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The Church of Jesus Christ on the Last Part of the Way - Part I
by Marcel Malgo (c) copyright 2009
What awaits us in these last days? What should Christians expect? These are a few of the important questions this article will address.
In his first letter, the Apostle John wrote these words to the believing brethren: “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (1 John 2:18). When we consider that the apostle wrote these words about 1,950 years ago, how applicable must they be today! In other words, today more than ever we are living in the “last time.”
What is so characteristic of the last time? Is it so peaceful so that we can sit down with our hands in our laps and wait for things to happen? On the contrary. Battles and unrest characterize the last time, because many antichrists have come and there can be no talk of peace. That is why we must take heed when people speak of a time of peace. Even the Apostle Paul warned of this: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). Paul is speaking here of the final returnof the Lord and warns us of being lulled to sleep in the expectation of this event. There can be no rest for those of us who believe in Jesus, for this last time is the hour of the Antichrist.
John wasn’t the only one who wroteabout this negative aspect of the endtimes. Paul wrote these inspired words to Timothy: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1-5). How do we know Paul was referring to anti-Christians here, and not simply to unbelievers? He characterized these people as “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” These people will give the impression that they are on the side of Jesus Christ, but they will not act in accordance with His words, which is exactly how the anti-Christian spirit will be manifested. The Antichrist will give the impression of being Christ, the Messiah, by appearing to be a benefactor and bringing peace. But soon he will reveal himself as the son of the devil.
Our present day is a very restless time, because many antichrists are in our midst, but this also has a very comforting side for born-again Christians.
Encouragement for Children of God
The Lord Jesus encouraged His own with the words, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We may hold up the banner of this glorious truth as a sign of victory, even if we know of the troubles and battles of this time. We must realize continually that our troubles are never greater than our Helper. We are in this evil world, but we have the Victor of Calvary at our side. This is why it says in John’s first epistle, “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 1:4).
Although we feel the spirit from below like a breath from hell and we often fear, especially in this last hour, we may look up to Jesus in the midst of even the greatest storms and hear Him say, “I have overcome the world.” If you are miserable now, you must encourage yourself and say aloud, “Jesus is Victor! He has overcome the world!” This does not disregard the fact that we really are living in the last hour and that the evening began, from a spiritual point of view, long ago. The sun has gone down, the night has not yet come, but the Church stands before the Rapture and the judgment upon this world is very near. What will thisevening, this last hour, bring? What can we expect?
In order to answer these sometimes frightening questions, it is helpful to consider some of the events in the lives of Jesus’ disciples that teach us to trust our wonderful Lord Jesus completely in every situation.
A Prophetic Vision for Our Time
In John 6:16-18 we read, “When even was now come, his disciples went down into the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.” It was already evening when the disciples got into a boat and sailed across the sea towards Capernaum. This is a clear prophetic picture for our time, which has already produced many antichrists. Spiritual darkness and uncertainty have filled many people with fear and trembling — even driving some to commit suicide.
Those who have not yet become children of God through faith in the Son of God always have reason to be afraid, for we are living in a demonic time, a time of confusion in which evil has already taken on enormous proportions, and uncertainty is our main problem. When the Lord Jesus spoke of His coming in great power and glory (not about the Rapture) He said something else had to happen first: “men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth” (Luke 21:26). We can already feel this fear Jesus spoke about today. It has come upon mankind like a paralysis. Even creation is subject to it, as Paul wrote in his letter to the Christians in Rome: “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19).
We who have become children of God cannot escape this. We are not subject to the spirit of fear, but we are still in the world, and we are often surrounded on all sides by a breath from hell. Jesus did not say that His own did not need to fear, but, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” If we abide in Him, however, the world cannot touch us, then we will be “more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:37). That is the difference between the children of this world who are so full of fear and the children of God who can overcome it in the name of Jesus.
Yet we may not rest in a false sense of security, for we also, as children of God, have to deal with this deceitful anti-Christian spirit. In John 6:16-17 we read, “And when even was come, his disciples went down unto the sea, and entered into a ship, and went over the sea towards Capernaum.” They were not just any people, but disciples of Jesus who wanted to go to Capernaum. Of course Jesus knew that a storm would arise on the sea, but He did not prevent His disciples from embarking on this dangerous journ e y. It is just the same with us who believe in Him today. Jesus didn’t promise a little heaven on earth to His own, to which we can withdraw to wait until He comes. No, He put us in this demonic world to spread the Gospel in word and deed to people who are not yet believers. He did, however, give us a letter of safe conduct: His victory over this world. And through this letter of safe conduct we will arrive safely, even if we are often in uncertainty, or even fear, when the waves of the sea often threaten to cover us and drown us. We may even look forward to the day when we meet Jesus, because the goal before us is infinitely glorious. Jesus’ disciples on the Sea of Galilee rowed into the dark night and the arising storm brought them into great uncertainty, but they had a glorious goal before their eyes: Capernaum.
Capernaum: Only a Little Fishing Village?
What was so special about Capernaum, which means “village of Nahum”? Although Capernaum was an ordinary fishing village, it had something special about it. We read in Mark 2:1, “And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and in was noised that he was in the house.” The New International Version of the Bible translates the verse this way: “the people heard that he had come home.” Certainly Capernaum was Jesus’ home during His life on earth, or, as Matthew 9:1 says, “his own city.” That is why it says also in Matthew 4:13, “And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast.”
