Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last. C.T. Studd
Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last. C.T. Studd
The Book of Revelation completes the Biblical portrait of Jesus Christ and would be incomplete without the finishing brush strokes when we see Him in all of His glory and majesty ruling from His eternal throne. Revelation is simply a summary of the Old Testament prophesies, so to understand it we must have a working knowledge of these books. It's the last book in the New Testament recognized by many names such as “The Revelation to John”, “The Revelation from Jesus Christ” and "The Apocalypse”. Apocalypto in Greek means "the unveiling of that which is not understood" or more specifically, the unveiling of Jesus Christ. Revelation is the only book in the Bible where God gives two blessings for those who preach its words to others and take its prophesy to heart. This is because the future events the Apostle John witnessed are somewhat unsettling and requires a lot more effort to understand the books full meaning because of its use of symbols and it is not written in chronological order.
Revelation was deliberately written using symbols as code that only a sincere believer would understand. In the first century when it was written the Roman Empire would have persecuted Christians if the Roman Emperor (Trajan) had thought that Christians were talking about another God replacing the Roman Empire with a different kingdom and ruler. This symbolic writing technique caused problems in the Church for centuries because it erroneously taught the Book of Revelation with an allegorical (symbolic) interpretation instead of teaching it with a literal one as well depending on the Old Testament scripture verse referencing.
Unlike the other books of the Bible, Revelation came directly from God because the events were witnessed firsthand by a first century Apostle named “John the Elder” who was in prison on the Greek Isle of Patmos (~96 A.D). He was instructed by God to record these events as an eyewitness, so John wrote down exactly what he "saw" translated from the Greek word "eidōn". Eidōn means “something you perceived as you are watching it happen”. The words in Revelation were recorded as the events were unfolding. John repeats the word “I saw” 46 times and “I looked, and I heard” 31 times. John had an almost impossible task of observing future science and technology events that were inconceivable for him understand and describe those events in first century terms. The word throne appears 47 times in Revelation which is more than any other text, the second being Matthew (4 times) which is the gospel that emphasis the majesty and kingliness of Jesus Christ. John wrote Revelation at a time when the throne of Caeser was crushing Judaism and Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. Throne is a symbol of authority.
How is it possible that a first century man could experience the hereafter unless he was time-traveled to the future to witness the events, record them and return to the present time. Time and space are a creation of God, so for Him to propel someone into the future is not difficult. This event was similar to the rapture in that God transported John to a Heavenly realm in a spiritual state that is typically only open to the angels and gives him a vision.
A manuscript fragment from the Book of John was recently discovered and dates back to around the time John was living. There were many pastors named "John" in the first century (and today), but because of this evidence we can be almost certain that it was John the Apostle was responsible for writing the Book of Revelation too because it dates so close to his lifetime, and he was the most "significant" Christian named John at that time. Another point to make is that the author of Revelation makes references to phrases that are also found in the Book of John further validating the author as the Apostle John. He doesn't define them because he assumes the reader is already familiar with those phrases.
The Apostle John was a teenager when Jesus called him to be one of His twelve disciples. He was the closet one to Jesus because he spent more time with him, more than any of the other disciple. Their love for one another is why God chose John to write Revelation. Well after Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 A.D., John was (1) preaching, (2) giving testimony along with (3) proof and evidences about Christ. These are the three signs of a prophet and the Roman Empire didn't like it. At the age of 85 years he became a poisoner of Rome and instead of executing him, they exiled him to die on the Isle of Patmos where the worst criminals were sent. They did this because they didn't want John to become another Christian martyr. The Roman authority thought he would just pass away there and be forgotten or be killed by the other prisoners. Instead, he wrote down his visions known as the Book of Revelation and he led many of the prisoners to Christ. And in return, the prisoners' became his body guards.
It wasn't until after leaving the Island of Patmos that he wrote the Book of John which focuses on the deity of Jesus Christ. At his crucifixion, Jesus asked John to look after his mother Mary. John and the Virgin Mary travelled to Ephesus between 38 to 47 A.D. where they lived out the rest of their life. Despite knowing Jesus better than anyone else, he was still in awe when Jesus reveals His true nature to John in the following verse.
The primary theme of the Book of Revelation is that God has absolute authority to judge mankind. God's master plan is to rid His creation of all forms of evil based on His timetable. God does this to establish His goodness to the full degree that manifests in Heaven to the full benefit of mankind. He will bring believers into an ultimate reality with eternal security. Listed below are eight primary themes throughout the Book of Revelation.
Before the 20th century, there was little church interest in teaching the Book of Revelation because it had little meaning in previous centuries. Since the 20th century, there has been a tremendous, newfound interest in it because as the theologian and author Cyrus Scofield once wrote; “the book is so written that as the actual time of these events approach, current world events will unlock the meaning of the book” (CI Scofield, 1903). The mysteries found in this book are now open in current times as we quickly approach the end times. The Bible says that this book will be sealed or encrypted until the time of the end.
The original Hebrew text says that we should look for a vast increase in travel by many (some, not all) and secular knowledge by all throughout the world. The increase in travel will bring about a vast increase in knowledge. One explanation of this verse refers to the vast worldwide transportation in modern times with the invention of automobiles, trains and airplanes, as well as the increase of physical knowledge (space travel). Not until the birth of computers and the Internet have, we had information and communication so readily available. We are living in unprecedented times where there is an explosion in both transportation and knowledge. The beginning of the vast increase in transportation and knowledge started after the end of World War Two in 1945. From the span of 1945 to 1975 there was an information explosion of more than 10,000 times. No time in human history has there been a geometric information increase in such a short time until current times. There were many key inventions and events that occurred in 1948 that that laid the foundation for this information explosion and we believes are signs from God who is setting the stage for the future events of the end times.
"The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible."
― Dwight L. Moody
American Evangelist
Revelation is the capstone (crowning achievement) of the Old Testament prophetic books. All the other books of the Bible lead to Revelation. A general rule we should use is that if we see a symbol used in Revelation that is defined in the Old Testament then we should take it as symbolic, otherwise we should take it literally. We believe the Bible is intended to be self-consistent and self-supportive. We don't have the freedom to guess what these symbols mean. The reader is not in control of interpreting what these symbols mean. It's best to take the meaning as symbolic those words and figures of speech that don't make sense to be taken literally. We do that only if we see that these figures of speech and words are defined elsewhere in the Bible. We have found that throughout Revelation this method is entirely consistent. For example, the word "star" and "lampstands" is used as a symbol for "Angel" and "Churches" throughout Revelation 1 where their meanings are also defined. If used literally in those passages it would not make sense.
For instance, a symbolic reference found in Revelation, references to the "seas" found in the Book of Isaiah tells us that the "seas" are the unbelieving gentile nations (Isaiah 60:5). In Revelation 13:1 it says "The dragon (Satan) stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast (Antichrists') coming out of the sea (Gentile Nations)." This is a reference to the Antichrist who is a human that will rise up from the unbieving gentile nations.
For instance, a literal reference in Revelation 9:7-11 describes locusts who are ruled over by the angel of the abyss. The author John seems to be describing modern day helicopters as locusts, but when we reference the Old Testament, we could only find locusts referenced associated with demons and no references to any human made device. Revelation talks about the locust being released from the abyss which is a prison house for the most evil demons. God releases these creatures from the abyss for a five month period to torment, not kill people in order to show unbeliever that this is what you will be experiencing in Hell if you don't want to be under my authority and repent.
The Book of Revelation symbols were used for the following reasons:
We suggest that you use a concordance to lookup symbols you do not understand. A concordance will give you every verse in the Bible where that word is used. Look at each verse until you find where it is defined. Some symbols found in Revelation are defined within the verse. For instance, the dragon is identified in the following verse:
"We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams."
― Jeremy Irons
English Actor & Activist
The seven kings are the seven world empires that have existed throughout gentile history below are covered in the Book of Daniel verse 2,7 and 8 which includes Ancient Rome and the Revived Roman Empire. Daniel is told that there will be four world empires that will try to dominate the earth in Daniel 2 & 7, and God will send His angels to supernaturally prevent them in Daniel 10 & 11 prophesy's. The first being Babylon, then Media-Persia followed by Greece and Rome. God said that He would bring up the Meads and the Persians to break apart the Babylonian Empire. Then He raised up the Greeks to defeat the Meads and the Persians. The fourth empire, Rome, took over Greeks when the kingdom was split into four pieces.
The fifth world empire will be a version of the revived Roman Empire comprised of a ten-nation confederacy encompassing the entire world that is yet to come. This empire will rule over the entire world for a short time and God will permit or allow one empire world dominance one last time. The only previous time God allowed this was back in Genisis with the Nimrod's Tower of Bable and we know how that ended.
The prophet Daniel was given a prophesy that there would be four empires in Daniel 7 or four beasts that would rise up on the face of the earth, each with a goal of world dominance, but God would work against them supernaturally to prevent it because when the unbelievers are at peace there will be no peace for God's people.
Gentile World Empires (with symbols)
When Revelation was written in the first century there were five fallen kingdoms, one that is, Rome at the time and the final, seventh kingdom that is to come. The number seven is God’s number of completion, perfection, and rest. This mystery is explained in in the following verse. As we will further discuss there is a very good reason why God purposely prevented these kingdoms from world domination.
We also know the Roman Empire is the world superpower being described in this verse because John uses the word "is" above which was the city reigning during his lifetime when the Book of Revelation was written. This religious system that is a part of the Roman Empire is currently called Catholicism that has been passed down to all the different gentile empires throughout the centuries in one form or another.
Rome is often referred to as the ancient city of the seven hills. "Mystery Babylon" mentioned in Revelation includes the Roman Catholic Church which has been inseparably connected with that great city of Rome for almost 2,000 years. It even carries the name of Rome in its own name, instructing that Rome is the leading city over all of Christendom and continues to be headquartered from that city today (Vatican City in Rome is technically the world’s smallest sovereign nation). Rome is also a city that has at least 14 major ports.
Daniel 7:23-24 says there will be ten dominant nations or groups of nation states that will be responsible for reviving the Roman Empire. There are currently 200 nations worldwide, so dramatic will need to happen to consolidate them into ten kingdoms. One ruler, the Antichrist will rule over the 10 leaders of these ten kingdoms which covers the entire planet. Three of these leaders or kings will resist being ruled over by the Antichrist and will be defeated by conquest most likely without war although there will be civil war within each of these three kingdoms. The Antichrist will convince the world that we are at peace with a few exceptions. His lie is that the world is better off than we've ever been in world history right before the remaining three horsemen of the apocalypse are released.
There has been a pattern in world history for persecuting believers. When there is peace for the peoples of the world, there is unrest and persecution for believers. There was peace in the days of Nimrod just before the Tower of Bable fell. There was also peace in the days prior to Noah's flood and when Nebuchadnezzar II ruled Babylon. Since the beginning of mankind God will always step in to prevent any one nation or dictator from ruling over the entire world. God sends His angels to prevent any one world empire from dominating the planet. God is at work to keep people apart, because when we are working together and there's peace among all nations, then we will see the expression of wickedness in his heart of unbelievers. This has also been a pattern in world history. War is a great evil and we should pray for peace in the nation we are living (1 Timothy 2:1-4), but world peace is actually worse for believers. Jesus said that we should always expect war until the end (Matthew 24:6).
