,"-Ge.2:4) the emphasis is on the testimony of Jesus Christ (1:2) so the throne of God and of the Lamb places the newness of His creation as the proof of the spirit of prophecy. " And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."(Re.19:10)
"He sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John" This angel one of the witnesses in the cloud, probably John or any other in the body of Christ which explains, "thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus". These names are interchangeable. So how we conduct here has serious consequence. "and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."
we are looking at a vision in Re.4 There we have the command,' Come up hither,' (4:1) We have the heaven the highest heaven and the sea of glass and altar of souls on which the throne is set. The same sea of glass we seen from the POV of Ezekiel who was among the exiles. Now St John is at the eye of level of throne in heaven.
Ezekiel from below sees the same sea of glass, "And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above."(Ez.1:22)
The souls slain for the martyrs are on the earth. They are not ressurected yet. As prayers of saints from the earth reach so the cries of the dead from lower parts reach heaven. Resurrection of the dead are in their order and it is not as you seem to imply.
"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:"
The Lamb who prevailed upon to open the seals is St John's vision which we have in the Book of Daniel through the eye of OT saints. These are one and the same. Horsemen are color-coded to indicate the judgment so death on a pale horse shall be judged in due time. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."(1 Co.15:26)
Inaugural vision where St John sees the risen Christ and the Ancient of Days as one. They are in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. This is a signal of the last Act in the Salvation 'Drama' where wars (sword),pestilence and plague shall be removed. "and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."(Re.21:4) The Book 'written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals." is both blessings and judgment.
The disciples showed JESUS the buildings of the Temple.(Oh how great,admirable,were the stones of the Temple!)JESUS said: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.
Jesus left His disciples disappointed with His answer,evidently.
What JESUS prophesied LITERALLY was fulfilled,the Temple was destroyed in 70AD,and Israel was banned from their land and scattered around the world for around 1878 years,from year 70AD to 1948AD,more than 100K died under the Romans's attack.
Israel was punished severely from year 70AD until 1948AD, they suffered severe and great punishments in LITERAL fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28:15-68, so 53 verses of severe chastisements and curses.Take a look.The WORD IS GOD,self executing.
After JESUS went to the Mount of Olives,the disciples privately asked Him two important things:
1-What shall be the sign of thy coming?
2-and of the END of the world?(the current Devil's world)
The testimomy of JESUS is the Spirit of prophecy.He LISTED several events linked(1st)to His coming;(2nd)to the END of this current Devil's world.
JESUS LISTED SEVERAL EVENTS, as follow: Matthew 24:4-8:
4-Take heed that no man deceive you;(first concerns of JESUS).
5- Many shall come in my name,saying,I am Christ;and shall deceive many;
(Soon will manifest the Beast of the earth who has two horns like a lamb,actually a false lamb,a false messiah, AN IMPOSTOR:- John 5:v.43 combined with Revelation 13:v.11-18)
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-NATION shall rise against NATION,and kingdom against kingdom(G7,and G20,EU,UNO, among others Entities shall be DISSOLVED from now on?)
-there shall be famines;
-and pestilences;
-and earthquakes in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
The WORST is yet to come as is written in Matt.24:15-25
There are different places in the prophecies that say Christ will pour out the same plagues that were poured out on the Egyptians.
But, they want be LITERAL as they were in Egypt.
Hail mingled with fire was one of the plagues in Egypt, as was frogs.
Ezekiel 13:11 ....oh great hailstones shall fall, and a stormy wind shall rend it....
Ezekiel 38:22 And I will plead with him with pestilence and blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon many people that are with him, and overflowing rain, and great hailstone, fire and brimstone.
Isaiah 30:30 And the Lord SHALL CAUSE his glorious voice (his word) to be heard, and shall show the lighting down his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the FLAME of a devouring FIRE, with scattering, and tempest and hailstones.
So all these are SYMBOLIC of something that is going to judge God's people, as did the plagues judge the Egyptians.
John 5:22 ... God hath committed all judgement to the Son ...
So these symbols of judgement are symbols of Christ, and Christ is the Word, and the WORD(S) of God JUDGES US.
John 12:48 ... the words that I have spoken, the same words will judge you .....
Isaiah 28:2 Behold the Lord has a mighty and strong one (the WORD), which as a tempest of HAIL and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters, shall cast down to earth with the hand
Isaiah 28:3 The crown of PRIDE .....
Isaiah 28:5 In that day (of judgement when one believes God's word) the Lord (the WORD) shall be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty,unto the residue his people.
Isaiah 28:8 But they (the residue of his people) have also ERRED THROUGH WINE (explained in other scriptures, but is not alcoholic wine), and through strong drink (not alcohol) are OUT OF THE WAY (Christ is the way) .... they err in VISION and stumble in JUDGEMENT.
Nothing is happening today than has not been happening now for 2000 years.
At Christ resurrection, HE OPENED the seven seals of Revelation.
For 2000 years wars, pestilence, and famine has PREVAILED on earth.
Christ has divorceded OLD ISRAEL, they were never THE PROMISED SEED of Isaac, Christ was the promised Isaac, the true ISRAEL, from the house of Judah.
The OLD temple is no more, THE NEW TEMPLE was raised THREE DAYS after Christ died on his cross.
Old Israel along with all the other DEAD will be RAISED back to live when the JUDGES of the earth have been gather.
Those judges have to first be harvested,
When harvest, they become the IMAGE OF CHRIST.
This mortal shall PUT ON IMMORTALITY, Christ ONLY hath IMMORTALITY ..... 1 Timothy 6:16
All those already harvested; are already the image of Christ, they have been in the 1000 year: ONE DAY, reign with Christ NOW, some for 2000 years. the parable of the workers in God's vineyard, is representative of this, all CALLED at different hours of the DAY.