Although the disciples were in a boat in the dark night, and their unrest increased as the waters of the Sea of Galilee were suddenly troubled by a strong wind, they were still on the way to the city of Jesus and His home, Capernaum. What a glorious goal they had before them! It is the same for us today. Darkness and uncertainty are the characteristics of our time, which is already very demonized and full of heresies. The evil in the world has increased alarmingly. In spite of this, those who belong to the Church of Jesus are on their way to the eternal Father’s house, the heavenly Jerusalem. You may also find yourself on this way to your heavenly homeland, which sometimes seems to be almost too difficult, child of God. It is good to enter through the straight gate and to walk on the narrow way, for only this leads to Jesus, who is life (Matthew 7:14). There is room for many on the broad way; many things are tolerated, even if they are diametrically opposed to the Word of God. The broad way does not lead to Jesus in the Father’s house, however, but to a completely different place: “Broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Matthew 7:13). The narrow way has room for only two people: you and Jesus. Fight the good fight of faith, because this way holds many trials and temptations.
But we can overcome all our fears and troubles by knowing that Jesus, the conqueror, is with us, by proclaiming His victory, and by turning our eyes continually upon the goal, “Capernaum,” the heavenly city, our homeland.
How moving Jesus’ words are concerning the homeland of the believers, the heavenly “Capernaum,” the eternal house: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” Why shouldn’t we be troubled? “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3). Here also the caring, protecting love of the Savior is revealed, which we have already seen in John 16:33: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
The victory of Jesus not only enables us to say with confidence that “He helps me in trouble,” but also assures us that, “In these troubles I am on the way to His city, the eternal homeland, where Jesus Christ, as the heavenly architect, is building homes.” What wonderful grace, what a wonderful hope!
Deception of the Last Times: Self-Satisfaction
In John 6:16-17 we saw prophetically, in the picture of the disciples in the darkness on the stormy Sea of Galilee, the Church of Jesus Christ on the last part of the way. What took place, however, just before this? The disciples had been in the midst of a crowd when the five thousand people had just been fed (John 6:1-15). Then suddenly they had been taken out of the security of the throngs of people to the solitude of being in a boat alone in the dark night.
This also seems to point to the situation of the Church of Jesus Christ on the last part of the way, on which the Lord is beginning to prepare the believers for His soon coming.
How does this preparation take place? The Lord Jesus is taking individual Christians out of the masses and beginning to work on them personally. Why is He doing this? Because the spirit of Laodicea is at work in the Church today. Spiritually speaking, we are living in the time of the church of Laodicea, and this is one of the signs that we really are living in the last times. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul wrote, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1). What is the deception of the latter times? At the time of the church of Laodicea it was self-satisfaction: “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing” (Revelation 3:17). Today many churches are boasting, “We are doing well. Look how many people are coming to our meetings. We know what we’re doing and how to do it!” How does such a superficial judgment come about? I believe it comes about through the suggestive power of the masses. What do I mean by this? Many Christians are in great danger of falling prey to the so-called herd instinct. In other words, they only feel at home in the masses. This was never God’s intention, however. No, He wants to have a completely personal relationship with each of His children. Because only few Christians, however, attain inner peace and intimatefellowship with the Father and the Son through reading the Bible and prayer, this fateful herd instinct has developed. Many believers only feel at home when they are in the midst of hundreds or even thousands of otherChristians and can warm themselves in their company. But true life and warmth can only be found in Jesus Christ.
Many Christians run from one Christian event to another and from one conference to another. And some of them are proud of being able to say that they have not missed any of them. I am not against meetings where many people hear the Wo rd of God; I pray for these and am glad for them. But in the midst of thousands of Christians and the feeling of belonging to them, individual believers are often no longer conscious of the fact that they are on a spiritual decline. They may no longer be able to judge the standard of their own spiritual life. Under the mass effect they think that everything is in perfect order. This is often the trouble today: people think they have everything, whereas in reality they have nothing left, as it once was with Laodicea.
Beware of “Strange” Fire
The many activities in the church at Laodicea were well organized, but the believers there did not do what God actually wanted. This is why, in His eyes, they actually had nothing, and He had to reproach them: “and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17).
This is the case in many places today as well. Christians are perfectly organized, but they are not an organism, i.e., they are not an entity in Christ. This is why we have so much “strange fire” in the churches. What do I mean by this? Everything appears to be in order and so-called manifestations of the Spirit seem to be present, but much of it is fake: fake blessings, fake experiences, fake revelations, fake works. Worst of all, however, is that fake activities are present in many churches today.
This was already a great evil under the Old Covenant, when two sons of the high priest of that time thought they should engage in special activities. It seems that it was not enough for them to bring the burnt offerings that the Lord had ordered. No, in their eyes, something special had to be done for the Lord, not just by anyone, but by them. But in God’s eyes this was sheer disobedience, which is why His punishment was not long in coming. We read of this in Leviticus 10:1-2: “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron , took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.” Strange fire, or false activity, resulted in the death of two of the sons of Aaron .
Strange fire also brought down Laodicea, and it will also cause our spiritual death if we do not turn away from it and do what God wants us to do. Why, in spite of your intensive Christian activity, do you no longer have the joy of the Lord in your heart, but you sense only emptiness, discontent and sadness? Why is your prayer life so meager? Why do you have no real fellowship with the Lord? Because God says “no” to discipleship, which is made up of self-appointed works and activities, through which your spiritual life is consumed by this strange fire.
Religious self-satisfaction reveals itself today in that people think they have to plan as many activities as possible, whereby Jesus Christ is often “organized out” or “planned out.” And false means is a direct result of such self-appointed false activities. We often hear the expression, “the end justifies the means,” but it should rather be, “the means change the end.” Under the Old Covenant, the Lord lamented, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13). The Israelites employed false means to nourish their spiritual lives, but the Lord wanted no part in this. And He does not want any part in it today.
