Posted on 03/20/2013 by remso

It has been almost a year since I posted this. I just reread it and wept again.My heart still cries over this nation and others. My heart cries over the Muslim nations. Father draw them in. Awaken my beloved for the time is at hand. Awaken the fire within you.

remso's avatarA Voice in the Wilderness

It has been a little over 7 years since I wrote this. I still weep when I read it. To those that have an ear to hear it is an encouragement and a call to war.

Hear what the spirit of the Lord is saying, not only to those who misguided the sheep but to the sheep as well.


 

 

 

 

Sheep (Photo credit: James Good)

I am writing as I have been compelled to write. The Spirit of the Lord tells me that we are of the Laodicean church, and as such we are on the last stand and have failed to hold our ground.

The prophets1 have put forth the call to repent, but you have ignored that call, and instead, induced fear in my people.

You have taken away their hope.

Most will not receive this, but some will.

“To the messenger of…

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The dragon gave him his power and his throne

Posted on 03/20/2013 by remso

Revelation 13:2-4
Revelation 13:2 NASB And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those 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.

The beast in this passage is four empires. Three have come and gone; the fourth may be upon us now. Be very clear, in this passage the beast is not an individual unless that individual is a fallen angel.

It would be understandable if the speaker had said the power was given to them. We could then try to rationalize that he is referring to individuals, leaders within those empires. Following that train of thought quickly falls apart because the second empire, the bear, is defined as the Medo-Persian empire – a split empire clearly run by several leaders. If you throw the Alexandrian empire into the mix it does not work either for Alexander dies in his early thirties, leaving others to fight over the rule of the empire. The Alexandrian empire is eventually split four ways and in the end is controlled by the Seleucid and Ptolemaic reigns. No decisive winner here either.

Revelation 13:2 CEV The beast that I saw had the body of a leopard, the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a lion. The dragon handed over its own power and throne and great authority to this beast.

Looking at the verse from other translations may give you a bit more clarity. The dragon is Satan. (Yes, I am aware that he has a multitude of names.) Think about this. Satan offered Jesus this same deal. You do not believe that, I can tell.

Matthew 4:8-9 KJV Again, the devil took him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; (9) And saith unto him, All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me.

Jesus response may have been delivered with an anger that we do not understand (Several translations put his response in all capital letters. In electronic etiquette that would mean he yelled at Satan). Consider: Jesus was God in the flesh and, a role he chose for the sole purpose of rescuing us, the world. To have Satan, a created being and one that he created throw the world he created back in his face would have been an incredible attempt at slapping God in the face. At the same time, to Satan, this was a credible and valid offer.

Jesus responded with:

Matthew 4:10 YLT Then saith Jesus to him, `Go–Adversary, for it hath been written, The Lord thy God thou shalt bow to, and Him only thou shalt serve.’

  • The word gave, according to Thayer is: to supply, furnish, necessary things

  • Him: αὐτός autos Thayer Definition: 1) himself, herself, themselves, itself 2)he, she, it.

  • Notice this wordpower: dunamis Thayer Definition:1) strength, power, ability.

Power is also used to describe the Holy Ghost coming upon the new Christians.

Act 1:8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:… The word power here is the same word dunamis and it means precisely the same thing. Only in this case instead of the dragon distributing powers the Holy Spirit from God is giving out strength, power and ability.

  • Throne: thronos Strong’s definition: (to sit); a stately seat (“throne”); by implication power or (concretely) a potentate: – seat, throne.

Let’s take the concepts driving the words and put them back together in a sentence.

And the dragon supplied this ability, the driving force that makes the beast what it is (the Greek word can mean it.) with his own power and ability. Since Adam had the dominion over the earth his rebellious act allowed Satan/the dragon to acquire the authority to subjugate everything on the earth to his domination.

(BDB Definition:1) to rule, have dominion, dominate, tread down. 1a) (Qal) to have dominion, rule, subjugate

Since the beast initially comprises four empires and John sees them as one, then there must be a commonality between them. What are the possibilities?

  1. The captivity of Israel.

    This only seems to work for three of them, at least that is what we can see from history. Of the countries that invade Israel in the last days, and they will take Israel captive, what do those ten have in common?

  • Islam under a unified caliphate, that may or may not have to happen,

  • and an overwhelming hatred of Israel.

  1. Another common factor is God’s plan.

    Proverbs 21:1 BBE The king’s heart in the hands of the Lord is like the water streams, and by him it is turned in any direction at his pleasure.

The idea then that God moves people around, both good and bad, is a strong possibility and one that alarms us; why? Because we want to be in control and the truth is we are not and God is.

  1. The last and least defined common trait is the religious theme.

    Daniel 7:23 tells us this fourth kingdom shall be diverse from the others. Perhaps the religious theme still applies but what is different? There was no Islam during the first three kingdom reigns

A strong clue that helps to define this last empire is Daniel 9:26.

Daniel 9:26 ESV And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.

“.. and the people of the prince that shall come,”

This is the Islamic caliphate or at the least coming out of the Muslim nations. History proves it out for both Josephus and Tacitus recorded the details that explained how the Roman army was drawing conscripts from conquered nations and that at the time of the temples destruction the armies may have been entirely from surrounding nations and brought their intense hatred of the Jews with them.

One of my resources (The History of the Christian Church) referred to these people that destroyed Jerusalem and the temple as the Mohammedans. It would make sense that followers of Mohammed would be called this, no differently than followers of Christ obtained the name Christians.

and the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority.

We have not established anything other than the fact that the beast of this passage is not a man, and yet we have terminology like this.

Revelation 13:3 BBE And I saw one of his heads as if it had been given a death-wound; and his death-wound was made well: and all the earth was wondering at the beast.

If this beast is not a man and its origin is four empires, then where does this head come into play? Jump back into Revelation.

Revelation 13:1 BBE And he took his place on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads unholy names.

In this passage the beast has seven heads. The heads again represent nations or empires. We need to stay clear here. The beast is clearly defined as three kingdoms on earth and if you are paying attention to details scripture subtly defines the fourth. We have descriptions here in Revelation 13, Daniel 2, and Daniel 7. So the head that sustains what appears to be a fatal wound is one of the empires that make up the beast.

Thayer also describes the word head (kephalē) metaphorically as anything supreme, chief, prominent.

The word used for head is kephalē and shows up 76 times in the New Testament. In Matthew 14:8 it is referring to the head of John the baptist, and yet in Ephesians 1:22 it is demonstrating that Christ is the head over the church; a ruling authority. Since the beast is an oddly built creature used to direct us to look at empires and ruling authorities, then we should perceive it as such.

We know of several heads already: Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Alexandrian. None of these ever regained it’s life and power so we can rule them out as the rebirth of the fourth beast or head.

Many like to attribute the fourth empire to the revived Roman empire, but it never regained its life once it was killed off, so we should be able to write it off the list of wounded heads. The only empire that was effectively killed off and has regained it’s life was the Ottoman empire, an Islamic empire. Which, by the way, seem to cover almost the exact same territory that the Roman empire covered.

Ottoman Empire, empire created by Turkish tribes in Anatolia. One of the most powerful states in the world during the 15th and 16th centuries, it spanned more than 600 years and came to an end only in 1922, when it was replaced by the Turkish Republic and various successor states in southeastern Europe and the Middle East. At its height the empire included most of southeastern Europe to the gates of Vienna, including modern Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia, Romania, Greece, and Ukraine; Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Egypt; North Africa as far west as Algeria; and most of the Arabian Peninsula. (From Britannica.com)

Expansion of the Ottoman Empire. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

To the world, they (the Islamic caliphate under the Ottoman empire) were effectively dead until we witnessed what appeared to be the rebirth of the Caliphate in 1979 in association with the Iranian revolution. Since then Islam has progressively become a dominant force in the world.

Ezekiel described these nations of the fourth empire:

Ezekiel 38:1-9 ESV The word of the LORD came to me: (2) “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him (3) and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. (4) And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. (5) Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; (6) Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes–many peoples are with you. (7) “Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. (8) After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them. (9) You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.

You can expect to see the former nations of the Ottoman empire involved in this attempt to destroy Israel. God will not tolerate this one, and though much destruction is done to Israel and a remnant have to flee into a safe place in the desert, God will rain down hail stones, fire and brimstone upon these nations. They will turn upon themselves and you can expect to see only a sixth of the army fleeing for their lives. Everything about this scenario in Ezekiel 39 sounds like a nuclear blast, but clearly God is involved.

And all the world wondered after the beast.

Revelation 13:3 AMP And one of his heads seemed to have a deadly wound. But his death stroke was healed; and the whole earth went after the beast in amazement and admiration.

Again I caution you to stay clear on what we are dealing with, an empire. Hardly anyone understands what the beast, at this point, is. It seems that you almost have to look back into history to see it. Fortunately we have that window of opportunity.

Because we know that not every aspect of the four empire beast comes back to life these people that comprise the whole earth cannot be described as a global awe but a community (The Islamic community). I might be a little narrow minded here for there is not a nation on the earth that does not have an Islamic presence in it. Some are majority Islamic in their populace and therefore enforce Sharia law upon the citizens. That statement in itself almost proves that the scripture could easily be fulfilled based upon Islamic influence alone.

Did the world wonder at what was going on in Iran as the revolutionaries took the American Embassy hostage? I suspect we outsiders all thought it was merely trouble makers flexing their muscle as they shook off the government of the Shah of Iran.

“The revolution was unusual for the surprise it created throughout the world:[16] it lacked many of the customary causes of revolution (defeat at war, a financial crisis, peasant rebellion, or disgruntled military),[17] produced profound change at great speed,[18] was massively popular,[19] and replaced a westernizing monarchy with a theocracy based on Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists (or velayat-e faqih). Its outcome—an Islamic Republic “under the guidance of an extraordinary religious scholar from Qom“—was, as one scholar put it, “clearly an occurrence that had to be explained“.[20] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Revolution)

The effects of the Iranian revolution did not go away, it spread throughout the globe quietly at times and violently at others. I suspect that some began to grasp the immensity of Islam’s potential for violent influence when Ahmadinejad was elected President of Iran. A devout follower of the current Ayatollah, Ahmadinejad has espoused some of the most hateful and violent rhetoric against Israel and the United States, and yet we do not take him serious enough. President Ahmadinejad has stood before the United Nations and told them straight out that he intends to bring about the cataclysmic circumstances that usher in the awaited Mahdi, and still we do not take him serious.

In the meantime Libya and Egypt have fallen, in a sense Iraq has fallen, Syria is on the verge of collapse, and Moscow has surprisingly become friends with the enemies of peace. Syria becomes extremely important seeing as Damascus was prophesied against as being totally destroyed.

Isaiah 17:1 NASB The oracle concerning Damascus. “Behold, Damascus is about to be removed from being a city And will become a fallen ruin.

Jeremiah 49:27 NASB “I will set fire to the wall of Damascus, And it will devour the fortified towers of Ben-hadad.”

If there is a world in awe it is the Muslim world, for they now have a strength and bravery fortified by substantial gains all over the world; the rest are merely taken aback by the way they have subtly overrun cities within the US, Britain and Europe in general. They have well developed plans for taken over school systems, PTA boards and city councils. Islam has every intent to run the world under sharia law and the days scantily clad women, homosexuality, and drinking will be gone. It is not just Christians and Jews they are after. They are after anyone that does not comply with the will of Allah.

“…the whole earth went after the beast in amazement and admiration”

Another version put it this way:

Revelation 13:3 CJB One of the heads of the beast appeared to have received a fatal wound, but its fatal wound was healed, and the whole earth followed after the beast in amazement.

