Prophecy 15 – www.TtibulationPeriod12.com

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PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 190

September 17, 2004

Servant Israel Glorifies God by Jesus, Israel’s Seed – Part 9

ISAIAH 49:13 – Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

Since 70 A.D. the Israelites have been persecuted more than any other descendants of Shem. And, even today, hatred of the Jews is on the rise across the planet. But the Scriptures indicate that, at the end of this long trail of affliction and death, the earth will break forth into singing when God comforts Israel, showing mercy upon them by ending their affliction. Israel’s final affliction, and its greatest, will occur during the last 1260 days of the tribulation period. Israel will fee into the Negev, where God will bring one-third through the tribulation period, and deliver them as the Israelite remnant when Christ ends Armageddon.

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

Zechariah 13:9 –And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Luke 21:27 – And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

Ezekiel 39:22-29 – So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. [23] And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. [24] According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them. [25] Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; [26] After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. [27] When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; [28] Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. [29] Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.

ISAIAH 49:14 – But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.

For almost 2000 years the Jews themselves have sought to understand why it seems the God of Israel seems to forsake them in the face of persecution from their many enemies, some six million having been slaughtered in the Nazi holocaust. Israel has wandered, as a people, in spiritual darkness since 70 A.D.

Romans 11:25,32 – For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. [32] For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Soon the veil they have placed over their own eyes and hearts will be lifted, and they will be restored at the Second Advent of their Messiah.

II Corinthians 3:15-17 – But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. [16] Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. [17] Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

ISAIAH 49:14,15 – But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. [15] Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Messiah has not utterly forsaken Israel. He tried to gather them into the kingdom by having them receive him as the king Messiah, but they refused. So, at that time, he made the temple spiritually desolate, and God has not accepted any of the sacrifices they have offered since his Son offered himself for their sins. Only those Jews, who have accepted Messiah as the living sacrifice for their sins, have been received as his children. But he made it very clear, shortly before he was arrested and crucified, that he would one day return and restore the nation to greatness, when they received him as the Blessed One coming from their God as their God.

Matthew 23:37-39 – O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! [38] Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. [39] For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 191

September 24, 2004

Servant Israel Glorifies God by Jesus, Israel’s Seed – Part 10

ISAIAH 49:15,16 – Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. [16] Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

God has not forgotten that Israel is his child, nor has he forgotten his great unconditional land grant promise to Abraham through Jacob, a land extending east from the western coastline of Israel and the River of Egypt to the west bank of the Euphrates River, southward to Kadesh in the Sinai, and northward to Hamath in Syria.

Genesis 15:18 – In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

Ezekiel 47:17 – And the border from the sea shall be Hazar-enan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.

Ezekiel 47:19 – And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.

And God has not forgotten his promise of a millennial temple in the midst of a vast city complex much greater than present day Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 40:2 – In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel and set me upon a very high mountain by which was as the frame of a city on the south.

Ezekiel 48:35 – It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there.

The detailed narrative blueprint instructions for building the city complex and the millennial temple are laid out in Ezekiel 40 to 47, and the entrance of Christ into the temple, as the Shechinah Glory of God, is told in Chapter 43.

Ezekiel 43:4,5 – And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. [5] So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house.

God has certainly not forgotten those promises he made to the Sons of Abraham through Jacob. Some Jews punctured the palms of their hands to make an image of their temple and city to show zeal for them. (Lowth)

ISAIAH 49:16 – Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

This may well be God’s way of informing them he has a greater zeal for the temple, its walls, and his city than they do, and that he has not forgotten his promise that one day Israel will possess them when Messiah dwells with them on the throne of David.

ISAIAH 49:17 – Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.

Israel will make haste to quickly rebuild the temple and city precisely as directed in Ezekiel 40 to 43 as soon as Messiah returns. The ones that overran the city some 1260 days before Armageddon, will have fled forth from Jerusalem toward the north from whence they came, and only one-sixth of them will have survived.

Ezekiel 39:2-5 – And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: [3] And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. [4] Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. [5] Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

ISAIAH 49:18 – Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

Israel’s enemies, that wrecked havoc on her during the tribulation period, will gather themselves together, and come up to Jerusalem to worship the Messiah of the God of Israel. Their submission to Messiah will be to God as the beautiful ornamentation on a Jewish bride.

Isaiah 2:2-5 – 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. [3] And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. [4] And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. [5] O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 192

October 1, 2004

Servant Israel Glorifies God by Jesus, Israel’s Seed – Part 11

ISAIAH 49:19 – For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

In 1948, God allowed Israel to take back much of the land from Dan to Beersheba, but Israel is not Israel in God’s sight until it extends from Dan to Beersheba, and has Jerusalem as its capital. So, in 1967, he allowed it to take back its capital, Jerusalem, and all its land from Dan to Beersheba. However, its inhabitants include a large population of Palestinians, which have caused it to be “too narrow by reason of the inhabitants,” who want the West Bank and Gaza Strip granted to them. All the nations that have swallowed up Israel time after time since 70 A.D. are indeed “far away” in time but, inside the land from Dan to Beersheba, the Palestinians want to make Israel even narrower than it is now. We are now faced with the distant descendants of the dispersion of 70 A.D., whose forefathers are all dead by natural attrition, and Israel’s generation of today is crying out, concerning its current Palestinian population, “who hath begotten me these,” who “brought them up,” and “where have they been?”

ISAIAH 49:20,21 – The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. [21] Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

Israel cries out to God, all my forefathers are dead, and I have wandered “desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro” for almost 2000 years across this earth. I was “left alone” from your presence. So, while I was out of the land you promised me, please answer me this: “who hath begotten me these children,” “who hath brought them up” during the time I was out of the land,” and “where have they been?” The Sheba, those born or brought into Israel since 1948, surely cry out loudly today, “The place is to strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.” This loud cry is being heard continuously from the numerous settlements in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where the Jewish inhabitants born since 1948 demand they be allowed to stay. This is the dilemma that Israel faces today and is trying to solve by a forced “disengagement” from the Palestinians, which will eventually lead to a false peace in Israel. There is only one person who can bring a true lasting peace to Israel, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. This peace will not come to the Middle East, and the rest of the world, until he returns to defeat the armies of the Antichrist at the battle of Armageddon. He will restore Israel to greatness, and she will be the strongest nation on the earth, with Messiah sitting on the throne of David in Jerusalem. At the present time there are some 13 million Jews on this earth, and less than half of them reside in Israel. I do not know how many will survive the tribulation period worldwide, but two-thirds of them in Israel will perish. Messiah will fulfill what God promised to Abraham in Genesis 15:18 when he comes at his Second Advent, which will more than satisfy the cry of the modern Jewish population, “The place is too strait for me: give place to me, that I may dwell.”

Genesis 15:18 – In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

About 1.7 to 1.9 million of the existing population in the land of Israel will survive the last 1260 days of the great tribulation period in the Negev Wilderness, returning to claim the Abrahamic land grant at the Second Advent of Messiah.

Zechariah 13:8 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

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

Zechariah 13:9 – And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Then the Gentiles will return all Jews living outside the nation of Israel by whatever transportation survives the tribulation period, and Israel will rule under Messiah.

ISAIAH 49:22,23 – Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. [23] And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 192A

October 3, 2004

Succot – The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles – Old & New Testaments

Leviticus 23:39-43 – Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. [40] And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. [41] And ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. [42] Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: [43] That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles (Tents – succa – temporary dwellings) began last week and continues into this week. Although tourism is down drastically, there will be a few thousand Christians that will have processions during the feast. During the time of the earthly ministry of Christ, on the last day of the feast, a special priest would leave the temple mount and proceed southward to the old city of David, under which a spring flowed through the old tunnel of Hezekiah into the Pool of Siloam. Fresh, flowing spring water that flowed throughout the year was looked upon as providing a source of water that provided life year round, as opposed to springs that dried up during the non-rainy season. So it came to symbolize something that provided eternal life. The special priest would collect two pints of water in a golden vessel, and then carry it back upon the temple mount. It would then be carried to the top of the very high altar that stood in the court of the men in front of the steps that led up to the door of the temple’s Holy Place. In the southwestern corner of the altar a small hole had been made that led down under the altar into the subterranean cavern under the temple. This particular feast is a very joyous one, and as the people waved palm leaves they would cry out to the priest on the southwestern corner, “raise your hand, raise your hand,” to show he had poured the water, finally cheering and shouting for joy when he did. The water would proceed under the temple southeastward in a conduit that emptied into the Kidron Valley for drainage of the blood from the sacrifices. It was a picture of living water, which symbolized the living Spirit of the God of Israel going out from the belly of the temple into the world.

It is very interesting to note the words of Jesus on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, probably uttered immediately after the priest poured the water.