Who rejoices when we have no or only a half-hearted “yes” to God’s acting in and with our lives? Satan: the enemy of God and man. James wrote in his letter, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble” (James 2:19). In other words, Satan and the demons never tremble on account of us, however much we do. But the powers of darkness tremble when He has His rightful place in a person’s life.
How Does God Accomplish His Purpose for Your Life?
God accomplishes His purpose for your life by taking you out of the masses, as He did with the disciples in order to have a personal encounter with them. This was also His offer to Laodicea: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). I with Him and He with me; nobody else is present. Applied to you personally, this means Jesus is with you and you are with Him. He wants to have this personal relationship with each of His children in our time when the spirit of Laodicea, the spirit of self-satisfaction, is so much at work. For this reason, the words of Jesus in Luke 9:23 have never been so pertinent as they are today, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” The Lord is concerned with individuals. Of course He wants to prepare every believer in the world, but not every believer is willing to be called out of the masses to walk with Jesus alone. Many rebel, and many believers think God has set them aside because they failed here and there, and that is why they are now forsaken by God and man. But when God calls one of His children out of the masses, He wants to prepare that person for the coming of His Son, Jesus Christ. Every born-again person wants to be there when Jesus comes, but not all are willing to let the Lord prepare them for it, and they resist being called out of the masses by Him.
A Way We Do Not Like
What does it mean when the Lord calls individuals out of the masses? It can mean that this way becomes very lonely, very difficult, a way that we would not have chosen. The disciples at that time would never have undertaken that journey on the Sea of Galilee of their own accord, but it says, “And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away” (Matthew 14:22). It does not say that any of the disciples disobeyed Jesus’ instructions to get on the boat. Instead, “his disciples… entered into a ship, and wentover the sea” (John 6:16-17).
What about you, my dear friend? Will you go the way that Jesus tells you to, even if it seems very difficult? Believe me, it is a great privilege when the Lord takes you aside because it means He wants to prepare you for His return. It may well be that you find such a way very hard, because you often have the feeling the Lord is not with you and you are completely alone.
The feeling of abandonment must have come over the disciples at that time on the stormy Sea of Galilee. Jesus had told them to get into the boat, but He was not with them Himself. Where was He then, when His disciples were in such a plight? He was on a mountain: “And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone” (Matthew 14:23). Doesn’t this suggest that Jesus was praying, among other things, for His disciples, who felt so alone? Certainly He was concerned about them and brought them in
prayer before His heavenly Father.
My dear child of God, do you also think the Lord has forsaken you and that you are all on your own? This is not so. Hear the following three glorious testimonies of the Scriptures:
* “We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).
* “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:34).
* “ Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).
Do you believe now that the Lord Jesus means well with you and that you are never really alone? Or do you need further confirmation that He has not left you alone? When you came to believe in Jesus Christ, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, who is God just as the Father and the Son, “that he may abide with you for ever…for he dwelleth in you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16-17).
Preparation “In the Depths”
Because the Almighty God wants to prepare you for the coming of His Son and only wants the best for you, you may say to Him in complete trust, “Yes, Your will is good, Lord.” If He goes with you into the depths, do not be afraid, for there you will experience the necessary and best preparation, because there are many truths that you can only grasp in the depths. The Psalmist also had this experience when he was in the depths, and therefore he prayed, “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord” (Psalm 130:1). Why did the Lord lead His servant into such depths? Because He could only bring him to realize seven special truths in this way:
1. Conviction of sin: “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” (verse 3).
2. Forgiveness: “But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared” (verse 4).
3. Waiting: “I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait…my soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning” (verses 5-6).
4. The Word: “In his word do I hope” (verse 5).
5. Hope: “Let Israel hope in the Lord” (verse 7).
6. Mercy: “For with the Lord there is mercy” (verse 7).
7. Redemption: “And with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities” (verses 7-8).
Won’t you say “yes,” then, to God’s dealings with you in this last hour, even if He leads you into the depths? Such a “yes” on our part to all His ways will bring an eternal reward, because through them God is preparing us for the soon coming of His Son, Jesus Christ.
(to be continued…)
There are Pestilences and then there are Pestilences
A scripture verse that gets quoted more often these days than almost all others is from the Gospel of Matthew. “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.” Matthew 24:7-8 . Most Bible teachers point to these verses as prophetic in that they as well as the rest of Matthew 24 will take place during the tribulation period. I tend to agree with them on that interpretation but we can certainly see all these things currently approaching, similarly to a woman in travail. Birth pangs are growing very intense.
Swine flu hysteria is running amuck. We read about it everywhere on the internet, in the newspaper, and I imagine it’s all over the TV news networks. This swine flu is mutating into a major problem, but just a few days ago it was nothing. How bad is it? There are different scenarios being floated by various worldwide organizations. Mr. Obama says “There’s no cause for alarm”. The World Health Organization has elevated the alert to a phase 4 pandemic. The UN is warning of a global pandemic. The blame game has begun. Terrorists are being blamed for a biological planned attack on the U.S. There was a Republican running the department of Health and Human Services up until 28th of April when Congress affirmed the new secretary and as such Republicans are being blamed.
There is a lot of excitement about a few outbreaks of this swine flu in the U.S. In Mexico 150 people have died from the outbreak. As I write this commentary swine flu has now spread to at least five other nations besides Mexico and the US. So is it a pandemic? If so how do we cope with such an outbreak? Personally I’ll need to see a whole lot more evidence come to the surface before I start to get overly concerned. But whether or not there is a pandemic at hand isn’t really what I am writing about today. The real scare, as I’ve outlined below, is currently being quietly removed from the public eye. Out of sight out of mind.
