End Time Prophecies

Fred R. Coulter—May 4, 2024

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Greetings everyone. Welcome to Sabbath Services, the first Sabbath in counting toward Pentecost, so one week has already passed by. It's very clear when you read it in Lev. 23 that you are to count seven Sabbaths and then, listen to this:

Leviticus 23:16: "Even unto the day after the seventh Sabbath… [v 21]: And you shall proclaim on the same day that it may be a Holy convocation to you…."—which is Pentecost!

Now, I have a question for all of those who believe an error: that you worship and come together for Pentecost on a Monday! Can you show me on any calendar that Monday is the day after the Sabbath or Saturday? That's a good one if you can do it; but some people are so hard-headed and so incalcitrant and so self-righteous that they refuse to recognize the Truth. Therefore, they don't understand what they're doing.

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Now, we had a very good session on Caravan to Midnight, and I spoke for almost the entire length of time in between the commercials. We have it all edited and up online, and you can go to truthofgod.org and you'll find a link so you can watch it (audio only). Now, the good news is that I'm already scheduled to go back again on the 30th of May. So, that'll be interesting.

What I'm going to cover is the return of Christ and how that will be, and I'll throw a little in there on the 'rapture' and show that there's no such thing as the 'rapture,' and then move on to the rest of it.

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There's a lot of news to cover. A lot of things have happened and a lot of things are going to happen. So, let's be alert and see how it's going to come about.

Did you know that this year, 49% of the world's population is going to vote? The largest number ever! That's quite interesting, because God not only wants the leaders involved in what they're going to do, but also the people involved.

from the Strategic Intelligence Report:

Globally, more voters than ever in history will head to the polls. At least 64 countries plus the European Union—representing a combined population of 49% of the people in the world—are meant to hold national elections. The results of these elections will have ramifications for years.

Now then, continually, whether of self-outputs, strategic materials, grains, high-tech or social unrest, the international scene will impart to our money markets domestic policies this year.

Then it gives a following overview for each one.
Now, that's quite interesting and we'll get to something here in a little bit that will tie right in with that.

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Here's a bill passed by the House of Representatives, which will probably never become law—we'll have to wait and see:

House passes controversial bill labeling certain 'Christian Scriptures' as anti-Semitic.

Now, realize that whenever the Jewish lobby can come and have something to go against Christians, they do it, all the time. That means that you have to eliminate half of the New Testament if you're going to be politically correct. They passed this, it was quite significant; they passed it 320 to 91. Now, it'll probably never become law, but this tells you what people are thinking and what the politicians are thinking and what the Jews are thinking.

I have yet to hear a single religious Jew, a single 'religious Jew' a single rabbi, including Jonathan Cahn… He may admit it somewhat; but I have never heard a Jew say, 'the reason that we suffer so much persecution and trouble is because of our sins.' They never say that. It's always them (someone else); it's always the enemy, it's always over here rather than what they do!

Now, what was the worst thing that they said when they convicted Jesus that God took them up on what they said?. Remember that whenever you say something to God, He's going to hold you accountable and take you up on it!. What was it that they said, the last thing they said to Pilate before Jesus was let out to be crucified?

Pilate said, 'I'm innocent of this Man's blood.' What did they say? Let His blood be upon us and on our children!' So, the Jews have no one to blame but themselves for all the troubles that come against them. I have yet to hear a single Jew admit to the Truth. Now, I may know one, Michael Heiss, but he's converted.; we'll set aside converted Jews.

But remember this also: many Messianic Jews can never get away from the traditions of Judaism; they always drag them in.

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Now then, here's one here on health. Guess what is the leading cause of death today? What do you think that might be? It is prescription drugs and vaccines. This is from a report from Dave Hodges.

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More than 100 million Americans expect civil war within five years. Guess what? That's exactly what they want to bring about so they can destroy America! America is being destroyed because, as a nation and the Christian community and the population of the United States, the majority have turned their backs on God. Many of them are embracing absolute perverse satanism. There's a hatred toward Christians, toward Jews, and toward the Bible. As a matter of fact, one of the outlooks that the FBI has posted on purchases to be careful that these people are not terrorists is anyone who buys the Bible.

You see the walls are closing in. The end time we're going to talk about is getting closer. So, civil war! How's that going to happen? It's been planned! Have you ever heard of:

The Cloward-Pivens Strategy?