Do you realize how rapidly the Islamic population is growing? Do you know that if they rape your neighborhood women and all of them have babies from these rapes they consider them Islamic children and count them as such. No, that does not mean necessarily that they get taught the Qur’an, Jihad, and the associated Jewish hatred but it certainly helps pump up your numbers when Islamic’s are counting heads.

It is easy to say the whole earth is following the Islamic beast and especially in admiration. They believe with all that is in them that their way is the better way, especially if you are a man. You have to understand that scriptures tells us that the god of this world (Who is that? The Dragon/Satan) has blinded them to the truth.

2 Corinthians 4:4 CJB They do not come to trust because the god of the `olam hazeh has blinded their minds, in order to prevent them from seeing the light shining from the Good News about the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of God.

he gave his authority to the beast

Revelation 13:4 NASB they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?”

The “they”, as I have been saying, is the Islamic world. Do you really believe that they worship the dragon, Satan? Muslims do believe in evil spirits and many report they are haunted by them. In the United States I believe that we have enough kooks that might say something like that, knowing full well it would irritate the Christian community and demonstrate their antagonism for God.

But to be honest, in this passage, it almost feels like the dragon has suddenly shifted characters. Let me attempt to explain. Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, come to earth as a man, and he retains that image even today. How is that? They are the same just as a son inherits the characteristics and name of his father. If that father carried some title and clout that could be passed along, like they do in England, then the son too becomes quite powerful without even sitting upon the throne.

Have we not already seen the dragon, much like God gave man dominion, give all his authority and power to “the beast”? What would it take for you to recognize that fact? Signs and wonders? You bet, because even in the Islamic community seeing enhances believing, and this is exactly what the Antichrist and the false prophet do.

“.. and who is able to wage war with him?”

Already we have gone to war because Islamic jihadists have blown up 3000+ people with airplanes crashing into the Twin Towers in Manhattan. I am not sure you can remember all the bombings associated with Islamic terrorism or Jihad as they like to call it. Unfortunately for those outside of Islam Jihad can come in so many forms. Obviously the beast wages a war, and though we struggle against their war, can you honestly say we are winning? Small skirmishes maybe, but like the Russians who waged war against the Taliban we are getting chased out of there as well.

When Christians get together you will get a wide variety of beliefs and opinions about when the rapture will come and associated tribulations. I contend that Jesus statements in Matthew 25 explaining and contrasting his coming for his own with Noah and Lot tell us that he will rescue us (the majority) only moments before all hell breaks loose. If you have read about Noah and Lot then you know that from the time God pulled them out to the time destruction came was either immediate in Noah’s case, to possibly hours with Lot. I feel strongly that what I am talking about as I attempt to make the book of Revelation understandable, will have taken place before these things take place.

On this note I strongly urge you to turn your life over Jesus Christ. Ask him to make his home in you and receive you into the kingdom of God when that day comes. Should you choose to remain rebellious and find yourself on the worst side of the tribulation years there is still hope. Ask him into your life. Commit yourself to him and arm yourself with the Holy Spirit of God (He will still be here to guide you.) I truly believe that the two witnesses, sent from God, will be an example for those who choose to follow them as examples of how walk in God’s strength. In the second chapter of Acts Peter stood and addressed the crowd, telling them:

Acts 2:16-21 KJV But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; (17) And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: (18) And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: (19) And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: (20) The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: (21) And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

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This freakish image.

Posted on 03/09/2013 by remso

It was like a leopard, a bear, and a lion.

As a heads up, I am not a scholar but I am someone who has an intense interest in understanding and helping others to understand. In sharing my insights with you the goal is not to bring you under my spell and start a new cult but you to get you thinking, looking outside the traditional religious box, and get you diving into your bibles and find out for yourself what is true. Therefore if you find something that you cannot agree upon then it is up to you to search the scriptures and find out for yourself. Paul ran into a bunch like this, they were called the Bereans, and they daily searched the scriptures to find out if what Paul said was true. The result, they came into alignment with Paul. You need to come into alignment with the Word, but it is always fun talking to like-minded believers.

That being said let’s jump in.

In my previous post I covered Revelation 13:1 and I could have expounded further. You have to agree that chapter 13 is a highly symbolic chapter, filled with imagery that most find difficult to understand. I discussed how the sea represents people, and how the heads are considered by many to represent empires that in John’s day fit into the categories of: was, are, and are to come. The last of those empires that could be tightly defined and had a huge impact on John’s life was the Roman empire. The final empire rises out of the territory that was not only controlled by the Roman empire but several earlier empires as well.

When you compare the statue that Daniel described to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter two and the dream Daniel had in chapter seven against what Ezekiel describes in Ezekiel 38 as the nations angrily surrounding Israel in the near future with the beast of Revelation chapter 13 you will see that most are nations we are familiar with, and they are Muslim majority.

With that let’s start looking at this more closely.

And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority.

(Revelation 13:2 ESV)

Many like to assign this freakish image to the beast that desecrates the temple and it is not. Freakish in description, yes. This fits the description that Daniel gave to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2, and it matches the explanations given to Daniel in Daniel 7. Ezekiel 38 identifies many of the nations/empires that fulfill the crowns or ruling authorities.

In trying to help Daniel’s explanation make sense, I include:

Revelation 13:1 And he took his place on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea.

The sea represents people, but not just any people, they are people associated with the nations that rise against Israel in Ezekiel 38.

Why would I say that? Because there is a context to what Daniel saw, what Ezekiel saw, and what John the revelator wrote, and it all has to do with the culmination of time either right before the rapture of the church or almost immediately after.

It is shown that the descendants of Abraham through Ishmael have a hatred of Jews and Israel, and this hatred is clearly portrayed in scripture. We are seeing the effects of their hatred lived out on our television screens almost daily. (In an effort to make this a reasonable length I am avoiding great details here. If you want great details then I suggest that you get and read the The Islamic Antichrist or The Mideast Beast, by Joel Richardson.)

“I had a vision by night, and saw the four winds of heaven violently moving the great sea.” Daniel 7:2 BBE

We have a tendency to look at events like this as always in the future. I strongly suspect that the four winds have blown. What we can attest to is the level of violence within the Muslim nations.

One of the biggest turnovers, (that tends to be what a strong wind does,) occurred in 1979: Iran’s Islamic Revolution.

After the overthrow of the Shah, the American ally became one of its biggest adversaries. I remember it. It birthed a television show called Nightline and everyday Ted Koppel reminded us during under the Presidency of Jimmy Carter the US embassy in Iran had been taken hostage. This went on for over a year. (Interestingly there was a correlation between Ronald Reagan who played a cowboy in the movies, his rhetoric as he ran for Presidency, and the release of the American hostages. What helped me to understand that correlation was a book I read called the Kite Runner. In it, the author who had been born Afghani, explained how, in the early days before the Taliban, so many would travel to go see the American cowboy movies that had been translated into Pashtun. They seem to understand that the cowboy shot first and asked questions later and they seemed to respect someone associated with this lifestyle.)

You are not convinced. But what was the change that happened from that point on in the nation of Iran? Although they have a President for the sake legitimacy, the nation was effectively run by Islamic leaders, Mullahs; Ayatollah Khomeini was the first dominant one that I remember. We call this leadership under a religious leader a caliphate. Everything changed and this Islamic revolution began to saturate into every nation that had an Islamic presence. Indonesia, that “beautiful” little island country can be a brutal place to live if you are not Muslim and abiding by strict Sharia laws. The Northern African nations: Chad, Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, etc. are majority Muslim nations. Yes, they have a different title Boko Haran but the rules and objectives are the same, kill anything that does not bow it’s knee to Allah.

Be serious, what have we been seeing and hearing in the news for at least the last year?

The Arab spring.

And what has been the result?

  • Libya has been overthrown, Muammar AL-Gaddafi has been killed, and the Muslim Brotherhood has taken control of Libya, instituting sharia law, a control system governed by an Islamic Caliphate.

  • Egypt suffered a violent revolt which drove Hosni Mubarak out of power and got Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood elected. Christians are imprisoned, beaten, and killed there with frequency now.

  • Syria is currently undergoing a major upheaval. In trying to retain power, President Bashar AL-Assad is slaughtering thousands within the nation. It is clear that Syria is heavily influenced by Iran as their military commanders are deeply involved with operations in Syria. It is also known that Syria has prepped chemical weapons and may have used them on its own citizens. It is only a matter of time before Syria collapses and falls under the hand of the Muslim Brotherhood as well. Syria is also a nation that has no tolerance of Jews or Christianity. The secret police, and that appears to be about every third person there, will have you arrested, imprisoned, and tortured. I believe you will see a change in the streets of Syria as a wholesale slaughter of anyone not bowing the knee to Allah will be killed.

    • (Isaiah 8:4 NASB) for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

      It is not vitally important to focus on the names or ages but on the speed with which it falls. By the way.

    • (Isaiah 17:1 DRB) The burden of Damascus. Behold Damascus shall cease to be a city, and shall be as a ruinous heap of stones.

      Considering the direction of the battle and the context of the region this should not be a surprise to anyone. If I had anything else notable to say about this, it would be to get your families out of Damascus if you can.

Revelation 13:2 KJV And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

John sees one beast with three deadly attributes: a Leopard, a Bear, and the mouth of a Lion.

We will compare notes with what Daniel saw to gain a better understanding of what John is looking at.

Daniel 7:3 KJV And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

Daniel 7:4-7 KJV The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. (5) And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. (6) After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. (7) After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

Daniel chapter 7 helps to understand who we are dealing with.

  • The lion was Nebuchadnezzar. (Daniel 7:4) Nebuchadnezzar had his sanity taken away to humble him before God. God returned his mind to him and he stopped crawling on all fours like a cow.
  • The bear was Medo-Persian empire. The Persian empire was much stronger than the Medes hence we see them as lopsided.
  • The Leopard began as the Alexandrian empire. Alexander did not live through his thirties and two remaining dominant empires coming out of his were the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires, sort of the North and South.

  • Although prominent the Roman Empire is not under consideration here. They only briefly attempted an expansion into Iraq under Trajan, but within months Trajan was dead and Roman influence was retracted to its original boundaries. They never held the same territories that any of the others held.

There is no clear definition of who the fourth beast is, but there is a strong clue and we will get to that later.

Daniel 7:23 KJV Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

Did any of these previous kingdoms conquer the entire world? No. If you are honest then you have to admit that there were civilizations going on in every continent. I believe that history is always favorable to you when you record your own words, and I think that they spoke of the world they knew as the only one of any concern. These empires: the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Alexandrian, Roman, and Islamic, conquered all that was not only important to them but fell within the context of God’s plan.

If Daniel 7:23 described the fourth beast as different then you need to ask how? Consider that Islam is the only one that is religiously driven.

Daniel not only told Nebuchadnezzar what his dream was but defined what it meant.

Daniel 2:31-35 NASB “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. (32) “The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, (33) its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. (34) “You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. (35) “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

As you can see Daniel described a solitary unit much like John. Aspects of this solitary image are what concern us.

  • The head of gold represents Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian empire.

    In Daniel 7:4 we see a winged Lion. “..and it was lifted from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it.” This is a very clear description of Nebuchadnezzar, for God had taken his sanity and he crawled on all fours as cattle might. In time he was given back his sanity, made to stand on two feet, and his kingdom was restored. Although Babylon took Israel into captivity it almost seems that God deemed that a time of learning and protection. The focus is now directed at those that are to come.