Old news, but still the major outbreak of the worst kind of pestilence is at hand. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be much outrage associated with it. No one seems to even think about this disease any more, yet it has taken millions of lives over the past twenty-five years or so. HIV/AIDS is a much more serious disease and yet we hardly hear about it these days. Why is that? It’s transferred sexually and yet promiscuous sexual intercourse is not only promoted in every aspect of our lives but actually encouraged among our young children. Abstinence is being disparaged.
“AIDS was first identified in the USA in 1981. The epidemic has now spread to every part of the USA and to all sectors of society. It is thought that more than one million people are living with HIV in the USA and that more than half a million have died after developing AIDS.
People living with HIV/AIDS in 2007 33.0 million
Adults living with HIV/AIDS in 2007 30.8 million
Women living with HIV/AIDS in 2007 15.5 million
Children living with HIV/AIDS in 2007 2.0 million
People newly infected with HIV in 2007 2.7 million
Children newly infected with HIV in 2007 0.37 million
AIDS deaths in 2007 2.0 million
Child AIDS deaths in 2007 0.27 million
The latest statistics on the world epidemic of AIDS & HIV were published by UNAIDS/WHO in July 2008, and refer to the end of 2007.
More than 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981.
Africa has 11.6 million AIDS orphans.
At the end of 2007, women accounted for 50% of all adults living with HIV worldwide, and for 59% in sub-Saharan Africa.
Young people (under 25 years old) account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide.”
This information was obtained through the internet website AVERT.org.
Where’s the panic when it comes to this worldwide epidemic? The above statistics are as of December 2007 but the report also stated that the amount of deaths for 2008 ran about the same as 2007, that’s 2 million people dying every year from Aids? Where’s the outrage when we know for a fact how it’s spread?
Yes, let’s get into a whole new pandemic so we can all take our minds off the real culprits involved in spreading death. Let’s legalize same sex marriage so we can all feel better about these sick, debased individuals who are seemingly incapable of recognizing what they are doing to spread disease like there’s no tomorrow. Who cares about the consequences associated with this completely debouched lifestyle? Let them be married, let them be legitimized. Let’s pass hate crimes bills so no one can ever say one word against such a lifestyle without feeling the wrath of the law. Let that obscene lifestyle be promoted throughout our public school system as a loving and caring lifestyle of people who were supposedly born different. This is a huge lie being perpetrated on a Christ rejecting, willingly ignorant and foolish society.
Pestilence, yes there will be pestilence in the last days in divers places. All around the world there will be pestilences but let’s at least place the blame in the laps of the biggest pestilence producing group of individuals of human history. The homosexual community is responsible for this judgment. Why? Because they refuse to believe the word of God when it plainly states the following.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; … Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: … For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” Romans 1:18, 24, 26-32.
But as Mr. Obama declared in one of his campaign speeches “Nobody should be concerned with a few obscure Bible verses”. Obama’s very poignant statement will go down in infamy as our government implodes from within.
This newly professed pandemic may be a new judgment from God, but certainly we’ve been under judgment for some years now and it hasn’t even made a dent in our attitudes towards God. If anything we as a society have actually moved further away from God. So perhaps we are in for a new round of judgments; once again God’s focus may well be on getting our attention before it’s too late. Perhaps this time Lord.
Ron Graham
All scripture is from the KJV
Moving Toward 666
(c) Terry James at Rapture Ready
Bible prophecy students who hold to a literal interpretation of prophecy yet future–futurists, as we are sometimes termed—have long speculated how America might figure into the ultimate system of control of the beast regime. That Antichrist economic/worship system is foretold in the following:
“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six” (Revelation 13:15-18).
America–but not Al Gore, as he has claimed–was at the heart of developing the internet. The internet is a type of medium that more and more looks to be one a hybrid of which might deliver on the globalist elite’s ambition to intricately link everyone on the planet in a person-to-person system of governance. More than coincidentally, such an internet hybrid will almost certainly produce, through electronic bondage, the Antichrist dictatorship that will enslave everyone on the planet.
We should expect, based upon the many proliferating end-of-days signals now occurring in birth pang-like frequency and intensity, that there should also be found on the prophetic horizon such an enslavement system in the making. Sure enough, there is such a system developing, and, again, the United States of America is at the forefront, just as the nation is at the forefront of the gush toward globalism.
The once mighty U.S. dollar is being systematically rendered the equal of all other of the world’s currencies. This is being done through printing trillions of dollars that have nothing of substance backing them whatever, and by U.S. leadership intentionally melding America’s sovereignty with a swiftly changing global monetary order.
The great tax-and-spend powers that be have been turning up every stone known to the fiscal world to find a way to exact tax revenues from use of the internet. Believe me when I tell you that they will be able to do this at some point in the near future. The voracious tax grab must first, of course, be shown to have a dramatic reason to be done. A crisis must be at hand, you see, in order to justify such invasion into the individual liberty intrinsic within the internet. No doubt, the crisis must involve national security so that we the people will be afraid not to go along.
Try this on for size, my fellow citizens…
“The President has likened threats to the internet to that of a nuclear attack. The White House should take direct control of US cybersecurity, the woman tipped to be President Obama’s net security czar has said. Melissa Hathaway told a conference in San Francisco that the net had not been built with safety in mind.
She has just completed a review of cybersecurity for the President.
‘This poses one of the most serious challenges of the 21st century. Cyberspace won’t be secured overnight on the basis of one good plan,’ she said…
President Obama has made the issue of cybersecurity a top priority and ordered this 60-day review to determine how the government should dramatically restructure how it handles the internet and security… Recent breaches have targeted the US power grid and the Pentagon.
To date, the government has kept its own counsel on the shape of its new cybersecurity establishment. However it has been reported the administration has finalized plans for a new Pentagon cyber command to coordinate the security of military computer networks…” (“US ramps up cybersecurity focus,” Maggie Shiels, BBC News, RSA Conference San Francisco, 4/24/09).