All these at present are ministering Spirits, angels of fire. At some point, Christ will resurrect all back to there bodies of flesh and blood, and God will say to the JUDGES; APPEAR, and all the world will see Christ appearing in the CLOUDS OF HEAVEN, his judges, his IMAGE.
2 Kings 6:17 ..... open their eyes, that they may see, And the Lord opened the eyes of the young men, and they SAW, and, behold, the mountain was FULL of horses and chariots of FIRE (our God is a consuming fire) round about......
Everyone, is going to see, some NOW, some LATER.
Don't try to predict TIMES, only God knows, but we can know that it is all just ONE DAY, TODAY the day of salvation.
God BLESS YOU!
Until Christ has ASSEMBLED all the JUDGES of the EARTH, thing will continue as they are.
"But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;"
Jeremiah 23:39
"Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out of my presence:"
Jeremiah 24:10
"And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers."
Blessings
I considered this concept and perhaps gave a fleeting commentary a couple years back on this site in regard specifically to the Ezekiel 38 war and how much was going to happen because of the weapons of warfare man possesses and how much is direct divine judgment by God and natural phenomenon such as volcanism; earthquakes and even the great torrent and hailstorm God directs on His enemies. I can certainly see how a sort of hybrid attack could occur with this war because that would be a way the enemy could get in the gate; if they literally used horses and old style equipment a mountain attack down into a plain could certainly entertain an element of surprise.
I realize there are many verses which certainly could indicate nuclear war; particularly in the pestilence for instance that could occur as a result of either radiological or biological weaponry in the 2nd through 4th Seal judgments and the destruction of Babylon the Great which is destroyed by fire in one hour. This sounds like a directed attack; but a lot of other stuff even the trumpet judgment where a third of earth is wiped out seems to result directly from demonic hordes. Armageddon could start out that way also (with the Ezekiel 38 and perhaps other peripheral events concurrent events or things leading up to it). Overall; however we have to keep in mind that God has a specific series of judgments; and in the Ezekiel 38 war whenever the exact timing of it is results in no uncertain terms in the enemies KNOWING who God truly is.
I have suggested that the 1/6 who survive it could be instrumental in seeing the return of children of exile by kings of the earth quoted in Isaiah. If this involves Russia and associated nations it means more may survive from there than anywhere else as it appears some make it into the Millennium. Those in Armageddon no doubt in the valley of Meddigo have taken the mark; and are drawn there for total destruction.
This passage; perhaps shows how God spares some and affects others when a nation overall is wicked. It is in the midst of passages in much of the book of Amos describing God's judgments on Israel. We can say in general that idolatry and wickedness lead to catastrophic physical suffering; and this can be true if we worship false gods or we attempt to create a God or Christ that is according to our imaginations.
Our Deacon was explaining briefly a fairly well known concept of all major civilizations deteriorating after about 300 years; along with many of the sins we see today he used ancient Rome as an example. As I see it if we ARE Babylon then our destruction comes suddenly and is complete in the final part of the Great Tribulation; and if for some reason we're not; then we may go through longer judgments related to the seal judgments of war; famine and pestilence which is God's usual pattern of judgments. So I see three possibilities ahead:
1) The Rapture is indeed very soon; likely this year and we will not see too much happen between now and then
2) The Rapture is at least a few years away and some limited judgments may occur in the interim; OR
3) The Rapture; despite all indications to the contrary is more in line with the Jewish 6000 year calendar and therefore limited or possibly total destruction comes to America with a possibility of some restoration and improvement of things; or even some sort of revival coming.
Even with possibility #3 overall it would seem that sadly something much greater than what happened almost 25 years ago will have to occur for any substantial attitude change toward repentance nationally. Even that would still likely be short lived.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. ( Isaiah 10:20).
Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. ( Zech 11:17).
Let us be of those who heed the call; likely those in Israel before Antichrist comes into the Temple after the Rapture.
Isaiah 26:20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
and again in Zephaniah 2:3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD'S anger.
Psalm 31:20 "Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues."
There will no doubt be many hidden in the earth; still a small portion of all humanity as most perish at that time. Again we see that God has His purposes: Two-thirds of all the nation of Israel will be cut off and die,[a] but a third will be left in the land. ( Zechariah 13:8); and man will be in general mors scarce than gold as to the few who survive ( Isaiah 13:12).
Today with the famine for the Word of God ( Amos 8:11) we undoubtably will have the literal famine; war and pestilence with the seal judgments or individual precursors very soon. Knowing these scriptures with a proper declaring of His promises is imperative; not worthless words
I am not one to put my faith in politics and am not going to attest to any clear evidence our Commander in Chief is a Christian.
I'll let others argue that point; nonetheless I am grateful that today as with other recent meetings he has consulted on the phone with Mr. Putin. There is apparently some sane conversation; albeit Russia is intransigent on achieving its goals which seem pretty evident to include almost complete annihilation of the country in question where they have been at war since 2022. There have been other discussions which may bring temporary peace; at least to the African nations he has brokered peace with Rwanda and Congo last week. In terms of the expanded Abraham Accords we certainly can't avoid implications that either lead toward or will ultimately broker the covenant confirmed with many in Daniel 9:27; since the 2 state solution obsession lives on after decades of failed efforts. Nonetheless; I am grateful for every day we don't have judgment on this country; but mark my words the time is coming. War; famine and pestilence in the seal judgments are coming in their fullness soon; and perhaps some other things will have partial fulfillment beforehand.