  • Daniel 2:39 NASB “After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you,

    This inferior second kingdom came in the form of the Medo-Persian empire. When you look at Daniel 7:5 it is represented as a lopsided bear because the Persian portion of the empire was much stronger than the Median portion.

  • “…..then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.”

    The third kingdom was the Greek empire under Alexander’s short reign. Daniel saw this third beast and described it in Daniel 7:6. The leopard had “four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it” Alexander’s reign was short-lived. At Alexander’s death his empire was divided primarily among his four strongest generals. Those four fought for fifty years and the two remaining empires were the Ptolemaic and the Seleucid empires. The Seleucid empire being the largest and strongest.

    The four empires immediately after Alexander were:

    • the Ptolemaic dynasty ruling over Egypt

    • the Seleucid dynasty covering the region from modern-day Turkey to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

    • The Lysimachian dynasty ruling over the region of Bulgaria.

    • The Cassandrian dynasty which was over the regions of Macedonia or Modern-day Greece.

      These four comprised the wings and the heads upon the Leopard of Daniel 7:6

  • Daniel 2:40 NASB “Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces.

    While so many attribute this fourth beast to the Roman empire, it just does not fit the characterization of crushing and destroying. Rather the Roman empire built infrastructure, and established order and law in the lands it conquered. In comparison the empire of Islam has been a destructive force to those it conquered. Even today the Christian community that may have once flourished in majority Islamic nations has been brutalized for having conflicting beliefs.

    Another reason that this is not the Roman empire has to do with the prophecy of Daniel 9:26.

    Daniel 9:26 KJV And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

    Far to many have used this and said, it is the Romans that fill this role because they ordered the destruction of the temple. Statements like this prove your lack of desire to find and see the truth. The problem is that even history disproves that theory.

Josephus the Jewish historian, and Tacitus the Roman Senator and historian, both recorded that the legions in Jerusalem were conscript troops from the local populace, either outnumbering Italians 11 to 1, or they comprised the entire military contingent of 60,000. Both historians record that these conscripts had an overt hatred for the Jews, and Josephus particularly records, that of their own accord they assaulted the city and the temple. Josephus tells us that Tacitus was alerted and ran to stop their assault for he saw that the temple was salvageable. He was ignored. Yes, they marched under the colors of Rome and wore the Roman uniform but their anger caused them to ignore the orders of Tacitus. These conscript troops are clearly defined by history as being primarily Assyrian/Middle Eastern.

If the people who destroyed the temple were Assyrians then their prince will be Assyrian too. Essentially what we should be looking for here is a Muslim.

(Daniel 7:3 DRB) And four great beasts, different one from another, came up out of the sea.

One of the things I stated in a earlier post is that you have to keep your beasts straight. No, this is not mandatory but we fling these terms around without clarity. Here in one passage are four beasts and they refer to multiple things if you think about it.

  • Empires

  • Rulers

  • And the demonic spirit that drives them.

I am making some of these statements not because I have a clear line of background evidence but because logical thinking should prove that there is something more going on here. Satan, we understand from scripture was a very powerful but fallen angel. He took one-third of the heavenly angels with him. We also know the names of several other angels, some good and some bad. A couple of bad ones are: The prince of Persia, and the prince of Grecia.

Folks there has to be more. You cannot confirm or deny that these beasts may in actuality be princes by the same names, such as Alexander, Seleucus, or Cassander.

How do we have any clue about who or what these are?

Daniel felt the same way and so he asked. Here is the response.

As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved and anxious within me, and the visions of my head alarmed and agitated me. I came near to one of those who stood there and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things.

(Daniel 7:15-16 AMP)

The angel’s explanation of the four beasts begins with:

These four beasts are four kingdoms that shall rise up on the earth: which shall be taken away; and the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess it for ever and ever. (Daniel 7:17-18 Brenton)

Recap:

The beast of Revelation 13:2 is a history in allegory form describing waring empires and a future, vicious empire. It has been part of God’s plan to regain his family back all along. God is pouring out his spirit upon these middle Eastern nations as we speak. Therefore I implore you to pray.

Ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and he will give you a new life, his. You will be welcomed into the kingdom of God with open arms. And you know love like you have never known.

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The background behind the chaos, Revelation 13:1

Posted on 02/24/2013 by remso

If you are following along with me we just finished chapter 12. A quick recap of chapter 12 has Satan thrown out, and excluded from access to heaven. If you are honest we saw a throw back in time to him lying in wait to kill the Christ child. Unable to do that he pursues the Woman (Israel) in attempt to kill them off. Failing that he goes after her seed, which happens to be Israel. There is another peculiar aspect of chapter 12 that should have caught your attention and that is: Revelation 12:17 EMTV And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went off to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.

This last segment clearly identifies this aspect of the remnant as:

  1. Those keeping the commandments of God.

    Any decent Jew would think that they are doing that.

  2. And having the testimony of Jesus.

    Now we are in deep water.

    The Jews rejected Jesus, but these either have not, or they have turned to Jesus as the awaited Messiah. Depending on when they came to know Jesus as the Messiah plays heavily into the end times chronology. If they came to a knowledge and acceptance of him prior to the rapture they would not be here. So then it is safe to say they came after. Using your brain and putting the pieces of the puzzle together, you can gather that they have been:

    • pursued,

    • persecuted,

    • seen many die around them,

    • chose not to flee,

    • and had someone mentor them about how they could walk through this test.

After walking through the barrage being thrown by Satan, stepping into chapter thirteen is like putting the brakes on. Chapter thirteen takes us back in history and prophecy, so can we say that this chapter is giving us the background that makes all this chaos happen.

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

(Revelation 13:1 KJV)

John is the person referred to when it says “I”.

The sand of the sea is not necessarily literal but certainly can have a correlation with Abraham, for God told him that his descendants would be as the sands of the sea. This is another area in which we may have made disastrous assumptions for we consistently attribute the sands reference to Jews. But if you are paying attention then you know that Muslims claim Abraham as their father through Ishmael. Ishmael was not the son of promise and seems to be the basis of their anger, but try numbering them. The promise applied no matter what direction Abraham’s seed went.

John has the fortune to have an angel, much like with Daniel, give an explanation of the events that John is seeing. The sea that the beast rises out of is explained in Revelation 17:15

Revelation 17:15 EMTV Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.

A beast rise up out of the sea,

The beast at this point has no definition and yet we eagerly assigned this to some man. One of the things I noted as I journaled about this, is that you have to keep your beasts straight. Scripture tells us that four have attained that title.

“having seven heads…”

In trying to find the right words there is no shame using the words of someone smarter. John MacArthur’s commentary states:

“The heads may represent successive world empires—Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and the final kingdom of Antichrist”

MacArthur goes on to say,

“When John wrote, the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Greek empires had gone out of existence; Rome still existed; and the Antichrist’s empire had not yet come.”

If we are talking empires when we try to ascertain the heads, and I believe we are, then we have to begin looking for some commonalities. I may not go into that here, but hopefully touch on some possibilities.

Keep in mind that my object is make this book understandable, as I believe it was meant to be.

“..having seven heads and ten horns,”

John MacArthur says the horns represent power.

Daniel saw the same beast.

Daniel 7:7-11 NASB “After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. (8) “While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts. (9) “I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire. (10) “A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened. (11) “Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire.

But Daniel got an explanation of the beast.

Daniel 7:23-24 NASB “Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it. (24) ‘As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.

So the horns actually represent ten kings. Three get taken out. What do we have that closely resembles this level of activity? Libya and Egypt. Is Syria the third? Do not know for sure, but it is a strong maybe.

I mentioned earlier that you should start paying attention to commonalities. Although I am sure this can be defined we have the underlying purpose behind their coalition, God decreed it to fulfill his word.

Revelation 17:17 NASB “For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled.

Revelation 13:1 CJB (12:18) Then the dragon stood on the seashore; (13:1) and I saw a beast come up out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads. On its horns were ten royal crowns and on its heads blasphemous names.

The focus at the moment is what is on its heads. Each head had a crown. Let’s think this through for a moment. The queen of England wears a crown but only during ceremonies.

Some of the countries that may fit into this beast as a head:

  • Libya – Old information, valid during the reign of Muammar Qadhafi, defined the government there as: governed by the populace through local councils; in practice, an authoritarian state. Col. Qadhafi never wore a crown.

  • Saudi Arabia – A major supporter of terrorism seems to be missing from the prophetic picture. They are run as a monarchy. No one here wears anything closely resembling a crown. Sharia law is exclusive to Saudi and outsiders have no rights there.

  • Iran – They seem to be a major player in bible prophecy. They are called a theocratic republic. Consider what that means. Although they have a president the real leaders of the country are religious. The religion happens to be Islam and the laws are Sharia laws. Essentially the mullahs or Imams run the country.

  • Egypt – Their name is actually Arab Republic of Egypt. Prior to Morsi’s election as president of the country they claim to be a republic. Anyone with open eyes knows that within the last year Egypt under went a major upheaval and Andrew Morsi got himself elected. The country is now attempting to govern itself by Sharia law and one should only assume that the Imams wish to have total control.

None of them wear crowns, but they do wear turbans.

John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible states,

“And upon his horns ten crowns; which distinguishes Rome Papal from Rome Pagan; the crowns in Rome Pagan were upon the heads, or the emperors, that resided at Rome; and though it had ten horns, as here, and was divided into so many provinces, which were governed by deputies, proconsuls, &c. yet they were not kings, they had no crowns; but here the horns have crowns on them because the governors of these ten kingdoms are crowned kings:”

You might think that this should force us to focus on the Vatican as the beast, but I think that is a misdirection and some ill thought out logic.

Daniel shows that the human Antichrist will rise up from these ten kings (Daniel_7:16-24); And that this is the little horn.

Daniel 9:26 CJB Then, after the sixty-two weeks, Mashiach will be cut off and have nothing. The people of a prince yet to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, but his end will come with a flood, and desolations are decreed until the war is over.

Both Josephus and Tacitus recorded that Assyrians within the legions outnumbered Romans by a five to one ratio, and that at the time of the temples destruction there were about 60,000 troops primarily of Assyrian decent. They demonstrated no love for the Jews, and were entirely responsible for the destruction of the temple.

So if you are looking for the direction from which the prince will come then you should be looking toward the Assyrian nations. These are the nations that are surrounding and threatening Israel as we speak. And they are Islamic controlled nations.

A bit of a heads up. Find the book The Islamic Antichrist, by Joel Richardson and you will get a clearer picture than I can give you.

“…and on his heads were blasphemous names. “

In Mark’s gospel, chapter 3, the Jews attributed the works that Jesus did to the devil, specifically Beelzebub = “lord of the house”1) a name of Satan, the prince of evil spirits (Thayer). For this he lit into the middle of them and defined for us just what blasphemy was.

Mark 3:22-29 KJV And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. (23) And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? (24) And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. (25) And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. (26) And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. (27) No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. (28) Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: (29) But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

These names on their heads are the antithesis of God (in opposition to.) The Greek word used was blasphemia, and means: 1) slander, detraction, speech injurious, to another’s good name; 2) impious and reproachful speech injurious to divine majesty.

God did not introduce himself to the father of not only Israel, but the Arab as well (through Ishmael) by the name of Allah. He called himself “I am”. It is even more complicated than that, for as one translator described it, his name sounds like breath itself.

The Quran teaches that it is absurdity to think that Jesus Christ is the son of God for Allah would degrade himself to partake of such an act. Therefore Jesus is merely a good prophet, worthy of listening to, and he did not die on any cross for he was rescued off of it before death and lived a long, married life. Again you should be able to see the opposition to the gospel and blasphemy.