The 5th Kingdom (Daniel's 5th Kingdom) will be the only time in human history when God permits world dominance by the Antichrist and a revived Roman Empire (7th Kingdom or Daniel's 5th Kingdom) for a seven-year tribulation period so He can bring unbelievers to believe in Christ. There will be world peace as we approach the end times which will spark Christian persecution. Right before the four horsemen of the apocalypse are released there is world peace. It is clear throughout Zechariah 1 that peace is being experienced throughout the world, but when this happens the people of God do not experience peace. The Antichrist will change the laws and calendar to oppose the ministry of Christians for the last 1,260 days. So, you can probably expect him to eliminate the Sabbath, Christmas and Easter. He will come up with a whole new way of measuring time like a 10-day week. Everything will be overturned to stop followers of Jesus Christ.
When world peace comes, God will release the four horsemen to remove peace for the benefit of the believers so they can bring those unbelievers disturbed by the events to repentance. When people have peace and prosperity the last thing on their mind is God. God will remove the false God(s) from their lives which is what unbelievers depend on for security. We all have a security blanket and only when that is removed can God get our attention.
There have been many empires before that got close to world domination, but ultimately failed. For example, Alexander the Great was on his way to conquering India and taking over the world at a very young age when suddenly gets the flu and dies at the age 33 years at the height of his power. Then the Greek kingdom is given over to his four generals who divide the Greek Kingdom which gradually decays and is taken over by the Romans. There was a similar outcome for the Roman Empire which also slowly decayed over the centuries. The only kingdom that will be permanent is the "New Jerusalem" established in the second creation which will be permanent and ruled by Christ himself.
In 1974 for the first time in world history a large group scientists' and economists from wealthy nations formed the Club of Rome (COR) which published a map putting all the nations of the world into a ten-nation confederacy. They seriously proposed a plan using a model to increase the world's economy by 20%. This plan will solve the economic woes of the world. This increase was their justification as to why all nations should participate since it's so advantageous. They developed a master computer program "rule" that determined that all the economies of the world would prosper most efficiently if it were narrowed down to ten nation economies consisting of 100 regions or providences. This program was able to narrow down all world economies to ten basic economic blocks. When the idea was marketed to world leaders, it was immediately rejected because no nation wanted to be the guinea pig nation, so the COR went back to formulating a new strategy to get world leaders and technocrat to adopt their plan. They initially published five reports that would accomplish their mission. Each report is written by a committee. The second report published the map of ten nations and the fifth report called "Goals for Mankind" for the new horizons of the global community published in 1977, proposes a new plan to get a global treaty adoption through politicians and their constituents first, then targets the religious leaders. The main topic of the report was how the COR can mobilize its 3,500-member base throughout the world to alter public opinion with the main target being the plan adoption by convincing and uniting the religious leaders. They believed the religious leaders could alter people's belief system, which in turn would gain public support for the treaty. The main goal is to bring about a one world religion. The COR believes it's just a matter of time before the world leaders will need to embrace their plan. The third report is a treaty for reshaping or reorganizing international world order (RIO) whose main goal is globalism. Every doctrine in their ideology pretends to be the whole truth and thus tend to be constricting and controlling. The COB first report was warning what would happen if we maintained the status quo to put fear in the hearts of the wealthy by outlining ten disasters that would take place if we don't take action. The wealthy fear that the poor will rise up and steal their wealth. COR plans to setup a totalitarian state that will force us not to be selfish. This is a non-biblical view to deal with mankind's selfishness (Jeremiah 17:9-10) and it always backfires. There are now around a hundred publications listed on their website. For a more detailed explanation of the COR plan for a One World Government can be found in the book, "The World Since 1939 a history" by Carroll Quigley, who was a Harvard graduate, American historian and theorist of the evolution of civilizations. His well-documented book exposes the big bankers' master conspiracy to take over and control the governments of the world. Carroll points out that Since 1880's there has been a group of bankers' families like the Rockefeller's that meet regularly from Western Europe, Canada and the United States in order to devise a plan to bring about a One World Government under their control. Even as far back as the 1880's they were devising an 80-year program to be taken over by children of future generation who would carry out the master plan. Carroll's follow-up book is titled, "Tragedy and Hope: A History of the World in Our Time" which is a summary of these globalist bankers from 1895-1950. These bankers were operating in secret until 1972 and now they've gone public because of the work done by Carroll Quigley to expose their cover. Bible scripture warns that when you put the all the world's power in the hands of an unbeliever(s), the power will corrupt them, and God's people will suffer.
These big banks working together use their funds to gain power and control over nations. The 20th & 21st century strategy for the big banks has been to fund money to get nations into large debt through war. Their strategy has become, in order for the bankers to control politicians is to drive nations into debt by armed conflict with other nations. Then the nations become slaves to the banks who eventually control them.
The Council of Foreign Relations is an arm of these big bankers. The power structure is the big bankers at the top who finance various think tanks. Under them are the scientist and economist whose job is to marshal public support. Their objective to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and economy of the world as a whole. If you look back in history these bankers were responsible for financing WW2. They financed Nazi Germany in WW2 when they thought the Germans weren't going to win, and they did the same thing for the Soviets in Russia and the communists in China. Their master plan is to bring about a confederacy of ten-nations with ten economies run by ten computer subprograms controlled or managed by one master program. There will be no more physical money which will be replaced by a stamp, no more robbery, no more wars, a 20% worldwide economic increase with fair distribution among nations and true equality. The bankers underestimate the authority Satan has over us with using the temptation of power to ruin and corrupt us.
According to Daniel the ten nations that rise up first are run by ten rulers for a while until another single ruler arises. Three of the rulers like things the way they are, and the other seven rulers like the idea of a single ruler to have ultimate power which makes it more efficient. The single ruler will conquer the three that don't want to obey his authority and rule over all ten rulers.
Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State, was then and still is, an important agent in the service of the Royal Institute for International Affairs, a member of the Club of Rome (COR) and the Council of Foreign Relations (a think tank) that is focused on American economic and political destruction. Not surprising that Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were members while still in office while Ronald Regan was never a member. It's the Council of Foreign Relations that finances the COR. Kissinger’s role in destabilizing the United States by means of three wars, the Middle East, Korea and Vietnam, is well known, as is his role in the Gulf War, in which the U.S. Army acted as mercenaries for the Committee of 300 in bringing Kuwait back under its control and at the same time making an example out of Iraq so that other small nations would not be tempted to work out their own destiny. The COR is still one of the most important foreign policy arms of the Committee of 300, and the other being the Bilderbergers. It was put together in 1968 from hard-core members of the original Morgenthau group on the basis of a telephone call made by the late Aurellio Peccei for a new and urgent drive to speed up the plans of the One World Government now called the New World Order. The COR could bring about the fulfillment of Revelation 6 as one possible end-times scenario.
There is actually an eighth and final world superpower called the "New Jerusalem" found in the Second Creation.
"I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn."
― John Wesley
Theologian, Evangelical Leader of Methodism
The counterfeit trinity in the end times mirrors the roles of the three persons of the Trinity. The counterfeit trinity is made up of the three beasts. Satan counterfeits the role as the God the father, the Antichrist takes the role of Christ, and the False Prophet takes the role of the Holy Spirit. The Trinity as described in Gospel of John as Light with three components or roles where, Christ (Life) submits to the authority of the father (Love) and draws His power from the father, He's the one that opens the door for others to receive the power from the father. The role of the Holy Spirit (Truth) to reveal truth and direct worship and glory to Jesus Christ. The members of the Trinity work together to support each other to accomplish the same objective. This is how they divide their labor as respect to the human race.
DIVINE LIGHT = God bestows LOVE + Christ bestows LIFE + Holy Spirit bestows TRUTH
In Revelation 13 we see the False Prophet's role is to teach and instruct the inhabitants of the world (unbelievers) on what is true about Satan and the Antichrist. The Antichrist is the one who gives life by proving to the unbelievers that he has the power to bestow life as he goes through a fake resurrection (receives mortal head wound) which is in appearance only and he claims that he was resurrected from the dead so he can bestow this life on others. The dragon or Satan is the one that takes care of and provides for unbelievers. The inhabitants of the world will look upon Satan as the one who will put them in a loving relationship with one another. Satan is the one who works through the Antichrist and False Prophet to give them the ability to prove their point through miracles, signs and wonders. Just as in The Book of John, Jesus performed miracles, but He relied on the Father even though He had the capacity to do them Himself (Philippians 2:6-8). This counterfeit trinity will exist during the last 3.5 years of Tribulation.
A time will come when a dictator rules over all the nations of the world and this dictator is going to demand he be worship. He will be a political and economic ruler who creates a world economic boom which will case many to endorse him during a seven year period which immediately begins when he, the Antichrist figure, is reveled. He will rise from the unbelieving gentile nations during the first half of the Tribulation. He is revealed through many attributes of which one is that he establishes a peace treaty between Israel and the surrounding Muslim Nations. Christians will immediately know his identity because the Antichrist comes as a peacemaker. Christians will spend the first half of the Tribulation warning unbelievers about him. The unbelievers will not realize that this dictator is here for evil intent. Believers are promised in Revelation that we will be protected from the Antichrist figure until we are raptured sometime during the end of the first half of Tribulation. The rapture of the Church is Gods declaration of war on the Antichrist. That's why He removes believers before He pours out his judgement on the remaining unbelieving world. The reason why we convinced this day will occur sometime towards the end of the first half of the Tribulation is so that a high percentage of unbelievers are given an opportunity to repent before we are gone. The first half of Tribulation the Antichrist rises to gain control of the central banks through political power. During the second half of the Tribulation no one will be able to buy or sell unless they worship him and take his mark.
The Antichrist cannot be revealed until the restrainer (Holy Spirit) is removed from the world (2 Thessalonians 2:7 below). As the end times approach, the Holy Spirits restraint on Satan and his Antichrists' servant is going to be withdrawn gradually then be completely removed. This withdrawn restraint will allow the Antichrist to gain more power and control. At Tribulation time God will send a powerful delusion causing unbelievers to believe and follow the Antichrist, but at some point even the unbelievers will realize that he is pure evil. As of 2022 believers may notice a gradual uptick in lawlessness around the world as the restraint placed on evil has already begun to loosen. This is the "mystery of lawlessness" which is setting the stage for the rise of Antichrist, AKA, "the man of lawlessness."
There are various characteristics found in the Bible that will help identify the Antichrist and his False Prophet. These are also covered in Revelation 13, 2 Thessalonians 2, Daniel 7. What will exist during the seven-year Tribulation is a world primary of Satan worshipers. Just before the Great Tribulation this world will go into chaos and fear described in Daniel 7:2 as "the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea." describes that the nations will be in turmoil. Dictators always emerge and rule in a time of distress and chaos when people are desperate for security and order. Hitler's rise to power in the late 1930's in Germany is a good example of what desperate people will elect when promised security. A ten-nation confederacy made up of all the nations of the world will appear first before the Antichist is revealed. The Antichrist will be an unknown figure who gains control through world economics. He will stand up and make the appearance of great strength with a real passion to solve all the worlds problems. He will be worshiped by the multitudes. The Antichrist is going to use peoples desire for peace to destroy them by getting them into allegiances and having them make compromises that will lead to their own destruction in Daniel 8:23-25.