These were two communist professors who devised a plan to take down the capitalist structure in the United States through mass illegal immigration that overwhelms the U.S. social safety net programs and local governments. It is an international plan to collapse the United States.

Guess who's one of the leading advocates of this as well? The Vatican! All of the Catholic NGOs are busy in South and Central America helping facilitate all of these immigrants, aliens, to come into America. We've covered the prophecy so many times we don't need to go there: that God says because we didn't obey the voice of God, and because we were not thankful or cheerful to God that the stranger within us would rise up high above us! Now, where are we? We're probably 50% there.

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Now then, here's the Cloward-Pivens Strategy, 4 steps.

• overload and break the welfare system

• Is that not causing chaos in New York City and Chicago?
• Do they not have citizens protesting the city government in New York City?
• Do they not have citizens protesting the federal government for sending debit cards to all of the immigrants and putting them up in the finest hotels, and they can't get their welfare payments?

When Trump gets in, which he probably will—they're doing all they can so that he won't get in—how much do you think he's going to be able to do unless he really understands what he himself must do?

Now, he has brought out God more than ever before, that is true. But God will only listen to flatteries for so long (Psa.78). Sooner or later, all the words of the covenant that He had with Israel is going to take place, because every word of God is true.

• have chaos ensue

What do you think the millions of dollars flooding into the protests on the college campuses are all about? and other ones?

Look back at the 2020 election and look at all of the riots, fires and all of the things that people were doing, what do you suppose it's going to do when the election comes around? Probably somewhere about a month before the election, they're going to start cutting it loose!

• take control of the chaos

That's how they can bring it down. They've already put the police in a category that they really can't work, and if they do, and if they would properly (justifiably) shoot someone, they will be charged with murder. So that's how you take control of the chaos.

• implement socialism and communism through government force

Just think what will happen if Biden is elected.! Don't think that might not be a possibility! It could be! So, we have the four steps laid out for us to see what's going to happen. All of these things are the effects of our sins. Yet, just like the Jews never admitting their sins, most people will never admit their sins.

In the meantime, in America there are some who are saying that they're looking for gun confiscation, which they call the Blue Dawn. They say the Red Dawn will be the invasion. Well, I think the Red Dawn has already risen quite a bit. What about all of these tens of thousands of Chinese men who have come across the border, who have been financed by the Chinese government to get here? What do you think they're going to do? They're here to control, foment and to police the chaos so that it's more destructive!

Now, a little bit more about Chinese:

Chinese military developing space assets at breathtaking speed.

Remember, there's going to be war in heaven, and they're working toward that right now. Who knows? Think about how much of everything that people do today is dependent on 'the cloud,' which is computer digital machines that collect all the information, and the pinnacle of that is A.I., and A.I. is going to expand and expand!

As a matter of fact, the G7 meeting coming up is going to try and address how they can make laws to control A.I. We've already experienced just with a couple of our messages online on YouTube. Mike Flake takes the programs that we have and he edits them and cleans them up from any of the mistakes that we have, and he puts them on YouTube. Now, I mentioned something concerning vaccines. A.I. picked that up and killed the program.

So, that tells you what kind of control they're going to have. What I want us to do is look at the big picture; not just the leaders, not just the countries of Israel, but the whole world is going to all be involved before Christ returns. Here is the background of G7; you can go online and you can look it up. The main countries are the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, and Canada; Then invited to this one that's coming in Italy is: UAE, Australia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Korea, and Vietnam.

• Guess who also is invited for the very first time?
• How does this fit into prophecy?
• Have any of you read what that is?

The pope has been invited to participate in the G7! We'll see in a little bit that that fulfills prophecy.

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Hostility toward Christianity increasing in the United States and Europe

What will happen is the only 'Christianity' that will be allowed is Catholicism, because the Vatican has never ceased seeking to undermine and to destroy Protestantism and true Churches of God. If you analyze carefully what happened to Worldwide Church of God, that was a big time takedown by the 'Christian' establishment to control Worldwide and take it down.

When Herbert Armstrong first started, he could get on any radio station; there were no problems in getting on. So, it expanded and expanded. As he was doing good, it went very well, and it grew and grew and grew, and we were making inroads into the Protestants and into the Catholics. It turned out to be the biggest Church of God in the history at that time, and it was causing problems. At the same time, the television networks were forming religious channels so that any religion wanting to put on a telecast would have to come to those television channels. This means they could control every word that was said.

