Why the World Will Fight Christ #1

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I received a very interesting e-mail from a man—I guess he listened to a sermon on Feast of Trumpets and I talked about the 'alien invasion.' He asked, 'What if they know that it is Christ?' We'll see in the book of Revelation that they will know. Let's begin and see why the world will be so deceived and why they're going to end up fighting against Christ even though they may know it is Jesus Christ. He also asked about the two witnesses and so forth.

Let's begin by going back to the book of Exodus and let's talk about Moses, Aaron and Pharaoh for just a minute. What do we have with Moses and Aaron against Pharaoh? What are they a type of when compared to the end-times? The two witnesses! Even Peter talks about that, how that the leading priests—Jannes and Jambres—withstood Moses and Aaron.

Moses started out and, of course, Pharaoh didn't believe him. Let's understand something about Pharaoh: What did people believe concerning the Pharaoh of Egypt? He was God! God manifested in the flesh is what they would say. Even during WWII did not the Japanese believe that of their emperor? Yes!

That's why Douglas MacArthur was so shrewd in not executing him, but making him go around all of Japan and saying that he was not God, and saying that he was only a human being and telling them that they could now look at him in the eyes. Before, no one could look at the emperor in the eyes, they always had to bow their head down and look away. That was very shrewd of MacArthur doing that rather than executing him, though I think the tribunal that tried all the war criminals in Japan after the war thought that they should eliminate the emperor.

This is how people viewed Pharaoh. When you read this it will tell you why God said this to Moses: Exodus 7:1: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh. And Aaron your brother shall be your prophet." What do we have with the beast and the false prophet? A counterfeit of that! Let's see what happened to Pharaoh and then we will understand that even though the world and the world leaders might know that the One returning is Christ, they're still going to fight Him.

Verse 2"You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh that he send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt" (vs 2-3).
This is exactly what God is going to do to the world. You can read all the rest of the way through, all the plagues, all the things that took place. Right at first, all the false religious figures who use the powers of Satan were able to duplicate the beginning of the plagues and signs that God gave. The first one was that Aaron's rod would become a serpent.

Verse 11: "Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers. And they, the priests of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts, for each man threw down his rod…" (vs 11-12). The rod was a symbol of authority. I guess the last one you could think of doing that was General Patton in WWII; he always carried around his rod of authority.

"…for each man threw down his rod and they became snakes, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. And He hardened Pharaoh's heart so that he did not hearken to them, as the LORD had said" (vs 12-13).

Let's jump forward to the end-time, because we know the Feast of Trumpets pictures the end-time as we will see in the book of Revelation a little later, all of the events that are going to happen leading up to the actual return of Jesus Christ. Before that happens, what we're going to do is take an overview of all the events that are going to lead up to it. We know that if you read Matt. 24, Mark 13, Luke 21 and so forth, that you see wars, rumors of wars, false prophets, false Christs and all of that sort of thing will be coming along.

But why will the world be willing to fight Christ? We'll be able to see clearly—and I think they will label it as an invasion from outer-space. Why will they not repent? In spite of all that's happening right now, there's going to come a time where it will look like human beings will finally be able to bring about some kind of world peace. That even in Muslim nations, for a short time, will acquiesce to this. Everyone will think, oh hooray, this is great, we finally have a world government that everyone is going to agree with.

Here is what has to happen, 2-Thessalonians 2:2: "That you not be quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled—neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by epistle, as if from us, saying that the day of Christ is present." There's coming a false Christ and a false prophet first before the two prophets of God come on the scene.

Verse 3: "Do not let anyone deceive you by any means…"—which tells us there are going to be many means. A lot of things that look good to human beings, that seems right to human beings—and actually, for a while will really work, even though a lot of people agree with it—generally ends up being totally wrong. So we have keep all of that in mind.

"…because that day will not come unless the apostasy shall come first…" (v 3). There have been many interpretations of the "…the apostasy shall come first..." Some have said it's the falling away from the Church, that is true, that is an apostasy, the falling away of beliefs, that is true.

This apostasy is a total falling away from everything that is of the true God and to follow the man that is described here. There is a reason why people will believe it, because there will be an absolute dividing line at that time. There will be those who know God and have the Spirit of God, and then you have all of those who really didn't take it as seriously as they ought to and now they've got to catch up. You have all of those who have taken God seriously all along and how many of those who will be taken to a place of safety will be taken to a place of safety, but please understand it's just a few.

Here's what's going to happen: This apostasy is going to be a worldwide rebellion against God—totally—just as it was at the Tower of Babel. Something that is not understandable until we come to the last time, in which we're living, when we can see these things are possible. This is why God warned Daniel that only at the end will these things be understood. Without being able to look out on the world's scene at any time in history up to our time now, and to see all the technological advances and things that we have now, they could not comprehend how these things could be. So, it's all going to culminate—just like the return of Christ is going to culminate in one man—Christ—and the saints, likewise the world's system is going to culminate in one man—the beast, and a false prophet—and all those who are going to fight against Christ. So this really becomes a drama par excellence that no movie has ever been able to portray.