John 7:2,37-39 – Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand. [37] In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. [38] He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. [39] (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

During the time of Christ, the presence of the Spirit of God in the temple’s Holy of Holies was to be proclaimed by Israel throughout the world. It was a single, local, visible temple. Today there are many local temples that God recognizes individually as His local, visible, temples. And it is from these individual bodies that the power of the Spirit is to go forth throughout the world. The first such church was formed and organized by its head and foundation, Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry. This church, which already existed as a local church of about 120, was empowered by the Spirit at Pentecost after Jesus was glorified. And, just as the water flowing out of the belly of the temple into the world was a symbol of the Holy Spirit, so does the same Spirit flow out of churches of the same like faith and order as the one the Holy Spirit empowered at Pentecost.

All believers are indwelt by the living Spirit of God and make up the family of God, and truly their witness of the Spirit is to flow out from within them into the world, but a local church that teaches, preaches, and practices the faith once delivered to the saints is also indwelt by the same Spirit in a special way, and its testimony that goes out into the world is to proclaim the truths of all the Word written by the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:22 – In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

John 4:24 – God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Leviticus 23:42,43 – Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: [43] That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Thus was the simplistic broad reason for God’s actions given in Leviticus 23:42. But later Jewish philosophers and rabbis gave some interesting interpretations as to its spiritual purpose for the believer. Some of these interpretations that I like, and agree with allegorically, are as follows.

Philo (Hellenistic Jewish Philosopher who lived in Alexandria during the days of the Apostles) – He says that “setting in the succa is to remind us of how far we have come, and leads us to praise God and thank God for all the kindness he has bestowed upon us.” This would blend well with the two following verses of Scripture involving sitting in a local New Testament church body and worshipping God.

Hebrews 2:12 – Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.

Ephesians 5:19,20 – Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; [20] Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

The Rashbam, one of Rashi’s famous grandson, lived in France in the 12^th century, in his commentary on Leviticus 23:43, gives another reason for setting in the succa. He says: “The succa is a lesson in humility; it comes to prevent a swelled head. God commanded us to sit in the succa precisely in the season of the harvest when we are congratulating ourselves for our efforts in the successful harvest and our fancy homes. The humble succa reminds us that everything you eat and everything you own comes from God.” This invokes the principles found in the following New Testament Scriptures.

Galatians 6:3 – For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

James 4:13-16 – Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: [14] Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. [15] For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. [16] But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.

Matthew 6:33,34 – But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. [34] Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Rabbi Yizhak Aboab lived in Spain in the 15^th century. In his writings, concerning sitting in the succa, he says: “The main point of living in the succa for seven days is to increase our faith in God. When we live in a sturdy house, we are protected from the elements; rain and cold and heat do not harm us. As a result we have faith in our homes, not in God. Likewise, we tend to place all our trust in men, especially influential rulers and leaders. By living in a flimsy succa for seven days, exposed once again to the elements, we realize that ultimately we must put our trust in God, who rules over our houses, the elements, and all human rulers.” This reminds me of the ideals expressed in the Psalms and the New Testament.

Psalm 2:10-12 – Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. [11] Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. [12] Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Hebrews 13:5-6 – Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. [6] So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

I Corinthians 2:2,5 – For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. [5] That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, in his 19^th century book Horeb, says: “the succa is a symbol of universal peace and brotherhood, as we recite in the evening service on Shabbat and festivals – Spread over us your succa of peace.” This reminds me of the great 1000 year umbrella of peace that Messiah will bring following the final battle of Armageddon, as detailed in Revelation, Zechariah, and Malachi.

And so it will be on this earth during Messiah’s millennial reign as King of kings following the tribulation period.

Revelation 20:6 – Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Zechariah 14:9,11,16 – And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. [11] And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. [16] And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Malachi 4:2,3 – But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. [3] And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.

For more details concerning the Feast of Tabernacles and the succa, see Special Prophecy Updates 86C and 86D in our Prophecy Archives.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 192B

October 5, 2004

Tectonic Chaos – Chapter 18 – The Human Beast

Revelation 13:1 – And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

The “sea” is the Mediterranean Sea, which was, at the time of John’s writings, a vast shoreline under the control of the Roman Empire – It was a Roman Sea. It is from this area that the last evil empire of John’s beast will arise from its southern Islamic countries of today. The beast’s empire will control what was the known world of John’s day.

The beast is the 11^th horn that arises among the 10 horns of the fourth beast of Daniel.

Daniel 7:20,21 – And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. [21] I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

The beast is Ezekiel’s Gog, the last chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, who attacks Israel when he thinks it is dwelling safely in the latter years.

Ezekiel 38:3,8,9 – And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: [8] After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. [9] Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

The beast is Daniel’s willful King of the North who attacks the glorious land of Israel at the time of the end.

Daniel 11:36,40,41 – 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 be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. [40] 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 chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. [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.

The beast is the Assyrian of Micah, the one from whom Christ will deliver Israel when he returns as the man who beings in the peace of the Millennium.

Micah 5:5,6 – And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men. [6] And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

The beast is Paul’s man of sin that will be revealed as the son of perdition before “that day” comes.

II Thessalonians 2:3,4 – Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; [4] Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

The seven heads of the beast are the ten evil empires of man that have affected and afflicted Israel since God called her out of bondage. They are the past great empires of Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome, and the future empire of the antichrist, which will dominate all the areas the six existing before it dominated, and will be Islamic in character.

The ten horns are ten latter day kings who were not alive as kings in John’s day, but will exist as kings in the seventh empire of antichrist. And the ten crowns represent power and authority, which the ten kings will eventually turn over to the antichrist.

Revelation 17:12,13 – And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

The first six of these empires that represent the seven heads of the beast have been guilty of the sin of worshipping many pagan gods, which is a form of blasphemy again the only true God. The seventh will worship Satan himself through his son. Revelation 13:4 – And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

It is rather ironic that all the extremist Islamic clerics and their countries refer to the United States as “the great Satan” and to Israel as “the little Satan.” They are already worshipping him, and soon they will be worshipping him directly through his son, the antichrist.

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

John is writing in the days of Daniel’s fourth beast, which had been prophesied by Daniel more than 600 years before John wrote the Book of Revelation. The fourth beast was, of course, the old Roman Empire.

Daniel 7:7 – After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

Daniel predicted the series of beast empires in advance, listing then chronologically as they were to arise. But John, under the rule of the fourth beast in his day, lists them in reverse order because they had already occurred before he wrote Revelation. The third beast had fallen to the fourth beast long before John was born, and was, of course, the Macedonian or Grecian Empire of Alexander the Great.

Daniel 7:6 – After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.

The four wings forecasted the rapid spread of the Macedonian Empire to the four winds of the north, south, east, and west. It was symbolized as a leopard, which gave a preview of the quickness with which it would advance against much greater numerical forces. The leopard is well known for its cunning in taking a prey, as was the character of Alexander as he took his prey, the Persian Empire of Darius. The four heads forecasted the division of Alexander’s vast empire after he dropped dead at a young age. It was divided into four geographical sections. They eventually became known as the territories under the rule of Thrace, Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt.

Daniel 7:5 – And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

The second beast empire, which was overrun by Alexander’s armies, was the Persian Empire. It was pictured as a bear because of its great size and slowness of movement when compared with that of a leopard. It was this characteristic that allowed the lightning leopard like strikes of Alexander to defeat it. At first it had two sides, a Persian side, and a Meade side, and was known as the Empire of the Meade and the Persians. But eventually the Persian side rose up and became the more powerful side, such that it became simply the Persian Empire. The three ribs in the bear’s mouth stand for the three kingdoms of Lydia, Babylon, and Egypt, which formed a Triple Alliance to stop the Persian conquests, but were destroyed by the bear.

Daniel 7:2-4 – Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. [3] And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. [4] The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.

The great sea is the Mediterranean Sea, which is the area that these four great beasts affected in their day and, as such, are pictured as rising out of it. The first of the empires, which was symbolized as a lion by Daniel, was the Babylonian Empire. It fell to the Empire of the Meade and the Persians at the close of Daniel’s life, precisely as he had predicted in God’s word.

So, Daniel goes prophetically forward from the first beast to the fourth, while John goes historically backward from the fourth beast to the first. Then both Daniel and John go forward from the Roman Empire to the future 10 horned empire of the man we call the antichrist.

Daniel 7:8 – I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

Revelation 17:12 – And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

And both Daniel and John identify the antichrist as coming out of the fourth beast. He comes out as horn eleven in Daniel, and as head seven in Revelation.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 193

October 8, 2004

Servant Israel Glorifies God by Jesus, Israel’s Seed – Part 12

ISAIAH 49:24 – Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?

God’s answer is a resounding YES! The prey is Israel, which will be delivered from the mighty power of the antichrist’s great end time armies. Yes, even though it has been taken captive by the lawful rules of man’s way of thinking, that is, “to the victors go the spoils,” yet God will deliver Israel from the hand of its enemies, as he declares in the next verse.