Now, I know for a fact from Dwight Blevins that when the crunch came down on Worldwide, that the presenters on television—after Herbert Armstrong died—were told, 'You cannot speak extemporaneously on the video programs anymore. It all must be scripted, and the script must be approved by the advertising agency that purchased the time for the Church.'

• that's what happened to the World Tomorrow television program
• that's what happened to the World Tomorrow radio program

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Now let's look at something that is developing right now. Have you heard of the UN 2.0? It's coming this fall! I'll show you a picture of it right here. There's a big round table, and many nations are right there.

This is a fulfilling of prophecy, because God is going to let the world go its way under Satan the devil, thinking that they can solve the world's problems. Satan is trying to prove to God that he [Satan] was right.

This will be in September the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, as well as the highly anticipated Summit of the Future, which nations will sign the so-called Pact of the Future, which will be agreeing to a world government plan! Now, that fits in with all of the prophecies that we have.

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Now then, everybody take note of this: I've had a request that we do another session on questions and answers, so May 18th we'll have the whole service dedicated to answering questions.

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Let's look and see and understand what Satan is doing. Remember the temptation that Jesus went through under Satan the devil.

• turning the stones into bread
• jumping off the edge of the temple
• IF You bow down and worship me—Satan told Jesus—I will give you all the countries of the world

See what we're having here? All the countries of the world; never happened before this way. So, we're looking at some tremendous things that are going to happen. He said:

All the world—all the nations and countries, their wealth, their power and everything, I will give to you, for it has been given to me! And I, Satan, give it to whomsoever I will!

Jesus told him, 'Be gone!'

• How many people are bribed and persuaded by wealth, by power?
• How many people think that man is going to find a solution so that his problems will be solved?

It will probably come to a point that it will look like that might be possible. But the way of man under Satan can never replace the way of God! That's the whole battle of everything in the world down through time. So, what we need to do is not get all caught up in the middle of that! Let's see what we need to do.

1-Thess. 5—at the time Paul wrote 1-Thess., this was his first epistle in 52A.D.  Things were bad enough at that time that even Paul had to explain to the brethren there in Thessalonica that—and then later in 2 Thess. about 'the man of sin, the son of perdition—that don't get carried away with these things.

1-Thessalonians 5:1: "Now then, concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, there is no need that I write to you; for you yourselves understand perfectly that the Day of the Lord will come exactly as a thief comes by night" (vs 1-2).

So, this is the point where it's going to start unraveling. Once they get all the nations lined up"

Verse 3:"For when they say, 'Peace and security'…"

• Isn't that the biggest thing that the governments of the world want today, peace and security?
• What if they have an alliance of all the nations of the world? (Rev. 13). They all sign up and they start implementing things that will benefit everyone!

"…then sudden destruction will come upon them, as travail comes upon a woman who is with child; and they shall by no means escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness that the day of the Lord should overtake you as a thief" (vs 3-4).

That's why we have to watch, just like Jesus said. We have to watch events in the world, but more importantly we need to watch events within the Churches. In addition to that, the most important individual thing is we need to watch ourselves, and with the Holy Spirit of God, grow in grace and knowledge, and not get carried away with anything that's going to take us away from Christ.

Now, let's see what's going to happen, Rev. 13, and as we read this, let's understand that this is happening right now before our very eyes. We don't know how long it's going to be, we don't know everything that's going to take place, but we can see the downfall of Israel, and particularly America, Canada, and the UK much more than those in Europe.

But we see this developing. When I read that article about United Nations 2.0 and what they plan, it reminded me of Rev. 13:1. This is the Apostle John. He didn't understand what he was seeing, except he was told to write it. I imagine he had some understanding, but as we were told in the book of Daniel, the prophecies were sealed and closed until the time of the end, but the wise shall understand. The wise ones are those who:

• love God
• obey God
• keep His commandments

Revelation 13:1—John says: "And I stood on the sand of the sea; and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea…"—it's developing! That's what we're seeing now.

"…having seven heads…" (v 1).

Remember they're going to have the G7 meeting! Those seven heads can change, but the structure is there; then all the other nations that were invited.

"…and ten horns…" (v 1).

This is a world-wide thing! Never before has this ever occurred, and we can be thankful it's not going to occur again.

"…and on his horns ten crowns… [showing authority, government] …and upon his heads the name of blasphemy" (v 1). These are the ones who worship Satan directly!