I am sorry to say that there has been things in my life regarding sin that have dragged me into a feeling of hopelessness and doom. I can probably say that all of us here need to walk consistently in the Spirit to overcome; especially today. The doom that is coming SHOULD make us motivated to warn others to flee the wrath to come; whether it be the Tribulation or hell (a sort of simultaneous thing if we read ( Revelation 6:8). I believe Satan wants us to be afraid that we will be left behind. Truly the Lord warns us in Luke 21:36 to be praying we are worthy to escape all these things to come to pass; and that same concept is shown by the overcomers in the Philadelphia church in Revelation 3:10. Let us submit our lives fully to the Spirit
Rather than go into a lengthy discourse into the whole progression once again of Revelation which no doubt I have assayed to do in postings in the last couple years; I thought the topic at hand discussing what will be the inevitable rise of Antichrist whoever and whenever it comes to fruition as it intersects the end of the church age; and encompasses the judgment beginning at the house of God as our current danger ( 1 Peter 4:17) would be the primary focus.
Some have mentioned the Rapture itself as being a sort of judgment. The issue of whether the Rapture is for all believers or a reward for faithful ones tends to divide; but we can certainly say that some will be jarred to their senses; whether losing a child or infant in that event; or not knowing what happened to the other person. Certainly some will be aware that they missed out and thought they would be going and that could be the ultimate judgment finalizing the church age and forcing those left behind to be "Tribulation saints". In any event martyrdom will be the destiny for the vast majority of those in the Tribulation so to anyone listening don't be left behind. Up until now God has held everything back; the full economic collapse; and the famine and pestilence that will break out killing 1/4 of the earth at that time; likely the after effects of the war in the 2nd Seal Judgment. We need to keep in mind that appears to be before the Mark of the Beast which occurs at some point near the time 1/3 MORE of the earth is killed in the trumpet judgment #6. God says that man will be rarer than the gold of Ophir ( Isaiah 13:12). He says that the dead bodies will be from one corner of the earth to the other ( Jeremiah 25:33). Truly if He had not cut the days short no flesh would be saved ( Matt. 24:22).
Let us be sober minded and vigilant; and not put our hopes in the riches of this world as we can't take it with us. Let us redeem the time left. ( Eph. 5)
Are we having World War 3 ? ? Are we having earthquake nationwide ? ? Are Christians being killed for spreading the gospel of grace ? ?
Matthew chapter 24 speak of the Tribulation and we are not even close. We are seen bits and pieces.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Matthew 25:8-11
8All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9Then 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.
10And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
To really know when the Tribulation will start, there's has to be a event from Heaven happen first.
1 Corinthians 15:52
Inamoment,inthe twinkling ofan eye,at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound,and the dead shall be raisedincorruptible,and we shall be changed.
That's right, the Rapture or the gathering in the clouds by the sound of on trumpet from God will happen first and then the Tribulation will start, but there's hope.
Titus 2:13
Looking for thatblessedhope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
May we all look up today in the clouds for that blessed hope in Christ Jesus.
Ray , in Christ Jesus 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 the Rapture is true and real .
I will start this posting with a human vantage point for a different perspective on the sacrificial love of God through His atonement.
For those of us who have parents that have any vestige of characteristics of a human being we tend to think about the significant events as a child in regard to playing ball with them; birthdays and other celebrations and basically what we are getting out of them for ourselves. Once we are older if we ourselves have any true morals we realize that their value stems from what they do the vast majority of time whether working a job to provide for the family or staying at home and all the discipline and work involved in rearing a child. In short we learn to sacrifice ourselves after our early years being protected from such efforts and essentially living in a bubble (although the world more and more often is intruding on that these days).
As to an earlier post from the other day and my discussion warning those who have immediate joy but no root in themselves I am fairly confident to say that those who meditate on Christ's sufferings as well as His glorification as their motivation for worship rather than some emotional high they are getting from their religious experience are more than likely those truly saved.
When Christ was alive Satan had no power over Him but in God's plan he did have humans used to do Satan's bidding as there were no coincidences in events leading to the cross it was all prophesied and planned to redeem His children from sin and death.
Now going back to Adam and Eve we see a similar sort of innocence as with children today (who are able to grow up absent from horrors of starvation; war; pestilence and abuse). Sadly that is likely a minority of maybe 20 percent of kids worldwide if I were to estimate; taking into regard how many abortions occur each year.
The first sin brought the promised punishment of death eventually.
Q:The vision of Daniel sets the Law of the Spirit as the Ancient of days. "Judgement was set" in v.10 validates "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son."What is the significance?"
A: Firstly the fulness of Jesus Christ as stated in the Gospel is doctrinally correct. Jesus Christ shall judge on the basis of the Law. The phrase one "like the Son of man" refers to him. This explains the Law of Gradation which carry appropriate tags. In.v10 we have two sets of numbers. "And ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him." Against this number we have in the vision of St John"two hundred thousand thousand" the latter is retained to torment those who have sinned again 'heaven and thee'.(Re.9:16)
One example we have from the life of David. He is set as the man after the heart of God, after the likeness of his Son. "TheLordsaid unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."(Ps.110:1) The Law is spoken. But what did David do? "And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel." (" and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it"-1 Chr.21:1-2) and we read,"And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel."(21:7) So theLordsent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men." (v.14) 70x1000 explains David sinned against the Law of the Spirit. Multiples of seven. Similarly 144,000 explains the firstfruits and the Gospels sets them follow the Lamb and the are preserved according too his purpose (Re.14:1). All the martyrs in Matt.23:35 and in Re.15:2 are the 144,000 who have got victory over the beast. They were sealed in Re.ch.7.From David's example are we not created after 'our image and after our likeness?" Do we break the everlasting covenant by interpreting the word of God as we will to our convenience?