ISAIAH 49:25 – But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.

The following verses attest to his taking back Israel, the prey, to deliver it from the hand of the terrible wrath of the antichrist’s armies. The following Scriptures paint the living scenario of God’s contention with those who are contenting with Israel in the last days.

Daniel 11:45 to 12:1 –And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. [1] And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

Ezekiel 38:17-23 – Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them? [18] And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. [19] For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; [20] So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. [21] And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. [22] And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. [23] Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

ISAIAH 49:26 – And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer the mighty One of Jacob.

The following Scriptures attest to the great slaughter of the enemies of Israel by God at Armageddon.

Revelation 16:16 – And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

Ezekiel 39:17-23 – And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. [18] Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. [19] And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. [20] Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God. [21] And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. [22] So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. [23] And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.

Revelation 19:19-21 – And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [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. [21] And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Some believe that these terrifying events are in the distant future. But I believe they are nearer than many want to accept. The key to how close they are is tied to when Israel finally believes it has been able to bring in a time of peace and safety for its people, but I have long believed it would be a false peace that would come in prior to 2008.

I Thessalonians 5:3,4 – For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. [4] But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 193A

October 10, 2004

Tectonic Chaos – Chapter 19 – The Resurrected Beast

Revelation 13:3 – And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

The seven heads of the beast represent seven evil empires that that have, or shall, persecute the nation of Israel. They are, from the first to the seventh – Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, Roman, and the soon coming seventh empire of the antichrist, which is the wounded head on John’s beast, but represents the little horn that arises from the midst of the ten horns on the fourth beast of Daniel.

Daniel 7:8,21 – I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. [21] I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

John symbolizes antichrist as a bleeding head on his first beast, while Daniel pictures him as the eleventh horn on his fourth beast.

Revelation 13:3 – And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

The word “deadly” is “thanatos.” It is an adjective used as a noun. It simply mean “death.” A deadly wound is a wound that renders someone dead. A deadly wound, unless miraculously healed, is a wound from which the recipient dies stone, cold, dead. Some say that this represents the fourth beast of Daniel, which would be the sixth beast of John, but this same bleeding head on John’s first beast later becomes a non-bleeding head on John’s second beast.

Apparently, the antichrist, who is represented as being the king of the seventh head, suffers a wound from a weapon of war that would kill an ordinary man, but he miraculously recovers. This would explain the last two sentences in the next verse.

Revelation 13:4 – And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

The world, as a whole, has never been privy to a confirmed, visual, return of a man from the spiritual world. We accept the resurrection of Christ by faith. The world has long sought for absolute proof of the resurrection of a stone cold dead human. They may finally receive it in the return to life of antichrist from a wound that would kill any other man. Who on this earth could be said to be “like unto” such a man? And how would one be able to win a war against someone who could keep coming back from the dead? In Revelation 13:12 he is again referred to as “the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed,” and in 13:14 as “the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.” When John wrote the Book of Revelation the first five kings, which pictured the “mountain” empires of Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Persia, and Greece, had already fallen, and he was writing during the “one is” Roman Empire, which was the sixth. He indicated that one was yet to come, which will be the seventh empire of antichrist. But if the antichrist, as the king of the seventh empire dies from a deadly wound, and then returns as a resurrected man indwelt totally by the spirit of the dragon, he would, in reality, have been the king of both the seventh and eighth empires. He would be the king of an Islamic Empire that would last for three and one-half years.

Revelation 17:10-14 – And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. [11] And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. [12] And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. [14] These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

“That was” means the beast was previously alive. “And is not” means the beast died. “Even he is” means he came back to life to be the eighth. It is difficult to follow the personification changes of the antichrist from a beast empire to the king of it. At times he is represented as a dying head on the first beast that comes back to life on the second beast. But in the vast majority of cases, as in Revelation 13, 17, 18, and 19, he is identified as the entire beast.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 194

October 15, 2004

Servant Israel Glorifies God by Jesus, Israel’s Seed – Part 13

Isaiah 49:26 to 50:1 – And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. [1] Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away.

We closed Prophecy Update 193 with many Scriptures that describe the offering of human flesh and blood of those who come against Israel at the final great battle of Armageddon, one of which was Ezekiel 39:17-23. This will be the fulfillment of Isaiah 49:26.

This is the same battle as described in Revelation 19:16-18 – Please compare the two accounts, written some 700 years apart by Ezekiel and John.

Revelation 19:16-18 – And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. [17] And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; [18] That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

Remembering that there were no chapter divisions in the original writings, the next verse begins to describe why God has waited so long to avenge the persecution of his chosen people. It was because of their repeated rejection of his way as an unfaithful wife.

Isaiah 50:1A – Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away?

God asks the children of his wife Israel to show the bill of divorcement he gave her. But they cannot, because her children divorced him, they divorced him by their conduct toward him. The bill of divorcement referred to in this passage is from the Law of Moses. While it is true that God gave Israel a bill of divorcement, it is also true it was of their choosing, and not of his choice.

Deuteronomy 24:1 – When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

This ordinance was given because of the hardness of the heart of man in his carnality, but it was always God’s intent that once a man and woman were joined together as such, they were not to be put asunder by man.

Mark 10:2-9 – And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. [3] And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? [4] And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. [5] And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. [6] But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. [7] For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; [8] And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. [9] What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

God left the house of his wife Israel desolate when his Son was rejected by her children, but he will receive her again unto himself through his Son when Jesus, as their Messiah, comes again as their King with his kingdom.

Matthew 23:38,39 – Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. [39] For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Isaiah 50:1B – Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you?

Some Israelites had creditors in their lifetimes, and some put their wives in bondage to those they owed money, but God has no creditors, so he could never have used his wife Israel for such a purpose.

Isaiah 50:1C – Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves,

God did not sell them, but they sold themselves to the false gods of the many nations they patronized. They habitually provoked God by showing their lack of love for him in disobeying his first commandment, in that they worshipped the gods of many nations upon many high hills and under the green trees of the grove.

Exodus 20:2-5 – I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. [3] Thou shalt have no other gods before me. [4] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: [5] Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Jeremiah 2:20 – For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

Jeremiah 3:20,21 – Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. [21] A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God.

Isaiah 50:1D – And for your transgressions is your mother put away.

The Scriptures are quite clear that God has allowed the nation of Israel to put herself away from him spiritually to the extent she is spiritually desolate. But he has also made it quite clear that he will restore her as a nation to his spiritual blessings when Israel repents at the return of his Son, and its Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Hosea 3:1-5 – Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. [2] So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: [3] And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. [4] For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: [5] Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.

Hosea’s act was to picture the woman Israel playing the role of a harlot to God, for which punishment would be experienced, and it has been since the destruction of the temple by Titus in 70 A.D.! They have been the most persecuted and prosecuted people on this earth, being without a king, a prince, or formal sacrifice. But they have not worshipped idols, and soon the Messiah will return to set on the throne of David as their King.

Matthew 23:39 – For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Ezekiel 37:21-27 – And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: [22] And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: [23] Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. [24] And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. [25] And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. [26] Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. [27] My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 194B

October 20, 2004

Tectonic Chaos – Chapter 20 – The Worshipped Beast

Revelation 13:4 – And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

At this point in time the dragon is finally worshipped directly. For centuries Satan has wanted to be worshipped directly by all men on the earth, but he has had to settle for worship through idols, rituals, ceremonies, and all sorts of shapes and figures. But now, for the first time, he will actually be living inside a man as Satan incarnate in human flesh. He will be worshipped directly by mankind as Satan the father through Antichrist his resurrected son. He will thoroughly deceive mankind into believing they are worshipping he true God, but in reality they will be worshipping Satan directly through his resurrected son, the beast from the bottomless pit. Mankind will believe the lie!

II Thessalonians 2:9-12 – Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, [10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. [11] And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: [12] That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

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.

It would seem, by the two expressions (“was given”), one would be inclined to accept that the antichrist is, at this point in time, a human completely indwelled with all the fullness of Satan and, as such, could be classified as Satan incarnate in human flesh. In any case, this verse certainly compares well with the eleventh horn of Daniel’s fourth beast.

“Great things” spoken by human lips, labeled as being blasphemous, entail claims made to be God, of God, sent by God, speaking for God, or that direct others to a false god who claims to be the true God.

The antichrist, in II Thessalonians 2:4, not only seems to present himself outwardly to mankind as being God, but almost seems to be trying to prove it to himself.

II Thessalonians 2:4 – Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Allah is the God of countless millions of Muslims from one end of the earth to the other. If a man, who claimed a direct descent from the Prophet Mohammed, was apparently killed, but appeared to come back to life, and then claimed to be Allah in the flesh, he might well be believed. (See Prophecy Update Number 82).