Remember the promise that Satan told Jesus, that 'IF You worship me, all of this shall be yours!'

Verse 2: "And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and his feet like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne and great authority."

That comes from Satan. You go over here to Rev. 12 and it says that Satan, 'that ancient serpent, has deceived the whole world.' That's what we see going on!

• all of the nations coming together
• they all have troubles and problems
• they want them solved
• they want to work together

That's how it comes about!

"…and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne and great authority" (v 2).

Eventually it will come down to the authority of that one man, and that one system behind the man. This is what we see developing here now as never before. Now, something's going to happen; I don't know exactly how this is going to be.

 [speculation]: We often wonder what is the deadly wound? We don't know! For the system, when you look at it—you can find the chart in the back of the Bible about the rise of all of the kingdoms—what happened to Europe in WWII was a deadly wound. But:

• What about the man who's the leader?
• What about the one who is the son of perdition?
• What about the one who's going to proclaim himself to be God?
• How does he get a deadly wound?

Revelation 12:7: "And there was war in heaven…"

What did we just read that the Chinese are trying to do, and even other countries are, as well? They're trying to develop the systems that can go through space to whatever satellite they have and destroy it! They're also trying to get a ray kind of gun that can zap from heaven right down to the earth and destroy.

Now, a lot of people think that the fire that they had in Maui here earlier this year that destroyed that whole city quickly came from an experimental weapon that has been developed to do that very thing.

This is a great war because "…Michael and his angels warred against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels warred" (v 7).

We don't know what that is going to be like, but there's going to come a time…

• here's all this peace on earth
• here's all this authority given to the world government
• here are nations now beginning to work together, and it looks like that everything's going to work out

Then all of a sudden, could it be that in the person of the beast, that he's going to go up in space, and there's going to be a war up in space, and he receives a deadly wound because he's cast down?

I don't know, so this is speculation, we don't know what it's going to be. Some think it's an assassination attempt against the man who is 'the son of perdition.' But what if he gets into these space combat ships that they will have available, and goes up in space possessed of Satan, all of the demons coming up, following up that spaceship, and then they're met head on by Michael and all the angels of God. Then there's this war in heaven. So, I don't know if it's going to be, but look at it.

Verse 8: "But they did not prevail, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him" (vs 8-9).

Now, what do you suppose is going to happen then? Well, we'll use a common phrase: 'All hell is going to break loose on the earth.' Then the rapid succession of all the fulfilling of the prophecies. So, he's cast down to the earth. Now, what do you suppose would be the most likely thing to do when that occurs? Maybe he'll have a wound with that and be revived! Then what does he do?

Would this not make sense that after he was cast down, that might coincide with the King of the North and the King of the South (Dan. 11). These things can come together that way. But here we have this concerning the return of Christ:

2-Thessalonians 2:3: "Do not let anyone deceive you by any means…" So, we must be alert!

That's why I ring the cowbell (for speculation), because if I say something that is a thought that might be, but it does not mean that it's so. It could be a possibility. Let's look at it, but let's not accept that as dogmatic Word of God, because it's not.

"…because that day will not come unless the apostasy shall come first..." (v 3).

Now, we'll look at the apostasy here in a little bit, but this means the whole world turning away from God:

• not just one man
• not just one group
• not just one Church

but the whole world! What is the pope accumulating to himself now? All the religions of the world!

• Did you know that the Vatican sends greetings to the Buddhists and to the Hindus on their 'holy' days?
• Who did the lovely kissing of each other? Pope Francis and the leading Imam of the Muslim religion!

The only missing one was a Jew! Think about that! These are momentous events!

"…and the man of sin shall be revealed—the son of perdition, the one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God…" (vs 3-4)

Could that be a possibility? He's cast down, and then when he's healed:

"…so that he comes into the temple of God and sits down as God, proclaiming that he himself is God" (v 4).

What can you explain concerning this?

"…or that is an object of worship; so that he comes into the temple of God and sits down as God, proclaiming that he himself is God" (v 4).

Now, we've never had it in that kind of terminology. This is a singular event, which is going to trip off the whole Tribulation at the end-time. So, we need to look at that as a possibility.

Verse 5: "Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you understand what is holding him back in order for him to be revealed in his own set time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already working; only there is One Who is restraining at the present time until it arises out of the midst" (vs 5-7). And the One Who's restraining it is Christ!