"…and the man of sin shall be revealed—… [How's he going to be revealed? We'll see it in Rev. 13 in just a minute.] …the son of perdition… [notice what this man is going to do]: …the one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God…" (vs 3-4).

That's everything in the world everywhere—every god, every religion—so there is a great religious revolution coming, a great governmental revolution coming with a one world government. What we need to understand is that this is going to be the civil leader, not the pope. The Seventh Day Adventists have it wrong. They always say this is the pope. As you find in the book of Exodus, and as you find it in all the ancient societies, the king or the emperor was god! The priests were the ones who said 'yes he is god.' As we'll see in a little bit, you have the beast—which this describes—who is the civil ruler being declared as God and saying he is God, and the false prophet verifying that he is God.

So, you've got the same old system that Satan has always used; now resurrected and magnified on a worldwide scene. As we're reading some of these things, let's keep it in view that this is going to be a worldwide event. When you go back in history and look at all of those who were anticipating the return of Christ at any time during the past history, and you can see that the events and times and things were not ready for it—that's why they all failed. They all failed because they were looking to a set time rather than accomplished events. We know that no man knows the hour or time, but we can understand the sequence of things by events. So here's the event:

This man who will be revealed is, v 4: "The one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, 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. 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… [that is for this one to come on the scene] …in order for him to be revealed in his own set time…. [we'll see how he will be revealed] …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…. [that's out of the midst of the system] …And then the lawless one will be revealed… [it tells us three times he's going to be revealed] …(whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming)" (vs 4-8). What chapter in the Bible fulfills this? Rev. 19!

Verse 9: "Even the one whose coming is according to the inner working of Satan…" Let's understand there have been many who have had the inner workings of Satan with them, but this is going to be a particular man with particular power, greater than any of the other ones who have been in the past.

"…with all power and signs and lying wonders" (v 9). Note Matt. 24—there shall arise false Christs and false prophets shall give great signs and wonders, even so much that the very elect could be deceived. This is going to be powerful! The saying is: 'seeing is believing'—but don't do that anymore!

I just read a report that now they can take a five minute bite of your speech pattern and they can create any speech that they want to, to make it appear that you're saying anything they want you to say. Unless you see the person, you may want to have a lot of skepticism seeing on television, unless you know that it is authenticated, don't believe it!

They ran a short experiment showing a picture of Colin Powell, whom everyone represents as ex-Secretary of State and ex General, saying to the American people that now it's necessary for a military coup to take over the government of the United States. It was completely faked out by taking portions of his voice pattern and putting it together and making any words—digitally and computerized—to saying anything they want them to say—viewed on television! Amazing! Lying wonders!

Verse 10: "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing… [they're all destined to perish at the end physically, in their first life] (here's the reason): …because they did not receive the love of the Truth, so that they might be saved." This is the key for us:

• How do you stay zealous?
• How do you stay on top of things?

Always:

• love God
• love Christ
• love the Truth?

That's the guide, right there!

Here's what happens if you don't, and this is what happens when people get lukewarm or get turned off for some reason… Just remember this: If you get turned off from God because of the carnality of any man, you have just been victimized by Satan the devil! Know this: All men are subject to faults and flaws and problems and difficulties. So, never base your faith on God in any man!

We are to have teachers who will teach the Truth. We are to have to those who will be honest and filled with the Spirit of God. That is true, but that will be manifested by their lives by their actions, in spite of their mistakes. If you don't, here's what happens:

Verse 11: "And for this cause…" Where people cause God to do things to them, just like what happened to Pharaoh. God says, 'I'm going to harden his heart.' First time people read that, they say, 'Why would God harden his heart?' Because he never believed in the first place!

"…God will send upon them a powerful deception that will cause them to believe the lie." This is going to be phenomenal for a short time for the whole world. Imagine the euphoria when the whole world is united behind this man! They all believe the same thing! Going to be something!

Verse 12: "So that all may be judged who did not believe the Truth…" God already has pre-sent His Truth in writing, articles and the whole history of everything concerning the Word of God; that's already been there. But He's going to send the Truth in the person of the two witnesses. They [the world] won't want to believe them right at first, but it will be just like with Moses and Aaron. Because of the plagues that they will call down, it will be increasingly more difficult for the world to disbelieve them.

"…did not believe the Truth, but who took pleasure in unrighteousness…. [the best description of this world's system today] …Now we are duty-bound to give thanks to God always concerning you, brethren, who are beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning has called you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth" (vs 10-13).