Many are convinced that the antichrist must be a Jew in order for the Jews to accept him as one who can confirm the covenant of Daniel 9:27, on which they base their assumption. However, I am convinced that the “he” in this Scripture is not antichrist.

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

If you want to see the case I make to prove the “he” is not the antichrist, then read Prophecy Updates 55 to 58 in our prophecy archives at the top of this update.

In any case, the antichrist of Revelation 13:5 continues for 42 prophetic months after he receives the power to do so. All prophetic years are 360 days in length, and all prophetic months are 30 days in length. So, 42 prophetic months would equal 1260 days or 3 and ½ prophetic years, as found in the Scriptures that reference this same time period. A “time” is equal to 360 days, “times” is equal to 720 days, and “half a time” equals 180 days.

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

Revelation 12:14 – And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Revelation 11:2,3 – But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. [3] And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 195

October 22, 2004

Servant Israel Glorifies God by Jesus, Israel’s Seed – Part 14

Isaiah 50:1-3 – Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. [2] Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst. [3] I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

“Wherefore” – Because they had sold themselves to evil by their iniquities, and had forced God to put away his wife Israel for their transgressions, there was no man among them he could put confidence in to lead them or to answer his call, and so God came in the Messiah, the man Christ Jesus, to reconcile men to himself by his own power and righteousness.

II Corinthians 5:18-21 – And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; [19] To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. [20] Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. [21] For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

In Isaiah 50:2A he makes it plain that his righteousness can only be imparted to us in Christ by his power.

Isaiah 50:2A – Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no POWER to deliver?

II Corinthians 5:21 – For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God IN him.

I Corinthians 1:18 – For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the POWER of God.

I Corinthians 2:2,5 – For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. [5] That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the POWER of God.

In Isaiah 50:2B God answers his own question about whether he has POWER over the things he has created, and continues the same theme in 50:3. His point being that since he can do all these things, surely he can be counted on to DELIVER man from his sins.

Isaiah 50:2B-3 – Or have I no POWER to DELIVER? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst. [3] I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

In Isaiah 50:4, God shifts to the character of the man in whom he will dwell in all his fullness to DELIVER man from his sins.

Isaiah 50:4 – The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

Isaiah 53:1,2A – Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? [2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground:

Christ was the arm of God’s power extended directly to man on this earth, and he has been revealed as such to as many as will receive him. He clearly revealed himself as having the power of God’s arm by the many miracles he performed.

John 1:12 – But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

John 12:37-38 – But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: [38] That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?

God taught the man Christ Jesus as he grew up before him. It is impossible for a root to grow out of bone dry ground. It was also impossible for a child to be born in a virgin’s womb without a man’s seed, but God does the impossible.

Colossians 2:9 – For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

Luke 2:40,46,47,52 – And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. [46] And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. [47] And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. [52] And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Isaiah 50:5 – The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.

“THE LORD GOD HATH OPENED MINE EAR,”

John 12:49 – For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

“AND I WAS NOT REBELLIOUS”

Philippians 2:7-13 – But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: [8] And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. [9] Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: [10] That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; [11] And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

“NEITHER TURNED AWAY BACK”

Matthew 26:39 – And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

John 19:30 – When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (He fulfilled the Law for me)

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. (Fulfilled on the cross)

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE Number 195A

October 24, 2004

Tectonic Chaos – Chapter 21 – The False Comforter

Revelation 13:11 – And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

This is the second beast, the false prophet of Satan, who is cast into a lake of fire burning with brimstone along with the first beast, the antichrist, at the end of the battle of Armageddon. Their souls do not go to hell to await the final great white throne judgment of Revelation 20:11, they go body and soul into a lake of fire, and are joined by Satan a thousand years later before the final judgment.

Revelation 19:20 – 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.

Revelation 20:10,11 – And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. [11] And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

This second beast, the false prophet, comes up out of the earth, unlike the first beast, that came up out of the sea. He comes up with a doctrine of hell from the interior of the earth (See Birth Pang Numbers 8 and 17 in our Archives). Outwardly he gives the appearance of a little white male lamb in that he will seem to have dedicated his life as a living sacrifice to God. He will be one who is looked upon as the holiest man on earth appointed by God. His outward appearance as a lamb will be enhanced by his holy robes and dress, which will falsely associate him with the true Lamb of God. But what lies inside this whitened tomb of spiritual death, betrays who is really is, for his inner being is shown to speak with the power and voice of Satan. And out of his mouth will issue forth edits of the guile of holiness by human endeavor. I am convinced he will be the Pope of Rome – Not the present Pope, but he may well be the one that follows him.

Revelation 13:12 – And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

This false prophet of Rome represents the unholy spirit of the Satanic trinity: Satan the father, antichrist the son, and the false prophet as the unholy spirit. He is one of the unclean spirits of Revelation 16:13.

Revelation 16:13 – And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

In order for any occurrence to be officially identified as being a miracle, it must be confirmed as such by the Pope. He will confirm the resurrection of the first beast from a deadly wound as valid, and cause the known world of John’s day to worship him as being sent by God (See Prophecy Update Number 82, Part 3, in our Archives). For an exposition of “them that dwell on the earth,” see Prophecy Updates 77, 77A, 77B, and 77C).

Revelation 13:13 – And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

He has the same power as the first beast, being energized by the same Satanic Dragon. He is able to do what the priests of Baal could not do before Elijah – He causes fire to come down out of the first heaven, the earth’s atmosphere, and to strike the earth.

I Kings 18:36-40 – And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. [37] Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. [38] Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. [39] And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God. [40] And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

II Kings 1:10 – And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

Please note, that in both these cases, it identified the one asking and receiving, as being a man of God sent by God. The miracles and fire from heaven will convince both Catholics and Muslims that the false prophet is absolutely from God and has the power of God.

The false prophet will identify himself as the Elijah from God, and he will proclaim the apparent return to life from the dead by the first beast to be genuine, and will identify him as being sent by God. But why would God allow the false prophet to delude billions of people into believing that the Wicked one was from Him?

II Thessalonians 2:8-11 – And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: [9] Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, [10] And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. [11] And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

Simply stated, those who were truly born again, by believing the Word, were then taught the truth by the Word, and will not be deceived by one who brings a teaching contrary to the Word of truth. There are very few in this century that know the truth, or that even want to know it.

John 3:6,7 – That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

I Peter 1:23 + 2:2,3 + III John 4 – Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. [2] As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: [3] If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. [4] I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

John 17:17 + I Timothy 3:14,15 + Ephesians 5:25-27 – Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. [14] These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: [15] But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. [25] Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; [26] That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, [27] That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Now, let us continue in this update with verse 14, which further describes the continuation of this massive act of deceit carried out by Satan’s false prophet. Verse 14 parallels II Thessalonians 2:8-11.

Revelation 13:14 – And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

For an exposition of “them that dwell on the earth” consult our Archives for Prophecy Updates 77, 77A, 77B, and 77C. It is used as a hyperbole, and means the “known” world when John wrote the book of Revelation. For an exposition of “had the wound by a sword, and did live,” consult Chapter 19.

“THAT THEY SHOULD MAKE AN IMAGE TO THE BEAST”

My AWS and NSA career carried me to assignments in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. During these assignments I became familiar with the religious beliefs of many different areas across the earth. I can assure you that the knowledge of the information contained in the areas of biblical prophecy writings from Genesis to Revelation is not known by 99.9 percent of those who make up the Islamic faith. But their dictatorial leaders down through the centuries have established a definite pattern of self-aggrandizement by the creation of massive images of themselves in public places. When one goes to Syria, Iraq, Jordan, or Egypt, he or she is met by a constant series of statues, huge pictures or banners of the current leader, along with musical voices on loud speakers sounding out his praises. I can also assure you that the creation of images, statues, and other visible artifacts is found to abound in catholic worship across the surface of the planet. I will also assure you that an actual knowledge of prophetic teachings is not obtained by private study of the scriptures by individual Catholics in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. What pitifully little they do obtain is taught by the priests, and very, very little is taught from the book of Revelation. I will guarantee that the average parish attendee of catholic services in these areas knows nothing about the book of Revelation. So it would be child’s play to get both Catholics and Muslims to worship the image of a man whom the false prophet said had been resurrected from the dead. There would only be an extremely small minority in these areas that would refuse to do so, and they would be among those who worship Christ only as the total sacrifice for their sins. They would be killed for failing to worship the image.