"But I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence."
Here we have judgment specifically on Israel and He is determined that his word of God shall execute judgment over those who rejected the Gospel. For Israel when God came down on the mount Sinai it was the trumpet for alarm. The Lamb who was prevailed upon to open the book with seals does not differentiate the Gentiles from the nation of Israel. We see this in this passage Re.6:3-8:
"And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see./And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword./And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand./And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine./And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see./And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." The command number Four is a tag for the Word. So one fourth part of the earth is assigned for the disobedient.
God tells Jeremiah thus: "Thus saith the Lord; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity." (15:2)
The prophet in his lament uses three, sword, famine and pestilences as judgment over the nation and they proved that they were reprobate silver and worthless.
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour./And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets."
Prior to this in ch.7 we have more or less the same events in heaven as was at the beginning when the new song was sung (5:11-14) The elders once again show foreknowledge this time with regards to the wave of persecutions that were currently going on under Caesar Domitian. The short colloquy between Apostle John and the elder tells us that. "What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?" It tells us that the elders identified John as coming there from among them. The line,"For the time is at hand."(1:3) sets John as a contemporary, and it is right about the nascent Apostolic age going through some 10 waves of persecution.
Leaving aside the sealing of 144,000 in Ch.7 let us trace backwards where we have the four winds "I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea."(Dan.7:2). The commotion that spawned nations has hit the doldrums by divine command, so this continuity of the nations (that began with the night vision) is now hit a hiatus that explains the nations warring with one another; it is a sure sign to the end times. Jesus warned us. "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places./All these are the beginning of sorrows."(Matt.24:7-8)
This silence in heaven shall be broken by the angel that has everlasting covenant to preach. (Re.14:6-7) What is this everlasting gospel but the same gospel preached by the Apostles, and the Acts is part of the Bible. The everlasting covenant and the gospel go hand in hand. The angel declares it in heaven and man treats it as manna in the wilderness was the angel's food. The silence in heaven refers to the present state.
Luke 21:2 - And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
The word mites is actually the Greek word LEPTA. It is equivalent to either 1/5 or 1/8 of one cent. It is not worth very much. It is the least value of the copper coins in their day, and she cast in two of these. Mark tells us that when the rich men gave their money, they gave out of their wealth. They gave abundantly.
Luke 21:4 - For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.
Penury actually comes from a Greek word that means lacking. This is another place where the translators could have given us a better English word.
Luke 21:8 - And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived:
The word deceived is where we get our word planet from, PLANAE means led astray, for many shall come in my name, saying, I AM, and notice in the text it says I am Christ. Some English texts say I am He, but all it says is "I AM" in the Greek text.
That is the name of God from the book of Exodus, I AM that I AM, the Yahweh God of the Old Testament. He says people are going to be going around saying I AM; and the time is drawing near: Jesus says go ye not therefore after them.
Luke 21:9 - But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
The Greek word for by-and-by is the word immediate. The end is not immediate, not even close. Got a long way to go! So even the events that are happening now with the increase in earthquakes, and in the increase in pestilences and diseases, this is just the beginning. This gives us an indication that we are moving closer, but the end it is not yet.
The world is in the way the Devil likes,so where is the Kingdom of GOD?The Kingdom of GOD MUST be conquered in LITERAL fulfillment of Revelation 6:1-2; 11:15-18; 12:10-12,take a look.By the way,where is the warriors of GOD's Kingdom?Sleeping?Or,by analogy,being guided by the angel of Sardis or Laodiceans- Revelation 3:1-6&14-19?Terrible,so terrible as happened in the Samuel's time: 1Samuel 5:1-2 & 13:22-23,take a look.The people of GOD MUST awake though it be midnight,we are living in perilous times:2Tim.3:1-This know also,that in the last days perilous times shall come.But here's the promise of our GOD?
Ps.91:
5Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;
nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness;
nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7A thousand shall fall at thy side,
and ten thousand at thy right hand;
but it shall not come nigh thee.
8Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9...thou has made the Lord...most High,thy habitation;
10There shall no evil befall thee,neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11He shall give His angels charge over thee,to keep thee in all thy ways.
12They shall bear thee up in their hands,lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:..and the DRAGON shalt thou trample under feet( Revelation 12:9-11)
14...therefore will I deliver him:I will set him on high,because he hath known my name.
15He shall call upon me,and I will answer him:I will be with him in trouble;I will deliver him,and honour him
16With long life will I satisfy him,and shew him my salvation
"The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men./From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth." (Ps.33:13-14)
In the earlier post we considered heavens as stretching from end to end. God has his throne from which every circle of the earth is in line of His vision. Each heart is a circle in His sight. This is what resonates in the Parable of Jesus.
The rich man in the Parable could have seen Lazarus if he cared to. There was nothing of His nature in him. Smug and self indulgent his eye only saw what he sought. The seed, planted by God in his heart in effect was as though sown there at all. It is to which Jesus referred,"Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up."(Matt.15:13) Shadow of the Almighty was what empowered Peter, Paul, Elijah and many others. Now the key verse refers to every believer's security. God is figuratively is like an eagle with outstretched wings."my God; in him will I trust./ Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence./He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler."
Having said this let us consider this enigmatic line "And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;"(Re.19:11). The angel is addressing to all the fowls that fly in the mid-air. They are the cloud of witnesses and the rapture that Jesus in his temple discourse alluded to. "All the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." The Son of man in the sun means the shadow of the Almighty.
