End Times Studies

The Ketubah in Revelation

2012-01-31T16:45:00.005-05:00

In the course of writing about Revelation on my blog, I spoke of how the scroll, that has the seven seals that Christ breaks, represents the mortgage on planet earth. To be redeemed, it required that there be a kinsman redeemer who could claim the right to break the seals, and that the price needed to pay it off be met, before the seals could be broken. These seals would outline the conditions that had to be carried out for the mortgage to revert to its original owner. That is what these seven seals represent, the conditions that God agreed to give Satan in order to get the planet back. God could just take it back, but He does all things in a fair, just, and legal way. The price due for having lost the planet (Adam forfeited the planet by sin, and sin was paid for by death) was paid when a kinsman (Jesus became a man and thereby our kinsman) redeemed it through paying the price (his death on the cross, the death of a perfect, sinless man whose life was not owed to Satan, but given anyhow). Thus it allowed Him the right to break the seals, as according to the Torah or Law, only a kinsman who can pay the price has the right to fulfill the conditions of a mortgage agreement . These seals (in Bible times on each seal of a mortgage scroll a condition of redemption was written) then must be carried out in completion before the property (in this case earth) actually reverts back to total control of the original owner by completing the transaction. This is why antichrist gets to reign until the entire forty-two months are up, and it is not declared that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord until that point.(Rev. 12:15). As there are seven seals, and the seventh seal contains the six trumpet judgments, these are the conditions that must be met for Christ to again reign as King of Kings and ruler of planet earth. After they are finished, the planet officially becomes Christ's and He is the ruler and can do what He wants with it, which is why God's wrath (7th trumpet) is held off until then, even though He could technically do it anytime He wants.

What has always puzzled people is the second smaller scroll that we find in Chapter 10. It seems obvious that part of what is contained in it are the vial/bowl judgments of God's wrath, but why John was supposed to seal up what he hears and not write it down was a mystery. It comes 1)after the sixth trumpet is over, 2)as the last or seventh trumpet is about to be sounded, and 3)after the two witnesses have finished their witnessing and are resurrected. From my study I have shown that the rapture (Revelation 14) occurs at the last trumpet just before God's wrath (vial/bowl judgments) is poured out. It is at this time that the marriage of the Lamb will be occurring.(Revelation 19). It suddenly dawned on me that this must be the ketubah that Christ reads at the time of the marriage ceremony between Him and the Church as the timing is exactly the same. Naturally the bride should not hear the ketubah read before the wedding, so that is why it is necessary to seal it up. We are not to know the entire contents, although the wrath of God must be part of it, and we are told about that.

A ketubah is a special type of Jewish prenuptial agreement that goes back to ancient times. It is considered an integral part of traditional Jewish marriages and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom toward the bride. It is usually read at the marriage ceremony under a chuppah (the canopy under which the bride and groom stand). It requires that two witnesses who are qualified to be witnesses by Jewish law and are not relatives of the bride, sign it.

As the rapture, the resurrection of the two witnesses, and the marriage ceremony will occur at the time of the beginning of the 7th trumpet, it would appear that this scroll from Chapter 10 is the ketubah.

The ketubah is supposed to be the groom's responsibilities toward the bride. Were we not promised that God will avenge us? Romans 12:19 "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Notice that he says we should give way for His wrath. His wrath, the Day of the Lord wrath, will be our vengeance. We have been promised that all that we have suffered at the hands of the wicked will be repaid back upon their heads. This document which must partially outline God's wrath is exactly what we have been promised as part of our marriage contract - vengeance, just as the martyrs of the 5th seal had been asking for vengeance. The two witnesses are resurrected after spending three and a half years proving their worthiness to be proper witnesses according to the Law, and they are not related to the Bride of Christ, as we are told that at least one of them is Elijah or comes in the spirit of Elijah. These two witnesses are special people (either people who have existed before i.e. Enoch, Elijah, or Moses, or someone new) chosen for this mission. They are not a part of the Church. Christ reads this scroll under the canopy or chuppah of the sky – clouds and rainbow, which is God's canopy, while He plants His feet on both land and sea, claiming what is now rightfully His as King of Kings by having all of the conditions of the mortgage met. This land is now most likely part of our wedding gift, or the bride price part of the ketubah, as it is given back to mankind again.

This being a ketubah makes perfect sense, as the timing of the two witnesses, the rapture, the marriage ceremony, and God's wrath commencing, all occur at the time (after the sixth trumpet) when Christ plants his feet and claims the earth again. Jewish customs and traditions seem to be a pattern which we need to reference to understand these end times events. The Second Coming will occur at the time of the fall feasts and the Feast of Tabernacles has a tradition about a marriage. The seven days of marriage feasting will be fulfilled during the seven days of this Feast of Tabernacles. Then at the end of God's wrath we will accompany our Groom down to Armageddon.

The Validity of Extra-Biblical Sources

2011-11-19T19:27:00.005-05:00

Recently I have witnessed an ongoing debate about the authenticity and reliability of the Book of Enoch as being on a par with the Bible. Today I wandered onto a website that spoke of not only the Book of Enoch and other apocryphal books as being hidden knowledge that is being kept from people, but also this person set forth that real truth, hidden truth, truth that one cannot find just by reading the Bible, can be found in the well-known Hidden Bible Codes.

These aforementioned sources, along with people's visions, dreams, prophecies, appearances of Mary (which I address in this article MaryWorshipandAppearances) and other spirits, seem to be a growing source of references for people's beliefs and doctrines and those who are preaching eschatology on the internet. Because these things are starting to become a major obstacle for Christians who are trying to teach the truth based on a literal interpretation of the Scriptures alone, I thought it might be a good idea to address whether or not these extra-Biblical sources are of use in trying to determine what will happen in the days ahead.

A good place to start seems to be first determining if what we know as the Old Testament is the only Scriptures that we should accept before the Gospels. The easiest way to determine this is to see what Christ accepted as the Old Testament Scriptures. That would be the Tanakh or the Jewish Bible (Old Testament). In the Tanakh we find the following books.

The Torah (Teachings) or Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

The Nevi'im (Prophets): Joshua, Judges, Samuel (I & II), Kings (I & II), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi

The Ketuvim (Writings): )Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Song of Songs (Solomon), Ruth, Esther, Ezra-Nehemiah (they count this as one book), Chronicles (I & II), and Daniel.

These are the books that are accepted as canon by Judaism. These are the books that would have comprised the Tanakh when Yeshua walked on earth. Of the Old Testament apocryphal books that exist, the one which comes most into question is the Book of Enoch, although the books of the Maccabees is also considered truth. While the first book of the Maccabees seems to be a historical record and can be used for historical reference, it is not considered divinely inspired by Judaism. The second book is partially a revised version of some of the history given in 1 Maccabees, and then it presents some questionable Pharisaic traditions and teachings, which are not in agreement with Scripture, making it suspect. The Book of Enoch, while having one verse quoted by Jude, has some things in it which are clearly refuted by the Scriptures (such as the antediluvian world having rain before the Flood, which Scripture said it did not have Genesis 2:5 "And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground." While some of what the Book of Enoch tells may indeed be historical (we can't know for sure), again it is suspect and not to be trusted as truth, even though very interesting and seemingly plausible in many respects. And as it is in disagreement in places with Scripture, it is clearly not divinely inspired. The rest of the apocryphal books were excluded from the canon for the same reasons. That Yeshua quotes from the rest of the Tanakh, but never quotes from the apocryphal books, nor does he ever indicate in any way that these excluded books should be considered equal with the books of the Tanakh, makes it clear that they are not divinely inspired and should therefore not be used to determine truth. This does not mean that some of them may not have some truth in them, but they are not to be trusted in the same way that we can trust the canon. We cannot be sure what is truth and what is not.

Now we come to the New Testament apocryphal books. We do not have Yeshua to guide us in the matter of what can be trusted to be canon and what cannot, as these books came after His sojourn on earth. We do know that Judaism does not accept any of them, but that is irrelevant as they do not accept Yeshua either. So, we must now look to the people who convened to determine what the canon would be. The twenty-seven books of the New Testament - the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles (which is really part two of the book of Luke), the epistles, and Revelation were written mostly in the first century A.D. and universally accepted by the time of the 300's A.D. Over the centuries there were debates and councils to officially determine if these twenty-seven books all belonged in the canon and were the only books that should be in the canon, and they stood the test of each challenge. The apocryphal books did not stand up to this test. But, some may argue, may these men not have been wrong? While we have Yeshua's judgment to rely upon for the Old Testament, dare we trust men to determine the validity of what books belong in the New Testament? Fortunately we do not have to trust men. We can trust God.

Psalm 12:6-7,”The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.”

Psalm 119:89, 152, 160, For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever. Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.”

Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

Matthew 5:18, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

Deut. 4:2, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”

Prov. 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”

Rev. 22:18-19, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Prov. 13:13, “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.”

All of these verses tell us that 1) God can and will preserve His Word, 2) anyone that adds or deletes from God's Word will suffer tremendously and 3) if a person despises God's Word, he will be destroyed. So we know that God has promised us that He will make sure we have all of His Word, not be missing any of it, and that He will make sure that anyone who tries to add or delete from the canon will suffer for it. He also says that anyone who despises His Word (tries to remove or change it from what God intends) will be destroyed. We can assume from this that their effort to destroy His Word will also be thwarted. While Satan will try to add, delete, and corrupt God's Word through new revelations, bad translations, and edited versions, I believe God has promised that His pure Word can be found somewhere. That is why you need to really be careful of the Bible version you use. People do not give God enough credit to think that He can and will make sure that we have all His Word and nothing but His Word in a book that is known to be His Word. In fact, this warning applies not only to apocryphal books, but to books such as the Book of Mormon, writings by Ellen G. White, Charles Taze Russell, or anyone else who claims to have a new revelation from God and writes a new book. Nothing, and I repeat NOTHING was to be added after the book of Revelation. God made this quite clear. The same applies to deletions such as Thomas Jefferson's scissored version of the Bible, or newer translations that eliminate entire verses or passages from the Bible. To repeat once more, Rev. 22:18-19, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Now we come to a much more difficult thing to discern. That is the subject of dreams, visions, prophecies, appearances, etc. When it comes to appearances, the rule is to 1) test the spirits according to the command given in 1 John 4:1-3 "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist." 2)makes sure that anything that is said is in agreement with Scripture, and 3) If a spirit pretends to be someone who was a human (as opposed to an angel or "alien") it can be immediately assumed to be a fallen angel or demon, as human beings upon death either go immediately to be with the Lord or to hell. As true appearances by angels of God are rare to non-existent these days, most spirits that appear will not pass rule number one. The problem is, most people just accept these appearances and never challenge the spirit with this test.

Dreams, visions, prophecies, and "new revelations" are much harder to pinpoint. The only guideline we have for these things is to examine them very carefully against Scripture and see if they agree or disagree, or in the case of prophecies, whether or not they come true. As most people either do not know their Scriptures, or handle Scripture in the most careless way, this becomes a real problem, as they may validate and accept dreams, visions, prophecies, and especially new revelations that are not Scriptural. This new revelation is then passed on to others as truth, which then leads others astray. A prime example of this is Harold Camping. He has not been satisfied to accept God's Word at face value. He had to come up with hidden knowledge (something Satan loves to use to deceive people) by way of a math language and formula, rather than merely reading what God has to say. This is a common theme with people who start new cults or belief systems. They claim to have discovered "hidden" knowledge that nobody has ever had before. God does not work with hidden things. God is out in the open. Satan is the one who loves to hide things. The Babylonian mysteries were hidden from everyone but the initiated. The occult is all about hidden knowledge. The secret societies that worship Satan all have hidden agendas, hidden codes, hidden writings, and hidden rituals. So anytime someone claims to have discovered hidden knowledge, one should immediately start running the other direction. The only thing that God hid, He actually told us He was hiding until the time was right for it to be finally opened and understood. That hidden knowledge is the book of Daniel, but it is no longer hidden, as we are now in the end times when the book has been opened to understanding.

As for the Bible Codes, while God has many layers of understanding in His Word, a brief examination of this process immediately makes one discount it. First, it seems that these codes prophesy multiple futures. That renders it unacceptable right at the start, as the future is clearly and openly outlined for us in the Book of Revelation, as well as the Old Testament prophets. There is only one future and we are told what it will be. Second, while I do not understand Hebrew, it seems very questionable how they come up with these words that they supposedly find in the texts. People seem to be finding words that are English in the Hebrew text. I find that a little unbelievable. People say they are finding their names. Really? What is your name in Hebrew, do you know? How do you know it is you to whom it refers? How can you say that it is your name spelled out using Hebrew letters when Hebrew has no vowels. For instance, if we were to look up our president's name, without vowels it would be "Brk bm". Now are we too look for the equivalent Hebrew letters of Brkbm and assume if we can find those letters it is referring to the president? Maybe it stands for Eber Kabim, whose name would also be "brkbm"? How about cities? I have heard they have found Los Angeles mentioned. Would that be "Lsngls"? Maybe the letters before and after the "l" and "s" should be included. There are unlimited ways to do this and "see" something there. Plus you can go up, down, back and forth, and probably diagonally. If you search long enough you could find anything. People see what they want to see. In fact, this "code" can be carried out on any lengthy work of literature. Shakespeare is a great source for this sort of thing. In fact, it would seem like finding English words in an English text that would actually spell them out would be easier and more believable. This practice is actually an occult practice which was no doubt brought back from Babylon by the Kabbalistic Jews when they returned to Judah. Again, God is very open with us and tells us a great deal in His Word quite openly. We just don't study enough to understand it all. While He is certainly capable of having the layers of His Word be quite deep and remarkable, it is not His intention that we get our information that way. He wants us to study the Word as is.

Rather than looking for new revelations or hidden knowledge, people need to get into their Bibles and learn what God has to say. To follow any religion or theology that is based upon extra-Biblical revelations is to turn from what is known to be truth to what is most likely lies.

A Display of Christian Faith

2011-10-22T19:01:00.002-04:00

Occasionally I depart from my ongoing Bible study to discuss things that strike me as important. Today I attended a funeral. It was the funeral of the newborn daughter of a family member. They had been told during the pregnancy that the little girl, whom they appropriately named Grace, would not live long after birth, if she survived the birth at all. God felt, for His own reasons, that it would be best to take her right at birth. As her father so accurately put it, she was born into God's arms.

Like any Christian should be, I am definitely pro-life. A soul exists at the moment of conception, and that is a Scriptural fact. Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee: before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee...." A person exists at the moment of conception and anything that is done to halt that life is murder in the eyes of God. Even hurting a child is a heinous crime with God. Matthew 18:5-6 "And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." Matthew 18:10 "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." Mark 9:36-37 "And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me." Mark 9:42 "And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea." Luke 17:2 " It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." Clearly God feels very strongly about anyone who would hurt a child in any way.

This couple had known that Grace would not survive, yet they chose to give her what little span of life she might have, as they knew with a certainty that every life is given by God and has a purpose, no matter how short it may be. Their unbelievable strength and poise in the midst of such a terrible sorrow was an incredible testimony to the faith that sustains them. Grace gave her family the gift of allowing them to display the action of her name. They were a picture of God's magnificent grace in a time of deepest anguish. The program that accompanied the funeral had some letters they had written to their little girl. The Scriptures they chose to read, the songs that were sung, everything about the service was not about their sorrow, but about the triumph of a life that had existed and a child that was now living in a much happier place with our Savior. To say that her life did not leave a mark on the world would be wrong. The number of people that came was a testimony to the effect this couple's faith has had on others. The message that was given was powerfully pro-life. I cannot imagine that people left the place the same as when they came in. This baby's life has surely affected someone, although we may never know whom or how.

This should be a message to us. If a child who never drew a breath of life, apart from her mother's womb, could leave an impact on the world for God, then how much more should those of us who can count our time on this earth not in minutes or seconds, but decades think about the effect we are having on others? Everything we do, say, believe, feel, think, has an impact. What we have to constantly keep in mind is, are we leaving an impact for or against God? Today I saw a baby who never saw daylight, and a family who will have a permanent hole in their lives, leave an indelible mark for God on a great many people.

The Consequences of Bad Decisions

2011-09-01T20:32:00.002-04:00

The State of New York recently decided to approve gay marriage. God is not amused. This past weekend Hurricane Irene hit the coast and parts of New York (as well as Vermont, who also allows gay marriage) have been devastated. This hit close to home for me as my hometown where I grew up (I no longer live there) was one of the casualties. It has been destroyed, as has the town in which I went to school and some neighboring towns on the same riverfront. One town is a 100% total loss. The town (or I should say the land, as there is no town anymore) is not even accessible anymore as bridges on both ends of town are destroyed. People were trapped in the town. A friend of my family's was lost in the flood when she was unable to reach her husband and was swept away by the waters and killed. People that I know have lost everything - homes, material possessions, and some have lost their jobs and businesses. In some cases rebuilding will be difficult simply because the land is no longer there. It has been eroded by the waters into gorges. Businesses may never open again. People will have to start from scratch again, and some are in their "golden" years.

Vermont suffered greatly too. Many years ago I also used to live up there where all this flooding took place. It has made me very aware of God's wrath, having two areas in which I have lived be devastated in this manner. Is God punishing these states for their anti-Biblical stand on homosexuality? This storm acted in a most bizarre manner in what it did to certain areas. Why did God allow these areas to be targeted? I couldn't say. Maybe there is no specific reason. I have no idea what is going on in these communities, but I do not think this punishment of New York State will stop with them. I think all of New York is going to suffer for this thumbing of their nose at God and His holy laws. Those who have not suffered yet should be prepared. The other shoe may be about to drop. Christians are not exempt. The rain falls on the just and unjust alike. The woman who was swept away in the flood was a Christian.

All we can do is pray for all the people who have suffered from this storm and ask for God's forgiveness for the sins of the legislators in allowing this law to be passed.

The Beast or Antichrist in the Old Testament Pt. 8

2011-08-27T14:36:00.004-04:00

Jeremiah 48

This chapter deals with the destruction of Moab by the “spoiler.” While as in all prophecies, it speaks anciently of Moab's destruction, prophetically it speaks of a nation in the future that may not be Moab in physicality, but Moab spiritually. In looking at the verses, we will see a parallel to the description of future Babylon, and how “the spoiler” (a name we have seen previously referring to the beast or antichrist) will destroy her. While it cannot be said that this is necessarily speaking spiritually of Babylon, the parallels are remarkable.

To show the parallels, I will give the verse from Jeremiah 48 and show the parallel verses from Revelation or other books.

Verse 2-3 “There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee. A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.”

Revelation 17:16-17 “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.” Jeremiah 50:10, 26,37-38 “And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord.....Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left....A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed. And drought is upon her water; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.”

Verse 6 “Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.”

Verse 7 “For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.”

Isaiah 47:10 “For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.” Revelation 18:7 “How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.” Jeremiah 50:35 “A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.”

Verse 8 “And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the Lord hath spoken.”

Finally in this verse we see mention of the beast or antichrist by the name we have seen before, spoiler. The spoiler will come upon every city to destroy it, and none of them will escape from his hand. He shall destroy the valleys and plains as well, and the Lord has ordained it. Verses about Babylon that parallel this are the following:

Jeremiah 50:3 “For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.” Jeremiah 51:56 “Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the Lord God of recompences shall surely requite. And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.”

Verse 9 “Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.”

Revelation 17:4 “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Jeremiah 50:8 “Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.” Jeremiah 51:6 “Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.” Jeremiah 51:45 “My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord.” Jeremiah 50:13 “Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished and hiss at all her plagues.” Jeremiah 50:40 “As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.” Isaiah 48:20 “Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.”

Verse 11 “Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.”

Revelation 18:7 “How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no window, and shall see no sorrow.” Isaiah 47:1 “Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.” Isaiah 47:8 “Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow,l neither shall I know the loss of children.”

Verse 12 “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.”

Isaiah 47:15 “Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.” Jeremiah 50:10 “And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 50:16 “Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.” Jeremiah 50:26 “Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.” Isaiah 13:14 “And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.”

Verse 15 “Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.”

Jeremiah 50:10 “And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 13:18 “Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.” Jeremiah 50:30 “Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord.” Jeremiah 50:32 “And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him uip: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.” Jeremiah 51:3 “Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.” Jeremiah 51:40 “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.”

Verses 16-17 “The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast. All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod.”

Revelation 18:5,8 “For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” Revelation 18:10-11 “Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.” Revelation 18:15-19 “The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate.” Jeremiah 50:23 “How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!” Isaiah 47:9 “But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.”

Verse 18 “Thou daughter that doest inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strongholds.”

In this verse we again see mention of the spoiler. This spoiler, which we know to be the beast (whether or not this is speaking of modern day “Moab” which is Jordan, or modern day Babylon, which I believe to be America) will spoil or take away the wealth of Moab as well as destroy its strongholds or places of military, as well as financial strength.

Isaiah 47:1 “Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.” Isaiah 47:5 “Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, the lady of kingdoms.” Jeremiah 51:30 “The mighty men of Babylon have forlorn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.” Isaiah 51:53 “Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 51:56 “Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the Lord god of recompences shall surely requite.” Revelation 17:16 “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” Revelation 18:7-8 “How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” Revelation 18:19 “And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate.”

Verse 19 “O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say What is done?”

Jeremiah 50:28 “The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple.” Jeremiah 51:10 “The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the Lord our God.” Jeremiah 51:31 “One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end.”

Verses 20-25 “Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled, and judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath, and upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Bethdiblathaim, and upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon, and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the Lord.”

Jeremiah 50:2 “Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.” Jeremiah 50:46 “At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.” Jeremiah 51:8 “Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.” Jeremiah 51:47 “Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the mist of her.” Revelation 18:9-11 “And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.” Revelation 18:15, 18-19“The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing....And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate.”

Verse 26-27,29,42 “Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the lord: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? For since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy....We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart...And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the Lord.”

Isaiah 47:6-8,10 “I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:.....for thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.” Jeremiah 50:11 “Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls.” Jeremiah 50:29,31 “Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her; for she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel...Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.” Revelation 18:7 “How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.”

This chapter goes on and repeats more of the same, so I will not cover the entire chapter, as this seems to be enough to show the parallel between Babylon and what is said of Moab. God uses the same imagery throughout the Scriptures, which clearly shows that God is the author of the entire Bible, and men were merely instruments through whom He wrote. It also shows that God wants us to see the spiritual parallels between these passages and realize that while they may have applied to the ancient lands which are mentioned in the immediate future of the writers, they also have a further application in our future. The fact that these were often not fulfilled in the completeness of literalness, but only partially fulfilled in the literal sense, or in some cases metaphorically fulfilled in the past, means that there is yet more to come. As some of these nations no longer exist in name, one has to then analyze as to whether it is referring in the future to the geographic area upon which the ancient nation existed, or is it spiritually referring to another nation, who spiritually fits the description, in the future. This is the difficulty in trying to understand prophecy. The parallels between the spiritual entity of future Babylon and future Moab can be seen. Does that mean it is speaking of the same future spiritual entity, or are there two spiritual entities? Or are they two geographic areas about which a similar prophecy is being spoken? Only time can verify an answer.

The Beast or Antichrist in the Old Testament Pt.7

2011-07-16T16:24:00.003-04:00

I finally (after a few months) have my computer back and working, so am now able to get back to posting articles on my blog. My apologies to any readers who have not had anything new to read in a while.

For a while I have been writing on verses in the Old Testament that seem to refer to the beast or antichrist. I have gone through Isaiah and am now in Jeremiah, but I want to digress for a moment. I want to step out of Jeremiah for this post, as something brought to remembrance the fact that many people feel that the beast will come out of the tribe of Dan. They believe this because of the prophecy made about Dan by Jacob when he pronounced blessings on his sons before he died.

Before getting into that prophecy, it bears mentioning that these blessings (and curses) were not merely vain words expressing approval, disapproval, hopes, disappointments, or desires. Our words actually have the power to come true prophetically. Have you ever heard the "mother's curse?" "I hope you have a child just like you?" In my case, if my mother uttered it, and I imagine she probably did, she may have meant it as a curse, but unknown to her, it was a blessing. While I may not have been the world's most perfect child, especially in her eyes, I was a child who gave their life to the Lord at a young age and did my best to try to live a life pleasing to Him (in spite of my many sins). Likewise, my children both gave their lives to the Lord at a young age and now in their twenties are young men who still have a vital relationship with the Lord. While not perfect (who is?), they strive to be good young Christian men who put the Lord first in their lives. I have uttered the "mother's curse" on them as a blessing, as I would like to see them have children who turn out as well as they have.

We (and I am sinfully as guilty of this as anybody) all speak words without thinking of the power they have. The Scriptures tell us that words have power. They have power because God's words have power (He spoke the world into being) and we are created in the image of God. He is the one who gives our words power, as He hears and fulfills the things we say. As such our words have great power. We do not stop and think about that, but we are told it is true, even to the point of life and death.

Proverbs 18:21 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."

Our words can bring life of death to others as well as ourselves. Those who exploit the power that the tongue can bring will eat of the consequences.

Proverbs 6:2 "Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth."

Proverbs 18:7 "A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul."

There were severe consequences in the Law of Moses for cursing one's parents.

Matthew 15:4 "For God commanded, saying. Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death."

Mark 7:10 "For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother, and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death."

We are told that the tongue is the most dangerous member of our body.

James 3:5-10 "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth preceedeth blessing and cursing. my brethren, these things ought not so to be."

Matthew 15:11, 17, 18 "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Do not ye yet understand that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man."

We are told to guard our mouths and tongues for our own safety and sake, to think before we speak, and only utter those things which are good and edifying.

Proverbs 4:24 "Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee."

Proverbs 13:3 "He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction."

Proverbs 21:23 "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles."

Proverbs 15:28 "The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things."

Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."

One of the reasons we need to guard our tongues is that God hears what we say and acts accordingly. That is why our words have power. When Israel was complaining that they would die in the wilderness, God said this to them. Numbers 14:28 "Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you." As a consequence, that generation did die in the wilderness, just as they had pronounced upon themselves. I have heard people say that they would like to die young, so they don't become a decrepit old person. Guess what. They do.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few."

A good example of this was the vow that Jephthah spoke in Judges 11 when he vowed to give the Lord as a burnt offering whatever met him as he returned, if the Lord would deliver the Ammonites into his hands. Unfortunately it was a rash vow spoken without thinking it through properly, as his only child, a daughter, was the one to run out and greet him. Now this is a passage atheists use to condemn God as a person who demands human sacrifice, but this was not the case. God hates human sacrifice. That is Satan's domain. God never would have allowed this had not Jephthah made a vow, but God had said that whatever was vowed must be kept by the person, so Jephthah had no choice but to offer his daughter up. God put this story in the Bible to make us realize how careful we must be not only in making vows to Him, but in uttering things without thinking. It is a sad story with a very important lesson.

We shall answer for every word that we have spoken. I am dreading that day as I look back upon things I have said in my life. I am pretty sure everybody will feel the same.

Matthew 12:36 "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."

We are told what we should be saying, though. We are told to bless others, including those who persecute us.

Matthew 5:44 "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."

Luke 6:28 "Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you."

Romans 12:14 "Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not."

Even praying over or asking God to bless our food has certain consequences. This verse alone lifts all restrictions that having to eat kosher, as taught in the Law, requires. (In spite of what Messianic Jews or Hebraic Christians may teach).

1 Timothy 4:3-5 "Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer."

By asking a blessing over the food, we render it safe and permissible for us to eat.

When we look at the New Testament, especially the words of Yeshua, we see that He pronounced blessings on us by the score, if we follow Him in obedience. There are so many blessings that we could obtain, if we are only aware of them. God's Word is full of them, just waiting for us. When some people preach that these blessings are available, they are often seen as preaching a prosperity gospel. It is not the same thing. The prosperity gospel is that you deserve and demand everything good from God, and nothing bad should happen to you if you have faith. That is not what the Bible teaches. We do not deserve anything, and we have no right to demand anything. The Bible teaches that if we walk with God, are obedient and do his will, we can expect that the blessings He has promised for certain behaviors will come our way. However, this does not mean that we will never have bad times or suffer. We are guaranteed that through the times of tribulation God will be with us, that He has his reasons for allowing these things to happen (whether for our benefit or someone else's), and that in the end it will be a blessing. Blessings are not so much based on faith as they are on obedience. Obedience only comes though, when one has faith.