Revelation 13:15 – And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

This may be an absolute miracle where a statue does seem to come to life and speak. However, it is more likely it is the image of the beast on a worldwide television screen, or a voice from a recording inside a statue, which calls them to worship him, similarly to the call to worship that now occurs across the Islamic world several times a day from Muslim towers, when they bow down toward Mecca in answer to the call. The daily call to fall down and worship toward where the image was located would not be difficult to obtain from either Muslim or Catholic beliefs. But in the U.S. and most countries of the post-Columbus New World it would be most unlikely to be accepted. Please review Prophecy Update Numbers 77, 77A, 77B, and 77C for an exposition on the size of the Antichrist’s final empire and where he is in absolute control. This will also help to better understand the “all” to which John refers in the next verse. It refers to the “known” world of John’s day.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 195B

October 27, 2004

Tectonic Chaos – Chapter 22 – The Bride of Satan

Revelation 17:1-6 – And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: [2] With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. [3] So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. [4] And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: [5] And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. [6] And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The “many waters” on which the “whore” (Satan’s bride) sits are identified as “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” This great religious prostitute from the truth is identified and geographically located in Revelation 17:18 as “that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. In John’s day that city was Rome. Today, the most widespread religious organization in the world has its tentacles spread across the earth from its headquarters in Rome.

The kings of all the earth have had continuous dealings with the great Vatican government of Rome down through the ages. The history of the Catholic Church has long been one of political involvement in the affairs of nations and kings. Many nations and kings have been intoxicated with her religious wine that dulls the conscience of lost souls.

In verse three John sees the “woman” setting on the back of a “scarlet colored beast.” This is the same beast described in previous chapters as having “seven heads and ten horns” – It is the Antichrist. But here, in Chapter 18, he has a new color – he is “scarlet colored.” Why has he changed colors between Revelation 13 and 17? Because, when we saw the first beast in Revelation 13:1, he had not been “wounded to death” – he was still alive – he was still a non-resurrected man. But now, here in Revelation 17:3 we seem him as counterfeiting Christ in shedding his blood. He claims his wound by a sword was the shedding of his blood for his religious world followers, but that he had now risen from the dead to be their eternal king. He is the blood colored Lamb of Satan. Satan is going to counterfeit the real Christ so well that only those who really know the truth will recognize his counterfeit. I worship the blood stained Lamb of God – They will worship the scarlet colored beast of Satan.

Verses four and five are perfect illustrations of all the wealth, pomp, power, ritual, and ceremony associated with the Catholic Church and world religion today. Verse six requires little comment – hundreds of volumes have been amassed by countless writers attesting to horrible killing and torture of true believers by the Catholic Church before and during the Reformation. One day she will answer for all long trail of blood of the saints.

The “woman” represents the great apostasy from worship in spirit and in truth. She rides on the Antichrist because he will support her after she confirms his resurrection as genuine. When he is resurrected the leader of the apostate church will recognize his resurrection as a true miracle, and the followers of this apostate church will believe it. The world religious leader will be the false prophet described in the previous chapter. After this all the great world religious leaders will fall into line one by one. Only the third part of Israel driven into the Negev, of which the 144,000 sealed Israelites are a part, and true believers, will fail to accept him as being the Messiah sent by God. The “woman” is the bride of Satan whose destruction is reported by John in Revelation 17:15-18.

Revelation 17:15-18 – And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. [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. [17] 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. [18] And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The ten horns are ten Arab kings who will soon come against Israel led by the Antichrist, who is the eleventh horn on Daniel’s fourth beast.

Daniel 7:24-28 – And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. [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.

The ten Arab kings will accept the Antichrist as their leader “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.” The Prophet Mohammad loudly proclaimed he was God’s prophet, and he was supposedly called by the angel Gabriel. Today some 400 million followers of Allah are scattered across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and southeastern Europe, and they believe that Allah is God. Allah is a word compounded of the article “al” and the word “ilah,” which means “the God.” I believe the Catholic faith will accept the Antichrist as the “O Theos” (the God), and the Islamic faith will accept him as Allah (the God). Most of the many faiths would love to have a flesh and blood man to lead them, one who had returned from the dead. Many different faiths across the earth have multiple gods – some sects in India have hundreds of gods – but each sect always has one god who is more powerful than all the others. All the religions, both small and great, will believe that the beast is that one most powerful god in their worship system.

Unfortunately for the “woman,” the Arabs have always hated religious Christianity, and near the end of the tribulation period they will vent their full religious zeal on the religious woman of Rome. John attests to the woman’s final destruction by the sons of Allah in verse sixteen – “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.”

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 196

October 29, 2004

Servant Israel Glorifies God by Jesus, Israel’s Seed! – Part 15

Isaiah 50:6,7 – I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. [7] For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

[50:6A] “I GAVE MY BACK TO THE SMITERS”

Isaiah 52:13,14 – Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. [14] As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men:

Mark 15:13-15 – And they cried out again, Crucify him. [14] Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him. [15] And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had SCOURGED him, to be crucified.

[50:6B] “AND MY CHEEKS TO THEM THAT PLUCKED OFF THE HAIR”

Micah 5:1 – Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.

John 19:2,3 – And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, [3] And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they SMOTE him with their hands.

Mark 15:19 – And they SMOTE him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.

[50:6C] “I HID NOT MY FACE FROM SHAME AND SPITTING.”

Hebrews 12:2,3 – Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. [3] For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Matthew 27:39-43 – And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, [40] And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. [41] Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, [42] He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. [43] He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.

[50:7A] “FOR THE LORD GOD WILL HELP ME;”

Philippians 2:8-11 – And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. [9] Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: [10] That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; [11] And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

[50:7B] “THEREFORE I SHALL NOT BE CONFOUNDED”

I Peter 2:6-8 – Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be CONFOUNDED. [7] Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, [8] And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

[50:7C] “THEREFORE HAVE I SET MY FACE LIKE A FLINT”

Mark 10:32-34 – And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, [33] Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: [34] And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.

[50:7D] “I KNOW THAT I SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED”

Hebrews 11:13-16 – These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. [14] For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. [15] And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. [16] But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ASHAMED to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Hebrews 11:10 – For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 196A

October 31, 2004

Tectonic Chaos – Chapter 23 – The Great Lifeguard

God, the great lifeguard, will deliver a remnant of Israel through a great flood in the tribulation period, and will bring them into his Son’s millennial reign. It will not be a flood of water – it will be a rescue from a flood of the vast armies of the Antichrist.

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

The woman is Israel. The place that God has prepared for her is the Negev wilderness. A time is one 360 day year, times are two 360 day years, and half a time is 180 days, which totals 1260 days or 3 and ½ prophetic years. Both these scriptures describe the time period of 42 prophetic months (30 days per month) before the end of the Tribulation Period.

When the antichrist launches his lightning Jihad from the north it will be a two pronged attack. Syrian and Lebanese troops will launch a blitzkrieg strike southward along the western lees of the Galilean and Samaritan mountains. The Palestinians will zoom northward out of Gaza, along the western lee of the Judean Mountains, to link with their comrades coming down from the north. This will cut off coastal Israel from interior Israel. Some 70% of the Jewish population lives along the narrow coastal strip from Tel Aviv to Haifa. They will be kept pinned down by thousands of katyusha rockets being launched from the bluff tops around Tul Karm and Qalqilya in the Samarian Mountains. It will eventually be necessary to air evacuate the coastal population across the Mediterranean into the Negev, as indicated in 12:14. The other battle prong, consisting of troops from Iraq, Syria, and Iran, will be directed southward along the west bank of the Jordan River in a lightning strike. The Palestinians will pour down the hundreds of dendritic valleys in the eastern lee of the Samarian Mountains, armed with shoulder held antitank launchers. They will destroy many of the Israeli tanks coming north to intercept the southward moving Arab tank units of Syria, Iraq, and Iran. The Jewish population to the east of the coastal sections, and to the west of the Jordan River, will flee on land in whatever types of transportation may be available. This has long been the national Israel contingency plan that is to be carried out in the event of attack from the north, and the Negev has been their emergency contingency evacuation area since 1948. If you desire a detailed discussion of what I have just briefly covered, please review Prophecy Updates 5 through 11, which are found in our Prophecy Archives.

Revelation 12:6,15,16 – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. [15] And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. [16] And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

I have already exposited on all the verses prior to verses 15 and 16 in Parts 1 through 6 of previous Birth Pang Updates. The woman Israel has, prior to verses 15 and 16, suffered a population decrease of two-thirds, evacuated the city of Jerusalem, and is in the act of fleeing into the Israeli land south of Beersheva, which is the Negev. But the Scriptures indicate that this remnant will one day return, and at that time they will call God their God, and He will once again call them His people. The “residue” (remnant) will not be “cut off” from Jerusalem forever, but will come north out of the Negev, following the battle of Armageddon, to retake the city.

Zechariah 13:8 to 14:2 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. [9] And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. [1] Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. [2] For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

The confederation of ten nations, led by antichrist, will be moving like a rolling flood in hot pursuit of Israel in Revelation 12:15,16. The word “flood” is used several times in the Old Testament to refer to an army advancing like a flood. One use is in Jeremiah 46:8.

Jeremiah 46:8 – Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.