Now then, when we come to Rev. 4-5:

• What do we find with the six seals?
• Who has the scroll with the seven seals on it?
• Who holds them? God the Father!
• Who does He give them to? Jesus Christ!

Now, that tells us when the events unfold and the seal is opened that certain events take place.

Revelation 6:1: "And I looked when the Lamb opened one of the seals..."

Christ is going to carry it out, but only at the time that the Father says. None of these prophecies are anything that men can completely understand. Now, we still have some questions with this, so I bring it up with that point of view.

"…and I heard one of the four living creatures say, like the sound of thunder, 'Come and see.' And I looked, and behold, there was a white horse; and the one who was sitting on it had a bow… [notice, no arrows] …and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer" (vs 1-2).

The white horse we have always looked at as the coming last pope or false prophet. But with the pope going to the G7 for the first time in history, does this not make that prophecy come more alive? Though many things have developed through the years leading up to it.

(break@48:00)

Let's see if we can tie a couple of things together. The first seal (Rev. 6) has got to be the move of religions to all come together and will be under the aegis of the pope. Now, in order to solidify that, we have to come back to Rev. 13 and see how he's going to have the power of miracles.

Jesus told us in Matt. 24 that in the end-times there will be false prophets and false Christs. Is not the beast of false Christ if he says he's 'God' and sits in the Temple of God, which shows the Jews have to build the temple. He receives a deadly wound, and the deadly wound was healed.

We don't know how that's going to take place, but it may very well be that the false prophet is going to be involved in his recovery. It may very well be that he's cast down and receives that deadly wound; being cast down out of space having been possessed of Satan himself! When he's cast down, here's what happens.

Revelation 13:4: "And they worshiped the dragon, who gave his authority to the beast…"

Just like I said in starting out, the promise that Satan gave to Jesus in tempting Him.

"…And they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast?…. [false Christ!] …Who has the power to make war against him?' And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies was given to him…" (vs 4-5).

Doesn't that tie in with 2-Thess. 2, where it says that he says, 'I am God'?

"…and authority was given to him to continue for forty-two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And he was given power to make war against the saints, and to overcome them; and he was given authority over every tribe and language and nation" (vs 5-7).

Now, that's the pinnacle of the satanic power in the beast, right there! He was given that authority. But as we'll see a little later on in other messages, that that authority breaks down, especially with all the nations in the East, all of the Orient, that all breaks down.

Verse 8: "And all who dwell on the earth will worship him… [that's quite a statement] …whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." So, there'll be two categories of people:

• all the people in the world
• the saints that are faithful

Verse 9: "If anyone has an ear, let him hear."

Even though this is put after the beast in the first eight chapters there, this is simultaneously with!

Verse 11: "And I saw another beast rising out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon." Isn't it interesting that the pope is going to the G7 meeting?

Let's see another picture of Babylon at the end. Let's see who also is controlling the power and the strings of authority along with the beast.

Revelation 17:1: "And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials came and spoke with me, saying to me, 'Come here; I will show you the judgment of the great whore who sits upon many waters.'"

Verse 15: "…'The waters that you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages."

So, this is the one who directs the worship toward the beast, but notice what it is here:

Verse 2: "With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication."

That is the wrong worship, and the leaders of the world endorse what the Catholic Church is going to do; so this is a very first step with this G7 meeting.

Verse 3: "Then he carried me away in the spirit to a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, full of names of blasphemy."

• that's the beast of Rev. 13
• the woman is riding it

In other words, has very strong control over it!
Doesn't that tie in with what we read in Rev. 13?

Verse 4: "And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and pearls and precious stones; and she had a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominations and the filthiness of her fornication; and across her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (vs 4-5).

All of the religions of the world come back to Babylon the Great, and the pope and the Roman Catholic Church and all religions will come back to the ancient Satan worship that was before the Flood, undoubtedly—and after the Flood!

Verse 6: "And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And after seeing her, I wondered with great amazement."

Then he [the angel] gave some instruction as what's going to happen to this beast, which then ties right in with Rev. 13; Rev. 13 and Rev. 17 go hand in glove!

Verse 7: "Then the angel said to me, 'Why are you amazed? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was, and is not, but is about to come up out of the abyss and to go into perdition…." (vs 7-8).

What is the abyss? That's the sea! Comes up out of it.

"…And those who dwell on the earth, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, shall be astonished when they see the beast that was, but is not, and yet, is" (v 8).