Daniel 9:26-27 says "prince who is to come shall destroy the city" which implies that the Antichrist will be a descendant of the Etruscans who are the "true Romans" from the 10th Legion Roman Army who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and they are the ones responsible for scattering Jews to all nations of the world. Many of the Etruscans descendants still live in central Italy today.
There are three "Beasts" in the Satanic Trinity described in Revelation mirroring the Trinity.
The Antichrist's Attributes (the Beast out of the Sea)
The symbol of the beast is used to describe the Antichrist because God see's that this is his true nature. The dragon (Satan) gives the beast many of his own characteristics. Satan gives the beast his own great, innate power ("dunamis" in Greek). Once the Antichrist is resurrected from the mortal head wound, he is possessed by Satan himself and he deceives the whole world because the world is afraid of war. The irony is that the unbelievers reject Christ's resurrection but accept the Antichrist's fake resurrection. The Tribulation will become a world of Satan worshippers. He will gain control and power through his speech. He will be the greatest speaker humans have ever heard. He will blaspheme God and all the believers in heaven because he will need to give a reason for the rapture of the Church to his followers.
There is a second beast called the False Profit that works directly with the Antichrist. He is a Jew from the Tribe of Dan who impersonates Jesus. He appeals to all of Israel which are the two horn symbolizing Israel and the 10 Tribes of Judah in the Old Testament. He performs great signs ("semeion" in Greek) meaning wonders just like Jesus Christ performed. He comes as a False Messiah for the Israelites. One of the great signs and miracles will challenge Elijah's when he causes fire to come down from heaven (2 Kings 1:10-12). He requires the whole world to worship the Antichrist and take the mark of the beast. If you refuse the mark, it means that you are a believer. This is how he exposes believers so he can eliminate them. This number will allow the Antichrist to track every person on earth and know if they are a worshiper. The False Prophet constructs a statue of the Antichrist that will preach sermons and have everyone worship it as proof that the Antichrist is God.
The False Prophet Attributes (the Beast out of the Land)
The False Prophet will work hand in hand with the Antichrist requiring everyone to receive the mark of the beast (666) on their forehead or hand. The mark could possibly be a chip which has a prefix followed by a personal number like our social security number. The literal number "666" has no real relevance other than it symbolizes the number of mankind is "6" because Adam was created on day six. Gods number of completion or perfection is "7", so the number "6" would refer to the beast and his people as inherently incomplete and flawed. This "666" depiction is concealed Bible humor pointing out that his number is not "777", the number of perfection's seven (or divinity which is three). No one gets the mark of the beast until the Day of Wrath in the final 3.5 years of Tribulation.
Interpreting the significance of "666" will take wisdom and calculation (Revelation 13:18), it's not going to be an obvious thing. The relevance of the "666" will not be evident to the inhabitants of the world, but it will become more obvious to them when the events take place. First of all, they will have to accept it in order to buy or sell and they'll have to worship the Antichrist as God in order to receive it. Mankind will need to work out some technique or worldwide number system through this number that permits buying and selling but excludes other means of exchange. This means that there will be no cash, credit cards and barter. This will also give the Antichrist the power over life for those who accept the mark and death for those who refuse it (Romans 1:32). The mark requirement occurs shortly after the rapture of the Christian church. The people that take the mark and follow the Antichrist know and believed the truth but refused it (2 Thessalonians 2:10). God send a delusion to those who reject the truth and be taken in by frauds like the Antichrist. A principal throughout the Bible is that if you reject a major truth, you open yourself up to receive a greater lie. Zechariah 13 says that 2/3 of the Jews will recognize the one they pierced but reject Him.
There is a warning in Levitical law about putting your trust in numerology because that is what the Egyptians were practicing. It opens the door for Satan's demons to deceive people. The Satanic cults make heavy use of numerology.
Humans can't buy, sell or hold a job without his symbolic marking. Not taking the mark means you can't survive the Tribulation although God provides a way to protect His own. This gives the Antichrist economic control over the world. Anyone who receives this mark is doomed for all eternity because they have sworn allegiance to the Satan's Antichrist. It is much better to die a Christian martyr, then take the mark and survive. All those who refuse the mark are labeled as believers in Jesus Christ. The Beast purposely sets up this system so he can expose believers in order to target them for persecution. It wasn't until recent times that we could even imagine the possibility of being controlled or tracked like our technology can do today. Satellites and computers have made this scenario assured and perfected its tracking capabilities.
There are two great cities mentioned in Revelation. The Antichrist rules all nations from Rome and the False Prophet rules from Jerusalem, will split into three parts, while all the cities of the gentile world are eventually destroyed. The city of Rome will also be decimated in the end and all the armies of the world are destroyed. See Revelation 11:8 (Jerusalem), Revelation 18:10 (Rome), Revelation 18:19 (Rome). This is the finale for the two great cities of Revelation until the new Jerusalem comes down from Heaven to reign forever.
It is believed that "Mystery" Babylon or the revived or resurrected Roman Empire will be located not too far from the Vatican in UAR (United Rome Capital) or EUR. This is a city currently located outside of Rome that was designed by Benito Mussolini to rule over the world in 1942. EUR was almost fully completed for the 1960 Olympics, held in Rome. At that time, most of the important infrastructures, such as the Palazzo dello Sport and the Velodromo were completed. It has continually been modernized and has its own transit system. This city will be transformed into an economic world power overnight once the ten leaders emerge around the same time as the Antichrist is in full control. The entire world will be amazed at how quickly this global power develops practically overnight.
“The first step on the way to victory is to recognize the enemy.”
― Corrie ten Boom
Dutch Christian Watchmaker & Writer
A new world dictator figure is able to gain power through a false religion which we believe originates from the Roman Catholic Church emanating from Rome. The Antichrist figure will rise from the unbelieving gentile nations and will set himself up in the city as a being who is to be worshipped. He will rule from the city of Rome where a false religious system will be established that sweeps across the world. He will command all the peoples of the world to abandon the religion they are following and adopt the religion he is introducing. His strategy is to either do away with all the world religions and replace them or devise a scheme to integrate all the world religions into one. We already seem to be trending in that direction with the "coexist" theme of today's youth. The message being that all religions basically teach the same thing, so can't we all just get along. Today's religions do seem to have certain things in common like a common moral message which is expected, but the difference between them is far greater than their similarities. This will be an immense challenge for the Antichrist figure to get Muslims, Jew, Hindus, Buddhists, etc. to become part of his one world church. Christian's will have been raptured so they will be absent from this false religious system. He will use his economic power to force or recruit people into this false religious system or apostate church.
During the first half of Tribulation "The Church" will split into two groups according to Isaiah 65. There will be all these people around the world who identify as "Christians" that are involved in Christianity. But just like the Jews that Isaiah is identifying, a portion of them forsake the Lord. The Antichrist is going to take control and we will see the Church split into two camps. The first one will be a very well established, popular "Christian" camp that will adopt the label as evangelical, but they will be fake or "false evangelicals". This will form the false religious system. The second camp will be outside the organized church of the "false evangelicals", and they will be the true evangelicals. We can identify the false evangelical Christians because they will be blending their evangelical Christianity with the things that will be put forward by the Antichrist that will border on witchcraft and the occult. God will first deal with the false evangelicals in the house of the Lord (Ezekiel 9) before he deals with the unbelievers because we are talking about people who have already heard the gospel.
The Lord will protect the true evangelical (Ezekiel 9) through a purification process to make a clear distinction as to who the true Christians are just like in the days of Pharoah when the Egyptians were cursed, and the Jews were protected from the ten plagues. This purification process will clear out the blasphemers in the Church and wake up the believers to evangelize the world of unbelievers to repentance. This purification will prepare His people to bring His message to the unbelievers. The unbelievers will see a big difference to the point where they chase after believers which will make evangelizing much easier. There will be some Christians will share in the suffering because they were partly responsible by not speaking out in protest therefore allowing this to happen.
The first organized, false religion can be traced back to the Plains of Shinar where the Tower of Babel existed which is now in modern day Iraq. We believe "Mystery Babylon" is the Roman Catholic Church Organization or System as part of the Revived Roman Empire, see Isaiah 47:1-13 for the Old Testament reference. This false world religious system emerges as dominant force for evil during Tribulation times. Globalists wish for a one world religion actually becomes reality. We need to point out that there is a difference between this particular "false religious system" described in Revelation and the people who are in the system. Their will be believers and unbelievers who are members of the system. God will judge this false religious system (FRS) just as He judged Nimrod and destroyed the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1–9). The FRS will partner with the economic system (banks) to help the Antichrist gain full control. We believe his power will come from the Western European Union (WEU) founded in 1948 currently headquartered in Paris, France. This FRS power will be wrapped up with politics and the economy.
To expand, the first woman described in the verse below is Israel who is deceived by The False Prophet, she is described in the Old Testament as sitting in a basket (basket is ephah in Hebrew). Ephah is what was used as the ancient standard of measuring commerce. The woman (Israel) is forced into the basket and is entrapped in commerce against her will. The Angel identifies her as true wickedness (Whore of Babylon). There are two women with wings of a stork with a basket at their feet which is another symbol of trade. The two women are going to erect a great temple back in the land of Shinar (Babylon/Iraq) where false religion originated. This FRS will be made up of all Churches that remain after the rapture. Iraq will play an important role during the Tribulation because this is the physical location of this FRS when the Antichrist and his False Prophet (Jewish) rise to power.
God is judging first and foremost this FRS for the many years of persecution it has done to His church of believers throughout history.
This FRS is basically a "religious cult" that worships using a mixture of drugs. This describes the current direction our society is heading today with the legalization of alcohol, tobacco, mamajuana, etc. that assists in dumbing down a society so it can be easily controlled. Mother of Harlots uses sorcery (drugs) mixed in with Christianity in order to deceive many nations. See Revelation 9:21,Isaiah 47:12-14.
The phrase “Mystery, Babylon The Great” appears only once in the Bible in Revelation 17:5. The Bible uses a faithful, chaste woman to picture God’s Church and a whore to picture disobedience to God, or a false church. Now we understand that the whore of Revelation 17 represents a false church, let’s examine what else it tells us about her.
She has global influence. We have already seen that she “sits on many waters representing her influence over many people around the world. Revelation 17:2 continues: “With whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” So this false religious entity not only influences ordinary people, but has a history of influencing political leaders. The statement that people have been made “drunk” by her is a reference to the spiritual confusion she causes by her false teachings and practices.
She has a history of persecution. Revelation 17:6 says, “I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” This describes religious persecution directed against the saints of Jesus Christ.
She “rides” a powerful political system. Revelation 17:7 verse reveals that this woman rides a political beast or the Antichrist. This political beast is described in verses 8-17. It is also spoken of in Revelation 13:3-8 and Daniel 7:7-8, 19-25. Considering all the biblical clues, many students of history and Bible prophecy have concluded the woman of Revelation 17 represents the Roman Catholic Church, which led the Holy Roman Empire to bring great persecution and martyrdom on Christians who held to the teachings of Jesus and His apostles.
She's Centered in a city with global influence. In Revelation 17 we are given the location where Babylon the great is centered. “And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth” (verse 18, emphasis added). When John wrote this at the end of the first century, there was only one city on earth that reigned over the kings of the earth—and that was Rome.