The antichrist and his ten nation army will be brought down by God to drive Israel into the Negev.

Ezekiel 38:3,4,14-17 – And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: [4] And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: [14] Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? [15] And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: [16] And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. [17] Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

Revelation 12:16 – And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

After God has put hooks into antichrist’s jaws to bring him into Israel, the Devil is cast out of heaven, and immediately directs the antichrist’s armies to drive southward from Jerusalem toward the entrance city to the Negev, namely Beersheva. Across southern Israel, from Hebron to Beersheva, are numerous topographical folds in the rock strata oriented northeast to southwest, and in these folds are hinge faults with the same orientation. This type of fault is capable of suddenly opening during the occurrence of earthquake activity. An army passing through this zone in hot pursuit, if large earthquakes suddenly rippled through it from Israel’s Arabah Fault in the Jordan Valley, could suffer many casualties by being swallowed up in it. This is probably the earthquake that begins the last 3 and ½ years of the Tribulation Period, which occurs on the opening of the 6^th Seal.

Revelation 6:12 – And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

Ezekiel 38:18,19 – And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. [19] For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

Once the series of earthquakes have depleted his army, the antichrist, who will know the strength of Israel in the Negev, will halt his advance at Beersheva, and head for Egypt. This will leave between 1.7 and 1.9 Million Israelis trapped in the Negev for about 3 and ½ years.

Daniel 11:43 – But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 196B

November 2, 2004

Confusion Is Drifting Us Toward the Prophesied Conclusion!

Followed by Tectonic Chaos – Chapter 24 – The Slaughterhouse

Over the past three years I have stated, over and over again in many Prophecy Updates, (all available in our Archive Prophecy Update Menu File shown at the top of our home web page), what I believed would be the final prophesied scenario in the Middle East, which would lead to a lightning Jihad against Israel from the north. If I were only allowed to use two words to describe the existing world situation, I would choose DIVIDED CONFUSION, which is supposed to be the situation prior to the sudden rise of antichrist to power in the Middle East. The United States is badly, and sharply, divided on the Middle East issue, and on its perception of what is moral and immoral, and there are ever growing divisions between different groups of nations on all political issues. All of this divided confusion between nations, and individuals within those nations, will lead to the last day events predicted by Zechariah, and the Jihad attack against Israel from the north. This attack will result in the slaughter of two-thirds of the Israeli population that lives in Israel at the time of the attack, and the driving of the remaining one-third into the vast Negev wilderness south of Beersheba, east of the Sinai, west of the Jordanian border, and north of Eilat.

Zechariah 13:8 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

The one-third represents the one-third that will be “left therein” in the Negev wilderness for 3 and ½ prophetic years.

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

This one-third is the remnant that God will both try and protect in the Negev for 1260 days, and then being triumphant back into all of Israel following the end of the battle of Armageddon.

Zechariah 13:9 – And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Messiah the Prince, Jesus Christ, will reign over them and all the earth for a thousand years.

Zechariah 14:9 – And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

During the past three years I have issued so many updates on what I believe will occur in these latter days, that I began to issue updates on what I had previously covered in great detail on our web pages to those on our E-Mail Address list, and we have been doing this for the past six months. This has allowed us to avoid the constant repetition of the same material on our Web Pages of http://www.tribulationperiod.com/. If you want to be added to our E-Mail address list, simply send an E-Mail to tmcel@juno.com stating YES. If you are already on the list it will not be necessary to do so.

Because I have just come up to the chapter in my first book, Tectonic Chaos, which is Chapter 24, (See this weeks Prophecy Update Number 196A for Chapter 23), and since it gives a lengthy rough outline of what I have put out for the last four years, I have attached it to this Update.

Tectonic Chaos – Chapter 24 – The Slaughterhouse

There have been thousands of books written concerning the last great battle of Armageddon. It is a subject that requires several volumes. I will not do an injustice to the subject by a shallow treatment of such a subject. However, I will at least advise you of this – I am of the ancient school as to the part antichrist will play in it. Most of the books written today have the antichrist arising out of a battle that comes immediately before a period of time known as the tribulation period. He wins that battle and gains worldwide popularity by bringing peace to the Middle East. But he later breaks the peace by attacking Israel and starting a second war, which finally culminates in the battle of Armageddon. I believe there is only one war that begins when the antichrist breaks a forced unilateral peace put on the Palestinians by the Israelis. I call it the war of the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, who is also called the willful king of the north, the Assyrian, the beast, the eleventh horn, the little horn, the antichrist, and the man of sin. I believe it begins when antichrist attacks Israel, lasts 1260 days, and its final battle is called the battle of Armageddon, which will be ended by the Second Advent of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. However, regardless of whether the old school or the new school prophetic buffs are correct, both are agreed it will be a time of great slaughter in the slaughterhouse located in Israel. I hope, as you read these prophesied account by both Old and New Testament writers, you will grasp the magnitude of the human slaughter occurring during this great conflict.

Revelation 19:17-19 – And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; [18] That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. [19] And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

Ezekiel 39:17-20 – And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. [18] Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. [19] And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. [20] Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God.

Ezekiel 39:4-6 – Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured [5] Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. [6] And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

Revelation 14:20 – And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.

Joel 3:9-15 – Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: [10] Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. [11] Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. [12] Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. [13] Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. [14] Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. [15] The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

Malachi 4:1 – For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Zechariah 14:12 – And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

Isaiah 66:15,16 – For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. [16] For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.

Revelation 19:21 – And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Matthew 24:21 – For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

I said earlier in this chapter that I was not going to give a shallow type of coverage to this subject, but I am at least going to tell you why I do not agree with the teaching of two separate wars.

As a young man, living in the pre-Hal Linsey books age, I was taught that only one war occurred during the “latter days” before Armageddon. It was a war that began in the Middle East when the antichrist attacked the nation of Israel, and ended some 3 and ½ years later with the final battle of this age – Armageddon. But I now find myself surrounded by a large array of preachers and teachers who are convinced that the war led by Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and found in Ezekiel 38 and 39, occurs before the war that commences some 3 and ½ years before the battle of Armageddon, and that the antichrist is not Gog, but comes out the war led by Gog, and then leads 10 European Union nations against Israel. They teach that when Gog and his armies come against Israel they will be slaughtered, and that Israel will be absolutely successful in thoroughly routing them. Perhaps I overlooked it, but in all my years of looking in many old musty religious archives, I never found a manuscript published before 1812 that taught there were two back-to-back wars just before the battle of Armageddon. It would seem to me that the arrival of Napoleon in Europe set the stage for a shift from bringing the antichrist out of the southern flank of the old Roman Empire to a new scheme of bringing him out of the northern flank. This shift necessitated the invention of two wars. I do not believe the shift should ever have been made. I believe the attack of the antichrist is found in the following Scriptures, and I believe the attack occurs 1260 days before the end of this age at Armageddon.

Ezekiel 38:10,11 – Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: [11] And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

Daniel 7:24,25 – And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. [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 11:41 – 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.

Micah 5:5 – And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.

Zechariah 13:8 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

Revelation 13:5,6 – 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. [6] And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

Revelation 17:12.13 – And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

I believe that the following names all apply to the antichrist: He is Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal in Ezekiel 38 and 39, the eleventh horn in Daniel 7, the king of the north in Daniel 11:40, the Assyrian in Micah 5, the seventh wounded head on the beast in Revelation 13, and the eighth head on the beast in Revelation 17.

The 3 and ½ year war, in all the accounts, follows a certain pattern from start to finish.

(1) The initial attack occurs, and is successful.

(2) After Jerusalem falls, the Lord begins to fight for Israel.

(3) The Lord fights for Israel for 3 and ½ years.

(4) God protects Israel in the Negev during that period.

(5) The Lord leaves most of the enemy bodies on the hills of Israel at the final battle of Armageddon.

Ezekiel 38:8,9 (1) – After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. [9] Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

Zechariah 13:8 (1) – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

Zechariah 14:2,3 (2) – For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. [3] Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

Daniel 7:25 (3) – 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 12:6 (4) – And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Ezekiel 39:1-5 (5) – Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: [2] And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: [3] And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. [4] Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. [5] Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

Revelation 19:17-21 (5) – And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; [18] That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. [19] And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. [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. [21] And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Ezekiel 38:1,2 – And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, [2] Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

Gog is a person, the antichrist. Magog is a land, the land of Magog. God tells Ezekiel to set his face against a person, Gog, and against a land, Magog, which is Russia. Gog is NOT the chief prince of Magog (Russia). He is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. At the time of Ezekiel’s writings the descendants of Magog were settled in Russia, while the descendants of Meshech and Tubal were settled in Syria. The antichrist will come out of Syria to launch the initial attack. Some 3 and ½ years later Magog (Russia) will come down to join him at Armageddon.