After this man comes on the scene, is given the reins of world government, let's see what happens. Rev. 12 this talks about Satan, his fall and then all of a sudden it interjects the beginning of the last episode and the last power move by Satan the devil. Satan is so deluded he still thinks he can defeat God. He still thinks he can take over God.

Revelation 12:7: "And there was war in heaven…" Back in 1979-80 I wrote an article: Space Wars and Prophecy and when the space shuttle blew up I thought I would have time to redo it, but I didn't. I said: What if there's a great space station up there and this is where the war starts? What do we have up there now? They're building a great space station! Of course, you can envision that if you've seen anything of the Star Wars. How big can they make it? Well, almost as big as they want!

Verse 7: "And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels warred against the dragon…" What if the man who becomes the 'man of sin, the son of perdition' known as the beast power (Rev. 13) actually gets into a spacecraft and goes up to the space station and declares war against God? Just a thought!

"…and the dragon and his angels warred" (v 7). Here we have a fight between Satan and his demons and God and his angels. Just like Pharaoh and everything they did weren't able to prevail.

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…" (vs 8-9). They have the whole world deceived at that time. And that verifies what we read in 2-Thess.

"…he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him" (v 9). This is going to be ignominious! This is going to be quite a thing to happen.

I don't know exactly when he is cast down, but we do know this: He's going to be cast down a little before a three and one-half year period. This does not tell us how long he's going to be in power before then, except that—if we understand Dan. 9 correctly—there is going to be a covenant made 'for one week'; that would be seven years. Maybe he's going to be in power for a considerable length of time—three years or better—before this event happens. Some of this we have to put in the realm of questions because we can't pinpoint it exactly.

Verse 10: "And I heard a great voice in heaven say, 'Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ because the accuser of our brethren has been cast down, who accuses them day and night before our God. But they overcame him through the blood of the Lamb, and through the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death. Therefore, rejoice you heavens and those who dwell in them…." (vs 10-12).

Who are in heaven? God the Father, Jesus Christ and all the Holy angels, at this time! Let's understand: God the Father and Jesus Christ and the angels in heaven are aliens to this earth as far as people under the sway of Satan the devil are concerned. Wouldn't you say so?

"…Woe to those who inhabit the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, having great wrath because he knows that he has only a short time" (v 12). The next event to occur follows this, which will define a short time.

Verse 13: "And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman… [the Church] …who had brought forth the man-Child [Christ]."  [It starts out with a prophecy of the bride of Christ; blends into Mary, who brought forth Jesus; blends back into the Church.

Verse 14: "And two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, so that she might fly to her place in the wilderness…" This doesn't tell us where; there are many wildernesses in the world. We've always thought for years and years that it might be Petra. But always remember this: If you know where the place of safety is and you don't get there, the knowledge doesn't do you any good. But, if you're faithful to God and you don't know where it is, and you end up there, when you arrive you will know where it is!

"…where she is nourished…" (v 14)—taken care of by God. How did God nourish the children of Israel in the wilderness? Manna and water out of a rock! So, you don't have to worry about taking a whole big pack of beef jerky with you if you go! That means physically and spiritually! If they are physical people—which they are—they're going to have to have something to eat and to drink.

"…for a time [one year], and times [two years], and half a time [half a year]…" (v 14)—or a dividing of times (Daniel). So, we have three and a half years in the wilderness.

Now then, Satan knows he only has a short time, so from the beginning of the short time, until the end of the three and a half years, what period of time do you have which adds onto the three and a half years? Whatever the length of time the persecution is! Satan saw that he had a short time!

Verse 13: "And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who had brought forth the man-Child." How long will the persecution be? It doesn't tell us! From that time we have three and a half years plus how long the persecution will be. It won't take long to bring a worldwide persecution—will it? All the government officials, they're going to know everybody everywhere. If you don't have the mark of the beast, they're going to know who you are exactly! It won't take long—so we'll say 30-days, 60-days—don't know!

After God intervened to help them—because Satan didn't want them to get to a place of safety—the earth helped them, protected them; v 17: "Then the dragon was furious with the woman and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." That's when the martyrdom will pick up.

Let's see if we can add a few other things to this. When you read all of this, you stop and think:

• How did this come about?
• What were the events that led up to it?

Revelation 13:1: "And I stood on the sand of the sea; and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea…" You have to have a lot of background going back to understanding about Daniel and other things in order to understand what this is, but this is the last beast power on earth. The sea pictures what? Peoples, languages, nations and so forth! This looks like a grassroots movement, but it's not!

"…having seven heads and ten horns… [symbol of Satan] …and on his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy" (v 1). So, they're all taking high, eminent positions. And the one man says he's God.