That's what's going to happen; look at that with Rev.13. We'll see the things that will be done there. Let's come back to Rev. 13 and look at the power of this woman who sits on the beast! Let's see what happens with that.

Revelation 13:12[transcriber's correction]: "And he… [that second beast with two horns like a lamb but speaks as a dragon] …exercises all the authority of the first beast before him; and he causes the earth and those who dwell therein to worship the first beast…"—'God' manifested in the flesh!

All religions, all people, the division is between all the people of the world and all of the saints of God. Now, the last saints we know to be converted we find in Rev. 7 are the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude. They're saved out of that system at the last minute.

"…and those who dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he performs great wonders" (vs 12-13).

Now, look at what he's going to do. And remember that seeing is believing. So, this is why people will believe:

Verse 13: "And he performs great wonders, so that he even causes fire to come down to the earth from heaven in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by means of the wonders that were given to him to perform in the sight of the beast, saying to those who dwell on the earth that they should make an image for the beast, which had the wound by the sword, yet, was alive" (vs 13-14).

So, this is going to -be an astounding thing that's going to take place!

Verse 15: "And he was given power to give life…"

Now, the Greek there does not mean life. The Greek is 'pneuma,' which means spirit.

Verse 15: "And he was given power to give life to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast also could speak; and he causes everyone who will not worship the image of the beast to be killed."

That shows the tremendous authority that's going to be there:

• the world government by the beast
• the world religion by the lamb with two horns but speaks like a dragon
• the other symbol of the woman is the woman

As we find in Rev. 17; those are together!

Now then, here we go with the mark of the beast. Now, it's going to be hard to resist that. But here's what's going to happen:

Verse 16: "And he causes… [this is the first beast along with the second beast] …causes all the small and the great, the rich and the poor, the free and the bond to receive a mark in their right hands or in their foreheads."

It's the only time in history that we can really understand this, and we're getting closer and closer to the mark of the beast; and it will be in the right hand or in the forehead. A question came up with digital central bank currency, and they issue a digital wallet: Is that the mark of the beast? No, but it's the last step before the mark of the beast!It's going to come!

Think about what this is going to do to affect everyone, because everything we do we have to buy and/or sell. Isn't that correct? How many have their own garden? Everyone is going to have to buy. Even if you have some food in store, that is sooner or later is going to run out. There are going to be other people out there who won't be able to have food. So, they're going to come looking for those who have food.

That may be part of the martyrdom of the saints, but not everyone who has food will be a saint. So, this is going to be something; this is going to be total dictatorship, civil government, and religious power of Satan the devil! And they will be able to enforce it.

How A.I. fits into that to keep track of everyone? That will be very convenient because they will know who everyone is and where everyone is going, what everyone is doing, what everyone is buying and selling. They will know it. They can eliminate you with the flick of a switch and cut off everything that you have. So, that's where it's going to come. That's why we have to be alert to all of these things, and we have to stay close to God in prayer, in study, and in assembling together when we can.

Verse 17: "So that no one may have the ability to buy and sell unless he has the mark, or the name of the beast…. [that probably means a universal social security number] …or the number of his name."

That probably refers to those who are in the governmental system.

Verse 18: "Here is wisdom. Let the one who has understanding count the number of the beast; for it is a man's number, and his number is 666.:

So, these are the things that are coming!

Now then, let's look at another possibility in Ezek. 28, which tells us about the origin of Satan. But it also ties in with the Prince of Tyre and also the King of Tyre. Now, the Prince of Tyre and the King of Tyre are different. The King of Tyre is manifested.

Ezek. 28—the first 11 verses have to do with the Prince of Tyre (v 2). The city of Tyre was moved out into the Mediterranean, and no one could conquer it for hundreds of years. But Alexander the Great figured out how to do it. He tore down different buildings and things, and he built a causeway out to Tyre and conquered it, and took all the riches and all the wealth that was there.

Then it talks about the King of Tyre in v 12. Now, I'm going to go through this, because not only does it show about Satan, but it also shows one of the main things that he does, which then will be tied in with the mark of the beast, and tied in with the current financial systems that we have in the world today.

Ezekiel 28:12: "Son of man, lift up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You seal up the measure of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You have been in Eden the Garden of God…"'" (vs 12-13).

• How do we know that this is referring to Satan the devil?
• Who was in the Garden of Eden?