The American administration’s determination to bring the internet–and all involved within the medium–under strict government control proves there are plans for new bureaucracy on the drawing board of ever bigger government. It is only a matter of time–a very brief time, I suggest—until such bureaucracy will be constructed globally. It is just such a construct from which I believe the 666 mark and numbering system of Revelation 13:15-18 will ultimately emerge.
The super internet will have at its core the use of Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) monetary units. Such will eliminate, the developers and implementers will claim, theft of money that the hard currencies have presented. The problems that are part of national currencies will also be eliminated, or at least made controllable, they will assure, such as problems involved with the rates of exchange of one national currency against another.
The ultimately evolved super internet system will have at its heart a computer marking and numbering system that will electronically link the individual with a central controlling entity whereby all people can be monitored and instantly dealt with as necessary. Bible prophecy foretells this whole diabolist ball of wax will revolve around worship of the beast–Antichrist. This will take place during the tribulation era, the time of God’s wrath against rebellious earth dwellers (Rev. 6: 17). However, Satan’s scheme to ultimately have all of humanity worship him will not touch saints of the Church Age (Age of Grace).
Jesus said that the gates of hell would not prevail against his Church (Matt. 16:16). The Apostle Paul said: “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do” (1 Thess. 5: 9-11).
–Terry
The Dilemma of Watchfulness
by Gary Stearman
Addressing his congregation, a minister was recently heard to say, "If I teach you that the Rapture of the church is imminent, you’ll become obsessed with the idea. You won’t be able to think about anything else. In fact, I believe that the desire for Rapture is an unhealthy preoccupation. It’s an event that’s been preached for centuries, and Jesus still hasn’t come back. Folks, we should really be centered on worship, Christian service and personal spiritual growth. Hoping for an event that may not come is a waste of time."
This admonition came from the pastor of a large evangelical church. Not so long ago, illustrating a theological shift that is becoming all too familiar, this very church proclaimed that latter-day prophecy was being fulfilled, and that Jesus could return at any moment!
This quiet change reflects a phenomenon that has plagued the entire age of the church, which has taken many turns in its position on the doctrine of last things. The last two thousand years have witnessed the first century’s Apostolic expectancy of Rapture and Resurrection dissolve into the belief that there would be no Rapture and no millennium at all. Augustine spiritualized the Apocalypse, saying that the Millennium had already begun with Christ’s First Coming. He saw only the age of the church, followed by the Second Coming of Christ. Centuries passed, and that teaching was modified into another: The church became "redeemed Israel," and the Kingdom Age was founded under Christ and the Apostles. The Millennium is past; the church will Christianize the world, then Jesus will come to receive His throne. The role of the individual believer is to support the growth of the church, as it becomes increasingly dominant.
Today, many large churches have quietly followed this pattern, returning to the doctrine and the general belief that the church will convert the world, giving rise to a golden age which brings in the Kingdom. It also holds that the church becomes the redeemed Israel, inheritor of the ancient promises. To believe this, one must turn aside from every prophetic Scripture that calls for a latter-day collapse of morality, numerous international wars, natural upheavals, and domination by an evil world order that comes to power after the great world war predicted in Ezekiel 38.
One must also forget all the Scriptures that predict the regathering of the Jews, which the following verses condense into a compact and powerful statement:
"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
"And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
"And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God" (Ezk. 36:24-28).
Furthermore, latter-day Israel will be victorious over those who would destroy them. In the Bible, their enemies are well-defined and vicious. Israel’s restoration is to be greeted by those who would take their promised inheritance. The following statement evokes the present "Palestinian" conflict:
"Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession" (Ezk. 36:2).
Today, the highest of all those places – the Temple Mount – is possessed by those who deny that Israel ever had a Temple there at all.
But we must never forget the excitement among Christians in the decades following Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six-Day war. Ancient Mount Moriah was captured, then returned to the enemy in the name of peace. But something changed in the process. Israel was perceived as dominant … being on the verge of strength and unity, standing as a strong nation. Can we so quickly forget the spiritual anticipation that characterized the decades following Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six-Day War? Remember the land brought back from being a desert waste? Isaiah’s prophecy was widely quoted:
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose" (Is. 35:1).
Israel, once a desert, was called the "California of the Middle East," providing produce for Europe and Asia. In those days, countless books, pamphlets and sermons praised the regathering of Israel, breathing new life into believers. First in the United States, then quickly spreading to other countries, the doctrine of the pretribulation Rapture became popularized in a way that hadn’t been seen since the passing of the first-century Apostles.
Before that, the dawn of the twentieth century had witnessed the formalization of pretribulational teaching. C. I. Scofield’s reference Bible stood at the peak of a mountain of published teaching on this belief. But only decades later, following the 1967 war, did the world really sense the nearness of Christ’s return for His people. Though it was not correct, many in the church proclaimed that the "times of the gentiles" (Lk 21:24) had come to an end. Yes, they were factually mistaken, but their hearts were in the right place.
Pretribulational doctrine depends upon the proper understanding of the latter days, as they degenerate into paganism and apostasy and fall into the hands of the ungodly, who are subsequently judged in the Tribulation … following the age of the church.
Rapture enthusiasts rode high on the premise that Israel had taken the Temple Mount, and thought that it wouldn’t be very long before the prophesied events that herald the Tribulation would happen in rapid succession. As we, and others have so often said, the cry coming from the pulpit and the mass media during the closing decades of the twentieth century was, "Jesus is coming soon!"
It was not said that, "Jesus is coming when you least expect it," but "Jesus is coming soon!" Acting on this general sentiment, some were moved to set dates, using complex calculations and numerous "reasons" why Jesus should come for His church on such-and-such a day. They were universally mistaken, and bore the quiet ridicule of others, who prided themselves on not having fallen for the temptation to expect Christ at a particular season, or in conjunction with some important world event.