This shall explain what the single measurement of man-angel signifies. (Re.21:17) We put on glorious bodies. (2 Co.5:1-5)
"Of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;"
Ground also implies human existence where disobedience sown by one man brings a bumper crop of misery. Labor is wasted and famine and pestilence are ever waiting to come in. Tree of life judged man who ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What good is to use killer weeds and have the forever chemicals in the water you drink? What good is to save a burning brand out of fire only to have it set your own house in fire?
Only God is good and who is restoring the world ravaged by sin. "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." ( 1 John 3:8). The West is as much compromised by the works of the devil. We often heard ad nauseam the six millions Jews perishing in the holocaust. Do we hear as much of lives lost by the West. In 1943 was the Bengal famine owing to the wrong policies of Great Britain. Three million lives perished by their policies. Have they even publicly acknowledged their guilt? It is thus nations have shown their hypocrisy.
The West has thus interfered in the 'Jewish question' of the last century to see another kind of ethnic cleansing and genocide now going on before them in the present times. Growing up complacent and being complicit in their crimes does not leave the future generation free from guilt. It is sin where faithless generation shall flounder in the moral morass of their fathers. It is what law of sin demands the devil's due since sinful man is a servant to the devil.
The ground is only one part. Without considering both ground and the heavenly places carnal wisdom gives the ungodly a wrong prognosis. War on terror in Iraq led to something least expected. It has been thus from the beginning.
Every believer was called and has received gifts freely so we need understand that we are growing in our lives by faith and our works we do as natural extension of His grace. God sets Ezekiel as a watchman and by giving the word in the form of a roll he is to eat it. So it is the word that has to work. "And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear." This being the case we do according to the grace given and leave the Lord to deal with the rest. At the fag end of my life I work being confident that it is God who is in charge of my life.
We live in perilous times and the signs all are out. Weird climate, flashfloods, tornadoes wildfires makes breadbaskets blighted and plagues and pestilences ravage body and mind; those who made little of truth are fed by steady dose of misinformation and for those who rejected the truth the AI is a wakeup call. The imposter churches and their congregation shall have no hiding places except they receive the word of God as intended. Literalism has shown as inadequate. Knowing these I work to present daily what is revealed to me. So I leave it at that. With joy and peace in Him,
1 of 2 -JESUS described two events:
1st EVENT-DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE
1-JESUS came out from the Temple,the disciples came to Him and shew Him the stones of the Temple.
2-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.
The testimony of JESUS is the Spirit of prophecy.What He said was LITERALLY fulfilled in the year 70AD,40 years after His ascension. There should never again be built another similar Temple,the den of the thieves never came to be rebuilt as it was.
Notice that concerning the destruction of the Temple,it has nothing to do with Mount Olives;
Mount Olives has to do only with the DESTRUCTION of the WORLD of Devil in the current time,from now on.
Israel was destroyed from 70 to 1948,1878 years of severe punishments and curses- Deuteronomy 28:15-68-the Temple there should never again be built another.The father of the Jews- John 8:44-will be cast down into the bottomless pit,that he should deceive the nations no more- Revelation 20:1-4.
-2ND EVENT-DESTRUCTION OF THE DEVIL's WORLD & SIGNS OF JESUS's COMING
3JESUS sat upon the mount of Olives.The disciples came unto Him privately,saying:Tell us,when shall these things be?
1-What shall be the sign of thy coming?
2-And of the END of the world?
4JESUS gave a list of signs,saying what AT FIRST will happen:
(1)Take heed that no man deceive you;
(2)For many shall come in my name,saying,I am Christ( John 5:43-48);and shall deceive many;
(3)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;
(4)For nation shall rise against nation,and kingdom against kingdom;
(5)and there shall be famines;
(6)and pestilences;
(7)and earthquakes,in divers places;
JESUS warned:All these are the beginning of sorrows.At first,all these things must come to pass,but the END is not yet.In fact,it is a PRETRIBULATIONAL PERIOD
1/2
PRE TRIBULATIONAL PERIOD-BEGINNING OF SORROWS
Matthew 24:1-2&15-25
Jesus went out from the Temple:His disciples showed Him the buildings of the Temple.JESUS said:See ye not all these things?verily I say unto you,There shall not be left here ONE stone upon another, what He prophesied fulfilled LITERALLY in 70AD,the testimony of JESUS is the Spirit of prophecy.Temple was destroyed in 70AD,Israel was banned from their land,and were scattered around the world for 1878 years,from 70AD-1948AD,100K died under the army of Romans's attack.Israel suffered severe and great punishments for 1878 years in LITERAL fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28:15-68.Take a look.The WORD IS GOD,self-executing,understand?
Then JESUS went to the Mount of Olives,there the disciples privately asked two important things to Him,saying:
1 - What shall be the sign of thy coming?
2 - and of the END of the world?(the current Devil's world)
JESUS LISTED A TRIBULATIONAL PERIOD-BEGINNING OF SORROWS, AND SAID HOW WOULD BE THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE TIME
The testimomy of JESUS is the Spirit of PROPHECY.He listed several events linked to His Coming,and to the END of THIS current Devil's world.
Matthew 24:4-8-Jesus said:
v.4-Take heed that no man deceive you;(this the first concern of JESUS).It seems many have not kept the warning of JESUS and are being deceived by false and devilish theories spread in the world mainly by Internet.
v.5-For many shall come in my name,saying,I am Christ;and shall deceive many;
(Soon will manifest the Beast of the earth who has two horns like a lamb,actually a false lamb,a false messiah,AN IMPOSTOR. John 5:43, 2Thessalonians 2:3-4, Revelation 13:11).
v.6-And ye shall hear of WARS and RUMOURS of WARS;seefor ALL THESE THINGS must come to pass,but the END is not yet.
v.7-For NATION shall rise against NATION,and kingdom against kingdom:
there shall be famines;
pestilences;
earthquakes in divers places.