The Old Testament patriarchs were very aware of the power of words - blessings, and curses. When Esau lost his blessing, he was distraught beyond measure, as he finally realized its importance. He had already treated his birthright with contempt, because he sold it for a bowl of stew. This birthright was a double portion of Jacob's estate when he died and a special blessing. When a patriarch was on his deathbed, he would utter blessings (or not so much of a blessing in some cases) over his sons. When Jacob knew his time was near, he told Esau it was time for the blessing and instructed him to carry out his command first. Isaac, at his mother's instigation, tricked Jacob into giving the blessing to him before Esau could do what his father had required. When Esau realized he had lost the blessing too, he was exceedingly distressed. He wanted the blessing, as the blessing was a part of the birthright and was a guarantee of sorts, of success, but he was too late. He lost the spiritual blessing upon the oldest son when Isaac tricked Jacob. Esau should have known how important the birthright was, but he did not treat it with the seriousness it deserved, and as a consequence he lost it all. He cried and begged and pleaded for a blessing. Why get so upset if it were just some words. The reason is, it was not just some words. It was a prophecy uttered by a patriarch to his son, which God would hear and fulfill.

Now understanding how these blessings are prophecies, we look to see what Jacob said to Dan. Genesis 49:16-18 "Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord."

Dan was the elder son of Bilhah, Jacob's first son by a handmaid instead of a wife. By declaring that Dan would judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel, Jacob (Israel) was saying that the sons of the handmaids had equal status with the sons of the wives. As it was, Dan had one of the most famous judges in his line. Samson was from the tribe of Dan. But the rest of the prophecy is not quite so nice. It says that Dan will be a serpent or adder in the path. The snake that seems to be referred to here is the cerastes. It is a horned serpent the color of sand, which likes to lie in wait along desert paths to attack its prey. As such, it is often come upon before the prey knows of its presence. So a horse would trample upon it, and being bitten would throw its rider. The symbolism found in the fact that this is also a horned serpent should not be lost on the reader. Satan is referred to as a serpent, and is often pictured as being horned.

In a previous posting on the beast, it was seen in verse 14:29 in Isaiah that it called the antichrist a fiery flying serpent, who came from the root of a serpent and cockatrice. "Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent." We know that Satan is the original serpent who has his own seed that will be the enemy of the seed of Eve (Christ). Genesis 3:15 " And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Satan is the first serpent mentioned, and then there is a cockatrice from whom this fiery flying serpent comes. The cockatrice is a mythological dragon with a rooster's head. Whether this stands for Dan, or for Antiochus Epiphanes, who was the foreshadow of the beast, another antichrist figure, or whether it is someone yet to come is uncertain. The fiery flying serpent, though, is the last in the line, so therefore must be the beast. That it is called a fiery flying serpent leads one to believe that this may be an entity who passes itself off as an "alien" come to save mankind. It is known that the beast will be inhabited by a demonic force (Revelation 16:13-14) and will have the power to perform miracles (2 Thessalonians 2:9), so being able to fly (without mechanical means) is not beyond comprehension, nor should posing as an alien in this day of UFOs be an unreasonable hypothesis.

The last line of this prophecy has puzzled scholars for centuries. It seems to be a random statement totally out of place with what goes before or after it and does not seem to make any sense in its context. It does not make sense, that is, if you do not take this prophecy to be speaking of the antichrist. However, if one sees this prophecy as being about the beast, it then makes sense. The time of the beast upon earth is the time when all of God's people will be looking for the salvation of God (or the rapture and the Second Coming) to occur. People will be anxiously waiting for the Lord to return to rescue them. Within this context, this part of the blessing makes perfect sense and is completely in context to what is being said. That being so, it appears that this blessing may indeed be a prophecy about the antichrist and would make it appear that he is in fact a descendant from the tribe of Dan in some way.

Having determined that there is a good possibility that the beast comes from the tribe of Dan, many commentators have then jumped to the conclusion that the beast must be Jewish, but in fact that is an erroneous conclusion. The tribe of Dan is not Jewish. In fact, none of the ten lost tribes are Jewish. Only the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and some of the tribe of Levi are technically Jewish, as those were the tribes in the land of Judah. The other ten tribes (as well as some of the Levites) were the land of Israel, which was taken into captivity by Assyria, and were dispersed among the nations to be "lost". For all we know, some of the tribe of Dan (although evidence indicates that much of the tribe of Dan migrated up to the area of Germany as indicated by names such as the Danube River, Dnieper, etc.) may see themselves as part of the non-Jewish Middle East. In other words, Arab, Iraqi, or etc. So a descendant of Dan might very well be a Muslim. Possibly the cockatrice spoken of in Isaiah was Hitler, as we know he was the seventh mountain spoken of in Revelation upon which Babylon sat. (Revelation 17). He was from Germany where it appears the tribe of Dan settled in and around. There have been people (and even a movie) which have speculated that Hitler has been cloned and will appear again. I do not know that I believe this, but that speculation is out there. What we do know is that a descendant of Dan would not be Jewish, but could claim descent from the nation of Israel, and as such would be able to claim a blood brotherhood with the Jews, while not being one. As it has been wondered how the "Arab" world and Israel could possibly come together under one leader (the beast) and find him acceptable, this would provide a link between the two. A man descended from the nation of Israel who is a part of the Islamic world would have a foot in both worlds. It is mere speculation, but one that bears keeping in mind.

Judgment Begins With the House of God

2011-07-09T11:46:00.000-04:00

Satan has been on the attack with my family for quite some time now. One of the latest things was the crashing of my computer. To date, I am still waiting to get my computer back up and running and see how much was lost. This is why I have not been writing on my blogs of late. Right now I am using someone else's computer just to write this, and may be able to put some posts out there using this one until mine is back in order. With all that has been going on with my family, and some other's whom I know to be strong, stalwart Christians who are not allowing themselves to be swayed by the heresies and things that are going on in the church, and given the events in the Middle East, I have come to the conclusion that there is a reason for these attacks other than just the usual harassment. I believe that we are about to enter Daniel's 70th week in the near future, and because it is a time of severe testing, God is now separating the wheat from the chaff in Christendom to see who needs to be refined and who is a Philadelphian.

1 Peter 4:17 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

If Peter said this to the audience of his day, how much more is it applicable to us today, many of whom will no doubt see the Coming of the Lord? The indications are there that God has already begun to sift the wheat from the chaff of this generation to decide who will have to suffer the Great Tribulation, and whom He will preserve through it. Ever since the church came into existence there has been apostasy. One need only read Paul's letters to see that. Doctrines of demons, wolves in sheep's clothing being leaders of the flock, corruptions of the gifts of the Spirit – all of these things have been a constant enemy to battle. Yet the church survived and continued as generation after generation of people saw this apostasy and split away from the institution of the church to try to weed out the yeast. They would begin new churches under new names calling people back to repentance and the literal interpretation of God's Word, trying to weed out man's traditions and heresies. The remnant has always been a small group bucking the system of religion that reigns in Christ's name. But God forewarned that at the time of the end, the apostasy would be greater than ever, just as the Tribulation that they would enter into would be the worst in the history of the world. Given that information, and most Christians (here I will specify Christians as referring to true born-again believers, not people who identify with a denomination but have no personal relationship with the Lord) believing that we are in the end times, one would think that every Christian would be studying their Bibles diligently and be very wary of every new doctrine or “way of doing things” that comes into the church, and some have. But that “some” represents a very small percentage of those who attend church and call themselves Christians. Most tend to not have a clue what their Bible really says, as they expect to be spoon fed the information (regardless of whether it is erroneous or not) by their pastors and teachers. Most have bought into the idea that it is not a personal command to go out and preach the gospel, but feel it is the church's (meaning their place of worship) duty to do the witnessing for them. As a result, the idea of making church a palatable place for non-believers to come, be entertained, and receive some watered down, inoffensive message about salvation has become the goal of most congregations. This is in direct opposition to what the Bible teaches the local church is supposed to be, a place where believers meet to worship corporately, praise and thank God, study the Scriptures to grow in understanding and wisdom, pray for the body's needs, and fellowship together for encouragement and camaraderie. It is not meant to be a place to bring people to be saved, although that can sometimes be a side-effect.

Because of this disobedience to shift away from personal responsibility to corporate responsibility, Satan used the foot in the door to bring in more paths to perdition. Rather than preach the Word, which we are told will be an offense, the social gospel, and other damnable heresies like the prosperity gospel began to creep in. Where that did not work, other truths were distorted and corrupted. New Age beliefs began to be brought in. Now churches have yoga classes and other occult practices given as part of their reaching-out-to-the-community programs. The music changed. Originally the church sang the psalms. Then there were hymns that praised God. Then the hymns began to focus on man's blessings from God, then man's response to God. Then the music started to move away from the style that was solely identified with the church to music that sounded exactly like the world's. Then the music became solely the world's music, first with some oblique references to God thrown in, and finally with the words focusing on man with occasional oblique references to some higher entity or power, not necessarily the God of the Bible. Instead of worship praising God, meetings have become entertainment for social purposes. Bibles have been removed from the pews, and the Lord's Supper eliminated for being offensive to non-believers. God has become a person who loves everyone and will not be judgmental, so there are not only no standards anymore as to what behavior is acceptable, but also what qualifies for getting into heaven.

Has it crossed anyone's mind as to why God is allowing things to go so far this time? I believe it is because the final judgment has commenced. God is separating those who love and obey Him from those who want to have itching ears, or are like the chaff in the wind blowing about with any doctrine that they find interesting or pleasing for their comfort. False prophets and teachers are in abundance. One cannot travel very far anymore without seeing billboards of one group or another announcing the end of the world on a particular day. At the moment of this writing, I know of three different groups setting a date. All different of course, based on their "infallible leaders'" twisted versions of the Bible. The fact that we are told by God that we cannot do this has not stopped them. They “know” and they are “right.” Within the churches are those who have seen the apostasy and have left the church to start home churches. This was a good move at the beginning, but as usual, people are lazy, preferring to be spoon fed, and do not want the responsibility of answering straight to God without that intermediary pastor to blame when something goes wrong, so do not trust the Lord to be their only Shepherd. Just as Israel clamored for a king so as to be like everyone else, not trusting God's system of judges whom He would divinely appoint and who would judge according to the Spirit given to them, people feel the need for a pastor or leader. As a consequence, those who initially are the wheat leaving behind the room full of chaff, make themselves more slaves to Satan's deceptions by turning to the wolves outside the church who are looking to devour them. Thus they end up worse than before, becoming a part of some cult.

At first I wondered how this could be happening, and why. Having seen several friends fall into this last category, friends whom I was persuaded loved the Lord with all their heart, and who left the church due to apostasy, I went to the Lord asking for wisdom to understand what was happening. I was brought to the verse at the beginning of this article and led to understand that it is all a part of the sifting process. God has allowed Satan to enter the churches and defile them. This is the first sifting of those who embrace the turning from God from those who stay and tolerate it while not approving, and those who shake the dust from their feet and leave. Those who turn from God will probably be lost. Those who stay and tolerate will find themselves thrown into tribulation to refine them. The next sifting comes to those who come out of the church. He needs to find out who will follow and rely solely on Him, and those who insist upon having a human shepherd. I believe the reason for this sifting is that, as the Tribulation approaches we will have no one but the Lord to guide us, and He needs to separate those who have studied and know His Word, having had Him teach it to them, and who have learned to hear His voice and instructions, from those who will listen to man and can be deceived.

I believe the next sifting comes on a much more personal level. I have noticed that God seems to be taking away some of His protective hand from His faithful servants and allowing Satan to attack them in their Achilles heel. Whatever your weakest point, if you have passed the tests to this point, you can be sure that Satan will go after your weak spot to try and tempt you and drag you away from the Lord that way. To qualify as one of the remaining remnant, one must be living a life in which striving for holiness is a daily quest. The Ten Commandments are our guide. Granted, meeting that goal may not always happen, but repentance and continuing to fight the good fight and finish the race is for what God is looking. We should be able to say as Paul did “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7. We are running in a race which we can lose if we are not careful. 1 Corinthians 9:24 “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” Judgment is happening all along the way on this path to the finish line. For those who fail along the way, they can expect to be one of those for whom the sword is waiting during the Tribulation. They might make it to heaven, but it may be through a trial by fire. 1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” The timing of this is “when his glory shall be revealed.” That means that this fiery trial will be around the time of His return. Note that Peter is saying that they will think that this fiery trial is a strange thing, or something they were not expecting. How many do not believe they will go through the Tribulation, but be raptured beforehand? One of the so-called rapture dates predicted, came and went last month (the May 21, 2011 one) and now has been "rescheduled" for October 21. The people who follow this teaching came out of the apostate church, but then wanted to hear that they would not suffer, as they were godly Christians, who did not condone the apostasy. They deserve to be rescued do they not? How our pride can deceive us. We deserve nothing but hell. It is only through Christ's blood that we can even aspire to receive God's forgiveness. Pride is a dangerous creature. It can lead us astray so easily. When one thinks they are incapable of being deceived, at that moment Satan has you. He will find something that you really desire (in this case people wanted a way out of tribulation) and he will find a way to convince you that you can have it. If these people were studying their Bibles, instead of taking this man's words as gospel truth and never checking on him, they would not have been led down the primrose path. God would have been able to show them where he is in error and they could have been saved. Instead, they traded comforting words for possibly their very salvation.

People often condemn me for preaching that we will suffer, as they say that is not looking for Christ, but for the antichrist or that I believe in working for my salvation (suffering being the work), not justification by faith. Really? When did Christ say we would never suffer? That is not what I read in my Bible. I read to take up my cross and follow Him. I read that the trying of our faith brings patience. Do you not look all the more for Christ's return if you are enduring terrible hardships and trials? I know I need to be refined. I am very aware how far from perfect and righteous I am. I know I do not deserve an easy “out.” I am scared to death that I could be deceived, if I am not extremely vigilant. I have seen it happen to others. I do not look forward to the Tribulation, but look through and beyond it to my salvation which waits on the other side. How much more incentive do I have to live a holy life, if I know what lies in the balance?

God's judgment on His house has begun. The sifting process is underway. Are you wheat? Or are you chaff?

Something strange going on

2011-06-10T10:31:00.004-04:00

To my readers,

There are strange things going on with my blog. I am not sure what it is. I noticed that suddenly my followers are missing, yet on the dashboard it says they exist, but the info is completely missing. I am also having some problems trying to post. I don't know if my blog is being messed with or not. I have had to move my Bible Conundrums blog to a new address and that has caused some problems. I think I may be making Satan mad with what I write as he has been actively attacking my family lately. We are becoming spiritually stronger, but there are things like my blog problems that seem to keep cropping up. Please continue to bear with me as I try to sort through all this and get back to writing.

Connie

My Bible Conundrums & Controversies Blog

2011-06-05T11:53:00.009-04:00

Due to some unforeseen problems, my other blog, Bible Conundrums and Controversies is temporarily out of commission. I am trying to get it back up, but so far no luck. If I can't get it back up under the same name, I will go with a very similar name and re-post the website over on the side.

Update: I now have the conundrums and controversies blog at bibleconundrumsandcontroversy.blogspot.com.

Harold Camping Failed and Tries Again With October 21, 2011

2011-05-27T12:25:00.006-04:00

I thought when May 21, 2011 passed that we would be done discussing Harold Camping, but it seems we are beginning all over again. If you have not read my first article on Camping explaining why his predictions cannot possibly come true, and a rather "out there" explanation as to what really could have happened should it seemed to have come true, you can read it here. BibleConundrumsandControversy.blogspot.com

Now again, for the twelfth time Camping is predicting the end of the world. Yes, that is correct, this is not his second or even third try, it is his twelfth. People are simply not aware of the other ten (or more correctly nine as many people are aware of the 1994 debacle) tries as they did not receive the publicity and media attention this last one did. The following is a list of predictions that Camping has made over the years.

Prediction #1 - 1978 – Camping tells his Alameda Church that the rapture would occur that year.

Prediction #2 - Sept. 6, 1994 – Camping predicts end of world (Rosh haShanah) – Writes book 1994?.

Prediction #3 - Sept. 15, 1994 – When Sept. 6 fails, changes to the 15th (Yom Kippur).

Prediction #4 - Sept. 29, 1994 - When Sept. 15 fails, changes to the 29th (Feast of Tabernacles).

Prediction #5 - Oct. 2, 1994 - Claims Christ was born on Oct. 2, 7 BC and would return exactly 2000 years later.

Prediction #6 - Dec. 25, 1994 - Claims Christ will return on Christmas and Bible supports it.

Prediction #7 – March 16, 1995 – Claims Christ will return on Purim. Says it is “Watch #1 of a new wave of dates (rapture/wrath, etc.)

Prediction #8 – Sept. 24, 1995 – Watch #2 – Claims there is Biblical evidence of Christ returning 383 days after Sept. 6, 1994. Also claims Sept. 24 is 721 + 91 Ceros. (A ceros is a little over 18 years – 223 lunar cycles or revolutions. A ceros is the complete revolution of the sun, moon, stars, and planets). Camping claims these revolutions predict the end. Also states that if you divide the 2300 days of Daniel 8 by the number “6” you get 383. Thus you add 383 to Sept. 6 and come to Sept. 24 which ends the 383 days period. This is the day before Rosh haShanah.

Prediction #9 – April 3, 1996 – Watch #3 – Claims there is Biblical evidence of Christ returning 191 days after Sept. 25, 1995 (Rosh haShanah) on Passover 1996. (Passover was actually April 4.)

Prediction #10 – May 3, 1996 – Camping claims a 30 day grace period based on Mark 13:35 (which makes no sense as it says “ Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning.” This says you won't know the day. He must not have read it carefully.)

Prediction #11 – May 21, 2011 – Camping says rapture/resurrection and judgment will occur exactly 7000 years to the day after Noah's Flood and end of world will come on Oct. 21. (He must not realize Noah did not use the calendar God gave Moses. Noah's Flood started in the second month of the civil calendar, which is what Noah used. Plus the Flood was not 7000 years ago.)

Prediction #12 – Oct. 21, 2011 – Camping says rapture/resurrection and end of world will come. May 21 was an invisible rapture and the end will still come on Oct. 21.

Getting back to his latest failure, I did not hear his post-failure speech live, but between youtube clips and reading articles online, I now know what he said. I have included some transcripts of the interviews, as youtube links may be removed at some point, so putting one in may not work in the future. You can decide for yourself what kind of person he is. While you have the right to disagree with my comments, I have included my thoughts in italics after his answers.

Question: What advice do you give to those who took you literally and gave away all their money or donated to Family Radio and now may not have the funds to survive now until October 21?

Camping: Please understand. We don't advise anybody what to do. We are not in the business of financial advise. We just had a great recession. A great recession. There are lots of people that lost their jobs. There are lots of people that lost their houses. Lots of people Not just a few, but lots of people. And somehow they all survived. They all had maybe a cousin helped them, or a sister, or the city helped them, or maybe they lowered their expense way, way down. Sometimes it was very severe. I will tell you what has happened to the average person that has been faithfully listening to the Family Radio. It is not nearly as grievous as the recent recession where people lost their homes. People cope. And we are not in a business of giving any financial advice. We are in the business of telling people “Look, there is someone you can talk to, that can maybe guide you, maybe help you. And that's God. Come boldly to the throne of grace. Pray without ceasing. I will tell you, it is wonderful. It is wonderful when we get to a point in our life where a lot of times, the best time is when our back is against the world and we don't know where to go, and finally you are pleading with God. “Oh, God, please have mercy, I don't know what to do.” And that could be just the time that when you are really drawn to God like you have never had. Believe me, God is very real.

So Camping is denying ANY responsibility in leaving these people destitute? Homeless, penniless, jobless? Wow. And he is comparing taking their money under false pretenses, as a charlatan con artist as people who are suffering from the economic recession? I don't think there is any comparison. He has deliberately fleeced people of their money telling them they would “save the world.” Now he expects everyone else, their families, their friends, the government to help these people out? Family radio does millions of dollars in business. Maybe they could help them out since they are in part responsible for people being in this state. I say “in part” because these people are equally to blame for listening to him instead of studying their Bible and seeing his errors. I guess he is like any charlatan and figures if people are stupid and gullible enough to believe them, that they deserve what they get. He certainly is copping to that attitude. He doesn't think it is grievous? He isn't the one destitute. He's rolling in dough. He suggests that there is someone who “maybe?” can help them. Yes, God is the ONLY one who can help them at this point. But it doesn't take coming to the throne of God boldly. It takes coming to the throne of God humbly, confessing and repenting of their sin of believing a false prophet and humbly asking God to forgive them and help them out of this dilemma. Just pleading mercy and telling Him you don't know what to do is not going to cut it. He requires confession and repentance for the sin before He'll help out. I love the way Camping feels that it is wonderful that he has helped people get closer to God by taking everything from them.

Questions: I agree with you, so I think that what they have to do, you are saying, is pray because of self-reliance and not rely on someone else's information, because it is maybe incorrect? Just to go within and trust themselves, perhaps? Is that the advice, maybe?

Camping: No, that is the point of prayer. You don't rely on your own understanding. That's the point of prayer. You are relying on God to help you. Now look. I am praying to God. I don't have a job. So I am lying on bed, “Lord have mercy, I need a job. I need a job. Lord have mercy. I need a job. I have a family to support.” But boy, this bed is comfortable, I don't want to get out of this bed. That is pure hypocrisy. We don't go to the Lord like that.

Camping is missing the point of the question, deliberately missing it. The interviewer is saying that people should trust themselves and check up on others and what they are telling them instead of believing everything someone tells them. Especially someone with a really bad track record. Camping is saying that people should not rely on their own gut reaction to someone like him. Of course not. He doesn't want anyone questioning what he says. That could be seen on his Forum talk shows. Any time that someone tried to chastise him or correct him or disagree with him, he would have them cut off so they couldn't talk anymore. He actually told one caller who challenged him that he was challenging God. Camping has a God complex. He thinks he is God, which is why he thinks he knows the date the Christ told us only the Father would know. He changes the topic from relying on someone else's information to relying on someone to support you. He has a habit of changing the subject when it is one he does not want to address.

Questions: Is it safe to say that mainstream population that heard about May 21 didn't believe it? It didn't happen, and now you are saying is, see this is ridiculous, and at best, misguided prediction or some kind of scam. Does it worry that you have hurt the credibility of religion?

Camping: Excuse me, just like what I have said before. Most pastors would never admit they make a mistake, because they are trying to preserve their own credibility in the eyes of those who are listening, or maybe they insist they are maintaining the credibility of the Bible, but the fact is they are not. And all I can do is to go to the Bible, and very humbly say, “Look, I have done some more studying, or somebody has sent me an idea about this phrase, and I checked it out, and I find that I have to make a change.” That does not hurt the credibility of the Bible at all. We are not perfect and God has to keep opening our eyes. God says again and again, He resists the proud and shows mercy to the humble. Verse after verse in the Bible, God resists those who come in their pride. And there is nothing in the world......There is one thing that should be seen in everyone who claims to be the child of God is humility. Whatever I know or whatever I am doing, I have to pray to God altogether. I pray again and again. The verse Philippians 2 where it says work out your own salvation, that is salvation that God has provided, you work it out, and it says, “though it is God who causes you to will and do of His good pleasure.” So even if we do something well done, I can't take any credit at all. Lord, I thank you that you have guided me this way. I am nothing. I will tell you, I can recommend this to anybody. It's a wonderful way to live, when we walk humbly before God. So you are never trying to show how smart you are or how wise you are. I have given all the credit to God and that's where it should go.

Notice when Camping violently disagrees or feels that someone is challenging or criticizing him the first thing he says is “Excuse me.” That's his way of entering into a condemnation of what has been said as being directed against himself as the “anointed prophet of God.” First he says that other pastors won't admit their mistakes because of pride, but that they aren't maintaining their credibility when they do that. Well, he should realize that by not admitting his mistake he is not maintaining his credibility either. He just looks worse for not admitting he is totally wrong and taking responsibility. You might at least respect someone who owns up to something this awful. Now he tells us that someone has sent him a way out of his mess to save face and not admit his failure, and he gropes at it as a lifeline from God. The fact is, the excuse he has given, that it was an invisible rapture (which is a ridiculous notion) did come from a friend of his who was trying to bail him out of this mess. The credibility that has been destroyed is ours. Those of us who are preaching God's truth are now subjects of mockery when we try to tell people the Lord will be returning one day soon. Now we look like the fools and our message is ignored and scoffed at. He is right that God resists the proud, and nobody has more pride than Camping. If humility is a sign of being God's child, he is definitely not among the children. Now he quotes a verse that says to work out your salvation, and tells people they have to work it out? What happened to “We can't do anything to get salvation, not repentance, not faith, nothing, because it all has to do with God electing us. So we do nothing except cry for mercy and hope we are one of the elect.” Does he even listen to himself. I do believe we have to work out our salvation in that once we repent and accept the Lord as our Savior and the Lord and master of our lives, we have to work at maintaining that relationship with Him, as I do believe we can walk away from Him. I know that from watching two of my closest friends through this debacle. They went from being solid Christians who had a hold on truth to cult followers of Camping. They have accepted his excuses for this “invisible” rapture, as far as I know (one is no longer talking to me, which indicates she is still on board with him, and the other seems to be waiting for October). As a consequence of this, I believe they are no longer on the path to salvation. They are no longer working it out by maintaining their relationship with God, as they have abandoned God and His truth and replaced him with Camping as their God and his lies for their truth. Unless they repent before they die, I believe they will find themselves not annihilated, as he teaches the non-elect will be, but spending the rest of eternity in hell. Camping says that he thanks God for guiding him. It is not God who is guiding him, it is Satan and Camping's own arrogant pride. He thanks God for allowing him to walk humbly and not show how “smart” or wise he is. He credits his revelations to his ability (his smartness) to do all these math calculations (which is a bunch of bogus numerology). Then he calls anyone who questions his “smartness” a mocker of God. Yes, that is true humility.

Question: How do you personally feel about the woman who tried to kill her life and her two daughters' lives?” (A woman tried to kill her daughters and herself on May 20 fearing the wrath of God.)

Camping: Murdering is terrible. It is contrary to everything the Bible teaches. That would have been a horrible thing if she has done that. That will make me weep. That will fill me with sorrow that she would do that. The Bible teaches that we are to save life, not kill. If it is going to be death, leave it to God. God knows who He wants to kill and make alive. That is His business, not our business.

Question: Do you take any responsibility for that?

Camping: I don't have any responsibility. I can't be responsible for anybody's lives. I am only teaching the Bible. I am not teaching what I believe, as if I am the authority. I am just simply teaching what the Bible says. And I don't have spiritual rule over anybody.

Notice that Camping again denies any culpability in this case. He says he is only teaching what the Bible says, but that is not the case. He is teaching his own heretical teachings of what he has twisted the Bible to mean. He does not take the Bible literally, he takes it allegorically. Therefore he makes it say whatever HE wants it to say. If we want to say what the Bible says, we have to say what it literally says, not interpret it for people as to what we think it means. Discussing what the Bible literally says is permissible, as long as you don't try to change the literal meaning, but when you ignore the very face value of what is said and make it mean something completely different, you are presenting your own gospel, which is what Camping does. And he does have spiritual rule over all of his followers. They take his word on everything, completely ignoring the clear Word of God. If they believe Jesus, they would accept His teaching that NO ONE would know the day or hour of His return except the Father. Camping says Jesus didn't mean what he said and reinterprets that for people. That is not teaching the Bible, that is teaching your own doctrines.

Question: Mr. Camping, you admitted that the Bible is very complex and difficult to interpret. That you made a mistake about what happened on Saturday, that is was spiritual and not physical, even though you guaranteed that it would be physical. How can you now, in good conscience tell your followers that the world would end in October when you have made a mistake interpreting the Bible already?

Camping: I have never, never told anybody that I am infallible. But God and His proofs are infallible, because they come right out of the bible. But what I am saying is that I am not infallible. All I have to do is be honest. That's all. I am trying to be honest with the bible; I am honest with those who are listening to me.