• God
• Adam
• Eve
• Satan the devil in the form of the serpent

What happened after Adam and Eve sinned? They were removed and no one else was allowed to go into Eden!

This has to refer to Satan and not to a literal king; the literal king was possessed of Satan. So, when the literal king was destroyed, Satan still existed. But people mistake that God is going to destroy Satan. That's another story for the Day of Atonement, but he's not going to do that.

Verse 13: "You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the ruby, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the turquoise, and the emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your settings and of your sockets was prepared in you in the day that you were created."

Satan was a created being! At first, he was righteous. But God also gave free moral agency to the angels, just like He's given to human beings. We all have free moral agency; God didn't make robot angels. He didn't make human beings robots. We're thinking, choosing, understanding beings, whether human or whether angel.

• angels have their place, their work and their task
• humans have their place, their works, and their task

Just like there was sin with Satan, and the other angels we saw; a third of the angels back in Rev. 12, went with Satan, and they are the demons. Here we have it:

Verse 14: "You were the anointed cherub that covers, and I set you so; you were upon the Holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire."

Well, that's depicting what it is in heaven of spiritual things that God created for the heavenly realm.

Verse 15: "You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created…"

How long was that? We don't know! We have no idea!

"…until iniquity was found in you" (v 15).

We don't know what it's going to be in the Kingdom of God, and what we're going to do. But we do know that all the nations that are saved are going to bring their tribute to New Jerusalem (Rev. 21).

• What is it going to be as spirit beings?
• What are we going to do?
• What will the system be?

The only thing we can say is that you'll find out when you get there!

Verse 16: "By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled your midst with violence, and you have sinned…."

I don't know how that applies to the angelic realm, but we know how that applies to the human realm!

• Do we have money systems that collapse?
• Do we have merchandising that is illegal?
• Do we have all of those things? Yes!

Now, his sin came to this point:

"…Therefore, I will cast you as profane from the mountain of God, and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from among the stones of fire" (v 16).

That means to remove, to make him nothing. It doesn't mean that he's going to eliminate Satan the devil, because destroyed from, not destroyed by; there's a difference. The stones of fire was what was, however, whatever kind of spiritual pavement there was that they walked on, and he was destroyed from that.

Verse 17: "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness. I will cast you to the ground; I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you."

We find that in Rev. 21. Satan is going to be bound in prison and in chains. I don't know if we're going to be able to have a view of him from time to time or not. I have no idea. I'm sure that all of the resurrected saints will have some kind of understanding of that with Satan and the demons that are bound for the thousand years.

Verse 18: "By the multitude of your iniquities, by the unrighteousness of your trade, you have profaned your sanctuaries; therefore, I brought forth a fire from your midst; it shall devour you, and I will bring you to ashes upon the earth, before the eyes of all who see you."

Now, that has to do with the physical king that Satan possessed was destroyed, but Satan continues on. So, this helps us understand the power of the mark of the beast (Rev. 13) that it's going to be directly by Satan the devil.

Very interesting indeed when we see that. Let's understand what we need to realize and to do as we're going forward from here.

As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, we have to remain faithful. Let's see what we are admonished to do so that we don't get all caught up into this system, and why the whole world is going to be caught up into this system. It's going to be something like the communications that we have today, it will be instant. People will know all of these things the instant that it happens.

It's amazing! I was thinking of this just the other day. I came home from the office, went home, and I wanted to check the news. So, I picked up my remote, which is all designed to transmit a signal to the television, and it has to have batteries in there to do it.

But I was thinking, isn't that interesting that you touch a button, and here comes up a channel. What is that showing me? Something thousands of miles away as if I'm right there in the middle of it.

Think what effect that's going to have when the beast comes in as 'God.' Think what that's going to be. People are going to be absolutely awestruck with the power of the beast with the miracles of the false prophet! It's going to be so convincing!

This is going to be quite a thing. They will think: Hooray, we've got all our problems solved! Look at this, everybody's getting along. But those out there that won't bow down, we've got to get rid of them because they're a threat to the system. That's what's going to happen. Here's the difference here:

2-Thessalonians 2:7: "For the mystery of lawlessness is already working…"

It started back in Paul's time, actually goes back to the time right after the Flood, and that goes back to the time before the Flood.

"…only there is One Who is restraining at the present time until it arises out of the midst. And then the lawless one will be revealed (whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming)" (vs 7-8).