This fact alone cooled the ardor of the watchful. Again, they were faced with the prospect of being accused of folly as they called for something that never happened. Watchful Christians strained to discern patterns that would suggest that the gathering storm was closer than the day before. Many did this with great caution, recalling that in the 1930s and 40s, many Christian leaders had named Adolph Hitler as the antichrist. Certainly he was an antichrist.
As the twentieth century drew to a close, presidents came and went, along with other leaders, some of whom had been particularly singled out as the evil characters alluded to in prophetic Scripture. Though they have grown older, some of them remain influential to this day. Realizing that some of these men could rise to take power over the world in a predicted consortium of power, their behavior and public statements are closely monitored.
For years, the question has been asked, "If we’re so close to the Rapture and subsequent judgment, shouldn’t the antichrist be alive today?" Some answer in the affirmative and try to deduce the identity of this evil "prince who shall come." Others smile knowingly and congratulate themselves for never having yielded to that temptation. It is this smug superiority that rises from time to time, forcing many of the watchful to retreat. Nobody likes to be embarrassed. Enough pressure from anti-prophecy scoffers even forces theological shifts away from premillennial expectancy, toward postmillennial self-satisfaction.
Zion, the Great Sign
And then there is Israel, the focus of all timed prophecy. It was David who named the historic mountain called Moriah by the name that marks a major movement. He called it "Zion," from the Hebrew word that means, "a sign or marker," which it surely is. Zionism is the great latter-day sign. That it is from the Lord and not men may be seen in the hatred that the world has for the Zionist movement.
For centuries, the church forgot the dispersed people, who had drifted all over the world and settled into the obscurity of daily existence, while still keeping their customs, rituals and Hebrew language … in secret, lest they be persecuted. Sometimes, they were hunted out and slain like animals in government-sanctioned pogroms.
Behold the Bridegroom Cometh - New Testament Christianity The Bride Awaits Her Groom
| by J. R. Church |
The church has been referred to as "the bride of Christ," and our Savior, in turn, has been called the "Bridegroom." It is a beautiful and magnificent love story found in the pages of the Bible. We who are in the bride of Christ anxiously await our Bridegroom.
Let’s review the marriage customs of the Jews and discuss some prophetic implications. When the young Jewish man chose his bride-to-be, he came to her home to discuss the matter with her father. This first major step in the Jewish marriage was called the "betrothal." It involved the establishment of a marriage covenant.
During the days of the Bible, it was customary for the prospective bridegroom to negotiate with the father of the young woman to determine the price that he must pay to purchase his bride. Once the bridegroom paid the purchase price (called in Hebrew the "mohar" ), the marriage covenant was established. From that day, the couple were regarded as husband and wife. From that moment the bride was declared to be consecrated or sanctified — set apart exclusively for her bridegroom.
As a symbol of the covenant relationship that had been established, the groom and bride would drink from a cup of wine over which a betrothal benediction was pronounced.
After the marriage covenant was established, the groom would leave the home of the bride and return to his father’s house. There he would remain separated from his bride for a period of several days, weeks, or months. This period of separation afforded the bride time to gather her trousseau and prepare for married life.
The groom occupied himself with the preparation of a bridal chamber (called in the Hebrew language, "huppah" ) to which he could bring his bride.
At the end of the period of separation, the groom would come to take his bride to live with him. The taking of the bride usually took place at night. The groom, along with his best man and the other groomsmen, would conduct a torch-lit procession to the home of the bride.
Although the bride and her attendants were hoping that the groom would come for her, she did not know the exact time of his coming. As a result, the groom’s arrival would be preceded by a shout. This shout would forewarn the bride to be prepared for the coming of the groom. By the way, that evening, her parents would manage to be gone, giving some excuse. She did not know that they had gone to the wedding.
After the groom received his bride (together with her bridesmaids or attendants) the enlarged wedding party returned to his father’s house. When the bride arrived, she would find her parents there. Shortly after their arrival, the bride and groom would be escorted to the bridal chamber by the other members of the wedding party.
During this time the bride remained veiled so that no one could see her face. Only the groom and his bride entered the bridal chamber. As soon as the marriage was consummated, the wedding guests would feast and make merry for the next seven days. During that week of wedding festivities, which were sometimes called the "Seven Days of the Huppah ," the bride remained hidden in the bridal chamber.
At the conclusion of the seven days the groom would bring his bride out of the bridal chamber — with her veil removed — so that all could see who his bride was. Let us examine this ancient marriage custom and see how magnificently it provides a prophetic preview of the coming of our Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ.
To begin with, let us establish that Jesus is the Bridegroom. That takes us to Matthew 9:15:
"And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast." Aside from the details of the story, let us take note that Jesus referred to Himself as the Bridegroom.
Next let us establish who is the bride. For this we go to Ephesians 5:23-24:
"For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. "Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing." Again, aside from the context, we can see that the bride of Christ refers to that vast body of believers who have received Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
Consider yet another passage written by Paul the Apostle. Not only did he refer to the church at Ephesus as being part of the bride of Christ, but in II Corinthians 11:2 he referred to the church at Corinth as being members of the bride:
"For I am jealous over you with godly jealously: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." Who is the bride? Obviously, we are the bride.
When the Jewish man came to negotiate for his bride, he paid the "mohar" or price of betrothal. The comparison is made in I Corinthians 6:20:
"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are God’s." Here we are reminded of the "Mohar." We are bought with a price. But the price of betrothal was not paid with silver or gold. We were bought with something far more valuable than that. It was Peter who wrote in his first epistle, I Peter 1:18,19, that we were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ — a Lamb without blemish and without spot.