Wait a minute. Camping did not say that he was the one guaranteeing this rapture. He clearly said, and we can prove it from all those billboards, that the BIBLE guaranteed it. He claimed to have been given the key to understanding the Bible on this from God. If he was wrong about declaring that the Bible guaranteed it after saying that he got this information from God, then clearly he is not hearing from the God of the Bible, and clearly he does not understand the Bible at all. Therefore all he has been doing is presenting his own ideas, not the truths of the Bible. Either you understand the truths of the Bible or you don't, and clearly he doesn't. He most definitely is infallible. Actually he has no understanding of the Bible whatsoever. He has done this eleven times now and has been wrong each time. It doesn't matter how many years he has been studying. If he is using incorrect study methods he will always come to incorrect conclusions no matter how many years he studies it. And he is using incorrect methods of interpretation.

Question: You have not publicly apologized. Are you prepared to do it at all?

Camping: If people want me to apologize, I can apologize, yes. I did not have all of that worked out exactly as I should have, or wish I could have had it. That doesn't bother me at all, because I am not a genius. And I pray all the time for wisdom, and when I make an error, I admit, “Yes, I was wrong.” And I have said that already, more than several times tonight. I was wrong. It should be understood spiritually, not physically. Yet the sense of it is still the same. The judgment has come. The world is now under judgment where it was not prior to May 21. Spiritually there is a big difference in the world that we can't detect with our eyes. But we can know from the Bible.

This man never gives up. Notice that the apology and admittance of being wrong is not really an apology and admittance of wrongdoing at all. It is saying that he was simply wrong in that he expected a physical manifestation, but it was spiritual and invisible instead. Nobody will see it, but it did happen. He still has not said that he was wrong. He says when he makes an error he admits it, but he is not admitting it. He is claiming it still happened, it is just that we are all unaware of it. That is like the story of the Emperor's New Clothes where some charlatans use a emporer's pride against him for their own gain. They convince him that they make an invisible cloth that only the truly intelligent and those competent and fit for their job can see. He buys into the idea even though he can't see the cloth. His pride won't let him admit he may not be intelligent and competent (which if he were he would realize he was being conned). So he has some “clothes” made and proceeds to go out and parade through the streets to see if everyone in his empire is as smart as he. Well, everyone has the same pride issue as he does, so they pretend to admire the clothes as he parades naked through the streets. It isn't until some child yells, “But he doesn't have anything on,” that the emperor realizes that everybody is seeing him naked and that he has been a total fool. Camping's pride will not let him admit he is wrong even in the face of his complete and utter failure in the face of the entire world. And his followers pride will not let them admit it either. He is naked, but continues to play the fool as do his followers. Nothing of what he said came true, and trying to say that it did but in a spiritual way does not work. It is just plain stupid to think anybody with any sense would believe this anymore than invisible cloth can be seen by the truly wise and competent.

We will at least be spared the advertising campaign for October 21, 2011 as Camping says that judgment has fallen, therefore nobody can be saved from this point on, so there is no need to promote the date. Besides, this debacle has promoted that date for him already. So he can take the money that people are still sending (believe it or not) and use it for a nice vacation to help him get over this trauma. Now as God will not be spending the next five months pouring out His wrath, (which Camping has rationalized as not happening, because we could never survive more than a few days of God's wrath, much less five months) we will spend the next five months caring out life as normal. And on October 21 life will continue to carry on as normal for all of us except Campingites who will spend the next five months in more anticipation of the end and the rapture. And on October 22 they will again be disappointed and turn to Camping for another excuse. I am sure he will come up with something. I have no idea though as it would seem he must be running out of excuses by now. After all, how many times can God come invisibly or change His mind about a date that He supposedly is supposed to know when it is. He does not seem to be getting the message across to Camping very clearly. One has to wonder what God's problem is. Personally I can tell you that the Bible guarantees that the end of the world will not come on October 21. It doesn't guarantee that there won't be earthquakes, or famines, or wars, or even an “alien” invasion, as we are told to expect these things as the day approaches. But it has told us the exact signs that will precede it, and if we keep close watch for those signs, we will know when the day is close at hand, although we will not know the exact day or hour. Daniel's 70th week has to occur first and that hasn't started yet. The temple has not been built yet. The antichrist or beast has not declared himself God in that temple. The tribulation hasn't happened. The sun hasn't gone dark and the moon hasn't turned to blood. We haven't been hit by an asteroid. The demons of hell have not been let loose to torture mankind for five months. None of the many things that have yet to happen have even begun yet. We still have time. We can only continue to live life, as we were told to do, right up until the day He returns. If you don't know what to expect and watch for, get into your Bible, and take it literally. If you have trouble understanding, read my blog at endtimesstudies.blogspot.com (you may already be there, as I am posting this article on both my blogs) for help. But start at the beginning with the introduction, don't try to jump into the middle. You won't understand what is going on if you do that. I don't try to interpret what God's Word says, as much as try to elucidate the literalness of it more clearly by coordinating it with other passages in the Bible.

Getting back to Harold and his followers thinking he is a true prophet of God, let us take a look at that declaration. What he predicted did not come true. Period. It simply did not happen in any respect. Scripture is very clear about this sort of thing. Deuteronomy 18:20,22 “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die..... When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” In retrospect he says he “misunderstood.” Did any of God's true prophets ever misunderstand the prophecies they were given? When they spoke, the thing came true, in a very visible, physical way. Christ came very visibly when He first came. He did not come “spiritually.” Now let us take a look at and compare Camping to another so-called “prophet” of God, such as Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The similarities might astound you.

“Russell was a charismatic figure, but claimed no special revelation or vision for his teachings and no special authority on his own behalf. He stated that he did not seek to found a new denomination, but instead intended merely to gather together those who were seeking the truth of God's Word "during this harvest time." He wrote that the "clear unfolding of truth" within his teachings was due to "the simple fact that God's due time has come; and if I did not speak, and no other agent could be found, the very stones would cry out." He viewed himself—and all other Christians anointed with the Holy Spirit—as "God's mouthpiece" and an ambassador of Christ. Later in his career he accepted without protest that many Bible Students viewed him as the “faithful servant” of Matthew 24:45, and was described by the Watch Tower after his death as having been made "ruler of all the Lord's goods"” (Wickipedia)

Let's compare Camping to Russell. Now I would in no way call Harold charismatic with his boring, droning voice and typical old man looks, but apparently he is very appealing to his followers.

Russell claimed no special revelation, vision,, or authority. Camping claims no special revelation or vision, and says that he has no special authority on his own behalf, but merely speaks the Word of God in the Bible, that He only speaks what the Bible teaches. Yet his very teachings were unheard of until he came up with them. His interpretation via math calculations is a new revelation whether he wants to acknowledge it or not.

Russell said he did not seek to found a new denomination, that it was merely a gathering of those seeking the “truth” of God's word during the “harvest time” or end of the world tribulation period. Harold claims his followers are not a church, as he no longer believes in churches, that they are merely “gathering” to seek the “truth” of God's Word during this “time of tribulation.” However, followers of Camping are a church, in fact they are a cult with him at the helm. They even have a name as do all cult followers. They are called “Campingites.” When a group takes on the name of their leader, it is a clear indication that it has become a cultish group.

Russell said that he was teaching the “clear unfolding of truth” due to the fact that “God's due time has come” and if he did not speak there might be no other agent than the very stones to cry out. Camping has said that God teaches through the book of Daniel that at the time of the end this sealed book would be unsealed so that we might understand, due to the fact that the end is upon us. Because Camping is the agent God has chosen to understand this new revelation through the unsealing of the book of Daniel, he is the bearer of “truth.”

Russell viewed himself and all of his followers as God's mouthpieces and ambassadors to relate this truth to the world. Camping sees himself and his followers, who are part of the “true” church, having left the “Satan controlled” churches as the ones chosen to bring this truth to the world. Russell accepted the title of “faithful servant” from his followers. Camping accepts his followers making him “God's servant the prophet” according to the verse he and they constantly quote in Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” So far the parallel is uncanny.

He and his group believed they had found significant errors in common Christian belief. As a result of such study, the Russell believed he had gained a clearer understanding of true Christianity. Russell wrote many articles, books, tracts, pamphlets and sermons expounding on them. Camping believes he has found significant errors in the basic Christian beliefs. As a result he has a better understanding of true Christianity than anyone else, and especially the churches. He has written a number of books, pamphlets, and teaches on his radio show.

Russell was introduced to some new views that convinced him, amongst other things, that those Christians who were asleep in death would be raised in April, 1878. When 1878 arrived, failure of the expected rapture of the saints brought great disappointment for Russell, his associates and followers. Confused by what was perceived to be an error in calculation, Russell re-examined the doctrine to see if he could determine whether it had biblical origins or was simply Christian tradition. Following his analytical examination of the Bible, Russell and other Bible Students came to believe that Christian creeds and traditions were harmful errors which had led to the mistake. His conclusion that it was tradition led him to begin teaching, through the pages of the Herald, what he believed to have discovered on the subject. He believed he had restored Christianity to the purity held in the first century. Such views and conclusions were viewed as heresy by many Church leaders and scholars in his day. Russell had many critics and was often labeled a heretic

Camping's studies convinced him of some radical new views and theological premises. He came to the conclusion that the rapture/resurrection would first occur on September 6, 1994. When that arrived and passed uneventful, it brought great disappointment for him and his followers. He re-examined his calculations and said that he had found an error. Camping then wrote new books showing his new discovery of where he went wrong and what the real date was supposed to be. Camping has come to believe that Christian creeds and traditions are harmful errors and has abandoned most Biblical doctrines as well as Scriptural mandates such as communion and baptism. He believes he has the only true version of Christianity, as he says even Jesus could not save anybody when He was here. Camping is labeled a heretic and cult leader by all of mainstream Christendom from liberals to evangelical fundamentalists.

When it comes to doctrines, Russell agreed with other Protestants on the primacy of the Bible, and justification by faith alone, but thought that errors had been introduced in interpretation. Russell agreed with many 19th century Protestants, including Millerites, in the concept of a Great Apostasy that began in the first century AD. He also agreed with many other contemporary Protestants in belief in the imminent Second Coming of Christ, and Armageddon. Some of the areas in which his Scriptural interpretations differed from those of Catholics, and many Protestants, include the following:

Hell - Russell maintained that there was a heavenly resurrection of 144,000 righteous, as well as a "great multitude", but believed that the remainder of mankind slept in death, awaiting an earthly resurrection.

The Trinity - Russell believed in the divinity of Christ, but differed from orthodoxy by teaching Jesus had received that divinity as a gift from the Father, after dying on the cross. He also taught that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but the manifestation of God's power.

Christ's Second Coming. -Russell believe that Christ had returned invisibly in 1874, and that he had been ruling from heavens since that date. He predicted that a period known as the "Gentile Times" would end in 1914, and that Christ would take power of Earth's affairs at that time. He interpreted the outbreak of World War I as the beginning of Armageddon, which he viewed to be both a gradual deterioration of civilized society, and a climactic multi-national attack on a restored Israel accompanied by worldwide anarchy.

Camping has altered many fundamental doctrines of the Bible. He does not believe in salvation by repentance and justification by faith. He believes solely in election as the means of salvation. This means that one need not even know Jesus Christ and repentance is a work, and one cannot work for salvation, therefore repentance is not a requirement. He does believe in a Great Apostasy and in fact teaches that Satan entered the churches in 1988 (conveniently the year he was thrown out of his church for heresy), therefore nobody can be saved in them since that time, nor is anybody remaining in them saved. He believes in a Second Coming and final Day of Wrath to destroy the earth. Other similarities in beliefs to Russell are:

Hell – the wicked are resurrected for judgment day at which time they will be permanently annihilated. 200 million will be raptured/resurrected for eternity.

The Trinity - is more of a modality, meaning that God exists as three people, but not at the same time. Jesus originally existed as Michael (which the Jehovah's Witnesses also teach) but was granted divinity and became the Son of God upon the resurrection.

The Second Coming - Camping said that in 1988 God judged the churches and nobody was saved from that time until September 1994 (which was his original rapture date) when the tribulation (which he now extended from seven years to seventeen) began. Because his predicted date of the Second Coming failed, he now says that God came on May 21, 2011 invisibly and judged the world. Since that day, nobody has or will be saved. The end is supposed to come on October 21, 2011 (which it obviously will not) and God's wrath has been reduced from five months to one day.

In 1881, Russell founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society (Jehovah's Witnesses). His Bible study group had grown to hundreds of local members, with followers throughout New England, the Virginias, Ohio, and elsewhere who annually re-elected him "Pastor", and commonly referred to him as "Pastor Russell". Congregations that eventually formed in other nations also followed this tradition. In 1988 Camping was thrown out of his church and founded his fellowship (he refuses to call it a church, since he said that Satan rules in the churches). It has local members and he has convinced his national and international followers to leave their churches and worship with him on Sundays via the radio. They look to him as their pastor, even though he refuses the title, because he says that pastors are controlled by Satan.

Russell's views and management style were strongly criticized by certain individuals associated with his ministry. They accused Russell of being a dictatorial leader and a shrewd businessman. He accused those involved as being “guided by Satan in an attempt to subvert his work” as a “minister of the gospel.” Camping's views and management style are criticized by a number of his employees. They accuse him of being a dictatorial leader who takes criticism from nobody. He has raked in millions of dollars from gullible followers. He accuses anyone who disagrees with or criticizes him as being a wicked person who is mocking and challenging God, as if challenging him and God are the same thing. Many of his employees do not agree with his teachings and those who dare voice it are summarily dismissed from their jobs.

Russell had no qualifications as a minister and his moral example was not very Christian. He admitted he knew nothing about Latin and Hebrew, and that he had never taken a course in philosophy or systematic theology. He believed that his ordination was “of God” according to the “biblical pattern”, not requiring any denominational approval. Camping has no qualifications to teach except that he says he has studied the Bible for 50 years. He is an engineer. He claims to know Hebrew and Latin but checking up on him shows that he does not. He looks up words in a concordance and merely makes them mean what he needs them to mean for any particular verse. He believes he is anointed by God as a prophet and he need not be accountable to anyone for anything, whether it is his doctrine or his behavior. He feels no responsibility towards the financial losses his followers have suffered at his hands just blowing it off as their problem.

Russell's followers considered themselves to be “in the truth.” Jehovah's Witnesses consider secular society to be morally corrupt and under the influence of Satan and limit their social interaction with everyone other than their own. Camping's followers consider themselves to be the only ones in “truth” and consider that everyone else, including Christians in the churches to be under the influence of Satan.
Russell came up with dates for the Second Coming based on calculations of measurements of the Great Pyramid of Giza, which he felt had been built by the Hebrews. The key to interpreting these measurements came from information in the book of Daniel. Camping came up with the date for the rapture based on math calculations of random numbers found in the Bible. The key to interpretation came from the book of Daniel.

When the 1914 date failed, Russell said that there could be a good number of years of transition between the invisible spiritual rapture and the end. First it would start with the utter destruction of all other Christian denominations. The target dates were set for 1915-1918. Those who left their churches and came to Russell could escape the downfall of Christianity. When nothing happened, these predictions were not said to fail, but to be fulfilled in spiritual ways that they had misunderstood. The next target date for the end was 1925. This date was chosen by a new understanding of the Jubilee years. The comparison to Noah was made in that God has given us even more to know the date than He told Noah 120 years before the fact. 1932 and 1941 also saw the predictions of Armageddon as did 1975.

When Camping's 1994 date failed, he first set a bunch of new dates and, as they failed, said he had come to a new understanding of the tribulation. He said that God began judging the Church in 1988 by leaving them (all denominations) and turning the churches over to the reign of Satan. This would be a transition time. The tribulation then commenced in1994. There would now be a number of years added to the time of tribulation as normally taught, and the new target date for the Second Coming was 2011. Those who left the church and turned to Camping could escape the judgment fate of the Church. When the recent target date of May 21, 2011 failed, Camping suddenly “realized” that he has misunderstood and that it had happened “spiritually” not physically. The prophecy was fulfilled, but it was a spiritual fulfillment that he had not understood before. The next date has been set for October 21, 2011. Both of these dates were calculated using supposed Jubilee years and the date of Noah's Flood. The comparison was made that if God told Noah when the Flood would begin, how much more would he tell us when the rapture would occur.

Russell's own chronology of the Bible said that 1975 was supposed to be the 6000th anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve. The date was also arrived at using the one day equals 1000 years theory. Camping's own chronology of the Bible said that May 21, 2011 was supposed to be the 7000 anniversary of the Flood of Noah. His calculations also used the one day equals 1000 years theory. Both chronologies were wrong.

People sold their possessions and cashed in life insurance policies, etc. in anticipation of the Jehovah's Witnesses date of 1975. After the missed date, they (the date setters) realized their error was a mathematical calculation of the date of creation. The last time they predicted a date was 1994.(Isn't it odd that the dates now collided for Camping and the Jehovah's Witnesses?) In the aftermath of all of the predicted dates from 1914 to 1994, it was denied that they were absolute predictions, but mere speculations that could change as new understanding was brought about through more study. The only chance for salvation for Jehovah's Witnesses is to actively preach the end of the world. To not do this and be caught not doing it when it does happen, will mean to die with the wicked. But that is simply annihilation. Many of Camping's people sold all of their possessions and cashed in their life savings in anticipation of both September 6, 1994 and May 21, 2011. After the dates passed, they denied that it was a false prophecy and say that it is because there was not enough understanding. They believe the only chance for salvation was to actively preach the end of the world is coming. They may or may not be one of the elect, but to die simply means annihilation. Neither the Jehovah's Witnesses nor Campingites will acknowledge that they are deceived and led by false teachers and prophets. They continue to blindly obey and follow these leaders as all cult members do.

Were we to examine other false prophets, we would probably find very similar stories. It is just that the parallel between Russell and the Jehovah's Witnesses and Camping and Family Radio is so eerily close that it is quite astounding

In the end, it seems that it is impossible to help those who are determined to protect their pride and indulge their ignorance of the Scriptures by following not only Camping, but all the false prophets and teachers out there. Our only course of action should be to study the Bible diligently to see that we are not among the deceived. Yeshua told us to not be deceived, that many would come in His name. We should listen and take that literally, because it is most certainly true.

The Beast or Antichrist in the Old Testament Pt.6

2011-05-13T12:39:00.003-04:00

In looking for Old Testament references to the beast of Revelation we find that the next reference comes in Jeremiah 15:5-9 “For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? Or who shall bemoan thee? Or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest? Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting. And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways. Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of the young men a spoiler at noonday I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly, and terrors upon the city. She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the Lord.”

In this passage God seems to be initially speaking to Israel when He addresses this to Jerusalem. He is asking who will have pity on them or moan over their pains. This is exactly the attitude of the world that we find today against Jerusalem. While they are fighting to merely exist, the world blames them for all the ills of the Middle East. They take all kinds of abuse from their neighbors and they are told to not fight back. That somehow they deserve it. Nobody seems to understand that they are merely trying to survive and live their lives. The world has always treated them as outcasts. This is because they are God's chosen people. It is amazing that the fact that this one group of people is hated by all nations does not strike everyone as being unusual. Have they ever asked themselves why that is? There is no reason for it, except for the fact that they are the chosen race by the one and only true God. Now God is telling them that not only are the nations against them, He Himself is tired of them. They have been turning their backs on Him for generations and forsaking the ways that He has taught them. So now he is going to destroy them Himself. He will fan them as wind fans the chaff of the wheat. He will kill their children and widow all their women. He is going to bring a spoiler at noonday. We have seen the word “spoiler” before and we will see it again. It is a reference to the beast of Revelation. This time we are given a time frame. It says he will come at noonday. Is this a reference to 12:00 noon? Well, it is possible that is when he will declare himself God, but I think this is a more metaphorical reference. Noonday is the middle of the day. When we consider the 70^th week of Daniel, it is a the middle of the week, or if one were to compare the seven year period to a day, it would be at the middle of the day or noonday, when the beast declares himself God. We know that his terror will come suddenly from the passage in Matthew 24 which tells them to get out of town without even stopping to grab a coat, as they will have to run that fast to escape. So we see another clear reference to the beast as the spoiler and another oblique reference to the abomination of desolation.

Now we see an even more interesting reference. The mother who has borne seven will languish or waste away. Who is this mother of seven? Where do we see seven “children” mentioned in the Scriptures. I believe this is a reference to the Church, the seven churches of Revelation which represent all of Christendom. We see in this passage another Old Testament reference to the Church having to go through the Tribulation. When the spoiler comes down upon Jerusalem at noonday or the middle of the 70^th week, the mother of the seven, or the Church, will also waste away. She will give up the ghost, or die. Most of the saints will be killed as told us in Revelation 12:17 “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” and Daniel 7:21, 25 “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them......And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High....” We are those saints and the seed being spoken of in these passages. There is no pre-tribulation rapture to remove people from this wrath of Satan. It says that her sun has gone down while it was yet day. We have been told to gather the harvest while the sun shines, in other words, to bring people to the Lord while we still can. But the sun has gone down on the Church. She is already in great apostasy, and we are not bringing sheep into the fold. The false teachers and prophets are leading people away from the Lord, not to Him. While I am totally against the false teachings of the false prophet Harold Camping, he is right in the respect that Satan has infiltrated the churches and has introduced doctrines of demons into their theologies. Just like the Laodiceans, Christ stands outside their doors knocking to be let back in. They have virtually kicked him out. These big mega churches are introducing New Age beliefs faster than one can keep up. She is ashamed and confounded, or will be when she finds herself in the Great Tribulation, which she is so certain she is going to escape, because God loves her. Well, He loves Israel too. That has not stopped Him from punishing her for her sins. The Churches residue, those of her last generation who are alive when all of this comes, will be handed over to the sword.

So what hope does the Church have? The Church Universal does not have hope of escape unless they repent, which does not seem to be what is going to happen according to Scripture. We do know, however, what is said to the church of Philadelphia. This church represents the remnant Church that will be spared because of their faithfulness, and of holding to the truth of the Word of God, plus knowing they must patiently endure all that is yet to come. But here in Jeremiah we also find some hope. In verse 11 it says, “The Lord said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.” How the Lord will do it is unknown, but the Lord will see to it that the remnant will be treated well at the time of evil and affliction, or during the Tribulation. The question for all of us is, do we qualify as the remnant? The remnant must be faithful in all ways, including keep the Commandments, and I do mean all ten of them, the fourth included. We must know God's Word, and keep the truth and promises contained in it. God says that “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee...” Hosea 4:6. It is not knowing God's Word that has led people to follow false prophets such as Harold Camping or Charles Russell (founder of Jehovah's Witnesses) or Ellen White (founder of 7^th Day Adventists), or the multitude of other false prophets. People lack discernment and do not take God's Word literally and as meaning what He says. It is this lack of knowledge that causes their destruction. They believe the lies they are told and are deceived. We who study God's Word as literal and without the input of man's traditions and allegorical interpretations have hope of escape. Yeshua told us to pray that we might escape that which lies ahead. Luke 21:36 “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” There is a way of escape, not through a pre-tribulation rapture, but by being faithful to the Lord, keeping His Commandments, knowing His Word, and praying that we might be counted worthy to escape. People do not bothering learning this, as they want the easy way out. They just want to be a Christian, living however they please, but yet escape the punishment for their sins. It is not going to happen. God has said that He will start His judgment with the Church to refine them. 1 Peter 4:17 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” How is it that Christians are missing this verse and thinking that they do not have to come under judgment? We are told we will be put through the fire. Daniel 11:33,35 “And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity; and by spoil, many days....And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.”

I encourage any readers to get into their Bibles and understand what is required of them to be part of that remnant that will actually see the rapture.

The Beast or Antichrist in the Old Testament Pt.5

2011-05-07T11:42:00.002-04:00

In Jeremiah 4 we find another reference to what appears to be the beast. In this chapter God is warning Judah (Israel) to return to Him and the consequences if they don't. Beginning in verse 3 through 13 we read the following.

“For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant. For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul. At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse, even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them. Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! For we are spoiled.”

First what makes us think that this passage is about the end times? The clue is found in the phrase “that day” and the mention of the false promise of peace. We know that almost all the prophecies in the major and minor prophets seem to relate to not only the day in which they were given, but to our day also. And we see that there is mention of a lion and destroyer. We have already seen both of those terms used to describe the beast, so we now have several reasons for deducing that this passage is also speaking of him.

God first addresses their need to turn their hearts back to the Lord. While circumcision was the physical sign of the covenant between God and Israel, God does not demand physical circumcision of Gentile Christians, but asks us today to circumcise our hearts. To remove the protective covering and let Him in. He also wants Israel to circumcise their hearts, as well as their bodies. He warns that if they do not turn back to the Lord, His fury will come against them, as He cannot tolerate their evil behavior. He tells Jeremiah to make it known in Judah and Jerusalem that they should blow the trumpet to gather the people and go into a protected place. They are to set up a signal to flee the land for God is bringing great destruction upon them from the north. How far north is the question. Many think this is Russia, but it may merely be the Arab lands that surround Israel on the north. There are many more Scriptures to go over before that can be determined.

Now comes the mention of the aggressor. The lion is coming out of his land. The destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way. He is coming from his land for the express purpose of destroying Israel, to make them a wasteland and uninhabitable. Here is a question that needs asking. Is he the destroyer of the Gentiles merely because he is a Gentile, or is he also guilty of destroying Gentiles? The word for Gentile means nation or people, so this is also saying the destroyer of nations or peoples. This would seem to indicate that he is actually both. A Gentile or non-Israelite, and a destroyer of other nations. Both of these would seem to apply to the beast, as we know he is called by various name, the Assyrian, the Mede, etc. We also know the beast will destroy many nations. So this is an affirmation of what we already know about the beast.

Israel is told to go into mourning as God is not going to turn back from his anger and spare them. This is going to happen. On that day the hearts of leaders will fail them, and the priests and prophets will be astonished and wonder. In this day and age, we know that there is an abundance of false teachers, preachers, and prophets who tell people what they want to hear – all is well, peace and safety, you won't have to suffer, etc. When it all hits the fan, these people are going to be astonished, as they never believed any of this would really happen. They believe their own false prophecies and teachings. After all, God does not really mean what He says in His Word. It is an allegory, or metaphorical. He is not really going to punish His own children. We are not supposed to take God at His Word. Right? Wrong. Jeremiah now questions God, saying that He has deceived the people. The prophets were being allowed to prophesy falsely that there would be peace, and the people believed, as God originally had given blessings to Israel. What they chose to forget, as Christians do today who do not think they need to suffer tribulation, is that there is a curse for not living according to God's holy commandments. They hear what they want to hear. It is not God deceiving them, as those who truly study God's Word know that we are not going to escape tribulation, but in fact need it to refine us from our straying far from God. The sword is about to come upon everyone, and the church falsely believes they will be spared by being raptured out. Israel thinks that if they make peace it will protect them. Both are false beliefs that God is allowing people to believe, because they choose to believe it.

A dry wind is coming. In Israel a dry wind comes from the Arabian desert or more generally the north, which is from where this destroyer is said to come. A south wind is a moist one. The dry wind was used to separate or fan the wheat from the chaff. However this wind is not to fan. The north wind can sometimes be very fierce and is too powerful to use for fanning the wheat. It is clear that this wind is not a gentle wind. It is a full wind. When he comes, the dust in his wake will create whirlwinds of clouds. His horses are swifter than eagles. Here I believe we need to take a more metaphorical view. While originally Nebuchadnezzar did use horses, in this day and age jets and tanks are more the vehicles of choice, not to mention missiles and bombs being weapons of destruction. Israel will be devastated.

We know from other Scriptures that the beast will come up against Jerusalem at the time he declares himself God in the temple. Is that is what is being referred to in this instance, or are there other instances during the course of the seven years to which this might refer? Let us see what the rest of the passage says to see if it can be determined. We can know that this is definitely not Armageddon though, as we know God will defend Jerusalem in that day. In this case we find out later in the chapter in verses 27-28 that the land will be devastated. “For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.” The land in this case will not be defended, it will be devastated, although God will not let there be a complete end to it. The last verse in the chapter would seem to indicate this is most likely speaking of the midpoint of Daniel's 70^th week. It bears an uncanny resemblance to Revelation 12. “For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! For my soul is wearied because of murderers.”

So we have now have a few more pieces of information to add to the list of characteristics that define the beast of Revelation.

The Beast or Antichrist in the Old Testament Pt.4

2011-04-30T14:59:00.004-04:00

We have been looking at the various names by which the beast is called. There is not a lot in the next few chapters presented, but as He is mentioned and there is other interesting information, we will take a look at them. The first is another mention of “the Assyrian” in Isaiah 31.