If this is not a man who John sees in Revelation 13:1 then what is it. We have an idea of what it looks like, but that only makes it more freakish. We also know that Satan brought powerful angels with him in his first fall. The angel Gabriel had fought with a powerful angel and another was coming. Ironically one of those angels was called the prince of Persia (Which we now know as Iran). We also know that there are four evil angels that are to be released, currently bound in the river Euphrates.

So what if this beast is really upheld by the actions of a powerful angel, and what if his name is Allah?

I tell you these things not to incite you riot, scare you off, or turn you from God because you see him as filled with rage, but in hopes that you come to him.

We are still living in the age of grace, that time period where Christ’s blood covers our sins, therefore the only thing that puts distance between us and the Father that longs for us is our arrogance and unbelief.

I equate this world to a giant adoption agency where God came to make an adoption. Knowing full well what we were like and how many of there were he brought the full price and paid for all of us, so that we could be in his family. Because God is loving and wants all to come by choice you merely have sign in agreement and get in the truck to go home with him.

What does it mean to sign the agreement? Not that much different from believing. Believing means I understand that he loves me and wants me, and that the price Jesus Christ paid that day (his life) was enough. We have been forgiven of all sins. I cannot stress that enough, but we have to make the decision to get on board of our own free will. Love outside of free will is slavery and not love at all but fear. God is love. Love put himself on the cross for you, and the best news of all is that death could not hold him, for he is alive.

Ask Jesus Christ to make himself real to you. He will. The rest is up to you, run into his open arms and life with him is yours.

P.S. I talk to much, so we will continue Revelation 13 with the next post.

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Sequestration, world commerce, and the coming antichrist economy

Posted on 02/23/2013 by remso

Sequestration, world commerce, and the coming antichrist economy.

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Rejoice o’ heavens, but woe to the earth.

Posted on 02/22/2013 by remso

Would you consider me a cheater if I told you I have been reading ahead. This is such an exciting time we live in. Just this morning, 02/17/2013, I read that a top Iranian military official attended the nuclear test in North Korea. You might wonder how this plays into anything. What we do know from scripture is that in the short future armies will amass against Israel. God will step into that fight and rain torrential floods upon the enemies of Israel, but he will also rain fire and brimstone, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. There is the possibility that this war will have a nuclear aspect to it for Ezekiel 38, 39 describe a scene in which people mark bodies for future disposal and normal burial teams are instructed not to touch them. Go figure!

“ For this reason, rejoice,”

“For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”

(Revelation 12:12 NASB)

We seem to think that the beginnings of the earth are tumultuous, almost as though they were filled with a rage. The statements made in Genesis 1 about the formation are difficult to argue at best.

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:2 NASB)

But at some point God called it all good. It appears that God’s handiwork really kicks in a verse later.

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (Genesis 1:3 NASB)

Here is my point. If I base my ideas of creation on some science fiction movie I could be off by 180 degrees. Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that what God made was perfect and something happened to it. It could be that the something was Satan crashing violently into the earth, for Jesus told us that he saw him get thrown out. And we know he was in the garden at some point with the express purpose of deceiving Eve.

If the whole earth was perfect then why make a garden? Just speculating here. Paleobotanists’ have found petrified plant life that only grew in lush environments, in the harshest of terrains, across the entire globe, suggesting that the entire earth was a garden. Obviously something changed. We can argue when that happened and why until we are blue in the face, but you cannot deny that there was a drastic change. I have always associated that change with Satan’s entrance into the world.

If God tossed him angrily, so early, and Satan immediately begins making useless plans for retaliation from the very beginning, could we then assume that “woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.” could apply?

That would mean that the earth was would have been under Satan’s wrath from the beginnings of man. But that is not what this passage is telling us.

We have been looking at a context and it applies, primarily, to the last days. Specifically to the final seven year period. Some of the best evidence we have for this argument is:

  1. When does this take place.

    And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those 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. (Revelation 13:2 NASB)

    The logical assumption for this empowerment of the Antichrist is right at the beginning of the seven years, or slightly before it. It would not make sense for someone to usurp authority without some previous demonstration of ability. But then we are dealing with demonic abilities being given. This is empowerment is exactly what Jesus turned down. Satan offered him everything and said it was his to give. Think about that.

    The him in this passage is the beast. That is not some mythological monster but a man; a man empowered by the devil himself.

    Here is where the water gets muddy. There are several beasts and you need to keep your beasts straight, sort of. Daniel, in the seventh chapter states that there are four beasts. John, looking into the future describes “a beast coming out of the sea”. Read what he says he saw.

    And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those 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. (Revelation 13:1-2 NASB)

You ought to know by now that the sea represents people of the nations (Those outside of the church and Israel). This ugly thing had seven heads and ten crowns. Think about that for a moment. Heads represent governing bodies or tyrannical rulers, and history has proved them all out but for a couple. We are watching one of the last described as falling happen on the news as we speak (Syria). But crowns represent rulers or ruling bodies so it is safe to assume that one or more switch controlling bodies, several times.

I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; (Revelation 13:3 NASB)

Wait a second. We know that Satan empowers the beast, and that is true. Why we even know that several men gained the title of beast in apocalyptic writings. But here you have a beast with heads and one of the heads sustains what many feel is a mortal wound. With modern science it is possible to recover, to some degree, from a mortal head wound. Here in America senator Gabriel Giffords recovered to deliver a speech to congress about the need for gun control. If you happened to see it I think you would agree that it will be some time before she can return to an authoritative position, if at all. That being said, I do not think we should be looking for a man to sustain a head wound. If the heads are governing bodies then we certainly have an excellent choice if we intently consider the Ottoman/Islamic empire.

We are not told to separate this head from the freakish body that John sees, and yet we do. So the clue as who this is comes more from the pattern (More on that later.)

  1. Because of Satan’s empowerment, the beast sends the remnant of Israel running into the desert where they are protected by God for three and one half years. You should understand that not all leave. Why they stay I am not sure, but the concept of the entire remnant escaping is not valid.

    And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she *was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. (Revelation 12:13-14 NASB)

    If Satan was tossed, as this verse describes, at the beginning of time, there was no Israel to call a woman and persecute. So this is clearly a last days event.

So, try as you might, you cannot place this passage anywhere else and make it fit. It is true that Satan got tossed out of heaven, but to what extent. This is a subject that I toyed with in a previous chapter (post).

“Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath..”

The earth can be taken literally, but the sea, which meant people only moments before is quite probably the same thing now.

What is the most prolific attribution given to cataclysmic weather or seismic events? An act of God! Really? Why would Satan change his style or character just because God finally locked him out of heaven? He wouldn’t. So if he was thrown to the earth previously with his bad attitude, and he gained control of the earth in the process, then who is causing all the harm around here?

Certainly the Revelation tells of God throwing his wrath at the earth but that is during a specific time period. If only we could understand this.

Now consider this aspect of the “sea”. If we are talking people then who? Satan directs most of his energies against anything that looks like God and the Saints of the tribulation period fit that bill as he goes on an all out killing spree.

As for the wrath aspect. Certainly the killing of the saints as they refuse the mark, name and number of the beast, but he also goes after Israel with a vengeance.

And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.(Revelation 12:13 NASB)

“..so that she might fly..”

The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach.

(Revelation 12:14 NIV)

God is not strapping two wings to the back of an entire nation but he can certainly give them swift feet. You, nor I know how they are getting out of town, nor do we know if all Israel has some contingency plan should such a massive attack be leveled against them.

In the whole land,” declares the LORD, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. (Zechariah 13:8 NIV)

It is the majority of this one third that will make great haste out of town.

The idea of God taking care of someone supernaturally is not new. Consider Elijah:

Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. (1 Kings 17:2-6 NIV)

By the way, how long did Elijah live in the wilderness and get fed by Ravens? Three and one half years.

You cannot exclude the probability that God will do the same thing once again. Here Israel, what is left of them, will hide for three and one half years, the entire second half of the tribulation period. How do I know that? Jesus said, “So when you see the appalling sacrilege [the abomination that astonishes and makes desolate], spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place–let the reader take notice and ponder and consider and heed [this]”—[Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11.] (Matthew 24:15 AMP)

Jesus continued to say, “then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. “Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” (Matthew 24:16-22 NASB)

This appalling sacrilege happens three and one half years into the seven years of the tribulation time.

“like a river out of his mouth”

And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.

(Revelation 12:15 NASB)

“And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth..”

In a previous post I struggled with this concept, even toying with the idea of a dam breaking, but a friend of mine suggested that this was a mass of people come against Israel once again. It only took me a moment to see the strength in this idea.

The serpent is Satan and he apparently has not had a creative idea since his inception, so why start now. This is a highly symbolic statement and not that dissimilar to John seeing the beast come out of the sea.

Revelation 13:1 NASB And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.

Here the sea is representing people, nation, and tongues. How do I know that?

Revelation 17:15 NASB And he *said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.

So it would not be all that far-fetched to use that analogy here.

The concept of a flood is not new to John’s readers: Job spoke of it –

Job 27:20 NASB “Terrors overtake him like a flood; A tempest steals him away in the night.

In this case terrors were said to overtake someone, probably Job.

“And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth..”

This same word poured, was translated as cast in the King James version. In my mind they have two distinct meanings, and yet not. I will explain. If I pour out something it can be directed or targeted, and with a very specific intent, such as watering a plant. But it can also mean to dump with no intent or specific target and cover a wide area. Were I to be watering plants in this way it would be very ineffectual.

Cast however, based on Thayer’s definition (to throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls), implies something more like a shotgun blast. The impact will cause damage, but the intent is to take out as big a target as possible, not really caring who gets hit.

“And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth..”

The word mouth sounds benign enough until you dig into the definition.

Thayer Definition: For the Greek word stoma.

  1. the mouth, as part of the body: of man, of animals, of fish, etc.

  2. the edge of a sword.

In this case it is easy to visualize Satan pouring water out of his mouth. Of course it is for most of us have seen some statue that has water spewing out of its mouth. But only one verse later the earth is opening its mouth and swallowing the flood. The word stoma has not changed, nor has the definition, but the earth does not, as we understand it, have a mouth. So what is he talking about.

This same word was translated as the edge of the sword twice: Luke_21:24, Hebrews_11:34

Jesus was speaking of this very scenario when he said,

Luke 21:24 NASB and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

So what we have is another large attack against those of Israel that:

  1. Still remain in Israel

  2. Have not taken the mark, the name, or worshiped the beast.

  3. And obviously have not been slaughtered yet.

But the earth helped the woman

But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.

(Revelation 12:16 NASB)

“But the earth helped the woman,..”

Back to Thayer. I realize that to say the earth is fairly understandable but having God thrown in the mix tends to give it a life of its own.

Thayer’s definition includes:

  1. arable land

  2. the ground, the earth as a standing place.

  3. the main land as opposed to the sea or water

So the earth helped Israel.

Is this a new concept? Not if you have read through the bible. I will give you a couple of examples:

And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

(Numbers 16:32 KJV)

and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them.

(Deuteronomy 11:6 NIV)

In the two passages shared here there is no water or sea but people, and again, I do not believe that this a flood of water referred to in Revelation 12.

“..and he went away to wage war on the remainder..”

So then the dragon was furious (enraged) at the woman, and he went away to wage war on the remainder of her descendants–[on those] who obey God’s commandments and who have the testimony of Jesus Christ [and adhere to it and bear witness to Him].