So we are the bride, and we have been purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ. He has paid the price of betrothal.
When that price was paid (in the days of the Bible) a ceremony took place. The young couple sealed their covenant by drinking from a glass of wine over which a special benediction had been pronounced. In like manner our Bridegroom met with the disciples on the night before His death, took the wine and passed it among them. Matthew 26:27-29:
"And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. "But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom." Our Savior established the betrothal covenant and promised that we would drink anew with Him in His Father’s kingdom. About midnight, they left the Upper Room for the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus went to pray and prepare himself to pay the price (the mohar ) for His bride.
Alfred Edersheim in his book entitled Sketches of Jewish Social Life wrote on page 143, "The woman had to give her own free and expressed consent, without which a union was invalid."
In like manner there is no pressure put upon the unbeliever today — merely the invitation of our Savior to become a member of the bride. No pastor can force salvation upon an unwilling sinner, and Jesus Christ, Who loves you, will not force the issue. If you would be saved, it must be by your own free will.
In a footnote at the bottom of page 140, Edersheim gave an illustration. "A certain wise woman said to her daughter before her marriage, ‘My child, stand before thy husband and minister to him. If thou will act as his maiden, he will be thy slave and honor thee as his mistress. But if thou exalt thyself against him, he will be thy master and thou shall become vile in his eyes, like one of the maid servants.’"
No wonder the Lord Jesus Christ took the towel that night in the upper room and took a basin of water with which He washed the disciples’ feet. He made it plain that the greatest in the kingdom of heaven would be those who have made themselves servants of the Lord. (By the way, that’s a beautiful bit of advice for wives today.)
On page 146, Dr. Edersheim wrote, "It is on similar grounds that the rabbis argue that a man must seek after a woman and not a woman after a man. It was observed by ancient Jews that God had not formed woman out of the head lest she become proud, nor out of the eye lest she should lust, nor out of the ear lest she should be curious, nor out of the mouth lest she should be talkative, nor out of the heart lest she should be jealous, nor out of the hand lest she should be covetous, nor out of the foot lest she should be a busybody, but out of the rib which was always covered. Modesty, therefore, was a prime quality in the women of Israel."
In like manner it must be said that Christ seeks after us. It is not the nature of a sinner to want to become a Christian, and, dear friend, you cannot become a Christian just when you want to. You can only become a Christian when the Holy Spirit places conviction within your heart and that wooing of the Holy Spirit takes place. When you feel that desire, that longing down inside to settle the matter of your soul, that is God’s invitation to you. If you reject at that point, it is like turning down a proposal made by the groom to be His bride. Have you ever been to a church service where, when the invitation was given, you had the urge to step out and walk the aisle and there receive Christ as your Savior, but you did not?
It seemed that God the Holy Spirit was urging you to step forward, but someone else was giving you a hundred reasons why you should put it off until another day. Finally, you decided to wait.
Dear friend, that is dangerous. There may never be another day. Oh, you may live another 50 years, but the Bridegroom may never again propose to you.
"Well," you may ask, "how will I know that God will receive me if I pray and ask for salvation?" If you are concerned, it is God who gave you that concern. If you are indifferent then you should know the Holy Spirit is not working in your heart. Please, don’t continue to reject His proposal.
On page 148, Dr. Edersheim continued, "From the moment of her betrothal, a woman was treated as if she were actually married. The union could not be dissolved except by regular divorce."
In like manner, once we have received Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, the betrothal covenant is activated. The believer becomes the bride of Christ. We are actually married, and our union cannot be dissolved.
Ah, but wait a minute. Divorce was available among the Jews. Someone may be asking the question, "Cannot a Christian, then, lose his salvation?" For the answer to that, we have only to read the words of Jesus. Matthew 19:3-6:
"The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? "And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, "And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? "Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." This profound statement made by Jesus Christ sets aside any possible divorce in our new covenant. When the Jews pressed the matter of divorce, Jesus said, "But from the beginning it was not so." Dear friend, once you make that decision of your own free will to join the bride of Christ, the union cannot be dissolved.
In the ancient Jewish custom a betrothal covenant was drawn up stipulating the mutual obligations, the dowry, and all other points on which the parties had agreed. Then the document was signed by two witnesses.
According to rabbinical law, certain formalities were necessary in order to make a betrothal legally valid. These consisted either in giving the bride-to-be (directly or through messengers) a piece of money, or a letter stating that the man intended to espouse the woman as his wife. In like manner, our Savior has given us 27 books of the new covenant wherein He promises to return one day to take us as His bride.
According to ancient Jewish custom, once the price is paid and the betrothal covenant is established the bridegroom goes back home to the father’s house and builds the "huppah" — the bridal chamber. It may take a few weeks, or it could take several months.
The bride, meanwhile, knows only that her bridegroom will return for her. She does not know when. In like manner, our Bridegroom has returned to the Father’s house — where, for more than 1,900 years, He has been building the huppah , the bridal chamber. Read His promise in John 14:1-3:
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
"In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
"I go to prepare a place for you," said Jesus. And He has been doing just that for almost 2,000 years, preparing for that day when he shall return to receive us unto Himself. Meanwhile, the bride prepared for the coming of her bridegroom. According to the ancient custom, the bride gathered her dowry and chose the young ladies who would be her bridesmaids.
These young ladies were given lamps to use in the procession when the bridegroom came. According to Dr. Edersheim’s book, Sketches of Jewish Social Life , page 155, rabbinical authority took note that such lamps were carried on the top of staves and that ten lamps were always the number mentioned in connection with public solemnities.
He wrote, "According to Rabbi Simon, it was an eastern custom that when the bride was led to her future home, they carried before the party about ten such lamps."