8All these are the beginning of SORROWS.(Pre-tribulational)
There are currently wars and rumors of wars. Ukraine+UN/Russia is the biggest currently.
Nation rising against nation. UN stands for United Nations and UN is against Russia and probably China and Iran who seem to be natural partners. The US is pushing WW3 hard with blowing up Russia's pipeline, funding nefarious labs in Ukraine, overthrowing their government, putting carriers close to strike, putting assets in south china sea. They are doing everything that a country would do if they wanted to start a world war. They are not moral peacekeepers by any means, that was an idea of the past. It's based on greed, lust for power and evil. Immoral lost people are in charge. Look at the Biden admin staff- the health director is an overweight transvestite. They are committing federal crimes in public such as treason and interfering in presidential elections by changing voter laws and human trafficking on a huge scale to bribe and import voting power. They took over all the DAs so they don't prosecute themselves and the supreme court are cowardly and are not challenging any of their open criminal activity.
I think the wars and chaos will cause famine. We saw how the covid scare created shortages and panic. Many in the US were artificially created such as locking down ships from docking from Long Beach harbor, and employee shortages. Prices are skyrocketing and there are now probably more homeless than ever in the US. Artificially forced minimum wage at high levels means more laid off workers and automation, but may lead to shortages and closures. There's currently minor pestilences from crickets, cicadas, and regional bug issues. Not aware of any mass earthquakes yet, but I agree that these are to come. I think it will be obvious when its happening. But as we saw with covid, fear causes people to act like irrational wild animals and cause us much harm.
PRE TRIBULATIONAL PERIOD-BEGINNING OF SORROWS
Verses 1- 2:->JESUS went out and departed from the Temple.His disciples came to Him and showed Him the building of the Temple. JESUS said:See ye these things?I say unto you,There shall not be left here ONE stone upon another.JESUS disappointed his disciples, evidently.
What JESUS prophesied about the Temple it fulfilled LITERALLY in the year 70AD, the Temple was destroyed,Israel was banned from their land and scattered around the world for 1.878 years, from 70AD to 1948AD, more than 100K died under of the Roman's attack.
JESUS went to the Mount of Olives, there the disciples privately asked TWO things to Him:
1-What shall be the sign of thy coming?
2-and of the END of the world?(END of the current Devil's world)
JESUS listed several events linked 1st:to His Coming;2nd: about END of this current Devil's WORLD.
Mat.24:4-8-JESUS said:
4-Take heed that no MAN deceive you;(this was the first concerns of JESUS)
5-For many shall come in my name,saying,I am Christ;and shall deceive many; (Soon will manifest the MAN Beast of the earth like a lamb,a false lamb,false messiah,AN IMPOSTOR,as said JESUS- John 5:43, 2Thessalonians 2:3-4, Revelation 13:11-18.
6-And ye shall hear of WARS and RUMOURS of WARS; ALL THESE THINGS must come to pass but THE END IS NOT YET.
7-NATION shall rise against NATION, kingdom against kingdom;(Will G7,G20,EU,UNO,be DISSOLVED from now on? Pe.3:7, Re.11:18, Micah 4:3).
-and there shall be famines;it is fulfilling LITERALLY
- and pestilences;In fulfillment;
- and earthquakes-divers places;
8 All these are the beginning of SORROWS(Pre-tribulational)
Wake up-Get ready,now time's still of sorrows.
INTRODUCTION
I am going to continue with the second through the fourth seal of Revelation here. My purpose is not to nit pick about every time death occurs because of man's weapons of war or whether it is by other means. The overall emphasis is to show how all the future events are ultimately controlled by the Lord and in a sense "choreographed" that way. Indeed; whatever the means surely the time of Jacob's trouble will be like no other in terms of the level of destruction on the earth. ( Jeremiah 30:7; Matt. 24:21).
Since this is the case; we can't just look at statistics here to determine how awful things will be. That is clear from seeing that just EIGHT souls were saved on Noah's ark. Clearly there are many more than that; albeit a small percent of the earth at large that survives to repopulate in the Millennium. The demonic release "en masse" from the bottomless pit and probably other places in the underworld is what makes it so horrible as they will clearly be tormenting men by the 5th Trumpet. The giant hybrids of Noah's day were destroyed but we never saw a time of such horrible devastation by agents of evil as is to come.
War famine and pestilence
Deuteronomy 32:24-25 states: I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague;
I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
25 In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign.
These themes of war; famine and pestilence are rife throughout the Old Testament in Ezekiel; and several passages in Jeremiah along with the solemn warnings of Matthew 24 and of course Revelation which we are discussing now. (also see Luke 21:11).
God has judged this way as we see from the passages in Jeremiah in the past in order to take vengeance on the idolatry of Israel. The same thing will happen again.
When surveying the different dispensations (or eras for those who don't like that term) we see the same God granting grace and forgiveness even with different roles of the Holy Spirit; different methods of worship based on the old or new covenant(s) and in general a frequent transition from times of relative peace to turbulent wars; famines; and pestilences. One of the great mysteries is how man couldn't sin when in Eden before the fall; and yet how we can't go back to that state but must go through the cross and the "second Adam" in order to obtain righteousness and good standing once again with the Lord ( 1 Cor. 15:45).