Verse 1-5 “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses,and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord! Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity. Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together. For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.”

Here we find a passage that tells us how Israel seek “Egypt's” help. It tells how it will not do them any good, as the “Egyptians” are just men, not God, and that both they and the Israelites will fall. It is the Lord who will come down and fight for Mount Zion. He will defend and deliver Jerusalem. Because we find in the prophecies that the land mentioned is not always the land meant in the second fulfillment, that it could be “spiritual Egypt” in this case, it is difficult to know for certain who is being referred to here. In the Scriptures, we find that Egypt is not on antichrist's side, as he goes after them to destroy them. (Daniel 11:42-43). At the moment to think of Egypt being on Israel's side is clearly not something one would consider, as the people want the peace treaty revoked, if it has not been already. From this, if taken literally, it appears that they side with Israel, and that some of the Jews flee to Egypt during the tribulation. In Isaiah 52, which I will cover in a moment says this in verse 4 “For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.” Here we see another reference to the Assyrian, and we will see when that chapter is covered shortly that it is referring to the end times. The question is, is it truly Egypt that is meant, or is it spiritual Egypt, just as America is today spiritual Babylon?

Isaiah 31:6-9 “Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted. For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited. And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.”

God warns Israel to turn back to God, from whom they have turned, instead of looking for human help in the day of distress, when the nations will come against them. Notice the idols of gold and silver being thrown away. We saw that men cast away their idols of gold and silver on the Day of the Lord (Isaiah 2). This gives us a time frame, as the Day of the Lord is toward the end of Daniel's 70^th week. The beast falls by a sword, but not the sword of a mighty or mean man. We know from Daniel and Revelation that it is the Lord who defeats the beast. He tries to flee from the Lord to his own refuge, and his minions will be afraid of the signs of the Lord's coming after them, but the Lord will prevail as he burns His enemies in His Holy Land.

Here we see the beast again referred to as “the Assyrian.” There is not much other identifying characteristics except that he does have a fortress type of refuge or something akin to a palace or place where someone who aspires to be the world leader would live.

Now on to chapter 52. While this chapter only contains one little reference to the beast, the chapter is very informative and deserves to be studied.

Verses 1-6 “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money. For thus saith the Lord God, My people went down aforetime into Egypt to sojourn there; and the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought? They that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord; and my name continually every day is blasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold it is I.”

In the first verse we are told that the holy city of Jerusalem will no more see the uncircumcised (spiritually definitely and physically possibly) and unclean (definitely spiritually and again possibly meaning ceremonially unclean) come into her. She is also told to put on her beautiful garments. This clearly is a reference to the end of times and the millennium when this will be the condition of Jerusalem. She is told to shake the dust off and take the bands of her captivity off. She is finally free from having the infidels (to borrow a Muslim term) rule over her. She is told that she sold herself (making peace treaties with all her enemies) for nothing, as she will be redeemed without money or having to pay a price (in today's case – land). She will be redeemed by the Lord. Again there is the verse that mentions that she has gone down into Egypt. As from the context the time frame concerns the end times, it is clear that there must be some Jews who run to “Egypt” whomever that may refer to spiritually. As we know the beast (again called the Assyrian) does go down into Egypt and oppresses everyone there, it may possibly fit that it is Egypt. God then asks what is going on? Have his people gone down there for nothing? Those there only give them tribulation and make them howl, and for what purpose? The purpose is then made clear. They will know the Lord's name (Yeshua) and know that it is He who is God, and who is speaking to them. Yeshua is as much the “I am” as is the Father. He is also a part of the Godhead. Again, we know that it is only at the end when He returns that Israel realizes who He is. So we see another clear identifier as to the time frame of this passage.

Verses 7-10 “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”

This is a famous verse that is much quoted. It is about the Lord's first coming and the bringing of the gospel message. That is what the word “gospel” means, “good news.” But there is more than His first coming in these verses. The Lord shall bring Zion back. He shall redeem Jerusalem and comfort His people. That is about the Lord's Second Coming. Jerusalem will have been laid waste by the nations and the destroyer, but she will rejoice in the return of her Savior. The Lord will bare His arm against the nations. To bare one's arm is to roll up your sleeves for a good fight. At that time the entire world will see the salvation of the Lord.

Verses 11-12 “Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord. For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.”(this word is not a typo of the word “reward”, the word means rearguard or the guard of your backside).

In spite of the mention of Egypt, this section (chapters 40-66) of the book of Isaiah was originally written to foretell the Babylonian captivity, so in that context all the literal first fulfillment passages would be addressing this situation. We have been looking at it from the second future fulfillment position, which is about the end times. Therefore, the countries mentioned may be spiritually referring to another land. In the context of this chapter it is strange, as Babylon is not mentioned even though these chapters address that captivity. It is Egypt that is mentioned. So the question comes, is it talking about Babylon (America) or Egypt? Whichever country it is (and we know that the Jews do come to America to escape the beast), they are told to depart from the country. We do know from previous Scriptures that they are told to come out of Babylon at the end before she is destroyed.

So they are to depart out of “Egypt” or in the case of the fact that it is addressing the Babylonian captivity, to come out of Babylon, and not to touch any “unclean” thing. They are to separate themselves from anything that is spiritually and physically unclean. As the time of this departure will be at a time when the world will be suffering under terrible cataclysms, there will probably be a lot of diseased and dying people, as well as spiritually unclean people around them. They are to keep their distance from them. This is very important because of the following. Now comes an interesting phrase. They bear the vessels of the Lord. This is very important. Right now in Israel, the Temple Institute and the Temple Mount Faithful have been preparing everything for the third temple. From what I have read, all of the temple vessels and accoutrements have been made. This includes not only the candlesticks, bowls, and things like that, but musical instruments, clothing, etc. An altar for sacrifice has been built according to the Law, and there is a foundation stone hewn according to the Law that is dragged up to the Temple Mount several times a year at feast times to try to lay the cornerstone of the new temple. The priests have all been found and trained (Kohanin or Cohens – meaning descendents of Aaron who can be priests. Just being a Levite does not suffice). I understand a red heifer has now been born and may be ready to prepare for the ashes. I hear the temple is pre-fab for easy and quick construction, so there appears to be nothing in the way except permission to build it. Apparently as these vessels and such take a long time to make (they've been at it for years) and they will be needed immediately in the millennial temple, God will see fit to preserve them by removing them from the temple in the tribulation diaspora when they flee. They are to bring them back at the time of the regathering after the tribulation. But this time, unlike when they had to flee for their lives, they will not go back in haste or by flight. They will be following the Lord as He LEADS them back to Jerusalem. And He will also be behind them. One is reminded of the pillar of fire and the cloud that led them out of Egypt. This time Yeshua will be in front, and the Holy Spirit will be in the rear protecting them front and back.

Verses 13-15 “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee, his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men; So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.”

God says that His Servant (Yeshua) will deal wisely with all. He will be exalted and praised, as He should have been right from the start. Many will be taken by surprise. Now we see a prophecy that was fulfilled at His first coming. His face was so marred more than any other man. We know from Scripture that Christ was not a comely (handsome) man to begin with. Isaiah 53:2 “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” But now we see that His face is terribly marred. This is from the horrible beating that He received at the time of the crucifixion. Whether those marks still remain as do the nail prints in His hand I do not know. But this tells us that His torture was great at that time. And his form (body) also. His skin was torn off His body right down to the bone. Now it says that the kings will shut their mouths at their astonishment, for what they have not known about Him they shall see with their own eyes and what they haven't heard about Him they will now be forced to consider as truth.

The Beast or Antichrist in the Old Testament Pt.3

2011-04-23T15:55:00.003-04:00

In continuing our study of the references in the Old Testament about the antichrist we find a few more verses in the book of Isaiah.

In Isaiah 30 we find another interesting reference we have seen before. In Isaiah 14:29 we saw the verse, “ Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.” It was seen that from Satan would come forth another snake, and from him or alongside him would come the antichrist or the fiery flying serpent. We find the same reference in Isaiah 30. In this chapter, Israel is being chastised for putting their confidence in an alliance with Egypt.

Verses 1- 7 “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that, cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes. They were all ashamed of a people that could not profit, but a shame, and also a reproach. The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them. For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.”

God is calling Israel rebellious children. This is not exactly a new problem. They go and take counsel or make agreements with Egypt against God's explicit command. He has most certainly told them to not do this. They do this to try to strengthen themselves by making allies of Egypt. On the contrary instead of making them strong, it adds to their shame before God and to the confusion of the entire situation in the Middle East. The Egyptians were not really proud of this alliance, but saw it as a reproach on themselves. This certainly speaks for the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt today, which since the recent uprising in Egypt appears to be null and void. And just as it says in verse 7, they will not get any help from the Egyptians in spite of their efforts for peace. There are two ways to interpret who sits still. In the first, God tells Israel that their strength would lie in sitting still and not looking for help from any, but trusting in God which they will not do. In the second, Egypt's strength lies in sitting back and not getting involved even after saying they would. This is how they protect themselves. From a later verse though it would appear that the first interpretation is the more correct. Vs. 15 “For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.”

In ancient times, Israel loaded up camels and beasts of burden to carry treasures down to Egypt for the cause of this alliance. Today it is more a case of giving away the land to get a false sense of peace. But notice in verse 6 a curious reference. The young and old lion, and the viper and fiery flying serpent are said to come from Egypt. It has already been discussed that the beast, by virtue of having inhabited all the kings of the seven previous heads of the beast is in turn referred to as coming from each of these lands. This is why it has been so difficult to ascertain exactly from which country the beast of our day will hail. In this passage we are told that both the viper (the cockatrice) and the fiery flying serpent come from the same place, in this case Egypt. It may very well be that the flying serpent is a descendant of the viper, who appears to have been a forerunner of the beast. As Antiochus Epiphanes is the forerunner that Christ refers to in Matthew, it implies that the serpent may be from the same bloodline. The other new reference we are introduced to is the old and young lion. As these two references seem to apply to the same two people as the serpents, we see that the young lion is the same as the fiery flying serpent. This is the second time the beast is referenced as a fiery flying serpent, so it appears it is necessary to consider something that I wished to avoid at this point. The fact is, we know there are fallen angels, demonic spirits, nephilim, and hybrid creatures that exist according to Scripture. In Revelation we are shown that God will allow the release of creatures from the abyss to torture people. The idea of aliens and UFOs has been orchestrated by Satan for purpose. I believe part of the end times deception involves the appearance of these various beings and creatures to convince people that aliens are invading. This seems to be the plan to get people to go along with the idea of a one world government to fight a common foe, the aliens. Much is being done to promote this idea from books, to television shows, to movies, etc. There is a great deal of evidence to support the idea that Satan is reptilian in appearance. It also appears that before the fall he possibly had beautiful wings, of which he was stripped and now he has to crawl around on his belly. This fiery flying serpent may only be of partial human origin. He may be what people will view as an alien, and literally have wings. His serpentine heritage comes from his father THE original serpent of Genesis. At this point, almost anything is possible, so while this is total speculation, it is wise to consider all possibilities, so that when he appears we are not deceived and can reconcile what may appear a completely unexpected circumstance. Most people would never expect something of this nature, but if it is in the back of one's mind as a possibility, one can quickly adapt and accept it as a deception and not be deceived.

Later in verse 31 there is a reference to the beast as the “Assyrian” again. “For through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.” This is cross referencing Isaiah 10:5 which said “O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.” Now the beast will be beaten down, as he beat others. Verses 32-33 “And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the Lord shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it. For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.” When the Lord goes to punish the Assyrian, everywhere that the Lord makes him pass through the people will be rejoicing with tabrets (type of tambourine) and harps. It would appear from some research that the term "grounded staff" (we have seen the beast called the staff before) is something scholars have not been able to understand. The word "grounded" is a puzzle to them as it has a meaning of foundation. On one hand it might mean that the entire world government rests on the foundation of this man, so he is the foundation of it. In English it has another connotation. When something that flies is grounded, it flies no more. Satan was grounded when God forced him to now crawl on his belly. This fiery flying serpent may also be stripped of his ability to fly.

The reference to Tophet is to a valley near Jerusalem where fires burned continually to destroy things that were offensive. It is also where people offered their children in the fire to Moloch. It is essentially a reference to the fires of hell or the lake of fire, the latter of which has been prepared to throw the beast into after Armageddon.

The Beast or Antichrist in the Old Testament Pt.2

2011-04-16T15:12:00.003-04:00

Continuing on with the various identities of the beast (otherwise known as antichrist) we find what may be a reference to him in Isaiah 16.

Verse 4 “Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness. We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.”

We have seen in previous postings that 1) Moab is a place where Israel runs at the time of the abomination of desolation, 2) Moab escapes out of the beast's hand during that time, and 3) that when the Lord returns and brings Israel back into the land, He will then punish Moab. We had also seen the possibility that the beast has been born in Jordan (Ammon). Remembering that Moab, Edom, and Ammon all now comprise Jordan, the fact that all three escape the beast's hand at that time (Daniel 11:41) indicates that the prophecies addressed to one them most probably is addressed to all of them, as they now are one country.

So we see that Israel dwells with Moab to be hidden from the “spoiler,” and the “extortioner.” We have seen the beast called the spoiler before, but now we add extortioner to his list of names. We know from Daniel that the antichrist will plunder many nations of their treasures, gold, silver, etc. It may be that the way he gets these things is through extortion, just as mobsters extort protection money from small businessmen. As long as they hand over the money, they leave them alone, but the threat of great bodily harm or worse is always there if the money is not turned over to them. This most certainly would fit the personality of this person. We also see that he is called the pride of Moab. This would be a second indication that he comes from Jordan. He is their home boy, so he is their pride and joy, so to speak. Just as any town loves to claim their famous progeny, so Moab is proud of having produced this phenomena. This is a description we have seen used before of the antichrist or beast. In Daniel it says he has a mouth speaking great things (7:8, 20, 25; 11:36-37) and also in Revelation (13:5,6). He is full of pride (Daniel 8:10,11; 11:36-37) and magnifies himself above all gods even to God Himself. We know that the wrath of the beast will be great, as he is the cause of all the horrors of the tribulation and we know he is a liar (Daniel 11:27). All of these descriptions fit this person from Moab, and it tells us the timing is that time when the throne of David is again established, which happens when Christ comes back to reign. We find another clue of the timing of this person's existence by the last verse of this chapter. (16:14) “But now the Lord hath spoken, saying Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, (contemned means despise with mockery or show contempt for) with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.” The time that the beast will reign will be 3 ½ years or by years alone, three years. Within three years from the time he sets up himself in pride, he will brought down. He will be mocked (we saw this from the inhabitants of hell when he joins them in Isaiah 14), as well as destroyed, along with the great multitude that follow him, when the Lord returns. The remnant left over from the Day of the Lord will be very small and weak after this is over. And here we have another name for the beast, “the glory of Moab.” So by all of the clues, it would seem that this pride or glory of Moab being spoken of is the beast.

In Isaiah Chapter 19 we find a reference to the antichrist concerning Egypt. From Daniel 11:42 we know that he will go down and plunder Egypt. “He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape.” In Isaiah 19:4 we find a reference to the same event. “And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts.” We find one of these same titles used again in Daniel 8:23 “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences shall stand up.” So we know that the beast will be a cruel and fierce king as well as being of fierce countenance or having a very stern forbidding look about him.

While Isaiah Chapter 20 is a prophecy for the captivity of Egypt and Ethiopia by the ancient king of Assyria, we know that prophecies have dual fulfillments, and we also know that one of the beast's titles is king of Assyria, so we need to see if there is any reason to look at this passage also. From Daniel 11:43 we know that not only Egypt will not escape from his hand, but also Libya and Ethiopia will suffer, so there are now two reasons to consider this chapter. It is a very short chapter, and the gist of it is that Isaiah is told to walk barefoot for three years as a sign to Egypt and Ethiopia of their captivity at the hands of the king of Assyria. Notice again the three year time period as in the previous passage. Also others will look at this event and consider that they should expect the same fate. They do not know how to escape and be delivered from the king of Assyria. vs.3-6 “And the Lord said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria: and how shall we escape?” This passage then seems to go along with the prophecy in Daniel that says that these countries will suffer under the reign of antichrist. Given that Egypt's government has fallen and now appears to be undergoing a change into a government with the “Muslim brotherhood” (and sharia law) most likely in charge, it would almost seem strange that Egypt would suffer under the beast's reign, as it would appear that the Muslim Mahdi is the beast. The events in Egypt bear watching as do all the countries in the Middle East right now.

The results of the passages studied in these few chapters of Isaiah would appear to show us the following: 1) a confirmation that the beast comes from the Ammon/Moab area, today known as Jordan, and 2) that Egypt and Ethiopia will suffer terribly under his reign. 3) We also saw additional names to add to the list of his monikers – spoiler (again), extortioner, pride of Moab, glory of Moab, king of Assyria (again), a cruel lord, a fierce king, a king of fierce countenance. These things tell us his character as well as some of his actions. He plunders lands and steals their wealth, he extorts their wealth, he is prideful and full of himself, he is the pride of his nation, he is cruel and without compassion, he is fierce and fierce looking, and he takes prisoners from the lands he conquers.

Now we are starting to build a profile of the man which will help us to spot him when he comes on the scene. When we get to the end of the passages, I will compile a list of all the characteristics of the beast.

The Beast or Antichrist in the Old Testament Pt.1

2011-04-09T15:39:00.006-04:00

In the Scriptures, we find many names for the beast, which is what has made it confusing as to his national identity. He is called at various times the Assyrian, the prince of the people who shall come (Rome), a Mede, and many other things not having to do with nationalities. He seems to have a great many names. The reason for this may come from the description of the beast in Revelation. The beast has seven heads which stand for seven nations through which he has reigned on the earth over the millennia. The nations represented are the empires who have been large world dominating ones, and also they share the characteristic of persecuting Israel. The first six empires represented are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. I believe the Third Reich under Hitler was the seventh empire. Because the beast has possessed the leader of each of these, he has in turn been called by each of these names, which explains why the Scriptures calls him at various times by each of these names. When God is addressing Assyria, the prophecies have a dual fulfillment, so God is addressing the beast in his first incarnation as the king of Assyria, but also in his last incarnation as the beast for the end times fulfillment. That does not necessitate that the beast will be from Assyria (or Syria) in these end days. It means that he possessed the king of Assyria at one time. The same holds true for each of these nations so we need to look at the prophecies concerning each and see what is said about him. He is also mentioned by other names, such as the rod, the spoiler or fiery serpent, so we need to look at these verses also.

In the passage of Isaiah 7, God is speaking of “that day,” which is a common way of referring to the Day of the Lord in the Scriptures. We find a reference to God's using a “razor” (tool of his destruction) to “shave” (punish) Israel. Isaiah 7:20 “In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard.” So here we see the beast called by the name “king of Assyria” and also “the razor.”

And again we see the use of this name king of Assyria in Isaiah 10:5-7, 12-15,24-25,27,33 “O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hands is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few...Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks. For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man: And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? Or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? As if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood.....Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. For yet a little while, and the indignation (tribulation and Day of the Lord) shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction....And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing....Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled.” In these verses the beast is called by a number of names: the king of Assyria, the rod, the staff, the axe, the saw, and the bough. We see that he is arrogant, proud, and boastful. He feels he is the one who has “removed the bounds” of the people or done away with national borders (New World Order). He has taken the riches and treasures of the nations. Daniel 12:43 “But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things...” Nobody seems able to oppose him. Daniel 12:41 “He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown...” But God questions him as to whom he is to boast against God. He is allowed to do this because God has ordained it, not of his own power. God reassures Israel that they should not be afraid, that while he is being allowed to smite them for a while, his yoke will be removed from their necks, and he will be lopped off like the bough of a tree can be.

Interestingly, while it is clear from Revelation that the beast hates Babylon, there are a few passages that imply that he is also out of Babylon. As Babylon was one of the heads of the beast, there is a connection between the two, even though the whore Babylon is a separate entity from the beast at the end, as she rides the back of the beast, and he hates her. We find in the following passage that the king of Babylon appears to also be the beast. Isaiah 14:3-6 “And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee (Israel) rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! The golden city ceased! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.” That this passage is also referring to the beast is further shown by the verses that follow those above. It speaks of Satan as being the controller of this king, and we know he reigns through the beast. Isaiah 14:9-23 “Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people; the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord. I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.”

This passage brings up some very interesting problems that force us to look at what we have already hypothesized. One of the things about studying these prophecies is that you can think you have an idea of how things are going and what they are pointing to, but then you run across other verses that lead you in a new direction. While at the beginning of this study, from Genesis through Revelation, I had studied and written over the last couple of decades much of what I posted, this study of the prophets since finishing Revelation is touching on ground I had not yet gotten to really study in depth before. As such I have not had the time to research everything that I go over by comparing it to all of Scripture, so at times things may seem to point in a certain direction, and I hypothesize that that is where it is going, but then new verses shed new light which forces one to reconsider and think through those hypotheses. This is one of those cases. Clearly it can be seen that the king of Babylon is associated with Satan, and we know this would have been true as Babylon was one of the heads of the beast of Revelation. However as in Revelation it says that the beast hates the whore, who is modern Babylon, it seemed that the beast had no connection to modern Babylon as being her king. But this passage indicates otherwise. Look at what this king is called. Vs.4 “the oppressor,” vs. 5 “the staff” of the wicked, and the “sceptre” of rulers. We have already seen the beast called “the staff,” and “the sceptre” implies that this king of Babylon is the ruler over other rulers. We know this will be true of the beast.The question that arises from this is, even though we saw in Ezekiel 21 that Ammon or Jordan was said to be the birthplace of the beast, is he living in America? Is he an American Muslim? Is he going to be a Muslim leader of America? I do not believe at this time that Obama is the beast, although he is our leader and regardless of what he says, he is a Muslim (you never leave the religion and live, and he was one as a boy). What people do not understand is that a Muslim can pretend not to be one if that furthers the cause of Allah. They are allowed to lie and it is not a sin, because it will allow them to do something for Allah. So conceivably, someone who is in actuality a Muslim can become the leader of this country (it has already happened.) This passage makes one have to assess that possibility, so now we have to leave the door open to that and see what we find in the rest of the Scriptures. It could be however that just as he is called by the other national names (Assyrian, Mede, Roman) it does not indicate his real nationality, but simply that he was one of the heads of the beast. It remains to be seen where this will lead.

In vs.6 we are told that this king smites the people with “continual wrath.” And in vs.12 we are told that Lucifer (Satan) has fallen from heaven. We know that in Revelation Satan comes down from heaven having great wrath aimed at first Israel, and then Christians during the tribulation. Revelation 12:4 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.” Revelation 12: 13,17 “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. ..and the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” So this king of Babylon and Satan both have great wrath toward God and His people. Satan possesses the beast and uses him during the tribulation to kill God's servants. This is a connection between the two, both this king of Babylon (the beast) and Satan, and between this passage in Isaiah with the aforementioned in Revelation and the following in Daniel. Daniel 8:10-11 “And it waxed great (the little horn), even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the hosts, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.” (The abomination of desolation). This king's wrath will be greater than any wicked leader before him. He rules the nations in anger and the kings of the earth in hell rise up to greet this greatest of all the wicked leaders.We know that the wrath of Satan through the beast will be the worst since the beginning of the world. Matthew 24:21. So by comparing all these verses, it seems that this passage about the king of Babylon is speaking about the beast or antichrist.

Then these verses in Isaiah show that this king is directly associated as having been controlled by Satan, as Satan is directly addressed as being this king. He is boastful, proud, and wants to be like the Most High. We already know that he kills God's people. These descriptions are also found in Daniel and Revelation. Daniel 7:25 “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Daniel 12: 36 “And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation (tribulation and God's wrath – notice this is the same word used in Isaiah 10:25) be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.”Revelation 13:5 “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” We know that the beast boasts against and blasphemes God and so does Satan, Isaiah 14:13-14. One assumes from the way the rulers in hell mock the king of Babylon for his “pomp” and “noise of [his] thy viols” that he is also guilty of boasting even though it does not specifically say so.

Now in the same passage in Isaiah 14, we see a sudden change. In vs.21 God stops speaking about the king of Babylon and starts speaking to the nation of Babylon. This separation of the two is interesting, as He could have spoken to both at the same time if they were one in the same. It appears that the reason for separating the two is that he is speaking directly to the beast in the first part of the chapter, but then He is speaking to the whore in the last part of the chapter. This makes sense, as in the end they are not the same entity. This seems to be borne out by the fact that now the beast has a new name. He goes back to being the Assyrian. Isaiah 14:24-26 “The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.” If we question that the Assyrian is the beast, after having been the king of Babylon, we are now given more clues. Isaiah 14:29 “Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.” Here we see the reference to “the rod” again. And even more, we are told that this rod has come from the serpent's root. As Satan is the serpent, we know that this is referring to an “offspring” of his. And that is in fulfillment of the prophecy way back in Genesis (which is why this study originally began in Genesis.) Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The seed of woman was Yeshua. The seed of Satan is the beas,t or as more commonly known, the antichrist. What is interesting is that there is a three generation or three-fold system here. The serpent (1^st person) is the root. The next generation is the cockatrice (which is a snake such as an adder) and his fruit is a fiery flying serpent. Now here we see what may be a puzzle as we only expect Satan and the beast, two people. It may (or may not) be solved by the following interpretation. Satan is of course the serpent. The cockatrice may be the human whom we know as the beast, and the fiery flying serpent may be the demon who has actually inhabited the previous seven kings, or heads, of the beast and then comes up from the abyss to inhabit the eight king, the beast himself. It may also be that the forerunner of the antichrist is the cockatrice and from his bloodline will come the antichrist. There may also be another explanation, but that would require really thinking outside the box, which is not impossible, just not something I want to indulge in here.

There are still many more references to go, but they take time to find, so this will continue on the next post.

Zechariah Chapter 2

2011-04-02T11:34:00.002-04:00

For this Bible study on references to Babylon, the last pertinent reference to Babylon in regards to the end times in the Old Testament is found here in Zechariah.

Verse 1-5 “I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: for I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.”

An angel appears to Zechariah. He is holding a measuring line and tells Zechariah that he is going to measure the borders of Israel. (In Ezekiel we are told what the borders of Israel will be during the millennium.) Then another angel meets up with the first and tells him to tell Zechariah that Jerusalem will one day be full of people and animals and be unwalled and safe because the Lord will be her protection in the midst of her. This is the promise that God is giving Israel.This is the kingdom during the millennium that they have been promised. A time when they will live in complete safety for the first time since becoming a nation, and God will be in their midst again, with Yeshua their Messiah on the throne.

Verse 6-9 “Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord; for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me.”

God has just given Israel a promise, but first He tells Israel they will have to flee from Babylon. He says he has scattered them to the four winds, but now is the time for them to deliver themselves and return to Jerusalem. But notice, they are dwelling with the “daughter” of Babylon, which as we have seen in previous verses refers not to ancient Babylon, but modern Babylon. We have already seen in Ezekiel that she is dwelling in Babylon, to be delivered from the sword that is coming upon everyone else. Now is the time when she is to run or come out of Babylon before Babylon gets what is coming to her. “After the glory” or after the glorious redemption of Israel when God redeems her from Babylon and the nations, He will punish the nations who have spoiled her. Now they who have hurt the “apple of His eye”will be spoiled or punished. Now everyone and especially Israel will see and know that the Lord Jesus Christ is God. This is clearly speaking of the Lord's return and God's wrath upon all the nations of the earth. So again we see a passage that indicates that Babylon the Whore is actually going to be a refuge for Israel in the last days. However, there is an appointed time when Israel must flee so that she does not partake of the judgment being poured out on Babylon. Revelation 18:4 “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”

Verse 10-13 “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee. And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.”

Now God goes back to the promise. He tells Israel to sing and rejoice for He will once again dwell in the midst of her. This is referencing the Lord's Second Coming. Not only Israel will worship the Lord, but all nations will be joined to the Lord during the millennium, and shall be his people. Here is a verse that shows two members of the Trinity. It says that “I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of host hath sent ME.” The Lord is sending the Lord. God the Father is sending Christ the Son. God will again reestablish His people in the holy land and will set up His throne in Jerusalem in the Temple. Now all of Israel will know and acknowledge their Messiah is Yeshua, the Savior we have all been worshiping for 2,000 years.