The great prostitute is the false religious system (FRS) that surfaces during the seven years before Christ returns which is responsible for causing all the terrible things that happen. In a spiritual sense, this second woman from Zechariah 5:6-11 above is the FRS has drawn in all people who chose to follow the beast and are participating in her prostitution of God's truth. She is riding the beast (Antichrist) because she is in control at the beginning of this Tribulation period which will ultimately lead to her fall in the end.
This act of prostitution is referenced in the Old Testament because the Israelites were deceived into following false gods, religions and disregarded the truth of God's word. Also see Jeremiah 3:6, Nahum 3:4 and Ezekiel 23:19.
The Antichrist uses this FRS to gain power over the other nations, once he has full control of them which is through gaining economic control, he forces the ten nations (WEU?) to turn against the prostitute in order to destroy the FRS. The Antichrist uses the FRS to gain power, once he no longer needs it, he must destroy it so he can declare himself to be God in a wing of the 3rd Jewish Temple which occurs in the middle of the seven-year period.
A "mystery" in the Bible means that this is something very important for us to understand. The FRS permeates throughout all the gentile nations and powers. Her beauty means that this FRS is very inviting and deceptive with the ability to really draw anyone into joining it. Wine is frequently used as a symbol for blood. There will be two groups of people on earth during the Tribulation: (a) those who worship the beast and (b) those who worship the Lord (Revelation 13:16–18; Revelation 20:4). Those who worship the Lord are described as "saints." This woman is drunk with the blood of the saints because she will engage in a great deal of bloodshed with them, as if she'd consumed a large quantity of wine (Deuteronomy 32:42; Ezekiel 39:19). She and the Antichrist will wage war against the believers of Jesus Christ (Lamb). These are those people who become believers during the Great Tribulation. Most will become martyrs for their faith.
“The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false face for the urge to rule it.”
― Henry Louis Mencken
American Journalist (1956)
Revelation 1-3 where Earthly events and now we move into Heavenly events in Revelation 4 with John standing at the throne in Heaven. John refers to the throne being surrounded by a rainbow. The first time we see a rainbow in the Bible is after Noah's flood and now we are ending with one. A rainbow is the symbolism of God's covenant and promises.
God wants us to know that even though He's about to pour out terrible judgement on the unbelieving world, there is always mercy available before judgement for those who turn to him during these times. There are 24 elders sitting on thrones surrounding a single throne of authority where Jesus sits in Heaven. The elders are all dressed in white robes wearing crowns of gold on their heads representing priests who are judging. We believe the 24 elders are the 12 Sons of Israel (Luke 22:30) and the 12 Apostles (Matthew 19:28) for a total of 24 elders. These are men, not angels because angels can't be saints. Take note in the verse below that the seven lamps (Christian Church) are now located in Heaven (rapture). The church is blazing because it about to judge the world for persecuting Christians for the past 2,000+ years. The 24 elders lay their crowns before the throne out of worship and represent the church that is now in Heaven. The "seven spirits (perfection) of God" is the church which is the Holy Spirit that began on the day of Pentecost. The seven spirits characteristics are the following and have been passed to Jesus Christ:
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures or cherubim each with four faces described as a lion, ox, face of man and eagle. They represent the living word of God found in the four gospels. The lion is the son of David found in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus is called lion of Judah and lion represent a king. The ox is found in the Gospel of Mark referring to Jesus as a servant. The face of man is the Gospel of Luke emphasizes the perfect humanity of Jesus. The eagle flying in the Heavens is the Gospel of John emphasizes Jesus' deity ("In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1). It took all four separate Gospels accounts for God to bring out the beauty of the person and work of Jesus Christ. These Gospels will be living Word in Heaven to constantly remind us of His sacrifice. The many eyes of the cherubim and the seven spirits of God see everything in Revelation 4, and record everything they see in Revelation 5. The scroll is now sealed meaning it is completely full, and each of the seven seals is broken one at a time pouring out God's judgement. These cherubim introduce God's judgement for apostasy by the Jews in Ezekiel and the Gentiles in Revelation. The purpose of God's wrath is to separate the sheep from the goats.
When Adam and Eve voluntary rebel against God by following Satan, he broke his relationship with God and forfeited the title deed to rule the Earth to Satan. Mankind also forfeited his relationship with God and became Satan's possession. This is very important, the only one that could purchase the title deed to the earth back from Satan had to be another man who lived a perfect life, would die for all the sins of mankind in order for us to be redeemed. It also gave the person of Jesus Christ the legal authority to judge mankind. Every act Jesus performed on Earth was through God the Father's will and not by His own. This is why He is called the Son of Man and is the only one who has the right to judge man. If Jesus had done anything of His own will, He would have forfeited everything. This is why He is the only one worthy and able to open the scroll and that is also why it's one of the 24 elders, a redeemed man, who recognizes Jesus as the only one capable.
God couldn't just take the deed to the Earth back from Satan because He is just, and it would go against His true nature. When Jesus died on the cross, he not only purchased a pardon for every sin man will ever commit, but He also broke the legal right of Satan to keep the title deed to the Earth. God had to pay the penalty in order to legally purchase the title deed back. God even honors His ethics with Satan. God's son, Jesus Christ, had to become the Son of Man in order to qualify as the ransom for many and purchase the deed to Earth back. Jesus Christ is the only one who can open the scroll to judge the mankind. In the first coming, Jesus came as a Lamb, but in the second coming become a ruler called the Lion of Judah. This also fulfills the Genesis 49:8-12 prophesy about the lion of Judah will come as a ruler. The word "almighty" in the Hebrew Bible only refers to God. In the Old Testament the Messiah is referred to as "mighty", but not "almighty" because Jesus had not conquered death yet and defeated Satan. In the New Testament he is called "almighty" God because of the resurrection. The word "mighty" can refer to a human or God. Jesus in Revelation becomes "El Shaddai" or "Almighty God" who can both judge by opening the seals and destroy mankind.
The reason that God hasn't taken up what He purchased from Satan 2,000 years ago is because he wanted to give man more time to be redeemed. He knew there would be a lot more people born that would receive the free gift of pardon. God could have stopped all the evil in the world immediately after Christ's resurrection, but he endures it to win more people over to His kingdom.
When John sees Jesus as a Lamb, he sees Him with the scars from His death on the cross. This is to forever remind us of the price that He paid for our sins and even for those who didn't believe in Him. The Lamb had seven horns (perfect power or omnipotence) and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God (omnipresence) sent out into all the earth. Jesus takes the scroll with seven seals from God the Fathers hand and Heavens court has spoken. The scroll contains all the judgements that are covered in the rest of Revelation.
"The world is changed by your example, not your opinion."
― Paulo Coelho
Novelist (1947)
There are a total of 21 judgements over a seven-year period that are broken into three sets of seven. There are the seven seals, trumpets, and bowls (or vile) judgements. Each set of seven can be split into two parts. Part one is physical judgements and part two are the spiritual. The first four judgements in each set of seven are physical in nature (earthquakes, pestilence, famine, etc.) as expressions of God's wrath and the final three pertain to the spiritual. Notice that there are the four horsemen of the Apocalypse introduced in Revelation 6. These are the physical judgements being carried out. The fifth is a request from the Christian martyrs crying how much longer for judgement do we have to wait. The sixth statement is from young believers saying that they now know that Jesus is pouring out judgement upon us. This is young believers are angry at God saying you have no right doing this to us which is blasphemy. The seventh is silence in heaven before God pours out another seven acts of judgement. The purpose of the first four physical judgements is to prepare people for the three spiritual judgements. The spiritual dooms become more terrifying to the unbelievers than the physical as hinted in Revelation 6:16. Unbelievers fear God's spiritual consequences more than they fear the physical ones. God's purpose is to use a two-edge sword, which is the physical and the spiritual judgements, to bring the undecided and blasphemers to repentance. This is an expression of His mercy (Zechariah 1:16). Sometimes it takes the combination of the physical and spiritual to bring people to respond. Just like the Church of Laodicea described in Revelation 3, God can't work with lukewarm, He will shake people to their core to make them either hot or cold towards Him.
Each of the 10 plagues or dooms that the God of Moses poured out on the Egyptians in Exodus 7-12 were done to show Pharoah that the God's they worshipped are false God's. Each plague specifically attacked and destroyed a false god they worshipped like the frogs, flies and locus gods. These plagues foreshadow the dooms that God pours out in the end times in Revelation chapters 6, 8 & 16. The Gods we have today are completely different from the ones of the Egyptians. These dooms are also much different than the ones we read in Exodus, but they have the same purpose which is to destroy those false gods and to shake people's confidence in worshipping them. This will direct people to worshipping the true God that is eternal. Second, to shake men to their senses by removing their complacency which will bring countless numbers to salvation. The third is to bring down upon mankind the consequences of his refusal to manage the earth's resources according to God's commandment. In the end times mankind's greed will be so out of control that he will pollute the earth to death (Isaiah 24). We reap the benefits or consequences of our efforts.
Tribulation starts with a great earthquake in Revelation 6:12 and ends with a greater earthquake found in Revelation 16:18. During the first 3.5 years of the seven-year Tribulation, Christians will be warning unbelievers about the identity of the Antichrist who is already walking the earth gaining power and global control. The "Day of Wrath" or "Day of the Lord" is referring to a period during the second half of the Tribulation as defined in scripture as for a length of three and one-half years, 42 months, 1,260 days, 1,290 days or 1,335 days. All of these times roughly agree (+- 30 days) telling us how long the "Day of Wrath" will last just before the physical return of Jesus Christ. No one knows the day or the hour He returns except the father in Matthew 24:36, but we can get pretty close. 2 Thessalonians 2 tells us that when the Tribulation period begins, only Christians will know the identity of the Antichrist and unbelievers will be blind to this fact. This seems to imply that Christians are present for a significant part of the first half of the seven-year period. We should not be alarmed since we are already aware of this from the scripture teachings.
More support for this "Day of Wrath" 3.5-year period is found in the Book of Revelation. As God starts to pour out His judgement in chapter 6 only 25% of the unbelieving world population is impacted by disasters. The "Day of Wrath" period starts when we get to chapter 8 where 33% of the unbelieving world population is impacted. When we get to chapter 16, the "bowl judgements", 100% unbelieving world is impacted. These judgements will not come upon believers, only rebellious unbelievers as promised by God. God desire is for these unbelievers to repent and submit their lives to Jesus Christ and come into an eternal relationship with Him.
When the Antichrist is revealed to believers, the Tribulation timeclock begins lasting seven-years. This is also the final seven years of the 70 "seven" years Daniel 9 prophesy relating to the Jews. In this last seven-year period the world will be in turbulent times and desperate for a leader to emerge who can bring about peace and order. The Antichrist will perform miracles, bring about global peace, order and mesmerize the world. His False Prophet will be his aides-de-camp who will carry out his orders. At the midpoint, 3.5 years, he will set himself up as God in the 3rd Jewish Temple.
During the Tribulation God will turn His attention to the Jewish people in order to accomplish two things that hadn't been fulfilled yet. (1) There will be 144,000 Jewish pastors that will evangelize the world for Christ. When the Jewish people rejected Christ, they were never able to fulfill God's purpose for having a chosen people and creating the nation of Israel. (2) God is going to use these terrible events so the Jewish people will despair and finally recognize Jesus as their Messiah. They will feel personally responsible for His suffering and His wounds. That's why the 144,000 Jews become exceptional evangelists, the greatest the world has ever seen.