The origin of sin itself came with what some may call "esoteric" knowledge (knowing the difference between good and evil). Violence and murder were to come quickly with Cain and it necessitated the first death of an animal in order to cover Adam and Eve. If all of nature was as it is stated in Isaiah 11 (focusing on verses 6-9) which is the description of the Millennium on God's Holy Mountain then death and slaying something would not be anywhere on earth before that time. This of course pointed to Christ's sacrifice and the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 was to come immediately after man's fall as well.
We see again during the Millennium period a time with man learning the art of war no more ( Isaiah 2:4); and of course Satan is said to be bound in that period according to Revelation 20. At the end of that time; however he is loosed as Revelation 21 states to deceive the WHOLE WORLD. This shows the utter hoplelessness of unregenerate man even with Christ ruling and reigning on earth at that time with the glorified saints (us). There are many instances of men in their distress calling out to the Lord in Psalms; etc. so God often can get men's attention that way; but there are times He will not respond and destruction and death commences. We dare not play with God thinking we can wait to the end to repent.
It appears; although there has been some debate on the subject; that the Mark of the Beast comes after the 5th Trumpet; and I have stated that it would seem the apparent resurrection of Antichrist would allow Apollyon to enter in him causing this "resurrection." By the time the wars; famine; and pestilences are over in the seal judgments and the carnage of the first 4 trumpet judgments occur; the world will be fully ready to embrace the mark; especially after 5 months of suffering in the 5th Trumpet which I have said previously likely will be something the Beast himself credits for ending; with the stipulation that taking the mark will alleviate further suffering; and like him will allow for immortality. I just realized something else typing this; that the lack of death as a viable option during that judgment will make that promise all that much stronger; no doubt with promises of some sort of utopian existence with the mark. Perhaps too there will be some sort of allegiance made because people will be made to feel proud for enduring such suffering and thus be given a sort of reward for that.
I have postulated as well that WE could be considered the aliens; likely categorized as an enemy who is against the freedoms of those "earth dwellers" ( Rev. 11:10 etal). At first the New Age crowd will probably embrace the concept that we have been taken to be reeducated to be made ready for the new world as it were; and hence dropping our old views on morality and sin and such things. The real madness here is that somehow mortal beings think they can defeat an immortal God in Armageddon. The logic proably will be that Christ and the saints were killed once and therefore they can be killed again. This idea of self preservation could perhaps tie in with the "mark of Cain" ( Gen. 4:15) which is even more interesting in the seven fold concept taken on anyone attempting to kill him. Those verses could be invoiked by Antichrist.
"And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you./For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."
When Christ sent his disciple he laid down the principle of Association."He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.". He that received in the name of Jesus received the Father who sent him.(10:40). If this is the case, where is the deception? We see in our times, how preaching of gospel is a ruse for Televangelists to add to their acquisitions Universities, real estate, fleet of sleek autos and aircrafts. It is of them Jesus warned, "For mayy shall come in my name and shall decieve many. They do not have to say, "I am Christ" but the principle is already laid down. They are collecting 'in my name; since the gospel stands as witness against them. All the while camera is rolling under the lights controlled to set off the preacher performing his spiel it is not for the glory of Christ but for his own brand name.
We see already the beginning of sorrows.(v.8) "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. In the post-pandemic days uncontrolled wild fires and monster surges snowstorms inundating cities are merely the beginning. Famine in Gaza, Ethiopia or in Sudan, street violence in Haiti the list can go on endlessly. These sorrows ought to make the complacent nations realize that manifest destiny for them is no different. Seek the Lord while he may be found.
In the Book of Genesis the seven days accounted for the Everlasting Covenant and the generation of Jesus. The Book of the Revelation reveals the Ancient of days (notice the plural) So we are seeing the day of wrath on the earth and the cusp of the day of regeneration.
The emblem of the slain Lamb was obliquely stated in 'the coat of skins' and in the scapegoat and Paschal lamb but in the last book we have the realities in heaven stretched over the constituted time. So the Lamb worthy to break open the seven seals are set before the foundation of the world. In the Four horsemen riding out in Re. Ch.6 thus gives us a context for all the wars famines plagues, pestilence mentioned in the history of nations. Similarly the red dragon appearing in Ch..12 'sinneth from the beginning'
The book of the Revelation serves as an envoi to the salvation epic. It fits with the narrative mode of 'kangaroo event' (the wilderness wanderings of Israel as kangaroo event for our life as sojourners and pilgrims on the earth.
Unlike the Genesis where generations of heaven and earth refers to' the day' ("that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,"-Ge.2:4) the emphasis is on the testimony of Jesus Christ (1:2) so the throne of God and of the Lamb places the newness of His creation as the proof of the spirit of prophecy. " And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."(Re.19:10)
"He sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John" This angel one of the witnesses in the cloud, probably John or any other in the body of Christ which explains, "thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus". These names are interchangeable. So how we conduct here has serious consequence. "and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent."
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Answer:
I will be delivered and who it concerns through our Lord Jesus Christ in oral tradition
Psalm 91:3 KJV
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the noisome pestilence.
we are looking at a vision in Re.4 There we have the command,' Come up hither,' (4:1) We have the heaven the highest heaven and the sea of glass and altar of souls on which the throne is set. The same sea of glass we seen from the POV of Ezekiel who was among the exiles. Now St John is at the eye of level of throne in heaven.
Ezekiel from below sees the same sea of glass, "And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above."(Ez.1:22)
The souls slain for the martyrs are on the earth. They are not ressurected yet. As prayers of saints from the earth reach so the cries of the dead from lower parts reach heaven. Resurrection of the dead are in their order and it is not as you seem to imply.