Verse 2: "And the beast that I saw was like a leopard…" [what we're reading is very interesting, because if you go back and read Dan. 7 you will see that this is an amalgamation of all the great empires of the past together. The best of all of them! If you want to know what the U.N. is trying to do, that's what the U.N. is trying to do—get the best of all civilizations of the world molded into one world government. Hasn't gotten there yet—boy! aren't we glad?

"…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" (v 2)—gets it from Satan (Matt. 4 and Luke 4) What did Satan tell Jesus if He would bow down and worship him as God? He'd given Him all the power of all the nations, because it was given to him! So, the beast receives his power, his throne and his great authority directly from Satan! Obviously, there's going to be some resistance.

Since the beast is going into the temple of God, this tells us that there's a temple to be built. So does Rev. 11, because John was instructed to measure the temple, and that was after the temple in Jerusalem had already been destroyed, not quite 30 years before. I want you to understand the reaction that the Jews are going to have. After all this time

• they finally build a temple
• they finally get the sacrifices up and going
• they finally get things going
• we have this downfall from outer space
• we have the persecution beginning
• we have this man coming into the temple of God saying he is God

If the chronology is somewhat accurate, that occurs right around Passover time. What do you think the Jews are going to do? I think they're going to try and get an assassination team to kill this man, because when he goes into the temple that is the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, saying he 'is God.' You've often wondered: Why does he get this deadly wound? Who is after him to do this?

Verse 3: "And I saw one of his heads as if it were slain to death, but his deadly wound was healed; and the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast." This is going to be astonishing! This is why they are going to believe Satan and the beast. After all, here is a man who was wounded to death but was raised back to life, and that could only be from God. That's how it will be presented. So, he's got to be God in the flesh.

Verse 4: "And they worshiped the dragon who gave his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast? Who has the power to make war against him?' We've covered some of those things. All power on earth is going to be given to him, and here is part of what is reflected in 2-Thess. 2 that ties this in with the man of sin, the son of perdition.

Verse 5: "And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies was given to him; and authority was given to him to continue for forty-two months." That is near 3-1/2 years—not exactly but near. Whenever it talks about 42 months, that is referring to a reign of evil.

Verse 6: "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven." That includes Jesus Christ, all the angels and later then it's going to include all the resurrected saints.

Revelation 12:13: "And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who had brought forth the man-Child."

Verse 17: "Then the dragon was furious with the woman and went to make war with the rest of her seed…"

A thought just occurred to me—what about this: 'The man of sin, the son of perdition,' possessed of Satan the devil—and the demons going up with Satan, too—goes up to what we call a spacecraft and then there's fighting between Satan's demons and the angels of God. He's cast back down to the earth. Then he goes into the temple of God saying that he is God to prove his authority. Then the Jews come after him, attempt an assassination, almost kills him. He comes back to life and he is now possessed of Satan in the most evil, heinous way that has ever been in the history of the world of Satan possession. What does he do?

Revelation 13:7: "And he was given power to make war against the saints, and to overcome them… [that's when the martyrdom of the saints occurs] …and he was given authority over every tribe and language and nation." Never has there been such a thing in the history of the world. That's why it has to only be at the end-time.

Verse 8: "And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear" (vs 8-9).

The next beast with two horns, that sounds like a lamb but speaks like a dragon, is the great false prophet. He has great signs and wonders that he does and calls fire down from heaven. He's got to come on the scene at about the same time the beast comes on the scene. He's the one to help enforce the mark of the beast.

(go to the next track)

Now, let's see if we can get a little timeframe to hang all of these things on, concerning the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord referred to in the Bible continuously is not a single day alone, but there is a place where it refers to a single day alone. It is not a single year alone, though there are times when it refers to a single year. It can also include the whole three and a half year period that we talked about just before now.

Luke 17:26: "Now as it was in the days of Noah…" Let's just stop here. The only other time in the history of man when the whole world came to a point of collapse because of sin was in the days of Noah when God destroyed it with the Flood. It had to be a worldwide thing that was taking place.

We were watching the History Channel the other night and there was a little blurb on Noah and they said it wasn't a worldwide flood and Noah lived in Samaria, which is hundreds of years after the Flood. Noah wore makeup and all of this sort of thing—eye shadow and things like that. Nonsense!

The key is this: the only other time that the world is going to come to a point of total worldwide collapse is at the end! Then all the events building up to it. Someone sent me something showing they were also doing genetics back there and trying to mix animal and plant and different genes into human beings and so forth. That's a whole other subject.

Verse 26: "Now, as it was in the days of Noah, so also shall it be in the days of the Son of man…." Showing that the time of the end is not restricted a day to a day, or a day to a year.

"…in the days of the Son of man. They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah went into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all. And it was the same way in the days of Lot: And it was the same way in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building" (vs 26-28)—showing economic progress!