There are seven scrolls of judgement which is God's number of completion. God is going to judge the world as He claims or takes the title back to the earth from Satan. In the nation of Israel, the land that was given to the tribal states and families could never be taken from them. Even if they sold the property because hard times the land would never be permanently deeded to the buyer. The land title was always open, so that family could buy it back when they recovered economically, even if it were decades later.
The point we're making is that the terms of the sale we kept in a scroll with seven seals. This sets up the background for this scroll contains Gods right to take back His earth that was forfeited to Satan by Adam. Adam was given sovereign control of the earth by God for all mankind. When Adam & Eve chose to rebel against God and follow Satan, Adam forfeited the title deed to the earth to Satan. This is part of what's behind the drama of mankind. In the verse below Satan is bragging to God that he is the one who owns the earth now because Adam had forfeited the title deed. God reply's back that there are people on the earth like His servant Job that Satan doesn't own, and they do not follow Satan and his demons.
"The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives."
― Albert Einstein
Physicist, Nobel Laureate
Before the judgement seals are unlocked a ten-nation confederacy has already formed and there is a short period of time before the four horsemen are released. God uses the four horsemen of the apocalypse to make a clear distinction as to who His people are and those who are not. He does this by ending world peace which removes focus from His people being persecuted by the unbelievers in order to evangelize to the unbelievers. These doom events will allow a unique opportunity for believers to reach out to skeptics. God uses these disasters causing unrest to get the attention of the skeptics even though a small percentage of believers will also experience harm by these events.
The four horsemen in Revelation 6 are not causing world-wide events and should be integrated with Zechariah 1 & 6 in the Old Testament which speaks of each horseman in geographical context. The black horse is going north, the white horse is going west, the red horse is going east, and the dappled (sickly) horse is going south. Revelation 6 doesn't mention the geography of the horses but instead focuses on what these horses will be doing. The white horse will bring conquest (non-military) to the west, the black horse will bring famine to the north, and the pale horse will bring disease to the south leaving the red horse to bring war (military force) to the east. The combination of these four physical seal dooms will result inflicting 25% of the world's population and God allows to take place because of man's sin. The unbelieving people of this world will still call this period as the untold time of peace and prosperity because the nations are generally at peace with one another, and the standard of living will be a minimum of 20% increase worldwide which is better than it's ever been before even though billions are suffering from these four catastrophes. This new system will allow all Nations to be one and they will be richer than ever before with no threat of a major nuclear world war. There will be some unbelievers that realize that God's trying to get their attention to repent, but a greater number will ignore Him.
The seven judgement seals are broken one at a time once the scrolls are full, and the recording of mankind's evil deeds have reached completion. The scrolls are no longer half full where God was long suffering, instead the time has come for Him to act. God has given mankind ever opportunity to repent and many have refused. Now that the scroll is complete the seals are broken releasing God's judgement.
In ancient times a "white horse" symbolized a conqueror or conquest. The person on this white horse is the Roman Antichrist, aka the Beast from the Sea. Don't confuse this passage with Revelation 19:11-21 where the rider on that white horse is Jesus Christ. The Antichrist has a bow which is a symbol of strength or military power but doesn't have a reason to use it. The Antichrist will conqueror nations without war. He also is wearing a crown which is a symbol of authority because many will worship him and believe he is the savior of the world. With incredible speed he will resolve global issues that seemed unsolvable in the past such as successfully bringing about world peace. All past world leaders that have tried to create peace in the middle east have failed, but not the Roman Antichrist. He's the answer to all of humanities problems. In the first half of the seven-year Tribulation, he brings world peace at first then forces full control as the remaining seals are opened.
Zechariah 1 points out that during this time God will protect His people and ministry. He is not pouring out judgement and wrath on his people, instead he is being merciful. God is watching and protecting His people so they can be most effective in ministering to the unbelievers. God will allow these things to take place to assist believers in our ministry efforts to others. These conditions will not be normal because when conditions are normal, and things are going great people will ignore God. These events will cause unbelievers to pay attention because they will know that someone or something is pulling strings behind the scenes. These events will cause many unbelieve to start listening to their Christine neighbors and what they have to say.
The second seal is broken, and the rider of red horse represent war. The second seal is when war breaks out because peace is removed from the earth. Men will slaughter one another in response. There will be civil wars and larger countries invading smaller ones.
The third seal is broken, and the rider of the black horse brings economic calamity and death. Scales were used to weight precious materials in the first century. This means that there will be a scarcity of food. A denarius was the wage for a day's work in ancient times and it was considered enough money to purchase two pounds of wheat or a lessor grain of barley. Olive oil and the wine represent the finer things in life that only the wealthy can afford. These items will be cheap, but the price of grain will be very high. The point of this is for supernatural things to occur to get people's attention. This appears to be the beginning of world-wide famine.
The fourth seal is broken, and pale horse is unleashed. The image of a sickly, pale horse signifies plague and famine. The rider's name brings death and hell which targets the unbelievers as a global judgement. Only unbelievers end up in hades or hell, so that's who the rider is targeting. Power is given to him to rule over one fourth of the land mass and 25% of the world's population will die. With the world population growing exponentially at over eight billion people, once you have famine and malnutrition, the next thing to follow is uncontrollable plagues. Antibiotic have been so misused and overuse that many organisms (viruses and bacteria) have developed immunity to our best antibodies which will allow plague out brakes. The natural order of things will be so disrupted that animals will be driven to attack the human population because of chaos and starvation.
“The same sun that melts the butter hardens the clay.”
— Billy Graham
Solomon's Temple was located North of the "Dome of the Rock", not where the Dome of the Rock sits today. The key to finding the location of the Temple original location is at the closed, eastern gate by the temple mount. The structure of the Temple it has a "Inner Court" wall where only priests are allowed and another wall called the "Court of the Women", which are all part of the "Inner Court" wall. There is another, greater outer wall, called the "Court of the Gentiles." that encloses the Jewish Temple. The scripture below says, "don't measure it". So how wide is the "Inner Court"?
In Jerusalem there is a east to west centerline starting at the eastern gate that passes through a cupula (a small, inverted cup or dome-shaped cap over a structure) called "the dome of the spirits or tablets" located in the north-west corner of the Muslim's Dome of the Rock in an area called the Temple compound. Underneath the cupula is a large, flat rock that is one of two places on that mountain where no man has ever touched or altered. The other cupula (picture below left) is at the eastern gate containing an unearthed, flat rock that no man has ever touched. This is the outline for the "inner court" where the Ark of the Covenant was put in the Holy of Holies (the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle where God's presence appeared) located on the east, west centerline. It was calculated that "inner court" wall measurement would leaves an extra 26 meters. This means that there is 26 meters between the Dome of the Rock and the Temples Inner Court. The Dome of the Rock exists where the "Court of the Gentiles" was located. The significance is that both the Dome of the Rock and the Temple Inner Court will exist side by side. There doesn't need to be a war over the location of the Dome of the Rock and the Israelites can rebuild Solomon's Temple Inner Court. If the Dome of the Rock had to be destroyed in order to rebuild the Temple, 1.9 billion Muslims would declare Jihad immediately. This is also important because this is where the Antichrist sets himself up as God in the Holy of Holies as prophesized in Daniel 9:27 for the last half or final 3.5 years of the Tribulation (also see 2 Thessalonians 2:3). The word "gentile" in the Old and New Testament always refers to unbelievers. It's not referring to Christians, it's speaking to the unbelieving non-Jews or unbelieving gentile nations. The word "gentile" never means Christian because we are believers.
Source: Dr. Asher S. Kaufman
The Temple Mount: Where is the Holy of Holies, 2004
Temple Restoration Prophesized by Ezekiel
The third Temple restoration in Israel is foretold in great detail in Ezekiel 40-48 which mirrors the test in Revelation. The following Temple areas are discussed:
Temple Area
- East Gate to the Outer Court
- The Outer Court
- The North and South gates
- Gates to the Inner Court
- Rooms for Preparing Sacrifices
- Rooms for the Priests
- The New Temple
- God’s Glory Returns to the Temple
- The Great Altar Restored
- The Priesthood Restored
- Israel Fully Restored
- The River From the Temple
- Boundaries and Divisions of the Land
- Gates of the New City (gates named after the tribes of Israel)
The third temple will be built before the Day of Wrath according to Daniel and it will be constructed approximately 2,300 days before Christ returns. This is roughly 6.3 years before the end time so we should expect the temple to be in place in the first year of the 7-year tribulation found in Daniel 9 prophesy where Israel signs a treaty with many nations led by the Antichrist. This third temple is where the Antichrist puts an end to sacrifice halfway through the 7-years and declares himself as God and there is a desecration in a wing of the temple.
The Ark of the Covenant will not be found, remembered or located in the third temple in the Holies of Holies because there will be an Ark of the Covenant in the Heavenly Temple exposed in the end times.
Gershon Salomon was crushed by a tank and staring into the rifles of enemy soldiers, Gershon thought his life was over more than 50 years ago on a battlefield in the Golan Heights during the six days war in 1967. Gershon said that he witnessed miracle after miracle on the battlefield that had to be from God which sealed Israel's victory. After the war, Gershon was pondering all the miracles he had witnessed. One day he said tat God spoke to him and said "You are to prepare to rebuild the Temple in this generation". And this is what he is been doing ever since. They have rebuilt all the implements and furniture that goes in the Temple except the Ark of the Covenant. They will not rebuilt it because God has it hidden currently and will reveal it at the right moment.
Gershon Salomon
Founder and leader of the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement, 1967
"I like to say that arms are not for killing. They are for hugging."
― Betty Williams
Peace Activist, Nobel Laureate (1943-2020)
There are some clues as to the identity of this mighty angel. This is different angel of the same kind, mighty like the angel as described in Revelation 5:2. This angel is an ambassador of Christ and is taking control of the earth when it says, "He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land." This angel is clothed in official garb and his book is open because he's on serious business from Heaven brining terrible judgement described as fiery pillars. He is the one that will release the final seven bowl or vial judgements called Armageddon. God's objective is to shake the inhabitants of the earth to their senses to repentance and to realize time is getting short. The little scroll is open and is the final fulfillment of the great commission.
The rainbow above his head is a symbol of the covenant between God and the earth (Genesis 9:13). After Noah's flood God said he would never destroy the world again with water. He did that by establishing a new ecology. Before the flood there was no rain or clouds, it had never rained on earth before the flood. That shows us there was a different ecological system before the flood. Before God created a "mist" to come up from the ground to water the vegetation every day (Genesis 2:6). God said that we will also always have seasons (Genesis 8:22) so we don't have to be concerned about it. We believe this angel is Gabriel (Luke 1:26-28). The angel's face is shining because he just came from the presence of God (Exodus 34:29). We don't not know until that time what the seven thunders are because John was not allowed to write them down; “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”
The little scroll is the deed to the earth that God is going to take back, but first He must fulfill the remaining scripture prophesy which is horrific and that is why it became sour in his stomach. The little scroll tastes sweet because there is a new world coming (Millennial Kingdom) where there is peace and righteousness. The bitterness is caused by the remaining inhabitants of the earth that know the truth and their hearts are so hardened that they still reject God's authority and offer of salvation in exchange for eternal torments in Hell. It's a bitterness that hits God because these people understand the consequences of their actions and still chose to spend eternity with Satan.