To make a long story short – I believe there is only one war, the war that begins when Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, attacks Israel, and ends three and one-half years later when Magog (Russia), along with all of Europe, Eurasia, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, comes down to join him against Israel at the final battle of Armageddon – Only to find the bodies of their great armies end up as buzzard bait on the hills of Israel.

BUT AM I PREPARED TO BE WRONG? CERTAINLY! WHAT WILL I DO IF THERE ARE TWO WARS? WELL, I WILL JUST SAY I WAS WRONG, AND WAIT FOR ANTICHRIST TO COME OUT OF THE FIRST WAR, THAT IS, IF I AM STILL HERE.

BUT WHAT IF THERE IS ONLY ONE WAR? WELL, ONLY ONE THIRD OF ISRAEL WILL SURVIVE, JERUSALEM WILL FALL, ISRAEL WILL BE DRIVEN INTO THE NEGEV, AND YOU WILL BE WAITING FOR AN ANTICHRIST THAT IS ALREADY ON THE SCENE, THAT IS, IF YOU ARE STILL HERE.

My advice is to be prepared for either eventuality, even one that may be quite different from how many of these verses are commonly interpreted. I think that falls under the category of “watching.”

Mark 13:37 – And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 197

November 5, 2004

SERVANT ISRAEL GLORIFIES GOD BY JESUS! – Part 16

Isaiah 50:8,9 – He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. [9] Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up.

[50:8a] “HE IS NEAR THAT JUSTIFIETH ME;”

John 8:28,29 – Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. [29] And he that sent me is WITH me: the Father hath not left me ALONE; for I do ALWAYS those things that please him.

Romans 3:24-28 – Being JUSTIFIED freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: [25] Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; [26] To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be JUST, and the JUSTIFIER of him which believeth in Jesus. [27] Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. [28] Therefore we conclude that a man is JUSTIFIED by faith without the deeds of the law.

[50:8b] “WHO WILL CONTEND WITH ME?”

Job 40:1,2 – Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said, [2] Shall he that CONTENDETH with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.

Isaiah 41:11,12 – Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. [12] Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that CONTENDED with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.

[50:8c] “LET US STAND TOGETHER”

Galatians 2:20 –I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ LIVETH IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

I Corinthians 2:5 – That your faith should not STAND in the wisdom of men, BUT in the power of God.

Colossians 3:1-4 – If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. [2] Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. [3] For ye are dead, and your LIFE IS HID WITH Christ in God. [4] When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

[50:8d] “WHO IS MINE ADVERSARY?”

Luke 13:17 – And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.

[50:8e] “LET HIM COME NEAR TO ME”

John 3:18-22 – He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [19] And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. [20] For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

[50:9a] “BEHOLD, THE LORD WILL HELP ME;”

Isaiah 41:10 – Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I WILL HELP THEE; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

[50:9b] “WHO IS HE THAT SHALL CONDEMN ME?”

John 8:45-47 – And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. [46] Which of you CONVINCETH me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? [47] He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

[50:9C] “THEY ALL SHALL WAX OLD AS A GARMENT;”

Hebrews 1:10-13 – And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: [11] They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; [12] And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. [13] But to which of the angels said he at any times, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

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

[50:9D] “THE MOTH DOTH EAT THEM UP”

Matthew 6:19-21 – Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: [20] But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: [21] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 197B

November 10, 2004

Tectonic Chaos – Chapter 26 – The Spiritual Kingdom of Darkness

Ephesians 6:10-13 – Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. [11] Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. [12] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. [13] Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

There are, in reality, two kingdoms in existence on this present earth – a kingdom made up of flesh, blood, and other material things, in which physical eyes cannot see the small atom of which it is composed, but can see what God made by bonding them together – and there is a parallel kingdom in existence on the same planet in which spiritual beings dwell. The occupants of the flesh and blood kingdom cannot normally see into the spiritual kingdom, but the occupants of the spiritual can see into the physical kingdom.

So, we finite earthly creatures live in the physical kingdom known as the world – but here exists around us a kingdom in which the angels of God, and those of Satan, vie constantly to spiritual influence the ways that we think, live, and perform. The fallen angels of Satan make up the spiritual darkness that abides in the kingdom we are not able to see.

The armor to which Paul refers is a strong faith, not in your ability to overcome the wiles of the Devil, but in the Lord’s ability to overcome him. I am able to stand against the wiles of the Devil only when my faith is rooted and grounded in the power of Christ to deliver me from him. My resistance to the Devil must always be through Christ. I have often listened to teachers proclaim: “Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you” – and then suddenly launch into a two hour descant on all the things we should do and not do. Teaching the “do’s and don’ts” is fine, but the method recommended by many of these teachers is wrong. They speak as if a man will just grit his teeth, gird up his carnal mind, and flex his physical power, then he can overcome the Devil. That seems to be what they think is involved in submitting oneself to God as James directed the believer to do in James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.” When a person submits themselves to God through the sacrificial offering of his only begotten Son then, and only then, does he or she have the God given power to resist the Devil.

So how does a true child of God “resist the Devil?” After salvation, the deliverance from temptation depends on the degree of spiritual growth the soul has obtained in its love for Christ, which really determines how much the soul actually desires to be delivered. It is impossible to live above sin, but it possible to put up a better fight against it as our love for Christ increases. When you are initially tempted, go immediately to God in prayer for deliverance – this is submission to God and resistance to the Devil. Unless you submit to God you cannot resist the Devil. When this happens the Devil will be fleeing from you only because God is there delivering you in answer to your prayer – and the Devil wants no part of God. Satan does not fear you, he fears God. He flees not from you, but from God’s power in you, which is the power of his Son Christ in you. My major problem in life is that many times I let my fleshly desire for sin override my spiritual desire to resist – my spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. I “hold off” crying out to God to deliver me just long to let my flesh have a little pleasure. However, sin has its pleasures only for a season – and God forgive me, for I have too many seasons. “Holding off” is the opposite of “resisting” – one resists by going to God immediately for deliverance from temptation.

The spiritual battle I have just described to you is not a battle God’s children wage against human flesh and blood that can be seen – it is a battle again the darkness in the spiritual kingdom around us. Paul said in our text: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in HIGH places.” The Greek word used for HIGH is the word normally translated as HEAVENLY.

After Christ returns there will be human souls living in glorified bodies on this planet, and at the same time there will be souls still living on it in flesh and blood bodies throughout the entire millennial reign of Christ. So the Scripture has flesh and blood humans mingling with glorified humans on the same planet. Or does it? How can salvation be by faith rather than by sight if the humans in flesh and blood bodies are constantly seeing the ones in glorified bodies they received at the first resurrection? Salvation has always been given by grace through faith and I do not believe it will be by another system of salvation in the millennium based on sight. If we are to have lost men and women in bodies of flesh, viewing men and women in glorified bodies throughout the millennium, then who among them would not accept Christ as Savior, seeing what he had done to the bodies of those who trusted in him from Adam to the end of the age in which we now live? No, they will also be saved by grace through faith! How is that possible?

As I set typing this article, there is an invisible kingdom around me filled with Satan’s fallen angels, as well as some of the angels who elected to follow God in a long past confrontation between Satan and God. About one third of the angels chose to follow Satan, and today live in this invisible kingdom that surrounds the earth in an envelop known as the first heaven. Some of them are reading what I am currently writing. I cannot see them, but they, along with some of those angels that chose to follow God, observe us every day of our lives. Satan’s angels were cast down to the first heaven because they voted him to be ruler, and consequently rode down to the earth on his political coattails, where they observe, influence, and afflict us today from a kingdom our eyes do not behold.

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.

I Peter 1:12 – Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

We live on an earth that has two kingdoms existing on it, a physical kingdom of flesh and blood humans, who can see, taste, touch, feel, or smell each other and all the material things of which it consists, but do not have the capacity to sense the spiritual beings and scenery by the five human senses. However, the fallen angels of God not only have the ability to see and speak to one another in the kingdom invisible to us, they have the ability to see us and hear all that we say, as well as all the things of our physical kingdom. In Old Testament times, and in the New Testament times prior to the completion of the New Testament, angels appeared to, and often had communications with, flesh and blood humans. They appeared as flesh and blood men to those who actually saw them, and the Scriptures did not picture them as being women or having wings. There is no scriptural evidence that men and women saw them after the first century, and if they do still manifest themselves as flesh and blood men, we would not be aware of it.

Hebrews 13:2 – Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

So, what do we have today on this earth? We have two kingdoms.

(1) A spiritual kingdom made up of Satan with his fallen angels, Gabriel with his messenger angels, and Michael with his mighty angels. And it is a kingdom that contains both good and evil. Sin exists in this kingdom due to the presence of the Devil and his angels.

(2) A flesh and blood kingdom composed of saved and lost men and women. The only good about it is Jesus living in the hearts of those who have been born from above by his Spirit. Sin exists in this kingdom in the flesh of all man, and in the souls of the unsaved.