We find that back in Rev. 20, the beast and the false prophet are cast into the Lake of Fire.

Verse 9: "Even the one whose coming is according to the inner working of Satan… [possessed of Satan himself] …with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the Truth, so that they might be saved" (vs 9-10). Here's a great lesson, great lesson for us:

Verse 11: "And for this cause…"—because they didn't love the Truth!

This is why whenever we're working with the Word of God, it's always got to be the Truth. When we think about things like we've done today that we don't know for sure—that's why I ring the cowbell—for us to understand that this is not dogmatic in some of the things that I'm saying. I'm just trying to put it together in a way that may be a possibility of how it's going to happen, but I don't know beyond that.

The problem that too many people get into is when statements like this are made, if they're not quantified by something like a cowbell, and told them that this is just something that is being thought of, they accept it as truth.

Now to give you one example, there's one minister who's supposed to be a minister of God who says that he is 'that Prophet' that John and the scribes and Pharisees referred to in John 1, and then again in John 8. He says He is 'that Prophet,' yet, Peter says that Jesus Christ was 'that Prophet'! Now then, that's something that should never have been said; that is very blasphemous!

How when you have clear Scriptures as to what is right and wrong, what is good and evil, that we are obligated to check with the Scriptures for Truth to make sure it is true. So, this is why when we do some thinking about the possibilities of how these Scriptures may be fulfilled in prophecy, I keep the cowbell handy.

But here's what happens when the whole world has "…all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the Truth, so that they might be saved" (v 10

Now in all of this that's going on, what's going to be happening in Jerusalem during all this time? The two witnesses!

They will be telling everyone this is of Satan the devil, so the people will have an opportunity to repent if they will. Notice what happens. Whenever there is something that is not repented of or evil that is embraced as Truth when it's not:

Verse 11: "And for this cause God will send upon them a powerful deception that will cause them to believe the lie, so that all may be judged who did not believe the Truth, but who took pleasure in unrighteousness" (vs 11-12).

That's what's going to happen. But here's what it needs to be with us:

Verse 13[transcriber's correction]: "Now, we are duty-bound to give thanks to God always concerning you, brethren, who are beloved by the Lord…" Remember always:

• regardless of what happens
• regardless of the trial
• regardless of the things that come upon you
  • God loves you
  • He will help you
  • He will intervene for you
  • He will answer your prayers
  • He will send angels to help you
  • He will protect you, even though if we come to the point of being martyred,

Well, if you're martyred, you're guaranteed the resurrection! We need to keep that in mind, as well!

"…because God from the beginning has called you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth" (v 13).

Notice the difference between the deception and not believing the Truth, and those who are called of God who believe the Truth!That's where we are right now, with all this news going on and all these things taking place and are happening so fast, and it's getting closer and closer and closer to more and more people, and so we're just going to have to wait and see what happens here.

Verse 14: "Unto which He called you by our Gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." Eternal life, that's what's at stake for us!

Verse 15: "So then, brethren, stand firm…"—always stand in the Truth:

• don't waver
• don't be persuaded
• don't be taken away
• don't believe any false doctrines

"…stand firm, and hold fast the ordinances that you were taught, whether by word or by our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God—even our Father, Who loved us and gave us eternal encouragement and good hope through grace. Encourage your hearts and establish you in every good word and work" (vs 15-17).

That's what we need to end with right here:

• the way of God
• His Truth
• His love

That's why we're here!

It's good to go through all of these things of prophecy. It's good to look at some of the possibilities of how things may work out, but this doesn't mean that that is absolute Truth or that it may work out that way!

We need to be alert to the fact that these things are taking place and that Satan is busy!

God is busy with His people and His Church!

Satan is busy with the world to organize it into his one world system! Right now, we see more of that taking place than ever before!

Scriptural References:

• Leviticus 23:16, 21
• 1 Thessalonians 5:1-04
• Revelation 13:1-2
• Revelation 12:7
• 2 Thessalonians 2:1-7
• Revelation 6:1-2
• Revelation 13:4, 9, 17
• Revelation 17:1, 15, 2-8
• Revelation 18: 12-18
• Ezekiel 28:12-18
• 2 Thessalonians 7-11, 10, 11-17

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Psalm 78
• Revelation 12; 4; 5
• Daniel 11
• Revelation 6
• Matthew 24
• Revelation 7
• Ezekiel 28:1-11
• Revelation 21; 20
• John 1; 8

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 5/14/24

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