Up to this point God has shown His grace and the Holy Spirits has been restraining evil. God's patience eventually runs out. This is the moment when the Holy Spirit stops restraining Satan and his demons from doing evil. The reason why God even allows evil to occur is that He decided to put up with evil men's poor decisions so that more time could continue in order to give more people the opportunity to accept the free gift of salvation.
The verse below mentions the words the secret things or mystery of God that will be accomplished all the way back to the Books of Moses.
The mystery of God is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. Back in the days of the Old Testament the prophets didn't fully comprehend the mystery or God's purpose. God united the Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles as joint heirs to the promises of God has for them. He united them through the Holy Spirit with Christ's death on the cross and resurrection. After the Book of Acts, Chapter 2 every time a Jew gave his life to Jesus Christ they were instantly baptized in the Holy Spirit. The same thing happens for the Samaritans after Book of Acts, Chapter 8 and the Gentiles after Book of Acts, Chapter 10.
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose"
― Jim Elliot
American Missionary
The fifth seal is broken and all the souls of every martyr who has died for their faith are in Heaven asking God to judge the earth and avenge their deaths. They go all the way back to Abel who was the first martyr killed by his brother Cain. The martyr's souls have been waiting patiently in a state of sleep for the rapture so they can be reunited with their bodies on earth. Only the martyrs sleep under the heavenly alter which is place where Christ was sacrificed bringing about the redemption of sin and at the same time, He was crucified on the earthly alter of the cross. All of the articles found in the temple are earthly copies of what's found in heaven (Hebrews 9:11, 9:23-24, Revelation 11:19, Ephesians 4:8, Psalms 68;18). This is the reason why God gave Moses such detailed instruction because they were copies of what was already found in heaven. God shows His grace by telling the martyrs to wait a little while longer because there are others that still remain on earth that will repent and come to faith in Christ. Any believers remaining on earth at this point will become martyrs for their faith. The unbelieving inhabitants of the earth come to realize they are the main target for suffering and turn their wrath to martyring believers. The Antichrist will be responsible for setting up this wholesale slaughter of Christians around the world. This horrifying act will unbridle God wrath on unbelievers in the sixth seal.
The sixth seal is broken and there is a great earthquake. We don't know what causes the earthquake or shaking. One could imagine that a great number of thermo-nuclear weapons exploding could cause something like this to occur. The aftermath causes nuclear debris to scatter into the atmosphere making the sun go black and the moon to become red. First century John is describing something that looks like asteroids or meteors flaming as they hit the atmosphere. He could be describing an all-out ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) exchange between countries. The ICBM's explosion would be so powerful the sky is split apart, and the mountains and islands are moved. We are not saying this is going to happen we are just giving possible scenarios.
There is an enormous release of pressure (or overpressure) from a nuclear explosion that pushes the atmosphere back so quickly (like a vacuum) that it compacts upon itself like a scroll being rolled up. This creates tremendous heat as the atmosphere rushes back into the vacuum destroying everything in its path. This is called a nuclear mushroom cloud you may have seen images of it before. This compresses the humidity pushing it above the atmosphere into the stratosphere causing it to freeze (see Ezekiel 38:22). This type of event would alter the geography of the earth.
Below is man's response to the sixth seal. The world is terrified, and the unbelievers realize that God is sending these judgements. Even after all this destruction their hearts are hardened, they will not repent even though they believe in God's existence. These individuals are those who accepted the mark of the beast from the rider on the white horse. Apparently, once you receive the mark of the beast you become Satan's possession; delusional and unable to process logic. By the end of the seal judgements there will be a sharp realization with the large number of deaths piling up, God's Day of Wrath is approaching, and unbelievers, not believers will publicly announce it. This will be the final time that God will allow repentance.
The seventh judgement seal is broken, there are seven archangels that are given trumpets. These seven angels were chosen by Jesus to unleash judgement on the world through the seven trumpet judgements unleashed during the final 3.5 tribulation period.
"If you want something done, ask a busy person.”
— Benjamin Franklin
American polymath: a leading writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher & political philosopher
Armageddon starts when the Antichrist desecrates the Temple in the final three and a half years. The abomination that causes desolation is the Antichrist proclaiming Himself as God in a wing of the Temple in the Holy of Holies. In the first three and a half years of Tribulation, Muslims believe that the Antichrist is the twelfth and final Imam (*Muhammad al-Mahdi) because in the last days there is peace until he proclaims himself to be God. Islam's religious text, the Koran or Qur'an, says that Allah is one and cannot be a man. The Antichrist is a man proclaiming to be God which angers the Muslim nations igniting a jihad or war against all infidels (non-Muslims) leading to the War of Armageddon.
Israel flees to the mountains because the Middle East nations attack Israel.
* Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Mahdi is believed by the Twelver Shia to be the Mahdi, an eschatological redeemer of Islam and the final Imam of the Twelve Imams who will emerge with Isa in order to fulfil their mission of bringing peace and justice to the world.
“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
― Oscar Wilde
God always sends a profit(s) to the people as a warning to repent before judgement. Before God destroyed Sodom & Gomorrah, He sent Lot as a profit to warn them. Noah was also a profit sent by God to warn the wicked generations living around him and used the Ark as a pulpit to preach about repentance. Prior to the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah, God also sent two angels (witnesses) to rescue Lot and His family before judgement befell on the wicked, unrepentant, ungodly people. God will also do this in the end times as He raptures the church, he will also send two messengers to warn the ungodlily people to repent before He pours out final judgement.
There will appear two prophets from ancient times wearing sackcloth continuously (burlap) as a sign of rejection that every Israelite would understand that it was warning them to change their course. The Old Testament conditions for wearing sackcloth were for mourning, sorrow and repentance. The inhabitants of the earth do not want to hear their final repentance message. The two witnesses are also rejecting the Jewish people's pursuits of religion (Judaism), lavish lifestyles and all the other worldly things they are clinging to for their security. They come to warn Israel that they must follow their lead to evangelize the rest of the world. The two olive trees represent oil to keep the two lampstands burning (see Zechariah 4:11-14, Revelation 11:4). The oil represents the Holy Spirit that the two anointed witnesses represent the church which gives the light of God's word to the world through the 144,000 Israelite evangelist. They will prophesize for 1,260 days (3.5 years) and during that time Elijah will cause a drought (1 Kings 17:1, James 5:17). The other prophet, Moses, turns the water into blood (Exodus 7:17) and cause plagues as judgement. These are the exact same miracles that they performed in the Old Testament. They cannot be stopped and anyone who tries will face death during the 1,260 days.
The two witnesses are on fire to tell Israel the truth about the real Messiah, Jesus Christ, and expose the truth about the Antichrist's identity. The Antichrist is so upset with them, he has Moses and Elijah killed in the temple mount public square where their bodies remain for 3.5 day to disgrace them so to be witnessed by the entire world. There is a celebration by the unbelievers where they are actually giving gifts to one another as if it were Christmas.
At the end of the 3.5 days lying in the public square they are resurrected by God for a little while to convince people that they are really alive. A voice is heard from heaven is captured and heard rapturing the two witnesses back to Heaven. This will be and incredible spectacle witnessed by the entire world. Their resurrection is to show the world that they have power over death. This will strike terror into the hearts of the unbelievers because they will know God is in control and they realize they may not win. The seed of doubt has been planted. After witnessing this miracle, a severe earthquake hits killing 7,000 people occurs causing the remaining survivors to praise God. This will be a small percentage of the total population which could reach 20 million by this time and when we consider that one tenth of the city of Jerusalem will be in ruins. This should be an attention getter as God shakes up the unbelievers.
Jesus prophesied that Elijah would come and restore Israel to His disciples. Christ is giving the disciples a prelude to what's to come at the transfiguration (believed to have occurred on Mount Tabor, Israel). The first time, Elijah came in the Spirit of John the Baptist and the second time will be as one of the witnesses. This is a preview of coming attractions of how bright and glorious Christ will look when He returns to setup His kingdom.
In the Old Testament Malachi also prophesied that Moses and Elijah will come just before Christ's (Messiah's) coming called "the day of the Lord." That's why there is a single empty chair during Passover at many Jewish diner tables to symbolize that they are waiting for Elijah coming to restore Israel hearts to turn back to God. Elijah will come and cause the hearts of the children of Abraham to turn back to their Fathers covenants and promises God has made so that they could come to know the truth about Christ being their Messiah.
Moses and Elijah were chosen to be the two witnesses, not only because they were the two greatest prophets of the Old Testament, but because neither of them was able to finish their ministries. Both has a long history of preaching repentance. Moses never got to see the promise land because he disobeyed God (Numbers 20). His body was never found because he was taken directly to heaven. Elisha was chosen to replace his father Elijah because he ran from Jezebel, so like Moses, he too never finished his ministry (1 Kings 19). A chariot of fire took Elijah to heaven never to see his son Elisha again (2 Kings 2). Both witnesses' bodies were never found and buried. Moses did experience death (Deuteronomy 34:7)) while Elijah, on the other hand, never physically died. There are only three people that have been raptured meaning they already have their bodies and are in Heaven: Moses, Elijah and Enoch. The two witnesses have been watching and waiting from heaven for thousands of years to finish their ministries.
"The man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without."
― Ernest Hemingway
Author, Journalist, Nobel laureate (1899-1961)
For the past 1,900 years Christian Gentiles have been God's primary Ambassadors on Earth during this time even though there have been few Christian Jewish evangelists since the times of Jesus. The rapture of the Church will take away every believer from the earth and they are immediately replaced by 144,000 Jewish male virgin evangelists. God does this because He must always have an ambassador or witnesses on earth. In the final 3.5 years in the 70 "sevens" of Daniel 9 prophesy, God redirects his focus to the Jewish people and seals the 144,000 Jewish evangelists because the Jews are finally fulfilling their primary purpose as a "people and nation" which was to use this select group to evangelize the entire world. This is why He settled them in the promise land of Canaan because its location is a junction where three continents meet together being a strategic location for getting his message of redemption out to the rest of the world. This is the same location where the Apostles successfully spread out the Christian message throughout the rest of world. God assigned Abraham as the Jewish emissary, but they failed in their responsibility, so as punishment for their disobedience God exiled them twice as Moses prophesied in Deuteronomy. This time will be their third chance to fulfill their purpose as a people and nation. And their focal point of attention will align with Gods allowing them to successfully evangelize the rest of the unbelieving gentile world. Until recently the Jewish people have not had a homeland or ruler for thousands of years. Before Christ returns, the Jewish people will know their Messiah's identity which causes fear even though He protects them in the final days.
Four very powerful angels who are given full control of the ecology and atmosphere. There are two categories of fallen angels. There are those angels that God still allows to roam the earth and universe who still have the freedom to try and overthrow His will. There are other angels that are so vicious and out of control that God keeps them bounded (2 Peter 2:4). These vicious, perverted angels are released during Tribulation. God has kept them bound for thousands of years to be released just for this time. One of the four Angels of God which include Archangels, Cherubim, Seraphim and Archons has the seal of the living God (Ephesians 1:14) that will be given to the 144,000 Jewish evangelist from each tribe during this devastating time. This seal will keep them from being killed by the Antichrist. They will also have great assistance from two witnesses (Elijah & Moses) to lead them. They will also be protected by their converts for all their food, supplies and protection. As a footnote, the following verse is even more proof that the Christians Church has already been raptured otherwise John would have mention gentiles too.