(Revelation 12:17 AMP)

Thwarted in his attempt to kill the escaping remnant, he goes away, back we assume into Israel, to make war on the remainder of the descendants. A word of caution: When you have a clear, logical path assumption is not bad and provides clarity, but without a clear path assumption can lead you incorrectly and have you looking in the wrong direction.

If I look at the broader picture. Christ came into the world and the dragon was waiting to kill him. Unable to do that he waged war on the church. But you have to keep the context clear on your exploratory missions. This is about him waging war on the descendants of the woman, and the woman is Israel.

Again, this is exclusively an end times event being spoken of.

Israel, being warned of God to flee when they see the abomination in the temple, should have evacuated the country. Maybe that is the problem. Most will understand that the majority of the comments about Israel seem to focus on Jerusalem, therefore the majority who escape are from Jerusalem while others in Israel think they are safe. That will not be the case.

Revelation 13:10 CJB “If anyone is meant for captivity, into captivity he goes! If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he is to be killed!” This is when God’s holy people must persevere and trust!

This passage is integrated into the context of the beast’s war upon the saints and its potential impact. It is easy to see that some will survive, making it all the way to Christ’s return. How Christ deals with those is entirely up to him. I can speculate but that is really pointless.

the rest of her seed, those keeping the commandments of God, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Satan went away to make war with “her descendants”, and yet it speaks of those who obey God’s commandments and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Wait a minute, think this through.

Typically, we do not understand Israel as having the testimony of Jesus Christ. I would love to see that happen but I know that will not be the majority. Scripture even tells us that the “elect” will be deceived by the miracles that the false prophet works. The deceived will take the mark and worship the beast, sealing their fate. But keep in mind that we rarely are to take comments like “all Israel” as literal. Instead, is it wiser to think in terms of a majority, or a lot of them. If this passage says they have the testimony of Christ, then we have to assume that during the tribulation many of Israel will turn to Christ as the Messiah they were waiting for.

God performs a few of his own miracles to catch the elect. Observe.

And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an everlasting gospel to proclaim to those dwelling on the earth, even to every nation and tribe and tongue and people, saying in a great voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him, because the hour of His judgment has come; also, Worship “Him who has made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea,” and the springs of waters. Ex. 20:11

(Revelation 14:6-7 LITV)

Revelation 14 is not the first place we see this type of activity, and there is no doubt that it will have a huge impact, not only on Israel but on the world.

This has the possibility of including followers of Jesus Christ, tribulation saints, as well as Jews, because this terminology “having the testimony of” can also include tribulation saints.

And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those having been slain for the Word of God, and for the witness which they had.

(Revelation 6:9 LITV)

You do not have to wait until an angel flies overhead shouting out the glories of God and how to become his; give your life to him now, you are making a mess of it anyway and Jesus already paid the price for your freedom. Run to him, accept his love for you and be received into his kingdom. Doing this gives the hope of a life with him, and Jesus told us that he would come back for us, and rescue us just before pouring out his wrath on the earth. Sure you can wait if you wish, missing out on the period of grace, choosing to endure what is to come during the time of wrath, but why?

Life here on earth during the seven years after the church is pulled out of here will be a little taste of hell. Jesus told us that he is the only way to the Father, not religion, not cults, not good works, but a faith in Jesus Christ alone. That act of belief is the only hope of being caught up with the church before the tribulation.

But is it the only hope? Not necessarily. You can refuse the mark of the beast that indicates your allegiance to the beast and his ways, and you must refuse to worship the beast. Scripture tells us that very few will survive this onslaught. Refusing to take his mark should get you beheaded and get you your ticket to reign with Christ during the millennial years. But as I noted before, there may be survivors of the beast that make it through until Jesus returns. Standing as one that testifies to Jesus Christ as King of the earth should get you into the kingdom, but what your life will look like I do not know. I can see a picture of heartless captivity for you, and it will not be pretty. Why wait to find out.

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The salvation and the power.

Posted on 02/15/2013 by remso

Revelation 12:10,11

Now is come salvation

Before I begin allow me to share something with you. I have gone through a very tough time emotionally. All the aspects of this internal trauma coincide with a book I am reading called Wild At Heart, by John Eldredge. I have struggled all my life to find a center, where at least I understand why I am here. I found that place briefly in my early twenties and then I got married. What a tragic mistake she was. We think we marry to complete us, but only God can do that. The woman becomes a substitute for God; that hole which we fill with a woman is really crying for a restored relationship with the Father. To be honest, to some degree writing these messages to the struggling church is an aspect of what makes me feel alive and a part of why I am here.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

(Revelation 12:10 KJV)

(ASV) “And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power,”

If you have had any religious background or training at all, the concept of salvation should not be new to you. That does not mean you have it, or that you understand it. But in essence something tells you that it happened long ago when Jesus went to the cross.

What happened on the cross?

Jesus was made to be sin and the payment for our sins. Not only our sins but the sins of the whole world. That act on the cross effectively freed us from the debt of sin.

Didn’t the cross bring our salvation?

Released from the bondage to sin it gave you the freedom to choose the one who freed you. The ability to choose proves your freedom but it does not bring about salvation, it merely gives you an opportunity you did not have prior to the cross, for we were trapped, a prisoner to our sins.

Our salvation in Christ comes as we ask him to come into our lives. Doing this demonstrates your acceptance of Christ’s relationship with the Father and the payment he made for you.

Assuming we have done that why then are so many of us still going through a life so filled with hell?

Because the accuser/deceiver/Satan still roams the earth. His one sole purpose seems to be to destroy anything that looks like God, and with Christ inside of you, you look just like the Son. Of course you are a target.

This is an entirely different approach to the text than my first attempts for originally my mindset screamed that Satan had already been expelled from heaven; Jesus said so. My comprehension was based upon what people told me and so I merely assumed that Satan had been stripped of all power and rendered useless. If you look forward in Revelation you will find Satan empowering the beast and the false prophet, so clearly, at this time, he is not stripped of power. Fortunately God is merciful and leaves us room for error on our part.

Having explored the context I now understand that Satan has had access all along, but will soon have it stripped.

The word salvation is the Greek word sōtēria. Thayer’s Definition: 1) deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation.

Salvation means so many things but it all depends on what you are being saved from. Deliverance or preservation speaks to me of rescue. With Satan finally expelled, he is only moments away from a thousand-year lockup, and man’s motivation to sin is just about gone, for at least a while.

““Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come,”

Now comes the deliverance, the strength and ability. It feels as though God finally gets a chance to brag about his Son. This time is for real and Satan is shut up and stripped of any power he had. It’s about time.

“and the kingdom of our God ….. have come,”

This is another place where some will struggle. The world looks at things like this and claim it is a contradiction. I believe God was looking into future time when he spoke the words of Revelation 11:15

Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15 NASB)

Only moments later that time is here. Do not let your religious opinion constrain you; READ, you never know if your life depends on it.

What changed if the kingdom of our God is now come?

Ask yourself a question. Was Christ ever stripped of power? The answer is no, but then to be fair you might not have known that. Christ voluntarily set aside his power to be a man. One that had to operate on this earth the way we do. He healed the sick, raised the dead, and brought life to the world.

Does that sound like a powerless man?

No; so what changed? When Jesus was tested after the baptism, Satan offered him all the kingdoms of the world. You must assume that power was part of the deal. The truth is Adam handed the earth over to Satan, and God had previously given man dominion/authority to deal with it as he saw fit. Dominion is the Greek word basileia and means royal power. This was the authority that Adam had, royal power. He acted as God’s representative and in that place he handed the control of the earth over to a fallen angel.

So until the moment that God retakes control, the earth belongs to the dragon, and we have had to deal with the toxic brunt since Cain and Abel walked the earth. The payments have been made, God’s people have acted wisely, punishment and judgment have been dealt now that thing that man has hoped for is finally come, the kingdom with Jesus on the throne and peace at last.

“and the authority of His Christ have come,..”

Authority is the Greek word exousia, and means, according to Thayer, power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases.

Jesus had already established that he did nothing outside of the Father’s instructions, so he is not turning into some tyrannical dictator now. But with the Father’s blessing he has the liberty to do as he pleases, and he did nothing outside the Father’s will.

“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

(John 5:30 NASB)

 Think about that a moment. When he was here on earth what did he do?

Fed multitudes, healed sick people, restored life to the dead, taught that a life and relationship with the Father far outshines anything this broken world has to offer, and freely gave his life so that we may gain ours.

We should already have a clue about what his next few moves are: battle with those that wish to fight against him, establishing justice once again, and reign appropriately from his throne.

Many will say, I have nothing to fear. That is awesome, if you have a relationship with the Father, but should you find yourself concerned or feeling lost, then maybe I would re-examine my relationship with the Father before it is too late for grace to intervene.

“of His Christ…”

Separate and yet one. This struck me in a powerful way, as matter of fact the whole verse did. Finally God gets to brag on his Son, and the Son finally gets to shut the arrogant mouths.

Having dealt all the cards, it is God’s turn. Just look around you right now, the world is imploding. This is what Satan is capable of as he attempts to kill off everything that looks like God, and according to the words of Jesus, as found in scripture, he will come close at some point. But God is in control, even when it does not look like it.

“ for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”

Do you have any questions as to who the accuser is? Satan, and he has had free access to God from day one. Imagine what God has had to listen to.

Using myself as the example I have given him plenty of fodder as I exhibited anger and frustration about life, work, and other things that I cannot control. Yeah, I know, your life is perfect. LIAR! Isaiah 6 tells us that it is our righteousness that is the stinky rags before God’s face. So even on our best day our works don’t cut it. You have to put your faith in Christ and his sacrifice for you – that is the only way.

And they overcame him

“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.

(Revelation 12:11 NASB)

“And they overcame him because of the blood of the lamb and because of the word of their testimony,”

Who is the “they” here?

I might try the obvious approach and say the church, but the blood of the lamb was not just poured for them. The fact that they accepted Christ blood as theirs makes them the church but there are people within the church that are not overcoming anything. Life has just beat them down.

This passage tends to imply people who did overcome something, but what?

The verse itself tends to answer the question: “and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”

What has been the immediate topic of discussion here in Revelation?

The martyred saints. We tend not to think of them as over-comers, saving that title for ourselves, the church. And why would we take that attitude? Because we are judgmental, not willing to see God’s mercy poured out on anyone that did not buy an early ticket or stand in the long line awaiting heavens gates to open. But that misses the point; God’s mercy never fails.

Either way, whether it be Saints or the church, God sees us as victorious over the deceiver primarily because of the blood of Jesus, but it is also the word of our testimony.

That word of our testimony aspect may not be that elaborate. During the judgment years (the seven year period we inaccurately call the tribulation) the deaths of saints will increase to a fevered pitch. So much so, that they will not tolerate your long reasoning’s and attempts at converting them. It may become a mere yes or no response. Regardless denying Christ and choosing to worship the beast will get a quick ticket into the hell reserved for Satan and his followers, while refusal to follow the beast will get you, rather quickly, into the presence of God.

(A quick thought about the beast. This is bible terminology, and an allusion to something else, but let’s break it down. Our minds perceive some hideous representation when we hear the word beast, and I am sure it is to God, but in reality it represents a large entity that is in vile opposition to God’s will and ways. Can you think of anything, off the top of your head, that fits those  parameters? Allow me to help you. Islam perfectly fits those parameters, and is therefore the beast.)

  • I tend to ask myself if I am making any sense and changing lives. One can only hope, but I have to trust God. I am not one to exude with confidence but do have the desire to see you do so. Get serious about God’s word for in it is the way to life, and answers to all of life.