Interesting comment, very observant: You have days twice (v 26). Let's analyze this: v 21, concerning the Kingdom of God: "…'Behold, it is here!' or, 'Behold, it is there!' For behold, the Kingdom of God is standing in the midst of you.'" Wherever Christ was that was literally the Kingdom of God.

Verse 22: "Then He said to the disciples, 'The days will come when you shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and shall not see it. And they shall say to you, 'Look here,' or, 'Look there.' Do not go, neither follow them. For as the light of day whose light shines from one end under heaven to the other end under heaven, so also shall the Son of man be in His day" (vs 21-24). We have a broad use of the term. Verse 24 refers to the day that the Son of man is revealed, and that's different from the day that He stands on earth with the saints. We have:

• v 24—day; days, referring to Noah's day; in the days of the Son of man
• v 27—in the day
• v 28—days of Lot, leading up to it
• v 29—on the day—a single day; we will see how that fits in when we come to the fulfillment of this day, the Feast of Trumpets

Verse 29: "But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed them all. This is how it shall be in the day that the Son of man is revealed" (vs 29-30). Quite an interesting play on words. It shows that there are many things that gives a greater flexibility in understanding some of these Scriptures.

Come to Rev. 6 so we can get some sort of timeframe. We already know a timeframe of three and a half years plus whatever the time of persecution will be—say 30-60 days of persecution—we don't know. That will give us three and a half years plus three months will be three years and nine month.

When you look at the Revelation Chart concerning Revelation and Daniel it comes out to about that. This is the opening of the seven seals, the beginning of them. Down through the sixth seal runs through Rev. 6. We're going to read it from that point of view, but we're going to look at the second seal. Remember, the only One Who can open them was Christ—which means what? God the Father and Jesus Christ are going to determine exactly when every one of these events occur! That verifies what Jesus said, 'no man knows the day or the hour' and so forth.

Revelation 6:2: "And I looked, and behold, there was a white horse; and the one who was sitting on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering and to conquer." White horse: we've always said that pictures the false prophet. That could also picture false religion leading up to it. We can see various amalgamations of religions coming together, but we've never seen all of them come together all at once, and the only one that is going to make that happen will be the false prophet with the power of the beast, together. There has to be this unanimity of accepting each other religiously, which then the civil governments will see that is a key to help bring peace on earth. As a matter of fact, that's what they're trying to do with religious leaders today. 'Go teach your people peace.'

Verse 3: "And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, 'Come and see.' And another horse went out that was red; and power was given to the one sitting on it to take peace from the earth…" (vs 3-4). There is a time of peace. 1-Thess. 5:1-2: There will come a time when they will say 'peace and safety' or 'peace and security' then sudden destruction comes.

The beast will have the power to make war. We saw that. But does he make war right at first, or does he come in with a peace alliance—actually be the leader with the false prophet and help assist in bringing peace to the world—man's peace—before the end. So there we have peace.

"…and to cause them to kill one another; and a great sword was given to him" (v 4). The great sword ties right in with what we read in Rev. 13 that 'who was able to make war against the beast?' What do we have?

Verse 4, I believe, ties in with the casting down of Satan from heaven, the deadly wound that was healed with the beast, then he rises back to power, all authority over all nations was given to him this time and he goes out to make war. Tie this together with Dan. 11—king of the north comes against the king of the south and that's how it starts. It starts out with human war—humans fighting human beings. Then we have what follows in the aftermath of war, very quickly, the third seal—black horse, famine. The fourth seal: death!

"…was Death, and the grave followed him; and authority was given to them over one fourth of the earth…" (v 8).

I've always wanted to have a huge map of the world and try and figure out what one-fourth of the world that it's going to affect first. It's just like with us right now. If this affects one-fourth of the world, what fourth is it going to affect. What is the other three-quarters of the earth, that are not affected by direct invasion, yet—there could be various parts of the earth to make one-fourth. Could it be that this is the fall, not only precipitated going to the Middle East by the King of the North and the King of the South, but could this also be a simultaneous demise of the modern nations of the ten tribes of Israel?

So, we have part of the Middle East involved. We have Canada and America falling into economic collapse. We don't know if there's going to be a real serious economic collapse. The enemy is already within us, because the army is already invaded without arms, so they could take over very easily. We have Canada, U.S., Australia, New Zealand—those nations primarily—and would that make up one-fourth of the world? What kind of slaughter would take place? Ezek. 3—what God said is going to happen to all of Israel. A third will be killed by the sword; a third by famine and a third by disease—and a small remnant will come out of that. If you add up all the things in the book of Revelation about how many are going to die. It leaves you a question when you get to Micah 5, that one-tenth of Israel is going to be saved. Will it be one-tenth of the population of the world that will remain, too? I don't know! This is what starts it.

You always have to blame someone, so who's going to be blamed? All those people out there that didn't want to receive the mark of the beast! That's how the martyrdom is going to start. Then you have to have a vision to depict that.