All of the 12 Tribes of Israel are divided (12,000 X 12 Tribes) to arrive at the total of a 144,000 in Revelation 7. This number is to be taken literally since it's counted in Revelation two different ways. The 12 tribes listed are made up of Jacob's 12 sons. Ephraim and Dan are also tribes of Israel but are excluded from the list because they were defiled. Ephraim was the tribe that cause the war that divide Israel into two kingdoms: Judah (2 tribes in South) and Israel (10 tribes in North). The Tribe of Manasseh together with Ephraim formed the House of Joseph. Joseph was also allotted two portions. None of the 10 Tribes from the north are lost. They are currently migrating back to Israel to fulfill a latter day's prophesy:
The Tribe of Dan was considered defiled because the Danites exposed all Israelites to their idols and homosexual rape in the Old Testament. So, there is a past history reason for them to be excluded and why Dan is not mentioned as one of the 12 Tribes of Israel. Manasseh replaces Dan as one of the 12 Tribes of Israel in Genesis 49:16-18 as part of the Twenty-four elders in heaven. A requirement of the 144,000 is that they must be undefiled.
In the latter days someone from Dan causes Israel to be defiled and fall away from God again. The False Prophet will be a descendant of the Tribe of Dan which causes Israel to disarm and entrust the Roman Antichrist.
The biblical definition for defiled means someone who has not committed adultery or fornication because they are celibate (1 Corinthians 8:7, Revelation 3:4, Hebrews 13:4). The undefiled 144,000 Jewish ministers are so successful in evangelizing the world for Christ, the Bible says that those people during the Great Tribulation period that became believers are so numerous they cannot be counted. Once again God is still displaying His grace in the time when rebellion and hardening is ramped. We believe that God allows the Church in Heaven to witnessing this evangelism...so make sure you'll be there too watching with us.
The only way the Jewish evangelists can survive during this time is by their coverts hiding and feeding them. At the end of the Tribulation, they are gathered at Mount Zion outside of Jerusalem to be judged. They are found to be blameless and are the "first fruits" meaning they are the first ones to be pardoned.
When the 144,000 protected, Jewish evangelists go out into the unbelieving gentil world to preach the gospel they will have a support base of one-third of the Jewish population who are now believers and their gentile converts. Zechariah 12:10-13 tells us how they are won to the Lord and is a direct reference to the tribes of Israel in Revelation 7:5-8. The remaining two-thirds of the Jewish population will not repent.
There will be no direct ministry in Israel for the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, so they leave to the desert and minister to the unbelieving gentile nations because the remaining two-thirds of Jews hearts are so hardened that they refuse to respond to the gospel message (Revelation 12:6). During this time the two witnesses remain in Jerusalem preaching repentance for the remaining 1,260 days. Many of the gentile converts will become martyrs in these final days. They will suffer severe persecution by the hands of the Antichrist. The 144,000 Jewish evangelists will be protected in the desert or wilderness. The gentile converts will protect the 144,000 Jewish evangelists from the Antichrist because they are taking extreme risks to share the gospel message. The converts will house, feed, hide and even become martyrs for them so that the 144,000 Jewish evangelists can continue their ministry to others.
"Ethics, decency, and morality are the real soldiers."
― Kiran Bedi
Police Officer & Social Activist
The seven seal judgements impacted 25% of the world's population. The seven trumpet judgements impact another 33% of the earth population and the final seven bowl or vial judgements impact 100% of the world's population is shaken to it's core. God's judgement intensifies with each judgement as well as their frequency. The seal judgements cover the first 3.5 years called "The Tribulation" period. The trumpet judgements accelerate in frequency in the final 3.5 years before Jesus Christ returns called "The Great Tribulation".
Why would a loving God continue increasing the frequency and judgement intensity? Referencing the Book of Ezekiel, we see that God increases the intensity and frequency with each judgement cycle because the Israelites and unbelieving gentile nations have hardened hearts towards God and need to be shaken to the core in order to bring them to their senses. This is how one should interpret the Revelation dooms in chapters six, eight and sixteen as wakeup calls to humanity. In chapter six the judgements are less intense, and they increase with each judgement cycle. The point of all of this is to bring as many humans being into repentance as possible. God's judgement is only to wake up ungodly to bring them into a relationship with God. It also provides Believers an opportunity to assist them in their redemption because God's promises Christians throughout Revelation that are protected from His judgment consequences. God shows mercy on the ungodly by His wrath so they can escape a far worse wrath they will receive in the Lake of Fire.
There will be a twofold attack. One will be the wrath of God and the other the step up in persecution by Satan on those who reject the Antichrist. The way the hard harden unbelievers will strikes back at God is by attacking the believers. The believers will stand up for the love, life and truth of God which will institute a reaction. This will be the first time in history when the majority of Gods people will suffer death.
In the Old Testament the "Holy of Holies" contained two items, the Ark of the Covenant and the Sacrificial Alter that held the incense, which is the exact same picture given in Heaven except Jesus has replaced the Ark of the Covenant. Please understand that this is not God willing all of these punishments on man, it's that the Holy Spirit is no longer restraining evil (Satan) from ruling over the earth. He does this so mankind can display his true nature without having Jesus Christ in his heart. God shows His grace by restraining evil otherwise man would have already destroyed himself. These trumpet judgements are found in Revelation 8 & 9. For a first century man, John did an excellent job describing these events he had witnessed.
The Ark of the Covenant was made of wood (symbol of Jesus human nature) and covered with gold (symbol of His deity). The Ark of His Covenant is a picture of the Messiah. Inside the ark were three items: Aaron's rod that budded (rejection of God's leadership), the golden pot of manna (rejection of God's provision) and the broken tablets of the Law (rejection of God's Law). These are all symbols and reminder's of man's sin. In the Old Testament, a young male bull without defect was offered annually as a blood sacrifice for sin (Leviticus 1). Israelites would understand this symbolism and that their Messiah blood was the sacrificed or covering for their sin. The Christians symbol for sin is the cross.
The first four trumpet dooms are physical disasters (also see Ezekiel 30:21-22). The first burns the forest and grasses. The second is a volcano erupting under the sea, the third is a heavenly body crashing into the earth poisoning a third of the water. Man can live many days without food, but only a few days without fresh water.
The fourth doom verse describes the darkness which is similar to a nuclear winter where the air is so polluted from all the airborne debris remains from ICBM missile's exploding.
The three spiritual woe dooms only affect the unbelievers, and they are more painful than the physical dooms. Christ gives Satan the key to Hades to release the demons locked up in the Abyss. These demons have been locked up in Hell since the days of Noah for the evils they did to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. One of the demons is the "king" over the others and his name is given in both Greek and Hebrew as the Destroyer. Once they are released Satan has no more access to Heaven, so he turns all his attention to destroying the earth. The first woe lasts 5 months where the followers of the Antichrist are mentally tortured. John is using the word "like" to descried what the demonic angels look like. During those days people will seek death, long to die, but death will elude them.
These four demonic angels are released, and they were bound at the river Euphrates during the time of Noah. The Euphrates River in ancient times dived the Near East and Far East (Kings of the East) and was the location of the first sin by man was committed in the Garden of Eden. God had prepared these angels to carry out this judgement at a very specific time, place and purpose in history. To have an army that numbered 200 million could not have happened until current day and one-third of all mankind are killed.
What happens here on earth starts in Heaven. Satan controls our world system including thought control, the order of things and the way things operate. The rankings are made in the angelic family and God respects this order. To give an example, below Jude is describing the people who do not understand the spirit world we live in saying that even Satan is paid respect by archangel Michael because of his position he had before God. It's also telling us that we can rebuke Satan using the same language.
What John is describing is a combination of fire, smoke and molten metal which is believed to be a thermonuclear war which creates immense heat and melting. He could be depicting the launching of a ballistic missile which has a trail like a serpent's tail, and the power comes from the warheads, head. At this point including the Seal judgments leaves 50% of mankind is dead.
Even after all of this destruction, they still will not repent and continued worshiping idols. Satan has a hold on mankind and the restrainer (Holy Spirit) is no longer preventing Satan's evil from spreading.
The last trumpet blast is referenced in Exodus 19:16. When the final trumpet blows is a signal for God's people to move out. Some interpret the seventh and last trumpet as a signal for the church rapture, but there are many last trumpet blasts in the Book of Revelation, and this is only one of them.
There is a temple in heaven and when the trumpet is blown in Revelation 12:15, heaven is opening completely exposing the temple's ark of his covenant to the inhabitants of the earth. It's being exposed because it has fulfilled its purpose and the end is here and a warning to repent. This event strike terror to the unbelievers because time has run out. The ministry of redemption is about to end, and the chance of salvation is gone. In the Old Testament the ark of the covenant was found in a secrete place called the Holy of Holies where only the great high priest could enter once a year. When Christ died on the cross the veil protecting the secret place was ripped from top to bottom symbolizing that there was no longer a separation between God and man. Men could now come in the presence of God through Christ. The day of judgement and rewards are about to begin.
The final woe is covered in Revelation 12 and is a calling to move. The passage symbols are referenced in Genesis 37 identified by Jacob. God wrote this thousands of years ago anticipating that it would be needed for interpreting Revelation 12:9 because when Joseph's dream was written there was little understanding of what it meant.
Unbelievers' hearts are so hardened that God has to use extreme and increasing measures to get the last few to repent. The dooms and woes are only intended for unbelievers, not for believers. Once an unbeliever repents, they are now protected from the dooms and woes. Believers are somehow protected from God's wrath, but not from persecution. Christians will face persecution from Satan's camp. Although people will begin to see that it is far better to suffer Satan's persecution than to suffer the wrath of God. That why these events become so extreme. God is letting the inhabitants of the earth that it is much better to be in my camp than you are in Satan's camp because Satan's persecution is temporary, but God's wrath is permanent and eternal.
The inhabitants of the earth realize that the false idols they have been chasing are unreliable. Their first reaction is despair because everything they have trusted has proven to be untrustworthy. Their second reaction is anger at God because God did this to me. The third reaction is faith if you come to Him, you will receive a reward.
"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."
― Derek Bok
American Lawyer & Former President of Harvard University
Anti-Semitism has been called "the world’s oldest hatreds" and there is a biblical reason behind the hatred of the Jew. The mystery of Anti-Semitism is the underlying theme covered in Revelation 12. Satan hates the Israelites because they are the race who gave birth to Jesus Christ who defeated Satan with His sacrificial death on the cross.
This is the primary reason why there is a supernatural dislike in the world for the Jew. A good example is the religion of Islam which is built on a hatred for the sons of Isaac (Israelites). Ishmael never accepted Isaac being chosen instead of him as the anointed son of Abraham even though he was the eldest and it was his birthright. God still blessed Ishmael with a nation of people (Islamic Nations), saved his mother's life and his life, but this was not enough. Arabs are the descendants of Ishmael and have hated the sons of Isaac's ever since. Esau was Jacobs twin brother and also the eldest son who felt betrayed by God for taking his birthright. Jacob received Issacs blessing instead and Esau lost his inheritance. Satan has used the descendants of Ishmael and Esau (forming the Middle East Muslim Nations) to spread hatred for the Jewish people to the rest of the world. Their descendants sin of jealousy has escalated into a pure hatred for the Jew.