Notice this last verse that speaks of being silent before the Lord. We saw that in Revelation at the opening of the seventh seal. Revelation 8:1 “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. We also see a reference to it in Zephaniah 1:7 “Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand.” God is going to get up off His throne and pour out His wrath on the nations, but before He does, the heavens and earth will experience a moment of silence. The calm before the storm. This chapter goes back and forth between reminding the people of the promise He made and what they have to look forward to, the wrath He will pour out on the nations, and their redemption from the nations.

Micah 4

2011-03-26T14:28:00.003-04:00

Another end times reference to Babylon is found in Micah 4. This chapter is all about the last days and Israel. In previous postings, some of the Scriptures had led to the supposition that at least some of the American people are going to rescue the Israeli people after the abomination of desolation. This would seem to be in defiance of the leader of the country who, if interpretation is correct, has just sided against her (Ezekiel 21) and is the cause of the temple being desecrated. This chapter states that people will go out of Israel to Babylon to be delivered. Then the Lord will redeem them from there. The chronology of this chapter is strange in that it seems to work backward from the millennium to the time when Israel has to flee the land.

Verse 1- 2 “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

This passage is speaking of that time after the wrath of God has passed in the last days. The mountain of the Lord will be raised higher than the other mountains. Isaiah 2:2 “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” These verses are saying almost exactly the same thing. The Lord's house (temple) will be established in the highest mountain and people will be coming to it to learn the ways of the Lord. This is obviously speaking of the millennium when the Lord reigns and people come to Jerusalem to learn His ways. The law (notice it is the LAW, not just the message of grace) will go forth out of Jerusalem from the Lord.

Verse 3-5 “And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.”

Yeshua will be the judge during that day. He will exercise judgment daily. Jeremiah 23:5 “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.” Isaiah 11:4 “But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” He will judge nations near and far. All of the weapons will be needed no longer as there will be no more war. So they will turn their weapons into farming implements. Every man will be raising his own food, and everyone will dwell in the security that they are safe, for God has promised this. The next verse seems to be a contradiction to all the verses about the millennium, which say that everyone will worship the Lord. It really is not. Rather, in Hebrew this phrase is grammatically a comparison. It is more of a now vs. then type of statement. Now everyone will walk in the name of their gods, but then “we,” the people of the millennium, will walk in the name of the Lord God.

Verse 6-8 “In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.”

Now we see how the passages are working backward. God is here referring to when He will gather Israel back from the lands from where she was driven in affliction during the tribulation. He will make her remnant into a strong nation, one in which the Lord will reign over them from Mount Zion forever. The phrase "tower of the flock" can have several meanings. The more literal ones can refer to the Migdal Eder or Tower of Ader which was near Bethlehem. This was where the shepherds saw the angels announcing the birth of the Savior. Some scholars see this as a prophecy of the Messiah. Another interpretation sees this as the stronghold or “Ophel,” a fortified area touching on the eastern porch of the temple. It is the eastern gate through which it is said the Messiah will return. Spiritually, no matter to which it refers literally, it is referring to Yeshua, who is the tower or stronghold of the flock, or believers. The first dominion or kingdom shall finally come to both the Messiah and Israel. The kingdom which has been promised to them for several millennia.

Verse 9-10 - “Now why doest thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee? Is thy counsellor perished? For pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.”

Now the chapter moves backward again in time to the tribulation. Israel is crying out as she is overrun, killed, and scattered yet once again. God asks where is the king (government) in whom she trusted? Where are the councilors, who adviced peace agreements with her neighbors? Have they perished? As is the reference point for this kind of tribulation, God compares it to a woman in labor giving birth. Instead of just calling Israel, Zion, she is again referred to as the “daughter of Zion.” Just as the phrase “daughter of Babylon” refers to the future Babylon who is the offspring of the original, so the “daughter” of Zion is present day Israel, which is an offspring of the ancient nation. She is laboring to bring forth the nation that God wants her to be. A nation under Him. She will go forth out of the city (actually the entire country) when the abomination of desolation occurs, after having been brought back as a nation in 1948. She will dwell in the fields and wilderness wherever she runs, places such as Edom, Moab, and Ammon. She will also go forth to Babylon. Now as we have seen that this chapter is definitely about the last days, we know that she will be taken to modern Babylon, which again, we surmise is America given the descriptions throughout Scripture. There she will be delivered from the hand of the beast. Now we know for certain that this is not speaking of the original Babylonian captivity, for she was not sent to Babylon at that time to be delivered from the oppressor (that Babylon was her oppressor), but to be punished for her sins. Here we are told she is being delivered by going to Babylon. There she will be redeemed from the hand of her enemies. In other words, brought safely away from and protected from her enemies. This clearly is not speaking of the original captivity. As her enemies completely surround her, this seems to be more evidence that Babylon is not modern day Iraq, as some think may be, but America who is an ocean away from her enemies.

Verse 11-13 “Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people: and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.”

Nations will be gathered against Israel. These nations are looking for the annihilation of Israel, so that they may possess Jerusalem. As we are told in Zechariah 12:3 “And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” However, they do not know the Lord nor His word, or they would know that they will not win. He has said that He will gather them together in the place called Armageddon to destroy them. He has also told us in other verses, which we recently covered in another Bible passage, that Israel will plunder her neighbors. Zechariah 12:8-11 “In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.” Revelation 16:15 “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Even the most feeble of the children of Israel will be given supernatural strength to fight against these nations. All of the plunder that Israel gains from the fight will be dedicated to the Lord.

Ezekiel 21 Part 2 Verses 18-32

2011-03-20T15:51:00.002-04:00

Verse 18- 20 “The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city. Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.”

The Lord gives Ezekiel another prophecy. This time God chooses a different way to refer to the sword. Before it was just the sword, or the sword in the hand of the slayer. Now God gets specific that there will be a sword in the hand of the king of Babylon. This is the only time in the chapter that He refers to the sword as the sword of the king of Babylon. Why the difference? I believe it is because this prophecy has two fulfillments, and the difference in reference is so that we can distinguish between the two. When referred to as just the sword, I believe it is a reference for both the first fulfillment as being in the hand of Babylon, but for the second fulfillment, I believe it is referring to the beast. The specificity of saying the sword of the king of Babylon makes it agree with the first fulfillment, but it would cause a hitch in the interpretation of the sword being the beast in the second fulfillment. Therefore it forces upon us the interpretation in the second fulfillment that this particular sword comes from the future king of Babylon and that this verse finds its second fulfillment in America, not in the beast as do the other references to the sword. With that in mind we can look at both prophecies and see what occurred and what will occur.

It says that two choices will come forth out of Babylon. Two paths lie before the king as to whom he will go to destroy. He has to make this decision at the crossroads where there is no turning back. One path leads to Rabbath of the Ammonites, which in modern day is in Jordan, and the second path is to Jerusalem, which it says is not defenseless.(Israel does have a good military.) From history we know that both the Ammonites and Judah were enemies of Babylon, which is why a choice was made. In that case, the king chose to destroy Jerusalem. In the modern fulfillment, there will come a time when the president will have to choose between siding with Israel against her enemies, which in this case is Jordan specifically, or taking up arms against Israel. The next few verses will tell us the outcome of that decision.

Verses 21-23 “For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort. And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.”

As the king of Babylon stands faced with the decision of which way to go, he uses divination. The ancient king's answer was to turn to Jerusalem. The Jews that had sworn oaths to the king did not worry and thought it a false divination that would come to nothing, as their false prophets were telling them that everything was going to be all right. Ezekiel was the only one telling the truth. But the king justifies this by saying they had once breached the covenant, so they have this coming. The second way to interpret their iniquity is that Judah has also breached the covenant with God, and He will bring this into remembrance by the sword that He is sending.

Now to know that the ancient king made this decision based on divination is not a surprise, but for a modern president to do that would seem to be. Actually it is not a stretch at all. The White House has been known to use astrology and there have been practitioners of witchcraft in office. For the president to be a follower of Satanic rituals is not a stretch at all in this day and age. Many of the elected officials now come right out and say that they are pagan worshipers. Our highest government officials already participate in the pagan ritual at the Bohemian Grove which offers a sacrifice on a yearly basis to (I believe it is) Molech. I have my suspicions that it is actually a human sacrifice. So this prophecy is not a stretch of credulity at all for our modern age. The divination tells him to go against Israel and to slaughter the inhabitants. Those who have sworn oaths (possibly the military in this case) believe this is a false divination, or really bad decision. Also Israel may make a peace covenant that makes them think they are safe, just as the first time around. And they would not think that we would ever do that to them. But again God will call to remembrance their iniquity in making any pact with the countries surrounding them, and forsaking their covenant with Him.

Verses 24 “Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.”

Now we see that indeed, it is their iniquity against God that He allows this destruction to come upon them. Yet still, the “king” chooses through his communication with Satanic channels to go against Jerusalem, and he will not be held guiltless for doing so, even though God is using him as His tool. Here is where we see why in earlier passages in Jeremiah it seemed that God was blaming America for the destruction of the Temple. It is because when faced with the choice, the leader will choose against Israel.

Verse 25-27 “And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is: and I will give it him.”

Originally this was meant for Zedekiah, who was the last king of Judah. God has never allowed another king (although Rome appointed one, he was not a Jew) and will not until Yeshua returns. However in modern Israel we do have leaders who act in the capacity of king as the rulers. According to this passage, whoever is in leadership in Israel is not a believer in God. There is a distinct difference in Israel between those who are religious and those who are not. The leaders generally tend to not be religious in the sense of truly believing the Messiah is coming. We know from previous studies in Daniel and Revelation that God is going to bring an end to the iniquity in Israel, and then all Israel will be saved. God tells the leader to take off the crown, or come down from the position, as things are about to change. Those who have been abased will be exalted, and those who in their haughtiness were exalted will be abased. That is what God tells us in the New Testament. Matthew 19:30, “But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first..” God will overturn everything that has been going on in Israel to get ready to set up His kingdom. He says here that “it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is, and I will give it him.” This is clearly speaking of Yeshua, who is the only rightful King of Israel. So we see that indeed this is speaking of the end times, as when the Temple is destroyed during the tribulation, all of Israel will either flee or be killed, and there will be no Israel until Yeshua returns as King.

Verse 28-29 "And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering: Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.”

Again Ezekiel is told to start another prophecy. This one is concerning the Ammonites who were located in what is modern Jordan. When Jerusalem was destroyed, the Ammonites mocked and jeered. Their diviners had told them that they were safe. But God is informing them that the sword is now drawn for them. That while their seers and prophets are giving them false prophecies (vanities) and lies, it will bring them to the same state as the Jews which have been slain. It will come upon their wicked necks also, as their day has also come, and God will bring their iniquity to an end also. That is what happened historically five years after Jerusalem was destroyed. As for the future, we are told in Daniel that the land that escapes out of the hand of the beast when he initially sets off to conquer is the land of Jordan. Daniel 12:41 “He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.” It has always been surmised that the reason for this is because Scripture indicates (Isaiah 16:4, 63:1) that the children of Israel flee to Edom and Moab, which is in Jordan, when the beast desecrates the Temple. So initially it seems that Jordan will escape this wrath, but Scripture also indicates that in the end, God is going to punish them for their mockery of Israel's destruction. Jeremiah 49:2, 17 “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the Lord.......Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.” This is even though it has been harboring Israel's refugees. The Israelites will be a part of this destruction. Isaiah 11:14 “But they (Israel) shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them (Edom and Moab); and the children of Ammon shall obey them.” This passage is referring to the time after Yeshua returns and brings His people back into Israel at the end of the 70^th week of Daniel.

Verse 30- 32 “Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity. And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it.”

Now we come to it. The really interesting part. God asks if he is going to put his “sword” back in the sheath for another day. We already know the answer to that from verse 5 where God tells us He will not return the sword to its sheath. He is going to judge the slayer who has been wielding this sword. And where is He going to judge and punish him? In Ammon (Jordan). Here is where the really interesting part comes, and I have never realized this until now. It says that Ammon is the birthplace of this slayer. Maybe that is why Edom, Moab, and Ammon are excluded from the beast's conquering. Is it possible he hails from Jordan? That Jordan is his home? Quite honestly I think that is the last country over there from which people are expecting the beast to come. But would not that be the perfect place then, in Satan's eyes? The place that we would least suspect? God is going to pour out his wrath on this nation, but also on this man. And it is going to be with fire. He is going to deliver the slayer to brutish men. Men who are very skilled at torturing and taking a life. This word “brutish” is very bizarre in that the Hebrew meaning is in the context of kindling and burning (which we see with the mention of fire and that he will be fuel for it), but also it contains a meaning of eating. I have some speculations as to what this may really indicate, but I do not want to go there right now. His blood will be in the midst of the land, but in any event, he will be remembered no more. God has spoken.

Ezekiel 21 Part 1 Verses 1-17

2011-03-19T14:46:00.003-04:00

I have in earlier posts on Babylon shown that God holds Babylon (America) responsible for the destruction of the Tribulation Temple. This chapter in Ezekiel may hold the key to why that is. In chapter 20 God tells Israel how in spite of the fact that they were idol worshipers in Egypt, He brought them out for His name sake. Then in the wilderness, when they turned on Him again, He punished that generation in the hopes that the children would follow His statutes. They did not, but still He brought them into the promised land for His name sake. Then in the land they again turned from God. He is tired of them doing this, so He is going to punish them. Chapter 21 is a prophecy about Israel, but it tells what Babylon will do to her.

Verse 1- 2 “And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel.”

Ezekiel is told to face Jerusalem and aim words directly at the holy places.

Verse 3-5 “And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north. That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.”

God tells Israel that He is against them, and that He is bringing a sword (which He will give to a particular person) against them to destroy them. Not only the wicked, but the righteous also. Nobody is safe from this attack. It will come against everyone from the northern to the southern borders. He is doing this that everyone would know that He is doing this. And He is not putting His sword away afterward. I believe the reason He is not putting this sword away, is that after all is done, He is going to destroy the sword. I believe that this is ultimately speaking of the sword of the beast of Revelation.

Verse 6- 7 “Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes. And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? That thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.”

God tells Ezekiel to mourn over this prophecy in the site of the people. The result being that people would ask him why he was so upset. Then he was to tell them that he is groaning over what is about to fall upon the people. That at its coming every heart would completely fall apart both mentally and physically as it would be so horrible and frightening. And God is guaranteeing that it will come to pass. Now while the captivity of Israel by ancient Babylon probably did evoke this response, note the similarity of the response to what we read about the Day of the Lord. We are told that then every heart would melt and hands would faint. Isaiah 13:6-7 “Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt.”

Verse 8-11 “Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: it is sharpened to make a sore slaughter, it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? It contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree. And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.”

God tells Ezekiel to prophesy again, this time about the sword. This sword has been sharpened and polished so that it will be able to do a thorough job of killing. It is so polished that it glitters. It will shine as it cuts through the land. Should people then be indulging in all the frivolity of life with this on the horizon? This sword will even mock “the rod of my son” as every tree. This sword will mock Judah, from whom the rod of Jesse springs, and the wielder of this sword, the slayer into whose hand it has been given will even mock Yeshua, the Son of God and His kingdom, just as he does every other nation. We read about this mocking of the Son of God in both Daniel and Revelation. Daniel 7:25 “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. ” Revelation 13:5 “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.”

Verse 12-13 “Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh. Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? It shall be no more, saith the Lord God.”

Again we see the same words used as for the Day of the Lord, Isaiah 13:6 “Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.” We know that the Day of the Lord will come upon all people. It will come upon Israel as well as the rest of the world. The slayer, (beast) will kill all of God's people, both Jew and Christian alike. Why? Because it is a trial, or in other words, tribulation, in fact the tribulation. How do we know this is speaking of the beast and the tribulation? Because the sword mocks (that is the meaning of contemn) even the rod itself. We know that the rod is the rod of Jesse or Yeshua. Because it does this, the sword will be no more after it has done its dirty deed, just as pointed out in verse 5. We know from Revelation what happens to the beast when God's wrath is poured out. Daniel 7:26 “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” Revelation 18:20 “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

Verse 14-15“Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! It is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.”

God tells Ezekiel to clap his hands together and pronounce that the sword will be doubled yet a third time. In the original fulfillment, there were three times that Babylon came against Judah. First King Zedekiah was taken away, then they came and burned the city and temple, and the last time they took the remnant of Jews back to Babylon. There were three waves. As for the future reference, it could just mean that the violence is so great (and we know it will be) that it is three times doubled from what they experienced the first time. Or it could mean that there will be three waves of persecution. I have not seen three times outlined in Scripture anywhere yet, but that may be because there is much Scripture to yet cover. In any event, it will be really bad. This sword even slays the great men of the land who are hiding out in their places of refuge. God has set this sword to destroy them to turn them back to Him. Their hearts will faint for fear, the country will be nothing but ruins after the sword comes through. God has prepared this sword of His for the slaughter of His people, to rid the land of the rebellious and unbelieving. We know that there will be a remnant saved from Israel. Isaiah 10:20-22 “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.”

Verse 16 -17 “Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set. I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the Lord have said it.”

They can run any way they want, it won't matter. God is clapping His hands together to signal that this is a done deal. When this is accomplished, only then will His wrath against Israel be done. The Lord God has spoken.

Jeremiah 51:57-64

2011-03-12T13:25:00.002-05:00

Verse 57 – 64 “And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary. The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates: And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.”

God declares that he will make drunk, all of the men of any kind of power in Babylon. While this may mean that he has them partying and actually drunk, as they do not think they can possibly be overthrown, just as ancient Babylon was literally partying and getting drunk when they were overthrown by Persia, it also has the sense of them behaving as if they were drunk, reeling from the shock and awe of what is happening to them. They will sleep a perpetual sleep, in other words, death. Her walls will be broken. The walls of an ancient city were the means of keeping an invader out. They were her first line of defense. Babylon will lose her first line of defense. The walls that surround her (all the waters) will not pose an obstacle to her enemy. They will breach the “walls” of her defense and easily get in to defeat her. We already have had our walls breached. The enemy has been infiltrating and setting up camp (literally) within our walls. We do not keep them out, in the name of political correctness, and it is this lax attitude which will destroy us. Her high gates will burn with fire. Actually all of her will burn with fire. People will try to stop what is going on and fight against it, but in vain.

Now the passage returns to the time when it was written and Jeremiah tells how he gave these words to Seraiah to take with him when he went with Zedekiah to Babylon. Seraiah was charged with reading the words to Babylon and telling them the prophecies about Babylon's demise. Then he is to take the book, bind a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates as a picture demonstration of Babylon's future. Just as the book sinks never to rise, so Babylon will never rise from the evil that God has planned against her. We see that God does reference Babylon here as being a woman, even though He earlier called her by the name Bel, which is said to be another name for Baal, who is thought of as a masculine god. Bel is the goddess of Babylon's name. Possibly Baal originally was a female god, or maybe she is Baal's wife. It appears that through various pagan cultures, it is a god/goddess duo that reign – Osiris/Isis, Shiva/Kali, Nimrod/Semiramis, etc. While this prophecy was aimed at ancient Babylon, we see that it is also aimed at Bel, who still exists. It may be that Baal is the demon who inhabited all of the heads (kings of the nations [mountains]) on the beast that she rides in Revelation and he is presently imprisoned, which is why this is addressed solely to her. Possibly it is he who comes from the abyss to inhabit the beast in Revelation. She has been riding that beast all along. They have been a pair. He now hates her and seeks to destroy her. Possibly because she has been free, while he has been imprisoned. Naturally this is just a hypothesis based on the commonality of myths and hinted at by the Bible, but not verifiable by facts. Babylon is yet to be punished to the extent outlined in this book of Jeremiah, and God has promised that everything He has prophesied against her will happen.

Harold Camping and His May 21, 2011 Rapture

2011-03-05T15:39:00.011-05:00

To my readers,

With so much media attention around Harold Camping's message that the rapture is going to occur on May 21, 2011, and his putting billboards announcing this around the country, I felt I needed to at least acknowledge what is going on, given this is an end times blog. Rather than post the article in the middle of my study of Babylon though, I preferred to put it where it rightfully belongs, on my "Conundrums and Controversy" blog, as it most certainly qualifies as controversy. If you would like to see what I have to say about Camping's theology and prediction, please click on the website listed below to read the article on Harold Camping.

Bible Conundrums and Controversies

Part two, the aftermath of May 21 can be found at Harold Camping Fails and Tries Again With October 21, 2011

Connie

Jeremiah 51:50-56

2011-03-05T10:22:00.001-05:00

Verse 50-51 “Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.”

It mentions those who have escaped the sword. As already discussed and seen in the Scriptures, it will be the Muslims who come against the land. They come literally with sword in hand to behead people. This is their means of execution. This is why in Revelation it is those who were beheaded for their witness that are seen coming out of the tribulation. Revelation 20:4 “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Those who have escaped are to leave Babylon and think of Jerusalem. As mentioned in an earlier passage, God wants those who survive to go to Jerusalem. That will be His point of return and He wants His people there. The people are ashamed, for they know the Lord's house has been desecrated. They let it happen a second time, because they were not listening to the Lord.

Verse 52 – 56 “Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD. A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered: Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.”

God again mentioned Babylon's graven images. She is a nation of intense idolatry. Throughout the length and breadth of the land her wounded will be groaning in death. Now we see a reference that clearly is for our time. Though she should go up to heaven (outer space) and fortify her strength (put up military satellites) yet God will send people to spoil or plunder and destroy her. There will be a great outcry when Babylon is taken. The destruction will be very, very great, in fact permanent. He destroys her great voice. Indeed, America has a loud voice in the world, although her voice may be dimming as time goes by. Even the waves surrounding Babylon are roaring. The rulers and military men are taken. Their weapons are useless, because God is taking vengeance upon her to recompense her for what she has done to Him, His temple, and His people.

Jeremiah 51:44-49

2011-03-01T16:34:00.001-05:00

Verse 44-46 “And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.”

God is going to punish Bel. Bel is Baal, the god of Babylon. Lest people think this is merely an imaginary entity, it must be realized that the fallen angels and demons posed as gods. They draw strength from people's worship. No more will people run to the god of Babylon to worship at his or rather her feet. For Babylon appears to be a woman, according to Revelation. God now warns His people who live in Babylon to get out of her before His wrath hits her. One of the reasons I am not as concerned, as many are about the possible destruction of this country by China or others at this time, is because of these prophecies. It is not that there may not be terrorist attacks, there already have been. And times will definitely get tough in every way, especially for Christians during the tribulation. Many will die. But the kind of devastation that is worried about will not come until God has pulled His people out of her, and I do not believe He is doing that yet. It says that there will be rumors year after year, and even violence in the land as people, even rulers, go after each other. This will continue to happen, but it is not the final destruction of the country yet. That is left for the end, after God has allowed her to do her worst.

Verse 47- 49 “Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD. As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.”

God is going to pour out his wrath on all the graven images of Babylon. Nowadays, people do not worship graven images quite as much as they used to (although there are denominations and religions where icons are still bowed down to – we know who they are), but in the sense of idols, there are many different ones we can see that God will destroy: money, material possessions, idolatry of movie stars, sports people, even political figures. All of these things are idols which will be destroyed. The whole country will be confounded or confused as to what is going on. People will be being killed by the millions. The frightening thing for any American who is not a Christian who may read this is that unless you are a true believer, or one of the children of Israel that has been chosen to survive, you will not. Of course anyone who bears the mark of the beast will not survive long after that anyhow, so it really does not matter much. Babylon's destroyers will come “from the north”. We have discussed that before. And as she has caused Israel to be slain, so shall she be. We have also heard this many times before. It is also mentioned that heaven and earth shall sing for the destruction of Babylon. We see that in Revelation 19:1-6 “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”

Jeremiah 51:35-43

2011-02-27T10:52:00.002-05:00

Verse 35-38 “The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry. And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lion's whelps.”

The citizen of Israel will pronounce a judgment against Babylon that the violence done to all of Israel will be visited back upon Babylon. The blood that Babylon shed, she will now shed. God will take up the cause of Israel and exact vengeance upon Babylon for her. He will dry up her waters and make her a desert. Again we are told that she will come a heap of ruins, a place where only animals live. Here we see dragons mentioned. The Hebrew word indicates “monsters.” One might hypothesize that these dragons are dinosaurs, which might very well make a come-back, given the reports coming in from places in the deepest parts of Africa, and the jungles of New Guinea, that people are seeing creatures whose descriptions do seem to match dinosaurs. These dragons will roar like lions. They are a mighty animal.

Verse 39 - 43 “In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats. How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.”

God is going to encourage Babylon's people to feast, and drink and party, so that they may be taken unaware and be killed. He did this to ancient Babylon. They were partying when the hand appeared and wrote the message on the wall. Daniel 5:1,5,25-28, 30-31 “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old. ”

We see that ancient Babylon was taken in one night, perhaps one hour, just as modern Babylon will be destroyed in one day and in one hour. Revelation 18:8-10 “Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.”

Babylon will be taken by surprise. Her destruction will be an astonishment to the nations who never thought it could happen. It says that the sea comes up upon Babylon. Now we know that the sea did not inundate Babylon, it fell to Persia, so this is not to be taken literally in the first fulfillment. It is meant more in a metaphorical way for that time, as the way it fell was as if a tsunami had overflown the land. In the second, we know that the Medes will overrun her, plus she will be burned by fire, by the beast. But what if this is also literal in the future fulfillment. While the land may be burned, we know that California is always under the threat of earthquakes submerging her below the ocean's depths. It is in fact a constant warning that one day California will break off and disappear under water. With all the world's physical upheaval during the last days, it is not unlikely that this will indeed happen. Also, when the “mountain” falls in the ocean in the trumpet judgment, it will no doubt cause great tsunamis which will inundate many lands, including Babylon. And yet again we are told that Babylon will be an uninhabited wilderness where no man even passes by. God is really stressing how complete this devastation will be. How many times have the Scriptures said that it will be a wilderness that will never again be inhabited by humans? He is pounding that piece of information into our brains, so that we will pay attention and, if we are still around when the time comes, get out of Babylon.

Jeremiah 51:29-34

2011-02-26T09:16:00.002-05:00

Verse 29-32 “And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant. The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken. One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.”

Everything that the Lord has prophesied, every purpose He has planned for her downfall will happen to Babylon. For the umpteenth time we are told she will be a land that is desolate and forever again without an inhabitant. Even her powerful men tremble at what is happening. They do not fight back, but hide out in their places of refuge. Babylon is burning all around them. Word is being sent to the leader of Babylon that her land is being taken from one end to the other. All the roads and means of transportation have been blocked. There is no escape. Even the military troops are terrified. Notice that it is not Babylon now that is mentioned, but the daughter of Babylon. Here is the indication that this is referring to someone other than ancient Babylon. It is the offspring of Babylon, one of the nations in her lineage. Ultimately that, I believe, is America. The daughter of Babylon is about to be threshed. She is about to be harvested. We are told in the New Testament of the parable of the wheat and the tares. This is exactly the harvest of which Jeremiah speaks. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Just as in the letters of Revelation, Christ here says that those who have ears to hear, should hear and be forewarned. Those who do not, will not.

Verse 34 “Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.”

Here we have a verse that refers specifically to the king of ancient Babylon, so we know this verse is aimed at ancient Babylon, however it is just as appropriate for the leader of the daughter of Babylon. The leader of Babylon has crushed Israel and emptied her of her people. He has stolen her treasures and cast her out of her country. Does this not happen again at the end?

Jeremiah 51:13-28

2011-02-19T15:45:00.002-05:00

Verse 13-16 “O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee. He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding. When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.”

We see the same description of Babylon that we found in Revelation 17:1 where it tells us “I will show you the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.” The original Babylon really did not sit on what could be called “many waters.” She had the Mediterranean on the left, and the Persian Gulf on the right, with the Tigris and Euphrates rivers running through the middle. This is where the idea that the Vatican is Babylon does not hold water (excuse the pun). There is no water around Vatican City. America on the other hand sits on a number of waters. There are the two oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence Seaway, The Gulf of Alaska, the Bering Sea, the Mississippi River, The Rio Grande River, and a number of other lesser rivers and lakes. If taken spiritually the many waters could stand for different peoples, which again would indicate America.