Verse 9: "And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony that they held; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'How long, O Lord, Holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?' And white robes were given to each of them; and they were told that they should rest a short time, yet…" (vs 9-11). Isn't that interesting? The Greek is very similar to what we read in Rev. 12—Satan knows he has but a short time. The persecution starts, then the martyrdom.

"…until it be fulfilled that both their fellow servants and their brethren also would be killed, just as they had been." (v 11).

Verse 12 is God's intervention into the world from heaven, which is going to be dramatic. Remember, we just read that in 'the day when the Son of man is revealed.' It's going to be quite a revelation! I have depicted this based upon the demise of Israel and the Tribulation against Israel and the timeframe depicted in Hosea 5, so we can get a short timeframe here. These are quite relative

Hosea 5:15—God says: "I will go; I will return to My place until they confess their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek Me earnestly."

Hosea 6:1—here's what they're going to say: "Come and let us return to the LORD, for He has torn, and He will heal us; He has smitten, and He will bind us up." The only people on earth that will do that are the modern descendants of Israel. You're not going to have that from the Chinese, or the Japanese, or the Russians—no, you're not!

Verse 2 gives us another timeframe: "After two days… [if this refers to a day as a year, then we're dealing with two years] …He will revive us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight."

We have something very similar to this in the book of Revelation. We also have something in the book of Exodus, which is akin to it. The circumstances were a little bit different, but the plagues that came upon the Egyptians at first came upon the Israelites as well as the Egyptians. Then later God said 'no more' beginning with the flies. There were no flies. When it was dark over Egypt, it was light over where the children of Israel were.

That shows God's mercy and intervening with Israel. We're going to see the same thing here in Rev. 6 & 7, because it says that 'after two days' which then is two years. If we're dealing with three and a half years at the end, then that means there will be how much time left? A year and a half! Let's first of all see the revealing of the Son of man, which will be a key thing to really, really make the children of Israel repent. They will know for sure that this is God! Other nations of the world may not be so convinced, but if they are their hearts will be hardened so that they will still fight, just like it was with Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the book of Exodus.

Revelation 6:12: "And when He opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as the hair of sackcloth, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its untimely figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the heaven departed like a scroll that is being rolled up…" (vs 12-14). That has never happened before. A view of the heavens that has never been seen by men until this time.

"…and every mountain and island was moved out of its place" (v 14). You can tie in Isa. 13—where the earth is going to rock to and fro like a drunken man; Isa. 24, and here's going to be the reason: "…the heavens departed like a scroll that is being rolled up."

Notice their reaction. Will they know Who it is that is coming from outer space, because the heavens will be rolled back. It's not the sea rolling back! It's not the earth opening up! It's the heavens rolling back!

Verse 15: "And the kings of the earth…" [who are all in league with the beast] …and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the powerful men, and every bondman, and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains… [everything's going to be shaken up] …and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb because the great day of His wrath has come, and who has the power to stand?'" (vs 15-17).

We're going to the two witnesses in Revelation to answer the question: Why would they say, 'Hide us from the face of the Lamb, of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb'? That's both God the Father and Jesus Christ. This is going to quite an amazing thing that's going to happen.

Go through the rest of this series on Daniel and Revelation and using the charts remember this: all charts are only an approximation. They can give us a relative configuration of how things will fall if we put it together properly, but remember a chart is not the Word of God, a chart is not dogmatic, but it can give us some understanding so we can try and put these things in mind.

Now, let's look at the two witnesses (see messages in this series). It has to be the governor of Judea and the high priest of the coming temple in Jerusalem—it can't be any other because the Jews will never listen to anyone who is not a Jew—period! That's it! So, out of the Jewish community today, out of which the two witnesses will come. There are Levites; there are descendants of the Aaronic priesthood and also descendants of the house of David as well as a mixture of other people in what is commonly called the Jews today. They will build a temple there and that's where the beast is going to go and claim that he is God, and that is the desolation that is the 'abomination of desolation' (Daniel).

Revelation 11:1: "Then the angel gave me a measuring rod like a staff, saying, 'Arise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. But leave out the court that is within the temple area… [it's going to be a very small location this time] …and do not measure it because it has been given up to the Gentiles; and they shall trample upon the Holy City for forty-two months…. [won't get into the full meaning of that because there's a dual, prophetic fulfillment of that] …And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth'" (vs 1-3). That timing is not the same as the 42 months of Rev. 13.

Verse 4: "These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands that stand before the God of the earth." That's what refers it back to Zech. 4 at to who the two witnesses are. These are going to be the two most powerful servants and witnesses of God that has ever been from the history of the world.

Verse 5: "And if anyone attempts to harm them, fire will go out of their mouths and devour their enemies. For if anyone attempts to harm them, he must be killed in this manner." So, you can imagine how this is going to frustrate the whole world, frustrate the beast and the false prophet.