Satan also wants people to believe that the Christian Church replaced the Israelites (Replacement Theology); their covenants with God are invalid and they no longer have rights to the land of Israel since they rejected their Messiah, Jesus Christ. Every human being that turns hatred towards an Israelite is inspired by Satan. The Jewish people are still God's chosen people and are still in a covenant relationship with God, but this doesn't mean they eternal salvation with God unless they believe in Christ. If a person or nation does harm or good to the Jewish people God takes it personal and will curse them or bless them. We could say that the United States has been blessed for it's relationship with Israel since its birth in 1948.
In the last days Jerusalem will become a thorn in the side of the nations around them and to the world. We see this hatred today and it will only continue to escalate until the city is under attack from all sides.
The water pouring like a river symbolizes a vast army in Ezekiel 38 & 39 prophesy of the Gog and Magog war (Armageddon). Satan causes a this army to attack Israel when suddenly an earthquake destroys the army. Then Satan then turns his fury to martyring the Gentile believers still living at that time.
Israel gave birth to Jesus Christ who was resurrected and will return to the earth to rule all nations as a conqueror. In the final 3.5 years of the Tribulation Israel will be pursued by Satan and flee to the wilderness thought to be located in the mountains of ancient kingdoms of Edom and Moab (pictured left) where the believing Israelites will be protected by God. This wilderness is in the mountains of Petra located in modern day Jordan.
Satan and his demons access to Heaven is permanently withdrawn and he knows his time left on earth is shortening; "But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven." This act causes Satan to be filled with fury and he doubles down on destroying the Jewish people in the last days.
Another cause of anti-Semitism around the world originated from curses God placed on the Jewish people for their disobedience and rejection of Christ. This is what caused the second Jewish dispersion in 70 A.D.
The hatred for the Jew is much different than that of other peoples and cultures and it all started within the Church. At the beginning of his career, Martin Luther was apparently sympathetic to Jewish resistance to the Catholic Church. However, he expected the Jews to convert to his purified Christianity; when they did not, he turned violently against them. The missionaries of Christianity had said in effect: (1) You have no right to live among us as Jews. The secular rulers who followed had proclaimed: (2) You have no right to live among us. The German Nazis at last decreed: (3) You have no right to live. Approximately 5,846,032 Jews were killed in the Holocaust. God ultimately punishes those who harm the Jewish people.
Raul Hilberg
The Destruction of the European Jews
"I've read the last page of the Bible. It's all going to turn out all right."
― Billy Graham
Right before Christ returns and the door is shut on salvation, God displays His final act of grace by sending three angels to warn the unbelievers to turn away from the beast and repent. The first angel brings the good news of the gospel. The eternal gospel is a picture of their eternal destiny and what is at stake if they do not change. All of the easy converts have received salvation by this point. What we are left with in the final months are the last hard hearted and reprobates. This is the last and final shakeup just like in Exodus 10:29 just before the final plague on the firstborn placed on Pharaoh and the Egyptians (Exodus 11). The 144,000 protected Jewish male virgin evangelists are wrapping up their ministry and this is the last time the gospel will be preached to the inhabitants of the world until Christ returns for the Millennial kingdom. The second angel brings the judgment of Babylon the Great which is referring to false religious system (apostasy) that deceived people by focusing on what's temporal instead of what's eternal. The first angel warns of the final preaching of the Gospel message just before Gods wrath is unleashed just as the second angel warns them of the apostate religious system's destruction. The false religious system that they have been depending on disappears before their very eyes just as the expression of final gospel message is being preached. So, what we have is the true gospels being preached for the last time and the false gospel being preached for the last time. Now it's time for them to make a decision.
The third angel warns the last of the fence sitting unbelievers of the benefits and consequences. They can either receive temporary comfort from Satan or eternal comfort from God. If you take the mark, you have purchased a permanent, one-way ticket to the Lake of Fire tormented forever with no exceptions. There are some who repent and reject the mark of the beast (Revelation 14:12-13).
Those who do not take the mark of the beast cannot buy or sell will endure hardship, most will become martyrs by having their heads cut-off.
The fourth angel comes out of the false temple on earth where the Antichrist sets up residence to announce that it's time for the harvesting to begin. Jesus Christ is represented by a sharp sickle that takes out the entire cluster of grapes. This is the beginning of the war of Armageddon. The cluster of grapes are those unrepenting peoples. These are not grapes that the Lord wants to keep, cherish and stored. The second sickle used by the fifth angel comes out from the temple in heaven. The sixth angel brings God's wrath to the valley of decision in the final battle of Armageddon where 200 million unrepenting peoples are slain to where the blood is as high as a horse (5'4") flowing for 200 miles long. This will be a real-world war fought by all nations (Joel 3).
In God's mercy and grace, he ends Armageddon early and evil on the earth. By doing this He limits the level of torment the unbeliever receives on judgement day and eliminates the persecution of the believer.
The first sign illustrates Israel's history of suffering and the pain it has endured at the hands of other nations because of Satan hatred for the Jewish race. The woman described below is Israel whose father is Jacob, and his twelve sons are the tribes of Israel. The woman (Israel) gives birth to the child (Jesus Christ) who defeated the dragon (Satan) at the cross to pay for the sins of Adam and his descendants and regain the deed to the earth. Satan's mission has always been to destroy the Jewish people through. The history of mankind has been shaped by the great dragon who works through the beasts of the land and water. The second great sign in the verse below is Satan who is the number one force to attack her. That's why they are called the great signs in Heaven that show us the answers to what's happing here on earth because Satan has continually deceived mankind over and over again.
All of these terms above are found or amplified somewhere else in the Old Testament Bible. It reference to the meaning of these symbols occurred when Joseph had a dream and Jacob interprets his dream.
The third great sign is the seven angel priests that will receive the seven golden bowls or sensors. These sensors are a symbol of God wrath to be poured out on the world to answer the prayers of those martyrs who suffered brutal deaths at the hands of the beast. God is responding to the prayers of the saints. The priests in the temple of the Tabernacle used sensors to wave the fragrance aroma created from burning incense in the Holy of Holies so the priest could go into the presence of God.
There is only one entrance to the Tabernacle in order to be in the presence of God symbolizing that there is only one way to be in relationship with God (through His son Christ). There is an alter inside that is made of brass representing judgement. The only way to get into fellowship with God is to sacrifices an innocent substitute for our sins. The outside of the Tabernacle was ugly covered in goatskins, but the inside was beautiful cloth. This is a picture of the Messiah who had no worldly, physical beauty, but we would become attracted to his internal beauty. Inside the Tabernacle contain three items; the broken Ten Commandment tablets representing mans rejection God's moral law, Manna representing mans rejection of Gods provision and Arron's rod representing mans rebellion against God leadership (Moses & Arron). The three together represented all of the sins of mankind. The priest would put the blood sacrifice over the golden thrown along with the objects beneath it would to satisfy God's remissions of mans sin for one year. The cherub on the right of the Tabernacle represented God's righteousness and the cherub on the left represented God's judgement. This process was a picture of a temporary payment for sin since it's dome every year because this was not the ultimate payment for sin until the Lamb of God would come who will make a permanent payment for sin and remove the barrier between man and God forever. The Tabernacle of testimony is reveal at this Tribulation time to remind the Israelites that the reason these horrific, catastrophic judgement are going to be poured out on the Christ rejecting world because they didn't receive His testimony or free offer of pardon.
There are seven angels that coming out of the temple delivering the seven plagues dressed as priests in white. Once these seven bowls are unleased this is the end of God's mercy and grace.
After the seven trumpet judgements there are the final seven plague judgements. These are the last judgements or expression of God's wrath placed on nonbelievers for rejecting God's offer of salvation. The martyrs out of the Tribulation are standing on a sea of glass with fire. They are the Victorious are those believers who have overcome evil through the Holy Spirit working through their lives in different manifestations. The sea represents the calm they are experiencing now that they are in heaven and the fire represents the horrible torture that the suffered at the hands of the Antichrist. A group within the Victorious have conquered evil through the Spirit are the martyrs who were in conflict with the Antichrist who has been changing laws and the calendars to suppress God's ministry. They are killed by their faith and fight against the Beast. These are not the same martyrs in Revelation 6 under the altar. There is an outrage in heaven about what was done to these martyrs and God promised to avenge what was done to them. We know these are Israelite believers because they are described as the children of Moses and the Lamb (Song of Moses, Exodus 15).
These judgements are repeated 7 times to a specific type of people referred to as the "inhabitants of the earth." which is someone who clings to the things of this earth so much that they possess him (1 john 2:15-17). God's judgement throughout Revelation is referencing those nonbelievers that have rejected God's offer of salvation. The following passage is a clear promise to believers that God will keep the Church out of the Tribulation period.
For more passages referring to the "inhabitants of the earth." see (2) Revelation 6:10, (3) Revelation 8:13, (4) Revelation 11:10, (5) Revelation 13:8, and (6) Revelation 13:14
The Bible also identifies nonbelievers as those whose names have Not been written in the Book of Life. Every human ever born has their name entered in the Book of Life. And when they die, if they did not received Christ or when God knows their hearts are so hardened that they will never believe, their names are crossed out of the Book of Life. This is not the same as the Lambs Book of Life. Once you become a believer your name is transferred from the Book of Life to the Lamb's Book of Life. In the end there are two Books of believer's names.
Believers will be watching this final phase of the seven judgement events from Heaven which will destroy everything mankind has ever made. These judgements are coming directly from God and we know because the followers of the beast curse him because they know He is directly responsible. The earth will remain, but unless Jesus returned, no one would be spared. He has to reset the ecology or nothing would be able to survive. Even after these judgements, the followers of the beast decide to curse God instead of repenting.
Before God delivers these last 7 judgements, He shuts Heaven up from hearing any further prayer. Heaven is closed until these judgements have been completed. There is no hope for the unbeliever who are those who have the mark of the beast. God will protect believer's, but He cannot hear anymore prayers.
Seven Bowl Judgements:
There is one last promise Jesus makes to the few believers that remain during the bowl judgements. He tells them to not compromise your faith because of fear or their treats and hang in there because He will return very soon.
“You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”
― Jonathan Edwards
American Revivalist Preacher, Philosopher, & Congregationalist Theologian (March 22, 1758)
The sculpture pictured was a gift to the United Nations by the USSR on December 4th, 1959, by artist Evgeniy Vuchetich. This sculpture actions symbolizes man’s desire to put an end to war and transform tools of destruction into tools to benefit mankind. In the Book of Isaiah contains the following passage that references the Messiah ruling all nations from Jerusalem in the latter days when He returns:
Joel says just the opposite in the following verse when war is waged during Armageddon just before Christ's return.
It's easy for us to picture ourselves in the Milennium assisting in teaching or being part of His ruling system. The whole Christian message is about peace and reconciliation. In contrast, during Armageddon the raptured Saints are sent back to earth wearing armor to assist Christ in the battle that takes place at Megiddo (Jezreel Valley). Christ could have used angels or accomplished the task on His own but decided to include us humans as part of His extermination army because our greatest desire in our hearts is to be with the Lord. If Jesus is going to rule on earth for 1,000 years, we don't want to remain in Heaven just watching Him rule. We want to participate with Him. Those individuals who were beheaded or martyred during the Tribulation will not be part of this army because they have not received their immortal bodies yet because they have not been through judgement yet.
"I feel fairly certain that my hatred harms me more than the people whom I hate."
― Max Frisch
Architect, Playwright, & Novelist (1911-1991)
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