She is a land abundant in treasures. That is certainly America. Now she is going to meet her end. The Lord swears by Himself (there is none greater by whom He can swear) that He will fill her with men to destroy her. He lets her know exactly who He is, the Creator of the world, the One who stretched out the heavens. He created the waters out of which He created the earth. He is in charge of the weather and cycles of the earth. She is nothing compared to Him and her power is nothing compared to His.

Verse 17-19 “Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.”

Now God tells us exactly where man stands in relation to Himself. Every man is bestial in his own knowledge. Men are confused as to the truth. They worship false images, images in which there is no life unlike the Lord God. All of their man-made religions, ceremonies, gods, etc. are pure vanity on man's part. On the other hand, Israel is not like them, for Israel is the inheritance of the Lord. Israel will live forever and worship the Lord God in truth.

Verse 20-24 “Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.”

Now God is speaking to the weapons of His destruction, the beast (the ax) and his company, (the Medes for one). He will use the beast to break the nations to pieces. It tells us in Daniel 7 that he will devour and break into pieces the other nations. Satan thinks that the beast is his “son” and is doing his will, but in reality, the beast will be doing God's will in exacting vengeance and punishment on all the nations that have turned against God. The ax will break all the military, he will break families, he will break all people regardless of gender, age, race, creed, etc. He will break the rulers down to the lowest worker. He will give back to Babylon and all her inhabitants all the evil that has been perpetrated against His holy land.

Verse 25- 26 “Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.”

Here we see another verse that refers to nation as being a mountain. When we studied Revelation, we saw that the seven mountains were seven kingdoms. The word “mountain” was also used that way in Daniel, and here again we see that it is being used that way. God is against the destroying nation of Babylon which has destroyed the whole earth with her sorceries and filth. God is going to make her a burned mountain. He is going to burn her entirely to the ground. I believe that after the country is plundered and raped by the Medes, who will slaughter her people, He will finish her off via the beast and his ten cronies by a nuclear holocaust. This is speculation of course, but considering the nuclear proliferation of the countries of the world and the threats against America, it makes sense. It will be so complete a destruction that it will be desolate forever. Not even a stone will be taken for a foundation from her. Considering radiation fallout, that seems logical.

Verse 27 “Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers. Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.”

God tells them to run a flag up the flagpole and blow a trumpet among the nations to call everyone to battle. Now we see the list of nations that are coming against her. Ararat and Minni would be the area of Armenia today, and as for Ashkenaz which is only mentioned three times in the Bible, I found this historical explanation of who it is. “As for Ashkenaz, it is almost certainly the Hebrew name of the land of the people known to the Assyrians as the Ishkuza and to the Greeks as the Skythoi or Scythians. The Scythians were a powerful confederation of Indo-European tribes who spoke a language of the Iranian family; their original home was the steppe-lands north of the Black Sea, in what today would be southern Ukraine.” [http://www.forward.com/articles/13681/] From the study in Daniel and Revelation the conclusion had been reached that these were areas that could be included in the ten league confederacy of the beast, so this would be consistent with that deduction. Now the “ax” of the previous verses is called the king of the Medes. The beast is accumulating quite a few names along the way. All the rulers of the other nations under his dominion come against Babylon.

My People are destroyed for Lack of Knowledge

2011-02-17T10:36:00.006-05:00

Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."

I am interrupting the study of Jeremiah to address a situation that is occurring in America. I am not sure how widespread it is over the country, nor do I know if it is occurring in other countries, but it is something that is of concern.

A well-known man by the name of Harold Camping who owns a Christian radio station called Family Radio has been putting up billboards for a while now predicting the Lord's return and Judgment Day on May 21, 2011. Here is a website with a picture http://prophecyproof.blogspot.com/2011/02/photo-of-nearby-billboard-that-claims.html. He does not believe in a literal interpretation of Scripture, so does not believe in a tribulation period, nor a 1000 year millennium. He feels everything will come to an end on May 21, and eternity will begin. He is claiming on these billboards that the "bible guarantees it". When accused of being a false prophet, he always says that he is not prophesying, he is merely stating what the Bible says, so that every time he is wrong (he predicted the end in 1994 also) he can wiggle out of it.

There are always false prophets and people who follow them, so that is always a concern as these followers give away all their worldly possessions, etc. in anticipation of the end, and then lose their faith when it doesn't occur. Someone asked him if he will refund the life savings of all the elderly people (who have been sending him money to try to get the word out before it is too late), on the 22nd of May when this event does not occur. He gets very nasty with people who make comments like this to him, which shows the true state of his heart. What is of more concern is that through all the diligent studying I have been doing, it has become, more and more, a real probability that Satan has been working with his human and demonic minions to stage a fake rapture. Years ago he set up the false belief of a pre-tribulation rapture for just this purpose. At first I just shook my head in sadness at Camping's prediction, but then knowing how much media attention this is beginning to get, it came to me that this might possibly (or not, I make no predictions) be the perfect time for the fake rapture to take place. A fake rapture has been planned to happen, I just do not know when. For those who run out to greet it, they will be taken and killed. Hopefully God will be merciful and these people will die in as quick and painless a way as possible. I say that because I have heard some truly horrible and grotesque stories as to what is planned for them. For those who know God's Word and what the signs are for the Coming of the Lord, and realize this is fake, my advice is to run to the deepest basement or cellar you can find until this hoax is over, so that they don't grab you.

I know people who follow Camping and disagree with my literal interpretations of Scripture. They feel that we can disagree in love, as it is not all that important as to who is right. My opinion is, if most of the Bible is about the Lord's Second Coming, God must think it is important. There are multiple blessings in Revelation for those who read, and heed what is written there. There is good reason for that. Those who know what is going on will not be deceived by all of this and may survive it all. When God says His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, He means that had people studied, they could have escaped, because they were forewarned. There is no such thing as doctrines that are unimportant. All of God's Word is truth, and it is all important. There is only one truth, (not multiple ones) and we need to find it. If you settle for falsehoods, you will be deceived and destroyed. I am of the opinion that the events of the tribulation are not because God is choosing this horror for His people, but that this is the natural outcome of our refusal to listen to Him. He is merely telling us what will happen, not what He is making happen. He allows it to refine his disobedient children. Christians are going to suffer and be destroyed simply because they lack knowledge. If all the Christians in the world understood God's truth and were obedient to it, Satan could not do what he is going to shortly do. We have brought this on ourselves due to our laziness and ignorance of God's Word. It takes work to study, and most people do not want to work.

Be forewarned that there is much planned to deceive us. There is a lot of chatter that this may be the year that the government discloses the existence of "aliens". We know them better as demons, fallen angels, and nephilim. A lot has been happening to set up this disclosure. Astronauts are now coming forth and telling of their encounters in space with E.T. ships. We are being inundated with science fiction shows and movies about alien invasions. We are being set up for a delusion, and I believe the belief in aliens has a great deal to do with it. Should there be a fake rapture, it would allow the perfect timing to disclose the existence of "aliens". There are dark days ahead. Much has been going on that is of great concern - large animal groups dying in inexplicable ways, plagues, famines (there is a shortage of food coming everywhere), catastrophes, and the economies. Keep studying God's Word, and as Christ said, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Luke 21:36.

Jeremiah 51:7-12

2011-02-13T11:22:00.003-05:00

Verses 7-9 “Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.”

As in Revelation, Babylon is represented as having a golden cup in her hand and being drunk on the blood of the saints, so she is depicted here. Just as she is said to fall in that book, so she is said to fall and be destroyed here. And just as people howl for her destruction there, so they are told to howl here, for there is no healing for her after this. It is the end of her. Those who have an ear to hear are again told to leave her and go to their own country, for her judgment will rise to the skies.

Verse 10 “The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.”

The Lord is now going to bring forth Israel's righteousness. Now finally all Israel will be saved. Many of Israel will die during this time, but those who come through all this will be saved. They will go to Zion and declare how the Lord has saved them. Again, we see that it is Zion where they are to run.

Verse 11 “Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.”

God now tells the destroyers to get their weapons together and in order for He has put it in the heart of the king of the Medes (the beast or Mahdi) to devise a plan against Babylon to destroy it. The Lord does this, just as he hardened Pharaoh's heart, in order that His will might be carried out. It is the Lord's will that Babylon be punished in revenge for what has happened to His temple.

Verse 12 “Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.”

God now gets almost sardonic with Babylon for, as we know from other Scriptures, she sits as a queen and thinks nothing can touch her. Because of her arrogant attitude that she thinks she is safe from anyone, she never has her watchmen on the walls, watching for enemy attacks. She is a party country. So God, knowing she will never listen, tells her to set out her flag as a call to arms, to put people on the watch, and to set traps for invaders, for He has planned and and is doing exactly what He has prophesied against Babylon. She will do none of those things to save herself, even though she has been warned. She has too much pride. She will be humbled and destroyed.

Jeremiah 51:1-6

2011-02-12T11:30:00.002-05:00

Verses 1-4 “Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.”

The declaration of punishment against Babylon continues in this chapter. God will send a destroying wind and fanners that will fan Babylon. The word “fanners” in Hebrew can also be defined as "profane foreigners." The word “fan” means “to winnow.” So this is telling us that just as a strong wind is used to help winnow or separate the chaff from the wheat, so a mighty force of strangers or foreigners that are profane and are like a strong wind will come to sift the land of her sinners. In that day of her visitation or trouble, they will surround her on every side. The destroyers are told not to spare anyone and to destroy her entire population. This is how the people will die in the land of Babylon. Although these people are called fanners, which indicates that the chaff is being separated from the wheat, the fact is that the wheat, if it has been listening to God, should have already fled Babylon. That is why all of Babylon's people will fall. There will be nothing left but the chaff.

Verses 5-6 “For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.”

Judah and Israel [notice again that all twelve (or actually thirteen) tribes are included here] are no longer being forsaken by God. She is being brought back to the Lord, even though she has been guilty of sin. God is forgiving and being merciful. Again, the people of God are told to flee out of the midst of Babylon so that their souls may be delivered. They are told to not be cut off from God, and they will be if they do not flee Babylon before her destruction. Remember, if they have not received Christ as their Savior, which they have not yet as they do not acknowledge Him until His return, and they die, they will not go to be with the Lord. To deliver their souls to the Lord, it is imperative that they flee Babylon beforehand. These warnings in the prophets are what lets Israel know in advance that she must flee. This is the time of the Lord's revenge for all she has done, and He will give her a just recompence. As we are told in Revelation He gives her back double of what she had given others. Again, I am guessing that the timing of this fleeing must be during the five months of the 5^th trumpet judgment. If I am correct in my understanding of the Scriptures, and America's private citizens come to the rescue of some of the Israelis at the time of the abomination of desolation, they have to be back at Zion before the last trumpet (7^th) sounds, as that is when the Lord returns. As persecution will have been intense against the Jews and Christians up until this time, this may be the first and only opportunity they have to come out of hiding and flee the country. People will be being tortured during this time, and probably as Egypt was more than happy to get rid of Israel after the last plague, the people will be glad to see them leave the country. They may in fact view these plagues of demons as coming from the “alien” God of the Jews and Christians, as I believe everyone will see these demons as aliens. I believe God's two witnesses will be announcing these judgments, and as they represent God, people will believe that God is merely a powerful alien doing this to them. It will be a kind of repeat of what happened at the time of the Exodus, only slightly different plagues, world-wide instead of just Egypt, and viewing things as an alien battle rather than a battle of the “gods.” They may want to be rid of the people whose “alien” God they feel is doing this to them. This is merely hypothetical, but it is a hypothesis based upon the groundwork Satan has laid down for a lie, and the knowledge of what Scriptures say.

Jeremiah 50:29-46

2011-02-10T11:35:00.003-05:00

Verses 29-32 “Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD. Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.”

God is calling the warriors of the Medes against Babylon. He is telling them to surround her and let none of her people escape. This seems in contradiction to the verses before this that told God's people to flee to Zion. It is not in contradiction, though. It seems that this warning of what is to come is for God's people to know that it is coming, so they can flee beforehand. Only those who do not know their God will be caught unaware and be unable to escape. Again comes the command to pay her back for all that she has done to others and to God. She is guilty of the sin of pride. Pride against the Lord God. As a consequence, her young men will fall dead in the streets, and her military will be destroyed in that day and unable to help her. God again calls her proud and tells her that the day of her visitation from Him has come. All the rich, proud, famous, those who think their riches can save them will be killed. God will burn all of the cities and destroy all the land round about.

Verses 33- 34 “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.”

God then announces that both Israel and Judah have been oppressed and held captive, and those who have done this to them have refused to let them go. Indeed, to this day, Judah is a persecuted people, and some of Israel have no idea they are Israel. Oddly enough there seem to be pockets of people in various parts of the world who have Jewish traditions and beliefs, but are not Jews. It is hypothesized that these people may be remnants of Israel. Fortunately at the end, they will finally have someone to plead their cause and fight for them. The Redeemer, Yeshua, is strong. His name is the Lord of Hosts. He will not just plead their cause, for He actually makes no plea. He will simply take back what is His to give and He will punish those who have been against His people, in particular Babylon.

Verses 35-40 “A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed. A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.”

Now God calls for a sword upon Babylon and her inhabitants. In other words, He is calling for the death of everyone, the princes, the wise men, the liars, the mighty men, the horses and chariots (the modern counterpart would be the destruction of all our military tanks, ships, jets, etc.), and all the rest of the people in her midst. Notice the adjective “mingled”. This implies that the people are not of one nationality. Can that be said of anyone other than America? We have people from every country on earth here. They will behave as a woman would when faced with terror. The implication is that they will cower in fear. He calls for them to plunder and rob her of her treasures. The water will be dried up as by a drought. This may be an actual drought, as there will be drought during the tribulation and Day of the Lord, but it is also possible it is from all the burning that is going on around the country. God calls for this because they are guilty of gross idolatry. It will no longer be inhabited by people, forever. It will be a place for the wild beasts and owls. This is a repetition of what we have seen pronounced against Babylon before, both in Revelation and Isaiah. Her destruction is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, whose demise was so complete that until recently people did not even believe these cities existed, as there was nothing left to show they had existed. All that remains in the area where they were to have existed is evidence of fire and sulfur.

Verses 41-46 “Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.”

Again we see that this is not referring to Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon, as it was only Persia that conquered them. This is a people “from the north”, a great nation, and many kings with it from the coasts. Back then the coasts of the earth would be the countries around the Mediterranean. Although applied to today it would take in more countries than that. It would take in a lot of America's enemies. The “people from the north” is obviously not Canada, as said before. Originally this would have referred to the Medes. It still does in essence, but I think that there is more here than just the attack from the Medes. This is a great nation. The word "great" here means "oppressive." A nation from the north. In the course of this study, we have run across this description before. It continues to say that their voice roars like the sea, and they ride horses in array. The report of them is so fearsome that the leader of Babylon quakes and is in as much anguish as a women giving birth. I believe that this may refer to the “aliens” or fallen angel/demon/nephilim that I believe will play a part in the end times. It may even refer to the riders of the sixth trumpet judgment. God asks who can possibly stand before Him under the circumstances? Nobody, is the answer. Babylon will be taken and brought down, and this will be such a great thing that the earth will reel from the doing of it. The nations will cry (again we saw this in Revelation) at her sudden, swift, and complete annihilation.

Jeremiah 50:14-28

2011-02-05T12:31:00.002-05:00

Verses 14-16 “Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD. Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her. Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.”

These verses continue the command of the Lord, for the nations to come against Babylon, that were found in verses 9-13. He is telling them to spare no weapons, for He is taking His vengeance on her, that what she has done to others should be done to her. This parallels what is said in Revelation 18:5-6 “For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.” As in all the other prophecies pronounced against Babylon, this also says that her people will be cut off, in this case the sower and the one who harvests. If this were taken metaphorically, this would mean that the gospel will no longer be preached there, and the rapture will not find any of God's people there either. (In my studies, I have come to believe that those Christians who survive the tribulation may be told by God to flee to Jerusalem at a certain point in time to be there when He returns. I believe they will flee with those of Israel who return to Jerusalem. It may be that at the time of the 5th trumpet judgment, when everyone who has taken the mark is tortured for five months, God will allow those here to escape. People will not be able to stop them at that time, as they will be being tortured themselves. This is strictly conjecture though.) Because of the fear of the sword (again, notice the specificity of the use of the word sword, which is clearly a Muslim weapon of execution) people will try to flee Babylon (Rev. 18: 4 “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”) back to the countries from which they came. Whether they make it or not is another question.

Verses 17-20 “Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead. In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.”

At the time this takes place, Israel is a scattered sheep. This includes both the northern ten tribes, who were scattered by Assyria, and then Judah who was scattered by Babylon, both in the first captivity, and then when the third temple is desecrated by the beast and Israel is scattered again. We have seen in this chapter that God blames Babylon for the destruction of Israel this time also. God now says that He will bring Israel [both Ephraim (the 10 tribes) and Judah] back to its land (all of its lands) and then God will search Israel (again both Ephraim and Judah) to find their iniquity, but He will no longer find it. Then God will pardon them, for He has reserved this particular group for Himself to be the nation in the millennium. They have been turning back to the Lord. That this clearly is speaking of the end times and not Nebuchadnezzar's captivity is seen in that both Israel (Ephraim - 10 tribes) and Judah are brought back, searched for iniquity and pardoned. This has not happened and will not happen until the end of Daniel's 70^th week. Therefore we know that this passage and all the prophecies given regarding Babylon are about Babylon the Whore, as the timing places it there.

Verses 21-25 “Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.”

Merathaim and Pekod are simply symbolic names for Babylon, they are not historical cities. Merathaim means double bitterness, or double rebellion. It is a double bitterness to God, and she is guilty of double rebellion, idolatry and pride. Pekod means punishment. So God again is telling the nations to go against Babylon to destroy her and do all that He has commanded them to do, to utterly waste her. The sound of battle and great destruction will be heard around the world. The hammer (the Hebrew word means “to pound”) of the earth will be broken, destroyed, and become a perpetual desolation. Babylon has been the one who has forced others to comply, the police enforcer or "hammer" of the entire earth. Does this description not fit America? We are the U.N.'s peacekeeper. We go in and take over and make nations comply. God lays a snare for Babylon. She is unaware. In other words, she is taken by surprise by an attack that she did not see coming. There are enemies in her midst at this very moment, yet she is closing her eyes to that fact in the name of tolerance and a loathing to racially profile people. She sacrifices safety in the name of political correctness and liberalism. She will be caught in the trap the Lord has allowed to be set, because she has set herself up against God. The whole earth is God's to control for His will, so He brings out the entire armory of weapons at His disposal against her. Her destruction may begin at the hands of the Medes and the beast, but it is the work of the Lord that is being done and when they have accomplished their part, He will finish her off Himself.

Verses 26-28 “Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation. The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.”

Continuing on in the same manner, God tells them to plunder her. They are to ransack all of her storehouses, kill the animals (destroy all food sources) and destroy everything they can find. They are to leave nothing. God has planned a day of visitation for Babylon, and it will come. Those who escape out of Babylon do go to Jerusalem (Zion) as mentioned above, and there they declare that God has destroyed Babylon in vengeance for, as said before, the destruction of His temple.

Jeremiah 50:9-13

2011-01-29T10:12:00.002-05:00

Verses 9-13

"For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD. Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls; Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues."

God now tells Babylon that an assembly of great nations will come against her. This says with arrows that won't miss their mark, but in today's terms, arrows would connote missles. Again, the north part of the prophecy was literal the first time around, as Persia was partly north of Babylon. Now it is not literally north, but it is the same group of people. Notice that while Babylon the original was conquered by one nation, Medo-Persia (which technically was two nations in one) this says an assembly of nations will come against her. Persia was not an assembly of nations. This is clearly an end times prophecy about Babylon the Whore. Again it is the group of ten, that are the beast's counsel, that destroy her. They first “spoil” her before her final destruction by God. There are more Muslims in this country than people realize and when the call comes, they will answer. The following quotes are taken from an Al Qaeda magazine for American Muslims, which was shown to me.

“Jihad is individually obligatory (fard'ayn) on all Muslims from East to West until all of our lands are freed.” “..to my Muslim brothers residing in the states of the Zio-Crusader (ed. note, that's America and her allies such as England) coalition, whether they are from the emigrant communities, like those which live on the margins of society in the miserable suburbs of Paris, London and Detroit, or are from those arriving in America and Europe to study in its universities or seek their daily bread in the streets of its cities.

My brothers: know that jihad is your duty as well, and that you have an opportunity to strike the leaders of kufr and retaliate against them on their own soil, as long as there is no covenant between you and them.....So, my brothers, you must get ready to perform your vital role in the global jihad against the leaders of kufr......So come to the aid of your Islam and your brethren, and do your duty, and respond to the call of your Lord... Indeed jihad is a lifelong devotion, like prayers and fasting, and religion isn't a matter of taste, for us to leave part of it and perform another part.....Jihad is still obligatory on you as long as you are capable....So, my beloved brothers: remember your responsibility before Allah and what it is He has purchased, and respond once again to the call, and return to your stations, and finish what you started, and aid your religion and ummah, and be with your brothers the mujahidin, until victory while strengthened or martyrdom while on the advance.” When the Mahdi comes, he will be their Messiah, so they will do as he commands, and this is what he will command.”

Notice that they say that the Mahdi will be the Messiah and everyone will have to do as he commands.

Continuing on with the verses, God then blames Babylon for being the destroyer of His heritage. There are several ways to take this. First, if America (and we are still just assuming America is Babylon the Whore, as we can only look at the evidence and deduce) does not step forward to help Israel when the beast desecrates the temple (which they most likely will not, as our government is getting more and more anti-Israel in their politics), God holds them responsible for the desecration. Our present president has Muslim preferences, which does not bode well for America. We are the (supposed) Christian nation of the world and Israel is our spiritual sister. We are to be there for each other, as the rest of the world is against the two of us (Christians and Jews). But America is no longer (and her government never was) a Christian nation. Her people have turned from their God. Therefore as a nation she no longer sees Israel as her sister. The second way of viewing this, is that America is literally responsible and has somehow brought about the desecration of the temple. How that may be, I do not know, but it may be something she does that prompts the beast to do what he does.

America has grown fat (literally) and bellows as a bull. As for the fat part, I do not think that needs any comment for people to see the relevance. As for the bellowing, yes, we do make our voice heard, and not just the government. Americans, unfortunately, do have a reputation for being a loud, uncultured group of people. It is truly sad. The mother that bare us will be astounded, and ashamed that she gave birth to us. That would be England. She too was once a Christian nation. Her fall from being the leading world empire also came from not taking a strong stand with Israel. God does not stand with nations that will not stand with His people. Even if they are not completely against her, not standing totally with her is a mistake.

It says that Babylon is the hindermost of the nations. This word is very interesting, and it is the one which, when I discovered it years ago, was the nail in the coffin, so to speak, for me deciding that America was Babylon. The word hindermost in Hebrew is “'achariyth” which means the last or the end as in the tail end. In other words, the last one in a line. Babylon the Whore is the last of the great nations to come into existence out of all nations. While other nations have existed in one form or another for hundreds and thousands of years, America was really only settled as a nation (different tribal native groups around the country in small pockets do not count) in the last couple hundred years. We are also the greatest nation at the moment. We truly are the last nation on earth in terms of great world dominating nations to arise. Since Babylon is also the last greatest nation on the earth, those two clues (last and great) lead us to no other conclusion at this time, except that America is Babylon. Babylon is again said to become a wilderness,dry land, and a desert because of God's wrath against her. It will never again be inhabited and when people pass by her, they will hiss at her and the plagues that desolated her.

Jeremiah 50:1-8

2011-01-27T14:04:00.004-05:00

Verses 1-3 “The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.”

The declaration is made that Babylon as been overthrown. She has been broken and overrun by her enemies, a nation from the north. The nation to the north was Medo-Persia. They have desolated her and nobody will live there again. Both man and beast will run from her. This was only partially fulfilled with original Babylon, so has yet to be fulfilled. While Babylon the Whore will not be overrun by a nation from the north, as for America that is Canada (and come to think of it, there are Muslims there, so we may be overrun from the north also), it says in other passages that she will be plundered and ravaged by the Medes, which correspond to the people north of the original Babylon, so we are still speaking of the same basic people. We are told in Revelation that the beast's counsel of cronies will burn Babylon with fire. As the conclusion was reached that this is an Islamic league, and this group comprises the lands that were originally part of Medo-Persia, the prophecy still is valid, although understood in a different way.

Verses 4-8 “In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. ( Editor's note. Something strange is happening with verse 4. Every time I try to paste it into the blog, it comes out in bold print. I cannot seem to change that no matter what I do. God must have some reason for that, so I will just leave it that way although I have no reason to know why it should be that way.) They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place. All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers. Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.”

At the time of Babylon's being desolated by the Medes, Israel (the ten lost tribes) and Judah (the Jews) will finally come back together as a single nation weeping and seeking the Lord. If, as suspected, America rescues some of the Jews, there will be some Israelis, American Jews, and people who may be descended from the ten lost tribes, who will seek to get back to Israel. They now turn to the Lord to get back to their covenant relationship with Him. God then relates their spiritual history. They have been lost because their shepherds (the Pharisees and other religious leaders throughout their history) have led them astray. They have been driven from their homeland, and all that persecute them say that they are not offending God by doing this. Their enemies say that Israel is only getting its just reward, because they have turned from the Lord their God, who is a just God, and this is their punishment which He pronounced upon them if they turned from Him. God then tells His people to get out of Babylon. Those who are listening and hear this instruction, (and not all will hear it) are told to be as the "he goats", who lead the rest of the flock. They are to gather the people up and get them out. It says that they will ask the way to Zion. In other passages of Scripture it also says that they are to go to Jerusalem. That is where they will be when the Lord returns and they will look upon Him and realize who He is and that they made a huge mistake.

Jeremiah 25 - Is America's Time Almost Up?

2011-01-26T08:53:00.006-05:00

Jeremiah 25:8-14

“Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.”

These verses are the initial passage that begins the prophecy that made Daniel inquire of the Lord as to what was to happen to Judah next, as the seventy years of their captivity by Babylon was about to expire. It was a warning to Judah that they were going to be conquered by Nebudchadrezzar and go into captivity for seventy years. God seems to like to use the same visualizations when pronouncing judgment. Notice the voice of mirth, the bridegroom and bride, the millstones, and candles. These are all things mentioned about Babylon the Whore in Revelation, but in this case it was a pronouncement against Judah. Following his judgment on Judah, he pronounces judgment on Babylon. After the seventy years are up, Babylon will become a perpetual desolation and more importantly, it says that all that is written in the book of Jeremiah in the way of judgments about Babylon will be visited upon it. Some of the things written have not been fulfilled yet.

This and the words “perpetual desolation” are the keys that tells us that this may be more than just a prophecy about ancient Babylon. Without that clue, it would look as if this prophecy only has to deal with ancient Babylon, as clearly this prophecy was fulfilled as to Babylon being destroyed after seventy years. Therefore this must also be addressed to Babylon the Whore, as Iraq cannot be called a perpetual desolation. We already know from other verses that Babylon the Whore is going to be a perpetual desolation, so what is the big deal about this prophecy? Well, what about the seventy years? It says that after seventy years, Babylon will be destroyed in a perpetual desolation. True, ancient Babylon was destroyed after seventy years, but Iraq does not qualify as a perpetual desolation. Does that mean that there is a seventy year period that God is counting off for America before she is destroyed? This could be a crucial key to helping us understand the approximate time for Daniel's 70^th week.

God has given us several clues to a time frame. First there was the parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24:32-24. It said that when the fig tree started to put forth leaves, that the generation that saw that happen would not pass until everything was fulfilled. A generation (as discussed in other posts) is considered to be seventy years. (Again with the seventy). Some people think the fig tree put forth leaves when Israel became a nation, as God calls Israel His fig tree (Hosea 9:10). Some think it was when they gained Jerusalem in the six-day war in 1967. I believe it was when Israel became a nation. She came alive or out of dormancy again at that time. That is what happens when a tree puts forth leaves. It comes out of dormancy and starts to grow again. If that is correct, a generation or seventy years passing would bring us to 2018. (If we counted from 1967, it would be 2037, which I believe is too far away for the world situation to last.) If God began the countdown for Babylon at that time, it would again bring us to 2018. We do not know exactly when the destruction of Babylon occurs, but it probably happens quite close to the end of the 70^th week of Daniel. If that is when Babylon is destroyed, and that is when the generation ends, then the 70^th week of Daniel would have to start sometime in the next year or two. (We are not counting on a generation being exactly 70 years, and we do not know the exact time of Babylon's destruction, so we cannot exactly pinpoint how the seven year period would fall around those two things.) It is an interesting hypothesis based on these clues, but until I see the temple go up, I am not going to consider that I have anything definitive to tell me we are in it. I do know that the 70^th week must start sometime between September and December, as we know it ends in that time frame due to the feasts of the Lord. The next couple of years bear close watching.