Verse 6: "These have authority to shut heaven so that no rain may fall in the days of their prophecy; and they have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they will."

What plagues does God use? The same ones that He used in the book of Exodus! He always uses the same ones, because those are the most effective. He doesn't need to devise weapons like men. He can just send a little lice in hordes and that will take care of an awful lot of men! They can smite the earth as often as they will. No two men in the history of the world have ever had the power to do it whenever they determine to do it. Even Moses only did it when God said to 'raise your rod.'

Verse 7: "And when they have completed their testimony, the beast who ascends out of the abyss will make war against them, and will overcome them, and will kill them." This is going to look like, finally, at the last minute mankind is going to succeed. Satan is going to succeed. They're going to rejoice.

Verse 8: "And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." That's Jerusalem today. Now you know what thinks of that. Jerusalem is not a Holy city today and will not be until Christ comes and cleanses it and rebuilds the way He wants it done.

Verse 9: "Then those of the peoples and tribes and languages and nations shall see their bodies three and a half days, for they will not allow their bodies to be put into tombs. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them…" (vs 9-10). Finally a little relief from all of these plagues and things

"…and will make merry, and will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets had tormented those who dwell on the earth" (v 10). For how long? 1,260 days! Then God has a little surprise for them all.

Verse 11: "Then after the three and a half days, the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. And they heard a great voice from heaven, say, 'Come up here!' And they ascended into heaven in a cloud; and their enemies saw them rise" (vs 11-12)—and astonish everyone! This is closer to Pentecost, probably even on the Day of Pentecost. We don't know what time of day they are raised from the dead, but they are the first raised from the dead.

Rev. 12:16-17 is the beginning of the last year and a half. And the reason that they say 'hide us from His wrath' is because you've got two witnesses over here for two full years who have been telling them that it's going to happen. Then we have the sealing of the 144,000 from the 12 tribes of the children of Israel, and that fits right in with what we read in Hos. 5:15 and 6:1-3—they repent!

Now then, here is where God begins to really deal directly with the whole earth, beginning with the seven trumpet plagues. We find that all in Rev. 8 & 9 angels now fighting against demons and men. Let's see what happens when the seventh trump is blown. Notice, it's one trumpet that is blown.

Revelation 11:15: "Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign into the ages of eternity.'" The seventh trump is the last of the seven trumpets. The resurrection occurs at the last trumpet! This does not occur on the Feast of Trumpets because every Holy Day had to have trumpets blown on those days. For all the information concerning why the first resurrection has to be on Pentecost, you can also write in for that.

Verse 16: "And the twenty-four elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, 'We give You thanks, O Lord God almighty, Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come; for You have taken to Yourself Your great power, and have reigned'" (vs 16-17). That's the starting of the reign of the Kingdom of God, right there. It begins the first act that is to happen with the reign of the Kingdom of God: the resurrection of the saints.

Verse 18: "For the nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time for the dead to be judged, and to give reward to Your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to all those who fear Your name, the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth." This is where the return of Christ occurs, because the return of Christ comes by revealing; with the rolling back and the sign of the Son of man appears in the heavens. It does not finish until the saints are resurrected, meet Christ in the air on the Sea of Glass and the seven last plagues are poured out and we return to the earth.
If this the first sermon you ever have heard from me, you're going to wonder: Where does he get all these things? (see the rest of this series on Daniel and Revelation and you'll get the rest of the story)

Revelation 15—this is when the seven last plagues are poured out. They see the sign of the Son of man in heaven and He is probably all during that last year and a half coming closer and closer to the earth. Comes down to the time of Pentecost and then all of a sudden, over Jerusalem, there appears this great sea of glass. All the saints are resurrected and meet Christ in the air on the Sea of Glass, and we are all there to see the seven last plagues poured out. So, we find that before they're poured out the resurrection has been accomplished.

Revelation 15:1: "Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and awesome: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is filled up. And I saw a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the Sea of Glass, having the lyres of God" (vs 1-2).

• Where are you when you're resurrected? Standing on the Sea of Glass!
• Which then, if we're going to meet Christ in the air, is where? In the clouds!
• Where will that be? Over Jerusalem!
• What's going to happen when we come back to the earth? We're going to put our feet, with Christ, on the Mt. of Olives!

Verse 3: "And they were singing the song of Moses…"—which then typifies all of those who have received eternal life before the coming of Christ the first time.

"…the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb… [those who are saved after Christ has come] …saying, 'Great and awesome are Your works, Lord God Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the saints. Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You only are Holy; and all the nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been revealed'" (vs 3-4).

Now then, the seven last plagues. Here are seven angels receiving the seven last plagues. After they receive it, they are told to 'Go!'