"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:"
The Lamb who prevailed upon to open the seals is St John's vision which we have in the Book of Daniel through the eye of OT saints. These are one and the same. Horsemen are color-coded to indicate the judgment so death on a pale horse shall be judged in due time. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."(1 Co.15:26)
Inaugural vision where St John sees the risen Christ and the Ancient of Days as one. They are in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. This is a signal of the last Act in the Salvation 'Drama' where wars (sword),pestilence and plague shall be removed. "and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."(Re.21:4) The Book 'written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals." is both blessings and judgment.
The disciples showed JESUS the buildings of the Temple.(Oh how great,admirable,were the stones of the Temple!)JESUS said: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.
Jesus left His disciples disappointed with His answer,evidently.
What JESUS prophesied LITERALLY was fulfilled,the Temple was destroyed in 70AD,and Israel was banned from their land and scattered around the world for around 1878 years,from year 70AD to 1948AD,more than 100K died under the Romans's attack.
Israel was punished severely from year 70AD until 1948AD, they suffered severe and great punishments in LITERAL fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28:15-68, so 53 verses of severe chastisements and curses.Take a look.The WORD IS GOD,self executing.
After JESUS went to the Mount of Olives,the disciples privately asked Him two important things:
1-What shall be the sign of thy coming?
2-and of the END of the world?(the current Devil's world)
The testimomy of JESUS is the Spirit of prophecy.He LISTED several events linked(1st)to His coming;(2nd)to the END of this current Devil's world.
JESUS LISTED SEVERAL EVENTS, as follow: Matthew 24:4-8:
4-Take heed that no man deceive you;(first concerns of JESUS).
5- Many shall come in my name,saying,I am Christ;and shall deceive many;
(Soon will manifest the Beast of the earth who has two horns like a lamb,actually a false lamb,a false messiah, AN IMPOSTOR:- John 5:v.43 combined with Revelation 13:v.11-18)
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-NATION shall rise against NATION,and kingdom against kingdom(G7,and G20,EU,UNO, among others Entities shall be DISSOLVED from now on?)
-there shall be famines;
-and pestilences;
-and earthquakes in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
The WORST is yet to come as is written in Matt.24:15-25
Get ready
There are different places in the prophecies that say Christ will pour out the same plagues that were poured out on the Egyptians.
But, they want be LITERAL as they were in Egypt.
Hail mingled with fire was one of the plagues in Egypt, as was frogs.
Ezekiel 13:11 ....oh great hailstones shall fall, and a stormy wind shall rend it....
Ezekiel 38:22 And I will plead with him with pestilence and blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon many people that are with him, and overflowing rain, and great hailstone, fire and brimstone.
Isaiah 30:30 And the Lord SHALL CAUSE his glorious voice (his word) to be heard, and shall show the lighting down his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the FLAME of a devouring FIRE, with scattering, and tempest and hailstones.
So all these are SYMBOLIC of something that is going to judge God's people, as did the plagues judge the Egyptians.
John 5:22 ... God hath committed all judgement to the Son ...
So these symbols of judgement are symbols of Christ, and Christ is the Word, and the WORD(S) of God JUDGES US.
John 12:48 ... the words that I have spoken, the same words will judge you .....
Isaiah 28:2 Behold the Lord has a mighty and strong one (the WORD), which as a tempest of HAIL and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters, shall cast down to earth with the hand
Isaiah 28:3 The crown of PRIDE .....
Isaiah 28:5 In that day (of judgement when one believes God's word) the Lord (the WORD) shall be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty,unto the residue his people.
Isaiah 28:8 But they (the residue of his people) have also ERRED THROUGH WINE (explained in other scriptures, but is not alcoholic wine), and through strong drink (not alcohol) are OUT OF THE WAY (Christ is the way) .... they err in VISION and stumble in JUDGEMENT.
I will continue in a second comment on the frogs.
God BLESS YOU!
Nothing is happening today than has not been happening now for 2000 years.
At Christ resurrection, HE OPENED the seven seals of Revelation.
For 2000 years wars, pestilence, and famine has PREVAILED on earth.
Christ has divorceded OLD ISRAEL, they were never THE PROMISED SEED of Isaac, Christ was the promised Isaac, the true ISRAEL, from the house of Judah.
The OLD temple is no more, THE NEW TEMPLE was raised THREE DAYS after Christ died on his cross.
Old Israel along with all the other DEAD will be RAISED back to live when the JUDGES of the earth have been gather.
Those judges have to first be harvested,
When harvest, they become the IMAGE OF CHRIST.
This mortal shall PUT ON IMMORTALITY, Christ ONLY hath IMMORTALITY ..... 1 Timothy 6:16
All those already harvested; are already the image of Christ, they have been in the 1000 year: ONE DAY, reign with Christ NOW, some for 2000 years. the parable of the workers in God's vineyard, is representative of this, all CALLED at different hours of the DAY.
All these at present are ministering Spirits, angels of fire. At some point, Christ will resurrect all back to there bodies of flesh and blood, and God will say to the JUDGES; APPEAR, and all the world will see Christ appearing in the CLOUDS OF HEAVEN, his judges, his IMAGE.
2 Kings 6:17 ..... open their eyes, that they may see, And the Lord opened the eyes of the young men, and they SAW, and, behold, the mountain was FULL of horses and chariots of FIRE (our God is a consuming fire) round about......
Everyone, is going to see, some NOW, some LATER.
Don't try to predict TIMES, only God knows, but we can know that it is all just ONE DAY, TODAY the day of salvation.
God BLESS YOU!
Until Christ has ASSEMBLED all the JUDGES of the EARTH, thing will continue as they are.
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