Isaiah 47

2011-01-22T14:53:00.002-05:00

Verses 1-15

“Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms. I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee.”

In this passage notice that he is not addressing Babylon, but the virgin daughter of Babylon. This is significant for several reasons. First, while it was, as always, initially addressed to ancient Babylon, the phrase daughter of Babylon implies a next generation or different person or entity. It leads us to the understanding that this prophecy is directed at the next Babylon, or Babylon the Whore, the daughter of the original Babylon. Then she is called a virgin. This indicates, as discussed in previous verses in Isaiah, that it is a country that has never been conquered. For a country to be a virgin, she has to have not been raped or pillaged or conquered. So we are again back to the idea that Babylon is a country that has never seen another country come in and overpower her. Again this seems to point to America. She has been called delicate and tender. America is a young country, a tender young virgin who lives a life of delicacy and splendor. She is told that she is about to be raped. Her nakedness will be uncovered and she will be shamed. God is about to enact his vengeance, and he is not going to meet her as a man coming to either offer his love or pay for her favors. He is going to rape her as an attacker. She has been the “lady of kingdoms.” Again, this certainly describes America. God was angry with the Jews, his people and polluted their inheritance, allowing the beast to drive them out and take the temple and has handed them over to Babylon. But what does Babylon do, show them mercy? No. Again, we see where the government of Babylon does not side with Israel, and she will pay for this. In her arrogance, she thinks of herself as a lady untouched, and has no mercy on those in need, forgetting how God has been with the people of her country helping them from the beginning. She has not learned from Israel's mistake of turning their backs on God and the end result of that. She is given over to the pleasures of life and lives without worrying about anyone else. She thinks she is better than everyone else and never believes that she can be a widow and childless. Again, this description so aptly fits America. God tells her that in the space of one day both of these things will come upon her. We know from Revelation that she sees her demise in the space of one hour. She is guilty of sorcery and enchantments. This country certainly dabbles in witchcraft to a great extent between actual Satan worship and witchcraft to the New Age beliefs, to the Eastern mysticism religions to our own false religions such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, and all the little cults that exist. She trusts in her wicked ways thinking that nobody knows that she is in league with the devil, but she is wrong about that. Not only does God see, but those of us who study our Bibles know it also. Her wisdom and knowledge has perverted her. Evil, mischief, and desolation shall come upon her without her knowing from where or when it will come. God tells her to go ahead and take counsel from her sorcerers and see if they can save her. They will not be able to deliver her or themselves. They will all be burned up. Nobody will be able to help her.

This passage parallels Revelation in all respects. It simply says it a little differently. Again, the description at this time in history only really fits one person, America. It is hard to get away from that fact. Things could change, I suppose, but it is unlikely.

Isaiah 15, 16, 25 and Jeremiah 48, Babylon masquerading as Moab

2011-01-22T13:19:00.004-05:00

In the last post it was discussed as to how the prophecies for Bozrah, Idumea, Edom, Moab, and Ammon might not all be referring to modern Jordan. Now comes the part that makes one think that the original passage in Isaiah 34 is not actually speaking of Bozrah and Idumea, or Jordan when it speaks of such a final and complete destruction.

As Moab, Edom, Bozrah, Idumea, and Ammon all refer to the country of Jordan today, the future prophecies regarding them would all either apply to the country of Jordan or to some other spiritual entity entirely. The interesting thing in looking at the prophecies, is that it becomes clear from viewing them that many clearly speak of the time of the Day of the Lord (the context makes it clear), and that there are two future prophecies given for this land in that day. One is that it will escape out of the hands of the antichrist when he rampages through the countryside conquering, and that Israel is allowed to plunder her after God’s people comes out of her and go back to Jerusalem after Daniel’s 70th week. The other is that she is destroyed and left a barren wilderness forever for animals to inhabit. Both cannot be true for the same place. Therefore the conclusion is that one set of prophecies is not actually referring to modern day Jordan, but to someone else.

First we will look at something that clearly refers to Jordan in the future. In Daniel 11:40-42 we read, “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with the chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.” This appears to be speaking of Jordan, as antichrist is in the Middle East and conquering those countries around Israel. Egypt is one that does not escape his power. One then assumes that the countries mentioned are indeed Jordan. The possible reason that Jordan escapes his hand is because, as we learned when studying Revelation, it appears that this is where many Israelites run when the abomination of desolation takes place. Isaiah 16:4-5, “Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler (antichrist): for the extortion is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.” Verse 5 gives us the time for these outcasts dwelling in Moab, who hides them from the spoiler. It is when the Messiah will sit upon the throne of David in the tabernacle in truth and judging. That is at the end of times. So we have another verse that tells us that Israel will be hidden by what appears to be Jordan during the tribulation.

Here are some verses about Israel and what she does to Moab. Isaiah 11:12-14, “And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together; they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall obey them.” This verse indicates that Edom, Moab, and Ammon will be plundered and have to submit to Israel. As this has not happened yet, we see that this is the future assigned to these countries where the Israelites will be hidden during the time of Jacob’s Trouble. Is this Jordan? Jordan is east of Israel, so it would seem so. What is interesting is that Israel flies on the shoulders of the Philistines to the west. The only thing west of Israel that is filled with "Philistines" is America. Is this another passage that may indicate that we are the eagle in Revelation that helps many (but not all) of the Jews to escape antichrist? Many questions, not enough answers.

So far we have seen verses that say that the land of Moab, etc. will escape antichrist’s hands, because Israel will be hiding there, but that when Israel is called back to the land they will plunder these countries (just as they plundered Egypt upon their departure) and that country will come under Israel’s rule. This would so far seem to be speaking about Jordan.

Isaiah 15:1-9, “The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off. In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly. And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him. My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction. For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing. Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim and the howling thereof unto Beerelim. For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.” This passage is speaking of destruction. As destruction will happen to Jordan and the rest of the world, this is not clear as to whether it refers to Jordan, or spiritual Moab. It could apply to either.

Isaiah 16:1-14, “Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. For it shall be that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts bewray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler; for the extortion is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness. We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so. Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken. For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea. Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer, the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears. O Heshbon and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease. Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh. And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. But now the Lord hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.”

This passage tells us this Moab takes in some of the outcasts of Israel to hide them from the spoiler (antichrist). We know that Israel runs to Jordan, but we have also surmised that America also takes in Israel’s refugees. In fact, there are Christians in America who are quietly preparing to do so. I do not believe that the saving of the Jews is going to be a government sponsored project. I believe it will come from Christians who have been quietly organizing to do so. The government most likely will not be siding with Israel at all. This Moab, is said to be full of pride and lies. In fact this passage harps on the subject of Moab’s pride It is also a land of a great multitude. I do not know if the small section of Jordan that would be Moab could say that. America certainly is known for her pride and great multitude of people. It is said that Moab is weary on the high place and comes down to the sanctuaries to pray. The high places were where all the pagan altars were set up. America certainly has set up those. When disaster hits, like 9-11, where is the first place they run? Back to the churches or sanctuaries, for a week or so, then they run right back up to their high places. Moab will be contemned, which means despised with mockery, not condemned. That certainly describes America again. Isn’t it a coincidence that this passage begins with the taking in of the outcasts (which happens halfway through the 70th week of Daniel), and then ends three years later with weeping and wailing in destruction with a feeble and small remnant? Three years takes us to the end of the 70th week. This passage would not seem to be speaking about Jordan, but about Babylon the Whore, which I do believe is America at this time.

Isaiah 25:9-12, “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring down to the ground, even to the dust.” Again, we see the problem is pride and that this place is brought to dust. This description would seem to make it fall into the category that would not be physical Jordan, but spiritual Babylon.

Jeremiah 48: 1-47, “Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed. There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee. A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction. Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction. Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together. And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken. Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein. Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles. And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence. How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war? Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast. All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod! Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds. O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done? Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; and tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled, And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath, And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim, And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon, And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD. Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy. O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth. We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it. Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-heres. O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage. And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting. From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate. Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods. Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished. For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD. They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him. For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab. Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD. He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.”

This passage seems to be an extension of the same prophecy in Isaiah 16. We see that Moab is destroyed and cut off from being a nation. It suffers this at the spoiler’s hand. Notice how many times through these verses that the word “spoiler” is used about antichrist. We know from Daniel that Moab, Edom, and Ammon escape the spoiler’s hand, so now we have proof positive that there are two separate Moabs in the end times. One that escapes antichrist's hands, and one that does not. One is the ancient land in Jordan, and the other is a spiritual Moab or modern day spiritual Babylon. Again the pride, the exorbitant pride and arrogance of Moab is her problem. Note that it says that “Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity”. This is a land that has never, never been conquered and that has had an easy life of it. Well, that certainly describes America, in spite of the problems in our history of settling the country, revolution, civil war, and our involvement in the world wars and other wars. We have never suffered the way other countries have in being conquered. We do have an easy life of it, compared to the rest of the world. We do trust in our works and our treasures. People bemoan her destruction and ask how this can happen to Moab, the strong staff and beautiful rod (reminiscent of what is said in Revelation). She is told to come down from her glory. Again, this is a good description of America. The spoiler shall come upon her and destroy her strongholds (military bases). Her plains and cities will be destroyed. Israel has been a derision to her. This indicates that, as said before, the government will not be the one helping the Jews escape, but the Christians, who band together to do something. People are told to flee the cities and hide in the rocks. Also again, her lies come before God. The rest of the passage is extremely similar to the passage in Revelation about Babylon, so I will just let the reader draw his own conclusions.

There are more verses on Moab, and there are more on Edom, Ammon, and others. In looking at them all, there is destruction ahead for everyone, incredible destruction, but it seems that there are dual prophecies at work within the prophecies. Some imply devastating destruction, but not complete annihilation never to rise again. Others imply permanent destruction. I believe that the ones that imply permanent destruction are speaking spiritually of Babylon the Whore. It is difficult to separate them out at times, because they do overlap. The deeper you delve into God’s Word, the more profound the levels of understanding become. Initially one starts at the literal level. These prophecies were given to the ancient lands mentioned. But there is much more behind them than that. As one reads through the major and minor prophets, and one realizes that these prophecies have that secondary level, one starts to see that God has been targeting the Whore, who has reigned in all of these countries at one time or another, for total annihilation right from the start. She keeps putting on masks, but He knows who she is, so He is always speaking to her whether her name changes or not.

Now that it has been shown that there are more prophecies to Babylon than just the ones addressed to Babylon, we will continue following the thread of prophecies that are addressed strictly to Babylon. We can then return to those that are addressed to other nations and see whether or not they apply to Babylon.

Isaiah 34: 6-17

2011-01-15T18:47:00.002-05:00

Isaiah 34 is about the Day of the Lord. The first part speaks of the events that we identify with the Day of the Lord, such as the host of heaven being dissolved, the heavens rolled up as a scroll, etc. The latter part of the chapter speaks to the sacrifice in Bozrah and Idumea. While this technically refers to the area that is now Jordan, and there was a marginal fulfillment of this prophecy upon that land when God used Nebuchadnezzar to destroy them due to their joining with the Chaldeans to persecute the Jews, it has not seen anything close to the fulfillment that is described in verses 6-17. Notice the similarity of the description of the destruction of this nation in the future and the destruction that is described for Babylon in the future. Again, while we cannot say for certain that this is meant to speak of future Babylon, just as the prophecy against Tyre does not directly mention Babylon, we can see that spiritually this is a place that will receive the punishment that we know from Revelation will be inflicted on Babylon the Whore. The question is whether Bozrah and Idumea (whose land is also called by the names Edom and Moab in Scripture - all of who now are Jordan) can possibly stand in spiritually in the second fulfillment for modern day Babylon. I believe it can and will show how in the course of this and the next post.

Isaiah 34:6-17, “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.”

Notice the streams being turned into pitch and brimstone whose smoke will rise up forever. This goes along with the idea of either nuclear war, which is what is believed to be the beast’s method of destroying Babylon, and may very well be what God uses to destroy her once and for all. Babylon will only be inhabited by wild animals and devils (satyrs) forever, just as Bozrah/Idumea is said to experience. The palaces and fortresses (military installations) will be overrun by thorns and nettles. The similarities are extreme and this kind of devastation is unlikely to be in all of these places near and around Israel, yet this prophecy is applied to almost every nation around her in the future fulfillment. This leads one to believe that it is not referring to them in the future, but only in the past and that the future prophecy refers spiritually to another entity, namely the whore. Also note that the reason for all of this is that it is not only the Day of the Lord’s vengeance, but it is a year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. God blames this nation for not standing with Israel. America is Israel’s only real friend, or at least used to be. We are or were her spiritual sister. Christians are supposed to view Jews as part of the family of God, albeit one who has not accepted the Messiah. Our presidents have been gradually moving away from being Israel’s friend, first expecting her to give up her land for peace, and now with a president who was brought up a Muslim and has overt Muslim and Arab sympathies. For those who foolishly accept that our president is a Christian, (his behavior declares otherwise) to them I say, nobody leaves Islam and does not incur the wrath of the Islamic religious leaders and many of its followers. Most pay with their lives. Nobody has said a thing about his supposed change of religion.

While I do not know if I have addressed this before, there are several verses that indicate that there is a year that God will allow the world to suffer as payment for what has been done to Zion. It is called the year of vengeance, the year of visitation. Now this does not have to mean that it is a year in length, but might only mean it is a particular year. However, there might be some reasons to suspect it is a year in length. God’ wrath does not last a year, as it has been shown that only the bowl judgments are God‘s wrath. Just as the terms “Daniel’s 70th week” and the “tribulation” have been shown to not be the same thing, even though used interchangeably by most people, I have come to believe that the term “Day of the Lord” refers to more than that thirty day period when God pours out His wrath in the bowl judgments. It is a far broader term. When the seventh seal is opened, and the mortgage on earth reverts back to Yeshua, the Day of the Lord starts in the sense that He has now regained ownership of the earth, so the Day of the Lord has started to commence, so to speak. But, as shown in the posts in Revelation, He does not start His reign until the bowl judgments, as the seventh seal was still part of the agreement terms between God and Satan for the earth to be redeemed. They still have to be carried out before Yeshua is crowned and starts His reign as King of Kings. As Satan has lost his grip on the world at the seventh seal and God has gained it back, I believe that is where the Day of the Lord starts, but this term does not necessitate that God’s wrath must begin there. The Day of the Lord contains God‘s wrath, among other things, but it is not the same as God‘s wrath. As one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day to God, (2 Peter 3:8), and that God has used the week in several ways (seven day week, seven year week, seven sets of seven year periods to a Jubilee), the world is also a “week” old. If one reckons the genealogies as Ussher did, one finds the world is approximately 6,000 years old. If one thousand years is counted as one day with God, then the world is six days old by God’s standards. He said the six days were for man, and the seventh was His day - the Day of the Lord. I believe the term Day of the Lord refers to the entire thousand years, beginning when Yeshua’s ownership of earth begins. If we look at the seven years of Daniel’s 70th week, we can see another parallel. The priests of the temple always thoroughly cleaned it on the sixth day, just before the Sabbath, to make sure everything was pure and spotless for the Lord’s Day. We know that the tribulation is going to be cut short according to Matthew 24: 22. Cut short by how much? We know the bowl judgments come after the 1260 days of the second half. That means that the trumpet judgments, which all come after the tribulation (which starts at the midpoint of the week) have to fit somewhere after the tribulation is cut short, but before the 1260 days are up. As the fifth trumpet judgment alone is five months long, the time period can be no shorter than that and is probably a bit longer, given the other judgments. It is not unreasonable to suspect that the trumpet judgments cut the tribulation short at 2 ½ years and that the last year is spent in the world receiving her recompenses for the cause of Zion. While it is not God’s wrath yet, it is the start, during the sixth “day” of that seven year week, for the cleaning process of the world (just as the priests cleaned the temple on the sixth day) before the Sabbath rest (millennium) of the Lord.

There are some other verses that refer to this year as well. Isaiah 61:1-2, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.” This is the verse Yeshua quoted when He read the Scriptures in the synagogue at Nazareth. Luke 4:18-19 quotes this verse up through the words “acceptable year of the Lord,” and then Yeshua quits at that point. He does that because the first part of the verse was about Him and He tells them that “this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” He was there to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, which is another way of referring to the year of Jubilee when all debts were forgiven, all property returned, all slaves set free. That is what Yeshua came to do, to forgive our debt and set us free. It was the year of Jubilee for them, if they would accept it. Had they accepted it, He would have ushered in His reign right then and there. It would have been a Sabbath rest for them, a true Jubilee. But they did not. He knew they would not, and planned accordingly. When quoting the Scripture, He left off the part about the day of vengeance, because that was yet to come in our day. When He does come, it will be the acceptable year of the Lord, or Jubilee.

Isaiah 63:1-4, “ Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength: I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger; and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” Here is the connection between Edom and Bozrah. We mentioned this verse before in the context of the 144,000. It is called a day of vengeance (remember if the seven year week is thought of as seven days, the last year would be a “day”) and the year of redemption for God’s people. That would indicate no more tribulation.

Jeremiah 23:10-12, “For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourned; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.” Now it is referred to as a year of visitation. However, it is not the kind of visitation you really want. God’s “visit” is not going to be pleasant. These people are adulterers, swearers, evil, and even the pastors and preachers in God’s own house are wicked. That is not hard to find these days with pastors committing adultery on their spouses, (both heterosexual and homosexual), and pedophilia. Judgment begins with the house of the Lord, 1 Peter 4:17.

Jeremiah 48:42-44, “And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the Lord. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the Lord. He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord.” Again we see it is called a year of visitation. This time it refers to Moab, but Moab is merely another name for the area east of Israel and Judah, namely Edom/Idumea/Bozrah.

In the next post, I will show how the prophecies for this area of Edom/Idumea, Moab, and Ammon (yet another name for the area of Jordan) that refer to a complete and final destruction that leaves the place only inhabitable for animals forever, is in fact not talking about the modern day area of Jordan. This can be shown through the prophecies of Moab.

Brief interruption to discuss the Sabbath

2011-01-13T15:44:00.004-05:00

I am interrupting my journey through Isaiah and his writings on Babylon to write about something that I just learned. If you follow my blog, you know that progressively as we reached Revelation, I kept talking more and more about the Sabbath day and observing it versus worshiping God on Sunday. As some quick background, God started talking to me about this a good fifteen years ago, and it took until I reached a passage in Revelation this past spring/summer for it to dawn on me why God was trying to get through to me on this. I came to realize that those who actually make it through all the judgments to the rapture have something different from other Christians who were martyred, and that was that they are observing their worship of God in a Messianic way instead of a paganized way. I have covered this before, and have pointed out that God says Gentiles are not to try to become Jews, (however they are not forbidden to practice Jewish customs such as observing the feasts of God). We are not required to eat kosher, and the civil and health laws are not really applicable in many cases these days. Those things which can still apply (like not getting tattoos) we still should observe, because it is good to show God our love by doing (or not doing) those things He would like us to do (or not do). The one thing that is mandatory though is observing the Ten Commandments (If you love me you will keep my commandments) and keeping the Sabbath is one of them. Because when God gave that commandment He said to work six days and rest on the seventh, I never thought that it should be an issue to insist that other Christians move from Sunday to the Saturday, if they did not feel led by the Lord, as God did not seem to specify the actual seventh day of the week, but that it seemed more of a case of it being one day out of seven. Since many Christians have to work jobs that require them to take their days off during the week, I thought that as long as they observed one day of rest out of the seven they were good. Now I am not so sure.

I had an opportunity to hear the testimony of a man who had been involved in the Illuminati, and apparently pretty high up, as he was at the level where people interacted directly with Satan himself. What this man said about the things that they were doing is all things that I have heard before and the Scriptures agree in many cases with what he said. Then he said something that came as a surprise. To digress a moment, I was, a short time ago, given a book by the Seventh Day Adventists which said that worshiping on Sunday was the mark of the beast. Now, as I do not agree with their theology (except they are right about the Sabbath) and I believe the mark of the beast is something else, I dismissed the concept. I still do not think it is the "mark", as that is something you wear on your head or hand. However, after listening to this man's valuable information I became much more concerned about the church's Sunday worship.

By now, if following my blog, you should know that I have said that Satan is most likely the angel who oversees our sun. This is why he is so big on sun worship, and one of the reasons why he is called the light-bearer, as well as the prince and power of the air. (There are other reasons also). Sunday was co-opted by Satan in competition with God to use as his worship day. When Constantine paganized the church in order to unite his empire, he moved the worship day (Christians had been observing Saturday as the Sabbath until then) to Sunday. Satan loved this, as now all the Christians were worshiping him on his day, not God's day. According to this man, Satan told his Illuminati followers that when they finally have a one world government in place, he will have them or the antichrist make a law that demands that all people worship on Sunday, as no matter their beliefs, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, whatever, if they worship on Sunday they are worshiping him. Knowing how Satan corrupts everything does this come as a surprise? God's day is the day His people have worshiped him for thousands of years and that day is Saturday. While I wanted to think that we had the freedom to move the day to fit the schedule we have, I now think I may have been too liberal on that front. I think if you don't care about the Sabbath, neither will God worry about arranging your schedule to accommodate it, as He will not force His will on us. However, if you have come to the decision to keep the Sabbath holy, God will change your life to accommodate your new commitment to Him. I can say this, because since realizing that our family needs to change to a Saturday Sabbath, God changed my husband's schedule so that he now has Saturdays off, which he has not had for many years. To arrange this, God had to promote him rapidly through the ranks at his job. He has set a record, more or less, for rapid promotions there. As there were others who had much more seniority, this was clearly God working on our behalf. So I now tend to believe that it is important to not only keep the Sabbath holy, but to keep it on Saturday as originally designated for Israel. Obviously this is a personal matter, and many will disagree, but I do believe it is the dividing line between who has a chance to make it to the rapture, and who does not, based on what I discovered in Revelation. It is your choice.

To see a complete article on Sabbath vs. Sunday worship see site below.
Sabbath vs. Sunday Worship

Isaiah 23:14-18

2011-01-12T08:47:00.003-05:00

Verse 14-18 “Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste. And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord, to eat sufficiently and for durable clothing.”

The ships of Tarshish are told to wail and howl (which is exactly what the merchant ships do in Revelation over the destruction of Babylon) for their major port of trade has been destroyed. Tyre is then forgotten for seventy years. While scholars try to make this fit the facts of what did happen in the past, it was not an exact fulfillment which leads us to the conclusion that there is a future fulfillment to this passage. Israel was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar for seventy years, the number of years of their sin in not remembering to observe the Sabbath year rest of the land. (Found in book of Daniel) As the kingdom of Babylon lasted through the reign of one king’s family or dynasty, it was essentially the days of one king or kingdom. Tyre was also besieged by the Chaldees for thirteen years after the conquest of Israel had occurred. They finally came to an truce where Tyre acknowledged Babylon’s authority and paid a tribute, but was not conquered as Israel had been. Just as the Israelites were let go by Cyrus after the Medo-Persians conquered Babylon, so was Tyre released from the need to pay tribute and could go about their business on their own again. This however does not add up to seventy years for Tyre as it did for Israel, so the timing does not fit. Also, while Tyre may have traded with Israel, supplying their needs to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, the profits from their trade were not dedicated to the Lord. They were dedicated to their own purses. So this verse still must be fulfilled as the rest of the passage does not truly apply to the past.

Now comes a true conundrum. We know that Babylon is not supposed to have any descendants left alive to carry on the name. It will only be inhabited by animals. So now we have to question, is the hypothesis that this passage is speaking of modern Babylon incorrect, or is it being more specific to its target than the entire country of America (if America is indeed Babylon)? Tyre was not an entire kingdom, it was simply a very wealthy, powerful port city. Could this verse be aimed at New York City? There was a vague description that seemingly better fit New Orleans in an early verse of the chapter, but some of that could apply equally well to New York City. NYC is also at the delta of a very muddy river, the Hudson River. While it is not near corn, which is what the product sold by Tyre for Egypt was, that may be stretching the comparison further than the Scripture allows. New York City ranks as the top global city in the world by the criteria that is used to determine the value of a city in the global arena. It is the pride of America and knowing some of the inhabitants of that city, I believe they think they are the pride of the world. Can they be separated out from America as Babylon when it comes to the prophecies that do not allow for her to ever rise again? Or does this speak of some other major port city? Given the description, I cannot think of another city that fits the description of such a wealthy, proud, port city as New York City. It is the crown jewel of the world if one accepts the ranking of global cities. But then, it says in Revelation that Babylon is the city that rules the kings of the world, so NYC would certainly fit the bill with the U.N. there. Here is where it gets confusing, and it is difficult to see about what city God may be speaking, unless there is another city or country that will rise to the same great height as NYC and America in the years (and I believe they are few) between now and the rise of antichrist. It must be remembered that I am not omniscient and all of this is hypothesis based on comparing Scripture to Scripture and applying logical deduction. There is plenty of room for error here.

If it is NYC (or maybe it is New Orleans, or some other port city on America's coastline) we need to ask, “Why would God need a port city in a place where there will be no inhabitants on the mainland?” The answer might simply be that no matter what the world will be like topologically after the Day of the Lord, there is a need for a port at this location for the sake of shipping. Maybe after seventy years the world will have gotten back on its feet enough to need a port of call for merchant ships at that location, as they need a stop over port to get to their destinations. It does say that the only purpose this city serves is to ply her trade by fornicating (in this case making money by selling her merchandise) with the rest of the world, only to then hand it over to the Lord so that his people may eat and be clothed. That seems to be her only purpose to exist. It does not seem that it is a great place where people take their families to go to live their lives, but that people live and serve there simply to service the port of call. It would seem that after seventy years, the Lord has mercy on the place, (obviously from that statement, God has had wrath on it before) and re-establishes it by giving it this job. Just as tax collecting was a “dirty” job, it may be that trading for profit is considered a less than holy type of job, (it is called fornicating after all) yet a job that must be done nonetheless.

There is another reference in the Bible that may refer to this same situation. Ps. 22:28-31 says, “For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be fat upon the earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.” This psalm is the one that speaks of Yeshua’s crucifixion. It ends with a prophecy about the millennium when the kingdoms will belong to the Lord. At the end it speaks of a seed, a remnant that will serve the Lord. It will be accounted or time will be marked off for them as tally marks to the length of a generation, which is thought in biblical understanding as seventy years. While some say a generation is forty years due to the wilderness wanderings, that is not quite correct. They were punished forty years because the Lord punished them a year for each day in which they searched the land. They searched for forty days, so their punishment was forty years. Also, the punishment only applied to those over twenty years of age, so the people of the generation that was punished would be at minimum, sixty years old when the punishment ended. Getting back to the verse, as to what it means that they are accounted to the Lord for a generation, I do not believe that this means that their service will only last seventy years. It says that they are accounted or time is marked off for a length of a generation or one assumes seventy years, then it says that they will come and declare the Lord’s righteousness. Either they only serve the Lord seventy years, or the only other conclusion is that it is seventy years before they begin to serve the Lord. They serve the Lord by declaring the Lord’s righteousness to the people who are yet to be born. They serve a holy purpose for the Lord. If that is what is meant here, that after seventy years this seed will serve the Lord, this verse could seem to be another verse referring to this small remnant group at Tyre whom the Lord will have serve Him in holiness by plying their trade for Him.

New blog

2011-01-08T12:08:00.004-05:00

To my readers,

I am continuing on with my end times blog, but at the same time I have felt a need to address other issues, which are not end times related. In cruising the internet, I have seen that many people have questions. Questions which are not being answered, because people do not know their Bibles well enough to give answers. Or they give answers that are not from the Bible, and therefore are not good answers. I wanted to create a place where conundrums, controversies, and so-called "contradictions" in the Bible are addressed in a Biblical way and where questions can be asked and hopefully answered from God's Word (if I can't answer it, it isn't God's fault, it's my lack of knowledge and understanding). To that end I have created a second blog titled What Does the Bible Say? Conundrums and Controversy. It is found at http://bibleconundrumsandcontroversy.blogspot.com. Please come and visit and ask questions that you want answered. I will be posting articles on various subjects over time, but welcome any questions and suggestions for articles.