Revelation 16:1: "Then I heard a loud voice from the temple say to the seven angels, 'Go and pour out the vials of the wrath of God onto the earth.'" People say, 'Why would God do this; be so mean; be so horrible; be so absolutely cruel?' Because, when God called when it was peaceful, when God made His will known:

• Did you receive it?
• Did you accept it?
• Did you worship God?
• Were you willing to repent?
• NO!

These people weren't willing to repent at all of the things that they did, and they had been warned! The two witnesses told them it was coming! Then He uses the same ammunition that He uses back in the book of Exodus:

Verse 2: "And the first angel went and poured out his vial onto the earth; and an evil and grievous sore fell upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and upon those who were worshiping his image. And the second angel went and poured out his vial into the sea; and it became blood, like that of a dead man; and every living soul in the sea died. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers, and into the fountains of waters; and they became blood" (vs 2-4). You just take all the plagues that were poured out on Egypt and just magnify them to fill the whole earth at the end-time with the wrath of God.

Verse 8: "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given to it to scorch men with fire." They still didn't repent!

Verse 10: "And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became full of darkness…" They still didn't repent!

The last gasp of Satan and armies of men, v 12: "And the sixth angel poured out his vial into the great river Euphrates; and its waters were dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared. Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet; for they are spirits of demons working miracles, going forth to the kings of the earth, even of the whole world, to gather them together to the battle of that great day of the Almighty God" (vs 12-14).

Their armies finally arrive, they're ready to shoot up at the great sea of glass, the alien invaders have already shown themselves, the resurrection has occurred—which is massive body snatching by the aliens from outer space. Now they're here to fight. They have weapons that are going to be so good that they think that they can overcome God. They're going to be deceived, deluded, and fight against God. When it happens, here comes all the hail—BOOM!—weighing 180 lbs. a piece. Whoever survives that then the army of Christ and the saints returning (Rev. 19), descend back to the earth.

• Christ makes war in righteousness
• He's called the Word of God
• His garments are dipped in blood

Revelation 19:14: "And the armies in heaven…" This is when we take full political action—physical and spiritual action—in the world when God gives us the authority to do so.

"…were following Him on white horses…" (v 14). Here we go! Can you imagine that? You're on the Sea of Glass:

• everything's ready to go
• the marriage of the Lamb has taken place
• the wedding supper has already taken place
• you've been given your new name
• you have your weapons
• you have your horse

and the angel says 'here's how to ride it' and you say okay and you get on your horse, Christ is on His horse, and says, 'All right, everyone, here we go!' We're coming back down to earth. You wonder how that's going to work, but now you're a spirit being and you're on a spirit horse and here you go, Christ is leading the way.

Verse 15: "And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He might smite the nations; and He shall shepherd them with an iron rod; and He treads the winepress of the fury and the wrath of the Almighty God. And on His garment and on His thigh He has a name written…" (vs 15-16). God doesn't do it without the name; that's why we have to have the new name, so that we can go fight with Christ.

"…King of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven…" (v 16).

And I'm always amazed; I think about this whenever I see these specials on vultures and herons and all of these flesh-eating birds, and here God has called all of them from all over the world to come and clean up this bloody mess, because of the secret weapon that Christ has. They'll be standing there ready to fight Christ looking up at Him and their flesh falls off of them and their eyes fall out of their eye-sockets and their skeletons just collapse in a heap, and they're in a big pool of blood, guts and gore. You need lots of birds to clean up that mess.

"…'Come and gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God so that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of chief captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all, free and bond, and small and great.'" (vs 17-18).

God's special surprise and judgment for the beast, the kings of the earth that come against Him: the beast is taken, the armies are dissolved on their feet, the false prophet is taken and they are cast into the Lake of Fire and now the reign of the Kingdom of God begins and we will reign with Christ.

The first order of business is the next Holy Day—Atonement. You must get rid of Satan the devil in order to have peace!

Scriptural References:

• Exodus 7:1-3, 11-13
• 2 Thessalonians 2:2-13
• Revelation 12:7-14, 13, 17
• Revelation 13:1-6
• Revelation 12:13, 17
• Revelation 13:7-9
• Luke 17:26-28, 21-24, 29-30
• Revelation 6:2-4, 8-11
• Hosea 5:15
• Hosea 6:1-2
• Revelation 6:12-17
• Revelation 11:1-12, 15-18
• Revelation 15:1-4
• Revelation 16:1-4, 8, 10, 12-14
• Revelation 19:14-18

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Daniel 9
• Matthew 24
• Mark 13
• Luke 21
• Daniel 9; 7
• Matthew 4
• Luke 4
• 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2
• Daniel 11
• Ezekiel 3
• Micah 5
• Isaiah 13; 24
• Zechariah 4
• Revelation 12:16-17; 8; 9

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 12-5-10
Reformatted: 5/2014