    Turn your life over to Jesus Christ. Admit that you are not capable of handling it and that you want him in control.

    Try something like this: Jesus, I need you and I need you to take control. I want to live with you in heaven so I am asking you to cleanse me and make me whole. Bring me into your kingdom with you. While I am here on this earth I am asking your Holy Spirit to guide me and give direction. I put my faith in you Jesus, knowing that you will not disappoint and not forsake me. I thank you for being my savior and cleansing me with your blood. Thank you for giving your life for me, and returning soon to receive me into your kingdom. Take my life, it is yours, and do with it what you need. In Jesus name.

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War arose in heaven.

Posted on 02/08/2013 by remso

I am going to tell you straight up that my understanding has changed as I attempted to write this. Two things stand out in my mind:

  • I went to my men’s bible study Sunday morning and talked for a short time about the act of writing. I told the leader that you have to work at not putting out garbage. And I do not wish to put out garbage here now.

  • The second thing that change my thinking was that I caught Dr. Ed Hinson on the Calvary Chapel radio station doing an hour-long overview of Revelation. Statements that he made about these passages must have been the work of the Holy Spirit.

If I leave this post almost the same as I started then maybe you can see my thought process and the point of change in thinking. I have tried to think this through and figure out how to explain what scripture is doing to us. All I was doing was to come up with conjecture that gets you no where and in trouble. Perhaps the best explanation for a passage is to compare what happens in there to what other prophetic authors of the old testament said by giving us accounts of the same things we read in Revelation.

An example might be:

And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”(Daniel 9:26-27 ESV)

Many have toiled over this in an effort to understand future events, and many have attributed the prince to Antiochus. While he did perform abominations in the temple, it is also an allusion to the beast of the near future.

So is it bogus information? No, it has a reason and purpose, and while it may be confusing at times, it is comparative and forth telling of future events.

One of the things I have said several times over is, nothing is in this book we call a bible by accident, everything has a purpose and reason. It is up to us to dig and find it out.

Much like a nurseryman who takes pride in the growth of his plants he is selling; we too should take some pride in the growth that we find in ourselves. Just don’t get your head swelled too much because Isaiah 6 is where you find the statement about how your righteousness is as filthy rags. In other words, even on your best day you should be undone by the Holiness of God.

God understands you better than you do and I suspect that he can handle you. Having a little warm fuzzy over gained understanding only encourages you to dig more; so keep on digging. It is a pearl of great price.

Now war arose in heaven.

Revelation 12:7-9 ESV Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, (8) but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. (9) And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world–he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

What have the previous verses of Revelation been talking about?

The dragon, which has various names, one of them being Satan, was anxiously awaiting the man-child (Jesus Christ) to be born so he could kill him. Those previous verses speak of the dragon being cast to earth and dragging the angels that followed down with him. Revelation 12:4 calls the fallen angels stars. We are not talking literal stars here. Stars are symbolic.

An attempt at logic without adequate understanding.

So what takes place first? – Obviously his being cast to earth. We first see the serpent in the third chapter of Genesis deceiving Eve.

Genesis 3:1-7 MKJV Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said to the woman, Is it so that God has said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (2) And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. (3) But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. (4) And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die, (5) for God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as God, knowing good and evil. (6) And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make wise, she took of its fruit, and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (7) And the eyes of both of them were opened. And they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made girdles for themselves.

Even here, in a state of death, God speaks prophetically to the woman about her offspring.

Genesis 3:15 ERV I will make you and the woman enemies to each other. Your children and her children will be enemies. You will bite her child’s foot, but he will crush your head.”

Jesus, the one John stated was the creative word that spoke all things into existence (John 1:1-5), said, I was there, I saw him thrown out of heaven (Luke 10:18).

Now war arose in heaven,

Heaven, in most everybody’s mind, is perfect and peaceful, but even those that reject Jesus Christ would tell you that the perfect place is a future event. That future can mean something that will happen immediately after death with no real idea of what happens, or an eventual home with Jesus and God.

I suppose I should admit that I built-in some ideas about what heavenly warfare looks like by reading several of Frank Peretti’s books. Angelic warfare in the heavenly realm, all around us, is a constant theme in many of his writings.

War means exactly that, a pitched battle. I do not know how many angels Michael had fighting on his side but we understand that the dragon had a third with him. Here in Revelation 12 they are referred to as stars.

When you look up the word for heaven it conveys pretty much what you might think of when someone mentions heaven.

Thayer’s definiton: 1) the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it. 1a) the universe, the world. 1b) the aerial heavens or sky, the region where the clouds and the tempests gather, and where thunder and lightning are produced.

War, it must have been a frightful sight.

I used to listen occasionally to the Bible Answer Man radio program. (I had a job that required a lot of driving.)

The show had noble beginnings and informed people about how to deal with the known cults, but it deteriorated into a show that spent most of its time berating the heresies in every aspect of Christianity that varied from the hosts. One of his repeated tirades centered on the idea that Jesus became sin, died, and during the time between his death and resurrection he went into the heavens and poured out his blood on the heavenly utensils. Going callers and church leaders with an angry vigor each day over this. The hosts would say, God would not bring himself down to that level of degradation.

Why would Jesus have to pour out his blood on the heavenly altar and utensils?

Because there had been an attempted takeover in heaven, and the heavenly pattern for the temple had been abominated as a result of the insurrection.

What had Jesus been describing to John just before this description of heavenly battle?

The dragon, on earth, ready to consume the woman’s child.

So what took place first; the battle in heaven, or the dragons appearance on earth, waiting to consume the man-child?

His being thrown out of heaven.

Revelation 12:9 describes him as a dragon and several other things, but where is the first place we see the dragon?

In the garden deceiving Eve.

Genesis 3:1 CJB Now the serpent was more crafty than any wild animal which Adonai, God, had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree in the garden’?”

But now we have a problem.

Revelation 12:8-9 CJB But it was not strong enough to win, so that there was no longer any place for them in heaven. (9) The great dragon was thrown out, that ancient serpent, also known as the Devil and Satan [the Adversary], the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him.

Were there two battles or one?

If God has to battle Satan again, then doesn’t that imply that God is not enough? The idea that God’s actions are enough take a huge role in Christ rising from the dead. His death on the cross and his resurrection are central to our belief in everything else. An example would be to look at the hope we have in Christ.

What are we hoping in?

Salvation, but from what? The wrath that is to come. That would be the seven years of wrath to be poured out on the earth. We have Jesus word on the subject as he referenced Noah and Lot as examples of this salvation.

So then what is the passage referring to when it says,

“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, “Now have come God’s victory, power and kingship, and the authority of his Messiah; because the Accuser of our brothers, who accuses them day and night before God, has been thrown out!” (Revelation 12:10 CJB)

If God had him thrown out, after an intense battle, then why do we see Satan interacting with God in the book of Job. Look at it.

One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.(Job 1:6-12 NIV)

We see Satan in heaven accusing Job once again in chapter 2 of Job.

On another day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. (Job 2:1-7 NIV)

There is no denying that Satan continued to have access to God, even after an apparent, life altering defeat.

I believe it was Ed Hinson, on the Calvary Chapel Channel, that said this verse demonstrates a future event in which Satan finally got locked out of heaven, and I believe he indicated that the end of his access occurs at the mid-point of the seven-year period.

Can we define when this happened or when it will happen.? Yes, but we have to jump ahead in the chapter to gain more clarity.

Following a chronological approach, we make the assumption that we are at the end of time, or at least near it. When Christ returns to end the warfare we know that Satan gets bound for one thousand years. The fact that he is bound plays strongly in God’s statement, “now is the accuser of the brethren cast out.”

Dr. Ed Hinson, stated that Satan’s expulsion happens at the midpoint of the seven-year tribulation.

Pay attention to the chronology of these passages:

And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. (Revelation 12:13-15 ESV)

The woman is surviving Israel. She escapes into the wilderness for three and one half years. At some point during this time in hiding the serpent tries to sweep Israel away with a flood. This may be very literal, but then I really cannot be sure.

What is the impact of this timing? In other words, what is happening at this point. If you are a student of end times events then you should already have a clue, but I will recap anyway.

  • The beast who made the seven-year treaty with Israel breaks the treaty.

    That ruler will have a firm agreement with many people for seven years, and when half this time is past, he will put an end to sacrifices and offerings. The Awful Horror will be placed on the highest point of the Temple and will remain there until the one who put it there meets the end which God has prepared for him.” (Daniel 9:27 GNB)

  •  The abomination is set up in the temple.

  • Those remaining in Israel need to flee.

    When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: (Matthew 24:15-16 KJV)

  •  The two witnesses will have been taken up into heaven.

  • The false prophet comes on the scene. There is a good chance he is already on the scene but not declared. Islamic prophecies proclaim that this man will be the enforcer of sharia, therefore an escalation in the beheading of saints should rapidly increase. Doesn’t that aspect show that there are still brethren for Satan to accuse?

  • (I have re-thought this since writing it.) When Christ returns to earth to end the warfare here on earth it seems to be quick and definitive, but nothing is said of warfare in heaven.

Jumping ahead to Revelation 12:13, it states, “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the man-child.” This time Satan is not awaiting the child but going directly after the one that brought Christ into the world. If you think about it, hasn’t attempting to destroy the lineage of Christ been Satan’s theme since Israels inception?

In summation:

You have just watched me struggle through the process of understanding. Yeah I know, some would say you do not understand anything, but what I do understand that God is passionately in love with people and desires that all be saved. I happen to be one of them.

I, like many, have preconceived ideas, ideas that don’t hold water when held up to the truth of God’s word. There is only one way to cure that and that is to dive into God’s word for yourself. The Apostle Paul praised the Bereans because they took it upon themselves to study and find out if what Paul said was true, and it was.

I had never even thought about the possibility that Satan had been cast out of heaven twice, because I have always tended to accept things I heard as more black and white. While being able to think of God and his Word as rigid and unchangeable seems ideal, there are many things in scripture that are not so clear-cut.

A couple of examples:

Our tendency to read the bible as a chronological time-line, when it is clearly not. Oh sure, there is a time-line but details are spread throughout scripture by different authors.

And places where scripture says, “all Israel came before ….” The book of Daniel is one of those places where even though King Nebuchadnezzar demanded that everyone bow before his statue, Daniel was not there and therefore did not bow, nor suffered being thrown into the fire with his companions.

Does this lack of rigidity diminish God’s integrity, or his word at all?

No!, it merely demonstrates the expressive way humans have conveyed many of God’s dealings with man.

To tell that Jesus submitted to the cross, died and rose again is not conjecture; it is verifiable, historic fact. God and his word is trustworthy. Perhaps things like Satan’s being cast out needs to be clarified so that people can have a confidence and greater understanding of the depth of God’s word.

Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.” It is not a lie nor is it some random babble. It is the only path to the life promised to those who follow after him.

Father, receive me, a sinner covered by the blood of your son Jesus. Jesus come into my life and be my life. Change me, use me, and have your way with me. Fill me with your love, the love that I have seen in your eyes. I believe in the hope of life you have for me and a life with you in eternity. In Jesus name.

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Another sign?

Posted on 02/01/2013 by remso

Revelation 12 verses 3 through 7

Revelation 12:3 MKJV And another sign was seen in the heavens. And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads!

Another sign?

God saw fit to place the stars in the heavens as signs, and it worked well enough to guide a ragged bunch of shepherds to the baby Jesus when he was born, and some wise men a few years later, but this sign had something to do with Satan, the dragon. I find nothing but speculation on this one.