Connie

Isaiah 23:13

2011-01-07T09:42:00.003-05:00

Verse 13 “Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness;: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.”

Chaldea is another name for Babylon. The king of Assyria had only a short time earlier taken the nomadic mountain tribal people (the Chaldees) that lived further north and settled them in Babylon. The king had assigned these people to live there to incorporate them into his people for fresh blood for his armies. Eventually the Chaldees became strong in themselves and threw off the yoke of Assyria to establish the Babylonian empire. The last part of the verse is a little ambiguous as to whom is brought to ruin. I believe that is because God wants this verse to be applied in more than one way. We do know that Tyre was brought to ruin, although not entirely at this time. The Chaldees set up siege towers against Tyre from which to hurl missiles (the ancient kinds such as boulders) , and did bring the city down, although they were not the ones who brought about Tyre‘s complete demise. That was Alexander the Great. Another way to take this verse is to see God referring to the eventual destruction of Assyria at the hand of the Chaldees or Babylon, and Babylon's demise later on because of their own king. What makes it ambiguous is the use of the word "he" when referring to the one who brings the nation to ruin. For the verse to refer to the Chaldees bringing Tyre to ruin, it should say "they". By using the pronoun "he", it refers back to the antecedent "the Assyrian." To read it exactly as it grammatically should be taken, it would actually say that the Assyrian king who founded the Chaldean empire did, after they had put up siege towers and palaces, bring the Chaldean empire to ruin, yet that did not happen. They were brought to ruin by the Medo-Persians. Therefore it is obviously referring to something else. This is where seeing it as a future fulfillment of the Assyrian (antichrist) bringing about the end of Babylon the Whore becomes a viable interpretation.

Now comes an interesting correlation. If this is referring to America, we can see a clear connection. We are a people who was not. In all of history America (unlike even Central and South America where were the great Mayan and Incan empires) was never a nation (or kingdom or empire) until a few hundred years ago. There were tribal groups, but never did they become the great empires such as those further south. This land was ( and in some places still is) a wilderness when it was settled. We see how America has set up her “towers” (built her military bases) and raised her “palaces” (built her great buildings) around the country. The conundrum is, who is the Assyrian who founded us supposed to be? Now we come into some very interesting speculation. In other verses in the Isaiah, the Assyrian is another reference for the antichrist. Is. 10:14, 14:25, 30:31.31:8. All of these verses are referring to the Assyrian as the enemy of God in the end times. We know from Revelation that the antichrist is more than a human being. He is a spirit that has indwelt all of the oppressors of Israel over the history of the world. Is this verse telling us that America was essentially founded by the same evil spirit who inhabited the other seven kings of the seven "mountains" in Revelation, and who will inhabit the antichrist?

Many people would take issue with this statement, as they believe that America was founded as a Christian country. I believe it is true that God ordained the founding of America to be a land from which the gospel would go forth, but in learning the true history of America, we see that it really was not founded by Christian men as most people believe. The first “modern” settlement of America was at Roanoke, Virginia, but as all people who remember the history they have studied know, this settlement disappeared and it remained a mystery as to what happened to the inhabitants, although there are theories as to what happened. The next settlement was Jamestown, Virginia. Its settlement was not due to any spiritual reasons, but for monetary and power gain. They had great difficulties, opposition from the natives, and eventually the original settlement was abandoned as they moved inland. Their purpose remained unchanged though. The next settlement was Plymouth, Massachusetts. While This was a diverse group, as it included not only Christians, but the military people they hired to protect them, as well as servants, and other skilled laborers, the reason for this settlement was religious in nature. Its people’s original intent was not for monetary or power gain, but for religious freedom to worship God in truth, apart from the apostate church, and without persecution. God had prepared a place and the situation for this people to arrive and survive, although their life was not without severe problems. God weeded many out of this group the first winter. Because of this group, Christians like to believe that this country was settled as a Christian country. In the respect that God brought His people here to have a place where He could be worshiped in truth, they are correct, but that is not the whole story. A hundred and fifty years later when we declared our independence from Britain and set up our own constitution and country, it was a different story. While the leaders who signed the declaration and made our constitution all had the veneer of being Christians, the truth is most were not true Christians. The vast majority of them were Freemasons and Deists, including the "Father" of our country. (For Christians who believe George Washington was a true Christian, a close perusal of his letters tells otherwise. They indicate he was also a deist, like Thomas Jefferson. And he most certainly was a Freemason.) The first, that our founding fathers were all masons, is well documented. The second can be discerned by reading the correspondence which they wrote, whether official or of a private nature. This country was established by the Freemasons as an independent country from which they would eventually create the New World Order. There is much that one can find on this subject in books and online to prove this, so I do not feel the need to delve into this subject at the moment, as it will divert us from the subject at hand. The point in bringing this up at all was to show that the spirit of antichrist, through the machinations of the Freemasons, was really the founder of America and its laws as an independent nation, not a group of Christian men.

Isaiah 23:10-12

2011-01-03T16:14:00.003-05:00

Verse 10 “Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength.”

The inhabitants are told to get through their land swiftly as a river runs, to get out of harm’s way. They are no longer the mother of colonies, but Tyre’s children will be the children of their own colonies as they escape to there or are enslaved and sent there by Alexander the Great. Their strength as a powerful commercial center is gone and there is no help for them to escape what lies ahead.

The same advice would apply to America when her time comes. Nobody will step forward to help her, as everyone either hates her and will be glad to see her punished, or they will be incapable of helping her, as she is the one who is called upon to help everyone else.

Verse 11-12 “He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof. And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.”

The Lord makes the kingdoms of the world tremble when He acts. To see such a powerful, defensible city fall would shake up other kingdoms and frighten them. If she can be destroyed, who cannot? God puts the desire in the hearts of her enemies to overthrow and destroy Tyre. She will no more spend her time enjoying the good things of life. Her time is over. He calls her an oppressed virgin, which in the Hebrew means a violated virgin. She has never been conquered before in the way she is conquered now. This will be her first experience at being raped and plundered. She has been a virgin in that respect. Her people are told to go over to the other isles or colonies, but they will have no rest there either, as due to their luxurious way of life, they are contemptible to everyone else, so they are not looked upon with favor no matter where they go.

Tyre was first besieged by Babylon and had to acknowledge their authority, but she was completely overthrown and destroyed by Alexander the Great. The people who did not heed the advice to leave were killed or enslaved. They most likely were not welcome wherever they went. To call Tyre an oppressed virgin is only partially correct, as she did get overthrown twice. This would seem to imply that the future interpretation is more accurate in its calling her a virgin who has never been touched until this destruction. We know from Revelation that Babylon is a queen that has never been touched like this before. God does put it in the heart of Babylon’s enemies to destroy her “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their heats to fulfil his will.” Rev. 17:16-17a. When she falls, the kingdoms of the earth will tremble, as no one has been as great as this country in the modern age. Nor has this country ever been conquered. America is indeed a virgin in that sense. God's people are told to flee out of Babylon. They are given the warning just as Tyre was. While we do not exactly have colonies, we do have territories and our people come from all of the countries of the world, so those who listen and flee may run back to their own countries. Americans are not very welcome in the rest of the world. Most people resent us and with good cause in a lot of cases, although there are many who should be very grateful for what we do for them, but they are not. Jealousy is great among those who live in abject poverty or oppressive countries. People see us living in luxury, but also see our sinful ways and our pride, which irritates them. The parallel between Tyre and Babylon the Whore, who we presume to be America, is too similar to be ignored.

Isaiah 23:8-9

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Verse 8-9 “Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth? The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.”

The question is asked as to who is making this proclamation against Tyre, the crown jewel of all the cities of the earth, whose merchants are the princes or wealthy noblemen and their business partners, who are the honorable (the wealthy and powerful) men of the earth. The answer is the Lord is the one making the proclamation. His purpose is to stain or sully the pride of the glory of the earth (or most opulent city) and to make it contemptible to all the rest of the nations.

Tyre was the crown jewel or the most opulent of all the cities of the earth. She was full of pride at her own glory in spite of the way she made her fortune. Her honorable are called traffickers. That is a contradiction in terms as traffickers is a term used to intimate underhanded types of dealings, or dealings in unsavory things such as slaves, or today more likely drugs. The world is the one calling these despicable merchants honorable, because they are wealthy and powerful, which in the sight of the world, means honorable. The Lord does not see things the same way. To Him they are worthy of contempt and punishment for their evil ways.

Again we see the connection to America. We are an opulent nation and New York City, our greatest merchant harbor city, is an affluent, sumptuous city. The merchants are the rich and powerful, but as we know from the news, the dishonest in many cases. The rich and powerful of other nations are their trade partners. Many of these rich and powerful people from our country and others make their money off of illegal trade, such as drugs. Even slavery still exists although it is an “underground” business. While not all is illegal, much that America trades in is immoral, for instance pornography in the guise of TV shows, movies, and books. The Lord will bring its pride (and America has great pride) to the dust, again as prophesied of the pride of Babylon in Revelation. America is contemptible to the rest of the world as we live our decadent, lavish lives while the rest of the world lives in relative poverty by comparison.

Isaiah 23:6-7

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Verse 6-7 “Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? Her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.”

The inhabitants of Tyre are told to pass over to Tarshish. They will be forced out of their city and have to go to other cities that the merchant vessels visit. This may be a reference to refugees, and it may also refer to the selling into slavery of 30,000 of its inhabitants by Alexander the Great. Tyre had been a seller of slaves themselves, so they were getting their just desserts in that respect. It was a very ancient city whose founding is unrecorded. It was already a major city at the time of the Exodus. The inhabitants of Tyre were used to luxurious living and probably did not do much walking, but had slaves transport them in conveyances. Now they would be howling and weeping and have to walk on foot like refugees and slaves and travel to other places to live in poverty. Their beautiful city would be a heap of rubble. The cities where they would end up would probably be the colonies they had settled, or the places from which they had come to Tyre.

In Revelation God’s people are told to come out of Babylon so that they might not partake of her sins and receive her plagues. Rev. 18:4. When they do so, it will not be in luxurious style, it will be with the shirt on their back, running for their lives as the enemy comes after them with sword in hand to either take them captive or kill them. Americans are used to taking in refugees, not being them. People will have to flee back to the lands from which they came and the only way to do that in many cases is over the ocean, just as the inhabitants of Tyre would escape Tyre via the ships of Tarshish.

Isaiah 23:4-5

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Verse 4-5 “Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins. As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre.”

Zidon, Tyre’s “mother,” is told to be ashamed. Zidon is now childless (which was a shame in the ancient world). The strength of the sea (which Tyre was - she not only was the queen of trade, but protected that part of the seas from pirates and such) will not be bringing forth any more children (no more colonies or settlements) nor raise children up to herself. Tyre did eventually rebuild, but it was never the glorious city it once was and it was probably not the original inhabitants who settled it.

As Zidon would have been pained at a report just recently received about Egypt, they would be even more pained at the report about Tyre. The report from Egypt which had just preceded the report about Tyre had to do with a war at Carchemish which virtually ended Egyptian power. As Egypt was such a major client in their shipping business, the loss would be substantial. The loss of Tyre would be even more so, as now their port of trade was destroyed.

Just as Tyre was the strength and protector of the seas, so is America. We are told in Revelation that modern Babylon will no longer hear in herself the sound of musicians, craftsmen, workers, brides or bridegrooms, and in Isaiah 14 we are told that the name, remnant, son, and nephew would be cut off. The same basic thing is said here, so we again have a connection between modern Babylon and ancient Tyre, indicating that this prophecy is probably also talking about America.

As to what the modern report of Egypt might be, the prophecies on Egypt are yet to be studied, but I believe that a piece of the answer may be found in the last few chapters of Daniel, which I was not able to totally decipher at the time that was studied. As the prophecies in the Old Testament prophets are covered, it may come to light what the news about Egypt will be. I suspect that Egypt may be one of the three horns that is said to fall before antichrist in Daniel 7:20. Daniel 11:42 says that Egypt will not escape the hand of the vile ruler or as we commonly refer to him, antichrist.

America's mother is England, who has filled the same roll in America's birth and life as Tyre did in Zidon's. Just as a report of Egypt being overrun and destroyed at the hand of antichrist would shock and dismay England, our destruction would devastate England. They rely on us to be an ally and the USA is Britain's largest export market.

Isaiah 23:1-3

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This chapter does not refer to Babylon, as in ancient Babylon, however as one goes through the prophecies, one finds that many of the prophecies seem to speak to the same entity although they are seemingly addressed to different recipients. This is because the first fulfillment was to the actual Biblical recipient mentioned, and the second (usually end times fulfillment) is aimed at the recipient described. Therefore while the name may not be same in all cases for the first fulfillment, if the prophecies seem to be saying the same thing, it is an indication that it is aimed at the same entity for the future fulfillment. For instance, we have ascertained that Babylon the Whore must refer to America, as the description only fits America in this day and age, at least to date. As the prophecies are examined with that in mind, one finds more prophecies aimed at Babylon the Whore, although it may not be speaking directly to ancient Babylon. One must remember that the whore rode many beasts through the ages - Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, etc. So depending on the description, if it is clear that the prophecy is an end time prophecy, it may be that it applies to America whether or not Babylon is mentioned. We will see as we go through this chapter that it does refer to the end times, so it must be looked at to see how it fits with the Scriptures we have already studied.

As this prophecy is aimed at ancient Tyre, it is needful at this time to give a little background on that city. Tyre was a Phoenician city and was known as the queen of the seas. It was an island city of unprecedented splendor. She grew wealthy from her far-reaching colonies and her industries. That also made her a target of jealous nations. She originally consisted of a mainland settlement and an island city that lay a short distance off shore. In the first millennium BC it experienced a golden age. In the 10th century BC King Hiram connected two islets with a landfill. Later he expanded the city by reclaiming land from the sea. Its colonies spread around the Mediterranean and Atlantic bringing prosperity and power. In the sixth century BC Nebuchanezzer laid siege to it for thirteen years and while the city stood firm, the people abandoned the mainland settlement for the safety of the island. Tyre gave Babylon’s king a modest tribute to keep him happy. They were more of an ally than a subject of Babylon. In 332 BC Alexander the Great blockaded the island for seven months but they held firm. He ended up using the debris from the mainland to build a causeway out to the island and finally conquered them. The town’s residents were either massacred or sold into slavery. Zidon was the first great city of Phoenicia and the “mother” of Tyre. As Zidon’s greatness waned, the prosperity and power of the “virgin daughter” Tyre began to grow.

Verse 1 “The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them.”

The burden or divine judgment is being pronounced on Tyre. The term Tarshish was used in two ways in Scripture. It denoted either the city itself (which scholars sometimes argue over as to who it was, some saying a city in Spain, some saying a city in Asia Minor) or it could in general be said to refer to large merchant ships. I believe that is the way it should be applied here, especially for the future fulfillment of this prophecy. The island city of Tyre will be laid waste so that not a house will be left upon it. The great merchant ships will howl for this is the major city of commerce for them. They will lose a major source of their income, because of the destruction of Tyre. No one will be able to enter into it. The city will be gone. The land of Chittim originally referred to the islands of Phoenicia and later came to simply mean the islands along the coasts. The ships get the news via the other islands.

This prophecy is almost an exact duplicate of what we read in Revelation about Babylon, therefore we can make the connection that it might apply to modern Babylon. In looking at this as a prophecy yet to come, we see that the great trading ships will howl at the demise of the modern day "Tyre", when it is laid waste. No one will be enter into the harbor or the city. This exactly corresponds to what we read in Revelation 18:15 “The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torments, weeping and wailing.” As the description given is the same as the description of Babylon in Revelation, we must look to see if there is further evidence that possibly this passage in Isaiah is another prophecy that applies to the entity who is modern day Babylon.

Verse 2-3 “Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.”

This tells us that the hustle and bustle of business taking place on Tyre will be no more. There will be silence and stillness in its place. The mariners that did business came from the mother city of Zidon. They kept the city supplied with its needs and carried out the goods from the mainland to the colonies and other trading cities. The “seed of Sihor (which means dark colored and is a reference to the Nile which is blackened from the mud that it drags down when overflowed), the harvest of the river” refers to the produce of the Nile delta region. Egypt was the greatest producer of corn in the ancient world. Tyre was a large and profitable exporter of Egyptian goods in exchange for wine, oil, and a variety of other products. Tyre was the mart or great trading center of all the nations of her day.

To apply it to the modern counterpart we would have to find someone who fits the following: “Tyre” would be one of the world’s biggest ports of commerce and trade and the queen of the seas. It is the daughter of another “city” who was also once the queen of the seas and trading. It is a supplier of corn to the world from the world’s greatest supplier of corn, whose corn fields are along one of the world’s major rivers, and more specifically a large, long river that ends in a delta. Does this fit America? Well, New Orleans, Lousiana, is a port of commerce and trade in the world for corn. We are the world’s greatest producer of corn and our corn fields lie adjacent (so to speak) to the great Mississippi River (also known as the Muddy Mississippi), which is known for its delta as is the Nile. America is the present queen of the seas and she is the “daughter” of someone who was also once the queen of the seas - England. So far it all fits very well. This is as perfect a description of America as it is of Tyre, right down to the "muddy" river delta, so it looks as if this is a prophecy that is aimed at modern Babylon, as the similarities are too much to be a coincidence.

Isaiah 21:6-10

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Verse 6 “For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.”

The prophets of old were the watchmen who warned their leaders of what was coming. They were ultimately more important watchmen than the watchmen on the walls, yet they were pretty much dismissed and ignored, or worse run out of town or killed. Today there are Bible teachers and preachers who are trying to warn people of what lies ahead. We are not quite like prophets of old in that God does not speak to us quite as directly, but we do forewarn of what is coming based on God's Word. For the most part we are dismissed as being crazy, ignored, mocked, or kicked out of churches as being some sort of heretic. So far nobody has tried to take my life, although I have been forced out of churches, but who knows how far people will go when these things start to come to pass. People always blame the messenger. It goes without saying that today's watchmen certainly are not listened to by politicians. America’s president has made it no secret that he is aligning himself with the Muslim world against Israel, in spite of the warnings from Christians who know the consequences of such an action. Concerning the American Church, the Church would rather listen to false prophecy teachers who preach peace and safety for them, than listen to the few of us who are saying that the Church will suffer and die at the hands of both the whore and the beast. That they can look around the world and see Christians being persecuted and killed, and still believe what these false prophets say about how they will never have to suffer, borders on a level of ignorance and blindness that staggers the imagination. They are sheep being led to the slaughter.

Verse 7-10 “And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed: And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you.”

The watchman sees the troops coming and shouts the warning. He sees the demise of Babylon and announces that Babylon is falling to the enemy. Because of the size of Babylon and communications of the day, one end of Babylon would be under the control of the enemy before the other end knew what was happening. All of her graven images and icons are destroyed. One of the practices of the day was to destroy the gods of the nation being conquered, so as to make them accept the gods of the conquerors and assimilate them into the new nation. This is why Antiochus Epiphanes erected a statue of Zeus in the temple as well as slaughtered a pig on the altar when he conquered Jerusalem. There is some debate among scholars as to whether the threshing is speaking of Israel or Babylon. In this case, as Israel was in Babylon, it actually applies to both. As to the application of this verse to the future, it should be remembered that before God poured out His wrath on Babylon at the very end of the bowl judgments, it had been announced by an angel, before the rapture, that Babylon had fallen. At that time it was surmised that the fall would be one of economic and power status, but now we can see that it might encompass much more than that. It would appear that the Muslims are going to do as the Mahdi directs and rampage through America killing and plundering and committing terrorist acts. Naturally this will cause America to fall in every way, economic, power-wise, militarily, etc., while still leaving the country alive, to some extent, for God to pour out His wrath upon.

Isaiah 21:3-5

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Verse 3-4 “Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.”

Isaiah was filled with pain in his inward parts that was so extreme he compared it to the pains of childbirth. He was literally doubled over and fell down (probably to his knees) at hearing the terribleness of what was going to happen. His heart was beating rapidly and he was seized with fear. What had started out as a pleasant night had now become a nightmare for him. Israel was still in captivity in Babylon when Persia conquered it, so this was going to affect Isaiah’s people as well as the Babylonians. He did not know what the consequences would be for his people. If we were to truly understand what awaits America, we too would be overwhelmed with intense pain and fear. What awaits America is going to be very, very bad.

Verse 5 “Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink; arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield.”

Babylon was partying at the time of her invasion. While they had watchtowers, they were so sure of their position in the world, and the safety of their geographic location compared to other nations, that they did not worry very much about keeping watch on the home front. Does this sound familiar? It is certainly an accurate description of America. Our country is consumed with consumerism and love their enjoyments in life. Our culture is obsessed with watching celebrities party, while the rest of the world is suffering. We think that we are untouchable by virtue of our geographic location, although people are starting to wise up to the fact that technology has now made that idea obsolete.

The princes were told that they should be watching for treachery and getting their shields ready for battle, but instead they were arrogantly thinking they could not be overrun, so were busy engaging in more frivolous pursuits. Our politicians and leaders seem to spend more time having love affairs behind their spouses backs than worrying about our country. Our military is peace keeping in other countries while our country is housing multitudes of foreign troops which could overwhelm and conquer us at any time if so ordered. While this attitude and behavior may have fit ancient Babylon, it certainly does not sound like modern day Iraq. They have war going on in their streets daily, so for those who believe that Babylon is still ancient Babylon or modern day Iraq, these verses would not bear that out.

Isaiah 21:1-2

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Chapter 21

As will be seen as we go through this chapter, this passage is also about Babylon.

Verse 1 “The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.”

There is a divine judgment given to the desert of the sea. This is Babylon. The country around Babylon was overflowed by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Semiramis (Nimrod’s wife) had dams built and drained the land creating a desert land. Cyrus removed the dams and the land became a quagmire of marshy barren desert again, thus the desert of the sea. This is the original Babylon. Now how does this apply to America? We are a land between two seas, so we are a wilderness in the vast sea, and we have much in the way of plains and desert lands. Until the last few hundred years, this land was a wilderness and barren of much human habitation, except for the small Native American tribes.

The winds come from the south to this original area, and as the winds blow through, so the Medes and Persians blew through the land the first time. More importantly is the idea of the Medes passing through as a whirlwind, coming from a terrible (frighteningly fearful) land, one that is a desert land. We know that today the reference to the Medes is a reference to Iran and more specifically to the fundamentalist Muslims. They will be the ones behind this conquest of modern Babylon, although Iran most probably will not be the only Islamic country involved in the Muslim invasion of America. They will go through the country as a whirlwind in a terrifying way.

Verse 2 “A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth, Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.”

A seriously frightening vision is given to Isaiah. The treacherous dealer is the Medo-Persians. They are going to deal treacherously with Babylon. They (the spoiler) are going to spoil (ransack and plunder) Babylon. God gives the order to Elam and Media to go ahead and besiege Babylon and take her. All the sighing that she has caused others due to her oppression is now going to cease. We know that Medo-Persian conquered Babylon, and in the same way God is going to give permission for modern Babylon to be destroyed. They are carrying out His plans for Him by doing so. He wants to stop her from oppressing and destroying the rest of the world with her whoredoms.

Isaiah 14:21-23

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In chapter 14 of Isaiah we find a lot about the king of Babylon, but that is for a different end times study. We are now studying Babylon the Whore, so we will start with verse 21-22.

Verse 21-22“Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord.”

The slaughter that God intends for the children of Babylon, for the iniquity of their fathers, is that they will never rise again, nor posses the land again, nor leave and fill the rest of the world with their cities. God will not leave a remnant, not a single son, nor nephew of Babylon to carry on their name. Babylon and her people (those who do not leave, as told to do in Revelation) will be entirely and eternally cut off.

Verse 23 “I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Again it says that Babylon will be made a habitation for animals, this time the bittern, which is a bird, is the animal mentioned. God will sweep through the country with a broom (besom) of destruction. A broom sweeps fairly clean and does not generally leave much behind.

So in these verses, we again see that Babylon will suffer a destruction that is complete and permanent. God is consistent with His prophecies no matter to whom He gives them. The fact that all of these prophecies always say the same thing throughout all the prophets and Revelation is part of the evidence that the Bible is inspired by God. These prophets all came at different times, from different backgrounds, and yet their prophecies are always in harmony and state the same things in words that are almost identical. How could this happen if God were not the author?

The rest of chapter 14 has to do with the “Assyrian,” which again is another name for the antichrist, so we will leave those verses for the further study of the antichrist.

Isaiah 13:20-22

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Verse 20-22 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.”

In Revelation we were told that nobody would ever again inhabit Babylon. This is true for the original Babylon, except for the American troops who are stationed at that location at present. So no Arab pitches a tent there, nor do shepherds take their flocks there. When prophecies have dual fulfillment, not every part of the prophecy has to apply to both fulfillments. That is why it can become confusing sometimes when trying to see how a prophecy fits a present day situation. Some of the prophecy fits the first event, and some fits the second. Unless you know exactly what happened the first time, it may be hard to filter out what happens in the second. And then sometimes the prophecy will fit both events. This is what makes understanding prophecy so difficult.

The first fulfillment took care of the part of the prophecy that referred to Arabians, so it does not necessitate that because an Arabian is mentioned that the present day Babylon must then be the original Babylon or Iraq. It is certainly an accurate statement that no Arab will pitch his tent in America after a nuclear holocaust, so it still would hold true even with Babylon being America. The land will only be inhabited by wild beasts. It mentions that wild beasts of the islands will live there. It is probable that after all the upheaval of the earth, and the nuclear holocaust, that America will no longer be a nation undivided, but that some of it will exist as islands, having been overrun by the ocean and rivers after earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes do their worst.

It says that satyrs will dance there. A satyr is only mentioned twice in Scripture and both times it has to do with the Day of the Lord and the result of His wrath. The satyrs will dance in the wilderness that is left after the land is destroyed. A satyr is a he-goat and more specifically a faun or he-goat devil, such as the Greek god Pan. Azazel, who is mentioned in the Bible is most likely a faun also as he is a desert devil. According to the Book of Enoch, (which is not scriptural, but may be somewhat historical, and some of it was quoted in the Bible, so some of it was inspired), Azazel was one of the original rebels against God. He was banished to the desert, and it is he to whom the scapegoat of Yom Kippur was given each year.

Note that it is mentioned that dragons will dwell there. While people who believe in evolution believe that dinosaurs died out millennia ago, the Bible tells us differently. When God was speaking to Job (chapters 40-41), He asked him about Behemoth and Leviathan. In reading the descriptions, we see that it clearly describes a dinosaur and believe it or not a fire-breathing dragon. Job was expected to know to what God was referring. These creatures must have still existed then. Dragons are not mythological. They were real. The legends of knights fighting dragons may be, like all the other myths and legends, far more real than people realize. Many of these creatures may still exist. Reports have come from New Guinea, deep parts of Africa, and other remote places, of creatures whose descriptions fit those of dinosaurs - land and flying ones. I have personally seen a picture taken in the frontier west back in the 1800's that was in a newspaper of that day. It showed a group of cowboys standing around the dead body of a "thunderbird" as the Native American's called it. I had to laugh as the person describing the picture referred to it as a large unidentified bird when it was so clearly a pterydactyl. One could clearly see the head, and the wing span was enormous. Because evolutionists cannot accept that these creatures still exist, they denied the very evidence of their own eyes, as a picture from the 1800's could not possibly be photo shopped. Nor was the creature a dummy made by the cowboys. It was too perfect, and I do not think they would know what a pterydactyl looked like to even try to make up a fake one. Sea monsters may also still exist. While the stories of creatures like the Loch Ness Monster, and Champ over here in America are treated as jokes by most, there may be some large sea creatures that still exist in the deep fresh waters. God tells us that dragons or land monsters, as the Hebrew definition defines the word, will live in Babylon. So apparently dragons will either make a comeback, or they still exist somewhere where man does not live. God does not lie.

Finally it is stated that Babylon's time has come, and her days will not be prolonged. As this is speaking of the end times, we can assume that America's days are numbered.