That compares quite nicely with the parable of the ten virgins given in Matthew 25. According to the ancient custom, the groom did not tell his bride when he could be expected.
Therefore, she must be prepared at all times. In like manner, our Savior has hidden from His bride the day and the hour of His return. Again, according to the ancient custom, the coming of the bridegroom usually occurred at night. That was the reason for the ten lamps.
In traditional Jewish weddings the celebration began after the marriage ceremony when the evening star appeared in the sky. The time would be somewhere between eight and ten o’clock in the evening, depending upon the season of the year. According to the parable of the ten virgins, however, it was well past ten o’clock when the bridegroom came. In fact, it was at the midnight hour, and five of the virgins had run out of oil.
In like manner, I must say that historians have called the 19th century "The Darkling Plane" and the 20th century, "The Midnight Hour — the darkest period in world history."
World War III looms on the horizon. There has never been a darker hour than today. Surely the Bridegroom is soon to be on His way.
According to the ancient custom, as the bridegroom approached the home of his bride a shout would go forth, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to meet him." Again, in like manner, we are promised that the "Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God." At that time, wrote the apostle Paul in I Thessalonians 4:16-17:
"… the dead in Christ shall rise first:
"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air…"
It is a beautifully romantic picture. Listen to the Song of Solomon 2:8-13:
"The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
"My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
"My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
"For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
"The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
"The fig tree putteth forth her green figs [Did you see that?! The budding of the fig tree is mentioned here!] , and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."
And then the bride exclaimed in verses 16-17:
"My beloved is mine, and I am his… "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away…" Wow! What a promise that in the midst of the midnight hour of world history our Bridegroom will come and take us away with Him until the day breaks and the shadows flee away. |
Revelation 4 and 5: A Door to Heaven
by Gary Stearman
In Greek, it is called Apocalypsis Ioannou , or "Revelation of John." Its title bears the word that comes down to us in the English as "apocalypse," meaning "exposure," "disclosure," or "unveiling." Of course, it also means "revelation," the common title of the Bible’s final book. John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 21:20), received an extraordinary view of the climax of human history.
It prominently features a door between heaven and earth. It opens, allowing John to enter the dimensions of heaven, and to observe a series of decisive events. It is possible that this open door provides us with some important clues about prophetic timing.
Many have attempted to place this book into the context of history past, history present and history future. Or as Jesus put it in his instruction to John, "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter" (Rev. 1:19).
From that day to this, the faithful have pondered its details in the hope of placing its vast prospect into the understandable scope of human perception. John’s use of phrases such as "after these things," "after this," and "I saw," beg an interpretation that follows the time line to which we are accustomed as human beings … past, present and future. Or as the wag once put it, "The present is the future you worried about in the past." Because of the limitations of our present reality, we are forced to view eternity as a long line with a beginning and an end. But as God declared to the prophet Isaiah, His view includes all that there was, is, or ever will be. Furthermore, His stance allows a view from any perspective.
"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isa. 46:9,10).
Probably the closest we can come to an understanding of what the Lord calls beginning and end, is to envision a hologram. Held in one’s hands, it is a flat picture. But when tilted one way or another, it reveals many perspectives. To God, history is probably something like this, or like a polygon, containing an infinite number of perspectives. To Him, past, present and future are always visible.
The Apostle John was privileged to view history from this platform, then to write about it. Led by the Holy Spirit of God, he condensed the era of the church, the Tribulation and the New Heavens and Earth from its multi-dimensional reality into the language of three dimensions that flow along a line that we call "time."
Following this flow, Revelation can be read with ease as an unfolding account of future history. But anyone who has studied it deeply has had the puzzling experience of seeing two or more events seemingly merge into the same crucial time slot. The trumpet judgments and the vial judgments appear in some cases to describe the very same events. But how can this be, seeing that the trumpet judgments "come first," to be followed by the vial judgments?
The "months," and "days" of Revelation often defy placement on a firm time line. Many of its chapters are parenthetical descriptions of the judgment process. Others, with varying degrees of difficulty, may be assigned to the first half, or the second half of the Tribulation. But on timing, there is disagreement among sincere scholars.
Having stated the general difficulty of viewing the infinite through a finite lens, it must also be said that there are portions of John’s Revelation that present an understandable flow, even though we can’t assign them a precise time slot.
Between Heaven and Earth
The Revelation begins on the Isle of Patmos on the Lord’s Day, when suddenly, the voice of the Lord announced that John was to receive a vision of the church and the world. The second and third chapters record the vision of the seven churches, in type, symbol, history and destination. Taken as a whole, they represent the life cycle of the body of Christ in the context of a world controlled by Satan. ….. full story
Events To Unfold In The Last Days
According to the Prophet Daniel, these are the events that will unfold in the last days.
1. Ancient Roman Empire to be revived and will be the power base of the Anti-Christ.
2. The Anti-Christ will launch a political career and will center it in Europe.
3. The Anti-Christ will make a 7-year treaty with Israel which will be a false treaty. This will be a ‘Covenant With Death’ for Israel.
4. The Anti-Christ will be assassinated at the 3 1/2 year mark and will come back to life as a mockery of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. All who has not studied Revelations will be deceived.
5. The Anti-Christ and the False Prophet will put in place the Mark of the Beast. This will include some ID system featuring "666". Everyone will lose privacy and personal freedom. those who accept the mark will acknowledge allegiance to the Anti-Christ.
6. Major wars leading to the battle of Armageddon.
7. Battle between the Revived Roman Empire and the King of the East in the Valley of Jezreel. (Rev 16:12)
8. Jesus Christ will return to rescue His chosen people.
9. The Anti-Christ will be defeated by Jesus Christ and He will set up his messianic kingdom on earth.
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