“And behold a great red dragon,”

My Dake’s bible states that Satan is referenced as the dragon 13 times. Everyone of those occurs from Revelation 12 on.

If you read my blogs on Revelation then you know that I have said that John wrote things that were meant to be understood. Why should the analogy of a dragon be any different? If we work off the assumption that John’s readers would have been primarily Jewish and would have memorized the Law and the prophets what would they relate this to?

  • King David spoke of trampling the dragon. Psalms 91:13

  • Isaiah prophesied using most of the symbolism that we see in Revelation. Isa 27:1

  • The prophet Jeremiah referred to a dragon swallowing him up. Jer 51:34

  • Ezekiel the prophet spoke of a dragon that lies in the rivers. Eze 29:3

  • Rev 12:7-17, and Rev 13:2 give more detail about the dragon aspect.

Look at Daniel chapter seven and you will find the ten horns.

Daniel 7:7 AMP After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast [the Roman empire]–terrible, powerful and dreadful, and exceedingly strong. And it had great iron teeth; it devoured and crushed and trampled what was left with its feet. And it was different from all the beasts that came before it, and it had ten horns [symbolizing ten kings]. [Dan. 2:40-43; 7:23.]

The concept of the beast is not new for we see that reference in earlier portions of the  Revelation, and the ten horns imagery has also repeated itself. When we compare notes between the prophets of old and John’s writings we get a much more detailed picture of what will happen.

January 23, 2013, American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is finally brought before a senate investigations committee (a committee that works so hard at being polite and not offending that they do not ask the hard questions) and she was hopefully asked why everyone lied about the American deaths at Benghazi Libya, to which one of her replies was, “what does it matter?!”

Why does anything that happens after the rapture matter to the believer?

Because people will still be here, and continue to come to accept Jesus as the way. They will be martyred for their belief. I believe that having an understanding that the eternity that Jesus promises will give them a hope and the strength to carry on too. The times that are coming are going to be extremely hard, as violence from the skies falls on earth and an ever-increasing level of violence from people fills the earth.

It is really just a road map. Those of us that have found him to be true and come to him already, have managed to take the straightest path on that map. It doesn’t matter how we got there. It only matters that we found his overwhelming love and came to him. Everyone else is taking circuitous routes that will have them wandering some painful paths should they find his loving arms. Just know that he anxiously awaits your coming. And there you will find comfort and freedom that you have never known as you rest in him.

What would it take for me to convince you that you really do not want to be here during the tribulation years. The financial world will collapse; food and water will be a scarcity; Islam will be a violent, overwhelming force to reckon with, and governments, while collapsing, will be eradicating those who speak out against them. There will be multiple impacts in the oceans and fresh water sources by flaming objects; as a result shipping will be wiped out; all fishing will be wiped out; water will turn to blood and be undrinkable; earthquakes will be so violent that you may see the continents shift back together again, and people will be dying all around you.

Why does it matter? I suppose it doesn’t if I do not care. Look, I have no interest in luring you into some last days cult. I want you to find the Jesus who has been calling out to you in your dreams. I want you to find peace in him and a love that you have never known.

Find a bible and begin reading. Try starting with the book of John, the same John that struggled to understand who Jesus was, struggled with a violent temper, struggled with loving people, but yet finally figured out that this Jesus was the awaited one, the Messiah they longed for, and it changed him. So much so that he was willing to die proclaiming who Jesus was. Strangely,  of all the disciples he was the survivor, they could not kill him, though they tried. Exiled to this small island Jesus came to him and laid out the last days of broken man on this earth.

Jesus will return soon, in the clouds, to gather his own who are waiting for him, so that they can join with him and the Father in heaven. Jesus will physically return once more after this and this time he will not come as a tender lamb. He will come with vengeance and things will be set straight at last.

“…having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.”

Again from the Dake’s notes: This represents Satan’s domination of previous worldly kingdoms. If you think about it, the kingdoms of history all had their beginnings in violence as man has attempted to dominate people, with one main purpose throughout history, and that is so that those in control could have more and better things. It is not uncommon to see the wealthy rulers eating well while those that make that happen for them starve and die of disease.

Revolutions have had many a grand entrance because people at the ground level had enough. In the end someone always manages to gain the upper hand the cycle starts again. As you read through the Revelation you will see a comment along this line, and to destroy those that destroy the earth.

Sitting comfortably in riches, it would be my hope that I could continue in my lavish lifestyle, so what benefit do I gain from destroying the earth? None if I lose my benefit, but what if people and their souls are an aspect of that earth? Then I have destroyed both to feed my greed, and though there is no denying that corporate greed has destroyed the earth it is clear to me that souls are counted as part of this equation.

Make some passes through prophetic books of the bible, such as, Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Isaiah, just to name a few, and you will find analogies that use many of the same words. John’s readers recognized this immediately.

Those earthly kingdoms are up to and including the rising power of Islam.

The dragon stood before the woman to devour her child

Revelation 12:4 KJV And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

We already have established that we are dealing with Satan here.

“And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:”

This is referring to the third part of the angels that followed him. Satan does not seem to have an allegiance to anyone but himself. Note that is says, “and did cast them to the earth:”

“and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered,”

The woman was Israel, but think about the deaths and path of destruction we see Satan causing.

I heard a speaker, many years ago, say, Satan seemed to be taking pot shots at anything that looked like God might use it to bring salvation to the world. But the day that Jesus came up out of the water and God himself announced that this is my Son the game was on, and Satan looked for a way to take him out every chance he got.

Jesus himself stated in Luke’s gospel, 10:18 KJV “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”

 “and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered,”

Although not created for this purpose, it clearly became his corrupted goal to kill the man-child; the salvation of the world.

Satan’s original name was Lucifer, the bearer of light, but pride brought him down.

The implications are that Satan waited and watched the course of man in his quest to kill off anyone that had the potential to be the path to salvation.

In a short period of time after the garden incident, what do we see? Cain killing the only man who seemed to get it, Able, his brother. Satan had already effectively killed Adam and Eve. Isaac’s sons followed Satan’s lead and thought hard about killing Joseph. Pharaoh would have killed every Jewish boy if he could have but even then God had a plan. Even when they left Egypt Pharaoh changed his mind and came after them in hopes of killing them all, and would have done it if he could have. When Jesus was born Herod, out of fear for his own throne had every male child age two and younger killed. What do you think motivated those acts? Satan and his desire to overtake a God that threw him out of heaven.

“And she brought forth a man child”

Revelation 12:5 KJV And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

 And she brought forth a man-child.

She = Israel.

We know Mary gave birth to Jesus but the context here is much larger.

The man-child = Jesus Christ.

My Dake’s bible speculates on the possibility that the 144,000 Jews are the man-child.

If you wish to play the bigger picture then the man-child becomes anyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ.

Why say that? Did not the Apostle Paul try to teach us that we in Christ Jesus, if we have given ourselves to him. Try a few of these on for size: Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 2:10

“who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron:”

This is exactly what caused the Jews so many problems. They were looking for a messiah that would rule over their enemies with a rod of iron. They expected a dominant ruler that would free them. Oh, he freed them if only they recognized it.

Many saw the cross as death and defeat. No, the cross was a payment and his rising from the dead, just as he said he would, was our victory. They should have known he would rise again.

“and to his throne”

Where is Jesus now? He currently sits on the throne waiting for the right time to return. What time is that? When the last one comes into the kingdom, and only he knows that person.

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (Hebrews 1:3 ESV)

He is coming soon and then he will rule with a rod of iron. Consider: We tolerate so much nonsense now, but when he reigns, with the saints alongside, nonsense will end.

I must interject a short story here. I have made it on to one jury. 12 people deciding the fate of someone else. Our judge gave instructions that we were only to consider what was said in the witness chair as evidence. Did everybody get that! No conjecture, no opinion, and if there is a reasonable doubt then the person is innocent. Do you realize that at this point the law is still on the side of the accused. One member of our jury, a school teacher, decided that he should be the foreman. I was more than willing to do that with one goal in mind, to follow the judges instructions. For an entire week the school teacher made things up and tirelessly tried to sell people on his opinion. To be honest, I verbally accosted him and challenged him by saying, “is this what you teach our children?” Turns out it became a mistrial because I would not back down, and I would not let them convict this man based on their opinion.

Point: The world is run by nonsense, but the day will come when nonsense will be dealt with swiftly.

Did others recognize that the messiah had come? Absolutely!.

Mary understood.

Think about this for a moment. Mary, the youngest of the bunch got it. When the angel spelled it out for her she merely said,“Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.” Luke 1:38 KJV

Simeon the priest/prophet rejoiced in who the baby was.

When Joseph brought the baby into the temple on the eighth day, Simeon, who had been instructed by God to be there, sees the baby and says,“Lord, now You will let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word. For my eyes have seen Your Salvation which You have prepared before the face of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32 MKJV)

Ana, an old prophetess, too waited for his coming.

“And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in many days, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow of eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, serving God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in at that instant gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of Him to all those in Jerusalem eagerly expecting redemption.” (Luke 2:36-38 MKJV)

The shepherds, having been told by the angels got it.

“And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.” (Luke 2:15-20 KJV)

The wise men got it.

“Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1-2 KJV)

And let us not forget Nicodemus; Jesus own family, and over 500 people including the disciples, would testify that they saw him alive. Jews began to get it in exponential numbers.

“and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. “

The child is Jesus Christ. Where is Jesus at the moment? Aside from the fact that he keeps appearing to Muslims in their dreams, he sits upon the throne. Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 10:12; Acts 1:9-11

the woman fled into the wilderness

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. (Revelation 12:6 KJV)

The woman is that which remains of Israel, for many will be killed. The woman shows up again in verses 13 and 16.

“into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God,”

Most tend to speculate Petra, and while that would make a good choice, it is an obvious one making it potentially dangerous in mans eyes, but it is God that has prepared the place, therefore where ever it is it will be the right place.

How many times have you cried out to God for direction only to receive no answer? Unless Israel has prepared themselves most will take the most logical path out-of-town. God has a way of directing your thoughts so that clever idea you had was really implanted by him.

“that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.”

Without looking any further than the King James version you might not get a true sense for what is going on here. This is exactly what I did today as I read and took notes. Based on the KJV you might ask who is the “they”? Dake’s notes claim that it is the Arabs of Modern Jordan. That might be, but it is entirely up to God.

The English Standard version translates the passage this way:

and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
(Revelation 12:6 ESV)

This puts the responsibility back on God. Is that impossible? Not at all. Elijah was fed by Ravens while he spent time hiding in the desert. (1 Kings 17) When you start thinking outside the box, the “they” could be just about anything.

“ a thousand two hundred and threescore days”

1260 days: That equals three and one half years. “a time, times, and half a time”

You have been paying attention as we worked our way through the Revelation so you already have a familiarity with these numbers don’t you. This is the last half of the tribulation period.

Jesus warned the Jews that would listen:

“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.” (Matthew 24:15-18 ESV)

When does this abomination take place? Now you have to dig a little. It is not that difficult, just get a good concordance or bible program for the computer and start looking up key words. Daniel prophesied about this act.

“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” (Daniel 9:27 KJV)

Jesus went on to tell them,

“This will be the worst time of suffering since the beginning of the world, and nothing this terrible will ever happen again.” (Matthew 24:21 CEV)

The prophet Jeremiah prophesied,

“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” (Jeremiah 30:7 KJV)

 Addendum:

My desire is to write something relevant, inspired by God, and makes sense, so that those that choose to not read might have a clue about what is coming. These are not intended to be in-depth studies, although I admit they tend to be long. I have a commentary on the book of John, by Arthur Pink that must be about 1500 pages at least, but what if by some chance my ramblings helped you to understand more clearly. That would be outstanding in my opinion.

As I worked on this one it was hard not to see more of me coming out in it than God, but then that could be attributed to a poor self-image at times. If you were to ponder the prophetic gifts and the prophets of the old testament, you need to understand that God knew their human side would be involved. In other words you cannot detach the human influence from God’s word. It is going to come through. Do not use it for an excuse though. You know your issues, like anger, and you need to work at keeping your personal stuff out of what God is trying to say. It is unavoidable to some degree and God knows that. He may have even chose you to deliver a message because of your personality and life experience. I cannot reach an executive type, for I have no common ground, but then what does that have to do with anything. If God wants to communicate with someone he will use what is available, including their dreams.

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A great and wondrous sign

Posted on 01/20/2013 by remso

Revelation 12:1-2 (NIV)

A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.

I just ended chapter eleven of Revelation with my last post, and to be honest I did not feel like I did a very good job of it. For example: If someone asks you a question, stick with the most direct answer. There in my problem lies.

Seeing as my last couple of posts were focused on the last few verses of Revelation eleven, I told you that we are looking at statements there that paint a picture of the end. What then do we do with Revelation chapter 12, and how does it fit. I believe this is added explanatory information for the most part. Do not get me wrong, it is all good, and should have an impact on our Christian lives, for God is desiring that you understand, and there is a special blessing upon those that read the book and attempt to understand it.

What if I am wrong? What if the things I suggest make no difference or, are irrelevant?

Truth is, I could be, but this Jesus, the King of Majesty, came, lived, died and rose again, showing himself to over 500 people. Rather overwhelming evidence, and because he is the truth, and I follow him, I plan on being caught up to meet my Jesus in the air, right before all hell breaks loose (All hell breaking loose = the tribulation years.) So, in a way, much of the Revelation is irrelevant, unless it impacts you somehow, or – God expects us to stand in behalf of those that refuse him, and enlighten those who have been taken captive by the devil and do not realize how close the end really is.

Is the end times lead up impacting people as we speak? You can bet your last dollar it is. What has just been dancing across our news the last few days? Algeria, where armed Muslim activists have taken hostages and killed many, as well as killing non-Islamic citizenry. Many believe that the Algerian Muslim militias will join with Boko Haran, the African wing of Al Queda that has control in Nigeria, Chad, and the Sudan, and then another aspect of prophecy will be fulfilled.

What does scripture tell us to expect in the very near future? That a ten nation coalition will rise against Israel and God will wipe them out with a fire storm on the mountains surrounding Israel. NO ONE will come to Israel’s aid. (Has anyone noticed that our United States President has, in the last few days, said, “Israel does not know what is good for it!” That could mean a lot of things, but the implications are Israel is supposed to do what President Obama says, and I can tell you from scripture that is not going to happen.)

As noted in my earlier post I have been reading a book I picked up at Barnes and Noble. I was hunting for something else, which I found, but I stumbled across this and thought I would check it out. The book is “The End Times in Chronological Order, A complete overview to understanding bible prophecy.” The authors name is Ron Rhodes.

Here is the major problem that I am having. The author refuses to look past tradition and accept that Islam and a forth coming Islamic leader fill with precision all the holes that kept me lost for years. By taking the traditional position the author struggles to explain so many things, such as, the two witnesses lying in the street after witnessing for 1260 days, as though it is the Jews that are scorning them. I had a discussion about this very thing recently, and said, if you consider the timing, something drastic will have taken place in Israel that will allow the Jews, not only access to the temple mount but the ability to rebuild the temple once again. Under no circumstances is Islam going to give this area up without a fight and all the world will be focused on this area. Into this mix God tosses the two-witnesses. Having the ability to burn up anyone that would think to harm them I believe you will find them also serving somewhat of a protective role during the building of the temple. Given what may be seen as support, why would the Jews disdain them during their deaths, ignoring Jewish sanitary laws, and leave them in the streets to rot? The Jews would not, but the author Ron Rhodes would like to have me believe this because it makes his assertions fit better, and he then can continue to refuse historical evidence and common sense.

This is what I mean if I say you are pounding square pegs into round holes. Insert Islam into those holes and suddenly it all makes sense and it fits.

Jesus told us that many would be deceived. How easy that becomes when you do not take the time to investigate for yourself. If you are willing to allow people to do your thinking then you will be taken captive. Here again is another place where Islam fills the hole nicely. Islam is looking for Isa ben Mariam, Jesus the son of Mary, not God. A Jew, a priest, a Muslim, one who bows to the beast, acknowledges that there is no god but Allah, and he is the enforcer of Sharia. He will perform all the mighty miracles and refute the belief of many, causing them to follow Allah and worshiping the beast instead of Jehovah. Islam fits the deception.

Enough of that, back to the study at hand.
A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven

Revelation 12:1-2 (NIV)

A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.

This has little application to end times events, nor does it fit into a chronological pattern. How it stands out is that the birth is of the King triumphant, cloaked as a lowly child, that will soon catch us away, and will come again the second time with the armies of heaven to end the tribulation and sin on the earth. He also happens to be what the book of Revelation is all about, my Jesus Christ, the one who gave his life for me. He came out of Israel, Mary to be precise and her lineage is traced in scripture.

“A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ..”

Who is being described? Israel

Isaiah 11:1 KJV And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

Isaiah 65:9 KJV And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.

Isaiah 66:7-9 KJV Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. (8) Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. (9) Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.

Zechariah 6:12 KJV And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

“ a woman “

From the MacArthur commentary: “Not an actual woman, but a symbolic representation of Israel, pictured in the OT as the wife of God (Isa_54:5-6; Jer_3:6-8; Jer_31:32; Eze_16:32; Hos_2:16). Three other symbolic women appear in Revelation: (1) Jezebel, who represents paganism (Rev_2:20); (2) the scarlet woman (Rev_17:3-6), symbolizing the apostate church; and (3) the wife of the Lamb (Rev_19:7), symbolizing the true church. That this woman does not represent the church is clear from the context.”

“clothed with the sun,…”

The word for clothed is periballō and it means to put on or surround. The sun represents God, in all his manifestations. So Israel either put on the sun or they were supposed to. It seems that what they put on were a mountain of other rules and traditions. If they had put on God then perhaps their reception of the Messiah, when he arrived, would have been warmer.

“..with the moon under her feet…”

I perused just about every commentary I have, and almost everyone had a different take on what this meant. One that grabbed my attention said, that the moon reflects the light of the sun therefore she was clothed in light. That works for me, but I also had a strong pull toward the moon representing the nation of Israel for this is part of dream that Joseph had and shared with his brothers.

You have to remember that John wrote to the early church, of which the majority were Jewish converts that continued to relish their Jewishness and really wanted all new believers to conform to the Jewish ways. So John spoke in terms that they understood.

The second aspect of this would be the prophetic patterns that Jews looked for. To the Jew prophecy was pattern, and God laid out consistent patterns for them throughout Jewish history. Revelation is filled with this type of symbolism. Because of their education in the synagogues, Jewish boys learned, by memorization, the law and the prophets (the Torah and the Tanakh). Jesus quoted so many of these during his short tenure here on earth, and the Jews he spoke to understood explicitly what he said. That understanding is an aspect of their rejection, and God’s anger that we see in the Revelation.

“.. a crown of twelve stars on her head..”

Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary states: “The garland of twelve stars is a reference to the twelve tribes of Israel, or perhaps to the twelve apostles (Rev_21:12-14). The stars recall Joseph’s vision (Gen_37:9-11), which signified the preeminence of Joseph over his brothers.”

“..She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.”

Again from MacArthur’s commentary: Israel, often pictured as a mother giving birth (cf. Isa_26:17-18; Isa_54:1; Isa_66:7-12; Hos_13:13; Mic_4:10; Mic_5:2-3; Mat_24:8), had agonized and suffered for centuries, longing for the Messiah to come and destroy Satan, sin, and death, and usher in the kingdom.

This aspect makes me think of the old prophet that anxiously awaited the birth of the Messiah.

Luke 2:25-35 LITV And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, eagerly expecting the Consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. (26) And it happened to him, having been divinely instructed by the Holy Spirit, he was not to see death before he would see the Christ of the Lord. (27) And by the Spirit he came into the temple. And as the parents were bringing in the child Jesus for them to do according to the custom of the Law concerning Him, (28) even Simeon received Him into his arms. And he blessed God and said, (29) Now, Master, You will let Your slave go in peace according to Your Word; (30) because my eyes saw Your Salvation, (31) which You prepared before the face of all the peoples; (32) a Light for revelation to the nations, and the Glory of Your people Israel. (33) And Joseph was marveling, also His mother, at the things being said concerning Him. (34) And Simeon blessed them and said to His mother Mary, Behold, this One is set for the fall and rising up of many in Israel, and for a sign spoken against; (35) yea, a sword also will pierce your own soul, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

How does Israel possibly justify its unbelief and rejection if they awaited the same birth that Simeon did? They had read the same prophets, memorizing them. The only thing that explains they way they rejected Christ is the hardness of their hearts. They refused to believe!

Another witness was Anna, the prophetess.

Luke 2:36-38 LITV And there was Anna, a prophetess, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in many days, having lived seven years with a husband from her virginity; (37) and she was a widow of eighty four years, who did not depart from the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. (38) And coming on at the very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke concerning Him to all those in Jerusalem eagerly expecting redemption.

At least two were paying attention and believed that the Messiah had come. I have to wonder if they would have reacted differently thirty years later, for Israel seemed to be looking for a warrior King to come and save them. Jesus told James and John, when they wanted to call fire down upon a Samaritan town, that that was not the representation of why he came at this point. They were to show a dove like manner, peaceful and calm. He will come as a warrior soon enough, to destroy those who rejected him.

The fact that two heard the voice of the spirit, leading them to the Messiah, leads me to believe that any could have known this. Wise men, from another nation knew and came to find the promised King. Israel, clothed in the sun, by in large was blind, choosing not to see.

This is not a foot race that I am on, but I feel a strong compulsion to write, in the hope that someone finds this Jesus, the King of Glory, who is coming back soon to gather his family back to himself. After that the end comes.

It is the end of things that greatly disturbs me, for it is filled with not only the wrath and judgments from God, but the wrath of people as well. Sure you can still come to him, but the age of grace is over and there is no escaping the hell that will happen here on earth. Everything I see leads me to believe that new believers will lose their heads. The man scripture calls the beast will demand of you an allegiance, either to Allah (most likely) or to the God you serve. For a time, here in the United States many Christians will be thrown into the FEMA concentration camps scattered across the US (there are over 600 of them). But the day will come when even in this nation they won’t tolerate your existence anymore.

Scripture tells me that those that accept the mark that the beast (The beast will be some sort of global leader, and it is possible that President Obama, by presidential order that he is so fond of will also demand its acceptance) demands, and worship the beast, will be thrown into the same eternal torment that Satan and his angels get tossed into. Determine now that you will not fall into that trap, for you will seal your eternal separation from God.

Run to him. To many he has shown up in your dreams, calling you to come to him. His name is Jesus, the Son of God, the risen one from the dead, and his love for you, a love that overwhelms you as he speaks, is everlasting. He has called to you since the beginning of time, and he knew the path you would take to get to him. Open your mouth and accept him as your savior and redeemer. He paid the price for your freedom with his own life. Jesus, this day I receive you into my life. Change me and give me a life in your kingdom. …He will!

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