Now, what will we have on this earth in the millennium after the Devil and his angels are cast into the prison of the bottomless pit for a thousand years? We will still have two kingdoms, but they will not have the same composition as the two kingdoms of today.

(1) A kingdom made up of Christ, all his saints, and all of the angels of God. It will have no sin in it, and all of its occupants will be fully visible and able to speak to one another. They will also be able to see and hear all that is going on in the other kingdom, and will also be able to influence its occupants without their awareness.

(2) A kingdom made up of saved and lost men and women. Even those possessing saved souls will still have sin in their flesh, but the Devil and his demonic hoards will no longer be able to work on them through the flesh from the prison of the bottomless pit. However, the 1000 year era will make one thing abundantly clear: that while the Devil and his influence on us has certainly been a real problem, the greater problem has always been our old sin nature, for which Christ paid the full price of redemption on the cross. Just as we are unable to see the inhabitants of the great invisible kingdom around us, neither will they be able see us in the invisible kingdom existing on the same planet with them.

And Jesus Christ will be the King of kings reigning over both kingdoms.

Zechariah 14:9 –And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 198

November 12, 2004

Servant Israel Glorifies God by Jesus – Part 17

ISAIAH 50:10 – Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.

A person who fears the Lord does not: (1) Obey the voice of his own servant, (2) Walk in darkness, or (3) Walk without God’s light.

A person who fears the Lord, and obeys the voice of Jesus, who took on the role of a servant, does not walk in spiritual darkness, but in the light of his word.

I Thessalonians 5:4,5 – But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. [5] Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

“LET HIM TRUST IN THE NAME OF THE LORD,”

Psalm 2:11,12 – Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. [12] Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Acts 4:12 – Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Romans 10:13 – For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

“AND STAY UPON HIS GOD.”

Hebrews 10:21-25 – And having an high priest over the house of God; [22] Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. [23] Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) [24] And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: [25] Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

ISAIAH 50:11 – Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.

In Isaiah 50:10 the point is made that many men and women are walking in darkness, but believe they are walking in light, as indicated by the statement: “that walketh in darkness, and hath no light.”

Luke 11:35 – Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.

Matthew 6:23B – If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Just as men and women of Isaiah’s day had make their own light by their own hand, by their own carnal ideas, and were walking in their man-created light, so also is the case today. It is the case in the non-religious world, and in the religious world, substituting the concept that there is no God, or creating a type of god that suits your fancy. They walk in the light of their own fire, and seek the short-lived sparks it produces as the pride of life.

Jude 1:11 – Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

I Timothy 6:5-11 – Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. [6] But godliness with contentment is great gain. [7] For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. [8] And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. [9] But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. [10] For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. [11] But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

Those who walk in their own light, are indeed pierced through with many sorrows by their own greed and the desire for fame and fortune as they grow older, and all finally “shall lay down in sorrow” at death as indicated in Isaiah 50:11 and Luke 12:15-21.

Luke 12:15-21 – And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. [16] And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: [17] And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? [18] And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. [19] And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. [20] But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? [21] So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Matthew 6:33 – But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 198A

November 14, 2004

The Time of Jacob’s (Israel’s) Trouble – Part 1

God indicated that the descendants of Jacob, the man whom God chose to rename Israel, would experience a time of great trouble in the latter days, but that he (his descendants) would be saved out of it. God will save a remnant of Israel’s offspring, and carry them into the millennial reign. The current Middle East events are gradually drawing the world closer and closer to The Time of Jacob’s Trouble. I am very confident in the sequence of events which will come, that is, first a false peace, then a breaking of that peace by a vicious Jihad against Israel from the north, followed by three and one-half years of the entrapment of Israel in the Negev wilderness, and finally, Israel’s breakout at the Second Advent of Christ. This is a summary of these events as described by many other prophets concerning the time of Israel’s trouble. As I said, I am very confident of the sequence of events, but must confess, that even though I believe the Jihad from the north is likely to occur just before 2008, it is always the timing of a prophetic event that is so difficult to predict. The events occurring at the present time in the Middle East lead me to say I expect the most likely time for the attack to occur is 2007, which is, of course, speculation on my part.

JEREMIAH 30:7 – Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but HE (Israel) shall be saved out of it. (God saves a remnant of the descendants of Jacob, the man Israel).

One-third of the in-country population of Israelites will be preserved as God’s remnant, saved out of tribulation to enter the millennial reign of their Messiah, Jesus the Christ. The other two-thirds will be killed in the surprise, lightning Jihad from the north. If the attack were to occur in the next six years, then the one-third would number between 1.7 and 2 million.

Zechariah 13:8 – And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

The time of Jacob’s Trouble will begin when antichrist attacks Israel, and will end some three and one-half years later when he positions himself in his palace, his “appeden” (command post), on the temple mount, and directs his vast army to attack Israel in the Negev, the place into which he drove them when peace was broken. Michael, the great archangel of Israel, will stand up and defend Israel, and those written in the book that Malachi describes will go into the millennium in flesh and blood bodies that house saved souls. (See Archive Prophecy Updates 75 & 76).

Daniel 11:45 to 12:1 –And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. [12] And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

Malachi 3:16 to 4:1 – Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. [17] And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. [18] Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. [1] For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

Isaiah 66:23,24 – And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. [24] And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Malachi 4:1 is the same time alluded to in Matthew 24:21&22, which follows the blowing of the seventh trumpet when seven vials of God’s wrath are poured out on unbelievers left after the rapture. (See Archive Prophecy Update 76)

Revelation 16:1 – And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

Matthew 24:21,22 – For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. [22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

God will protect the “elect” Jews he chooses to survive the vials of wrath and, during this brief period, they will call upon his name, and he will save them; then bring them through the wrath to enter the millennium in bodies of flesh and blood that house saved souls. They are the third part of Zechariah 13:8,9.

Acts 2:19-21 – And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: [20] The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: [21] And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

The Lord breaks the yoke the antichrist has over the neck of Israel, such that Gentiles will no longer be able to serve themselves of Israel’s descendants.

JEREMIAH 30:8 – For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:

Micah 5:6 – And they shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall HE deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.

For a full exposition as to “why” the antichrist is the Assyrian, and the “HE” in Micah 5:6 must be Jesus the Messiah, please take a look in our Prophecy Update Archives at whole numbered Updates 62 to 69.

The next three verses from Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Micah describe the environment, work, and worship by the remnant we have been discussing. They will be the part of Messiah’s Kingdom that still live as saved souls in flesh and blood bodies. (See Archive Update 197B)

Jeremiah 30:9 – But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. Zechariah 14:9 – And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. Micah 5:7 – And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord,

The next two verses describe the environment of faithful church members, the locale where they will work, and what they are likely to do in glorified bodies during the millennium.

Revelation 3:12,13 – Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. [13] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (See Archive Prophecy Update 175)

Revelation 7:13-17 – And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? [14] And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. [15] Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. [16] They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. [17] For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (See Archive Prophecy Update 177).

SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 198B

November 17, 2004

Tectonic Chaos – Chapter 27 – The Spiritual Kingdom of Light

Ephesians 6:12 – For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

John 5:24 – Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

John 3:19-21 – And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. [20] For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. [21] But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Thank God, there is a spiritual kingdom of light on this present earth that moves within the darkness of Satan’s kingdom. This light of God came into this present world by Jesus Christ, and John the Baptist was sent by God to herald his coming as the Light.

John 1:6-9 – There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7] The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. [8] He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. [9] That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Yes – there is a choice that all men must make – a choice between light and darkness. Most choose to remain as the children of darkness, since it has the things appealing to the fleshly carnal nature man inherited in his mother’s womb – and some choose to receive the Light to become a part of the family of God. When a baby enters the world its inherited sin is fully covered by the blood sacrifice of Christ – for it is lightened by “the True Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” But if, and when, the Spirit of God judges that child to have reached an age of reason and circumstance, such that it is capable of repenting of its condition and receiving Christ, then God holds that mature child responsible for its sins, and it must choose before death to receive the Light, or to remain in darkness forever.

John 1:9-12 – That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. [10] He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. [11] He came unto his own, and his own received him not. [12] But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

There are two ways that are placed before a child when it reaches the age of accountability – one leads deeper and deeper into the kingdom of darkness, and the other is the way into the kingdom of light.

Matthew 7:13,14 – Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: [14] Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

So what is the strait gate and narrow way? There is only one gate or door into the kingdom of light. John 10:9 clearly identifies this door!

John 10:9 – I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

Christ is the strait door by which every person must enter. One can only go out and find spiritual food AFTER he or she has been saved. As a member of his fold I go in and out in my every day activities, and he feeds me with spiritual food from his Word.

Ephesians 5:25-27 – Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; [26] That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, [27] That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

The strait (narrow) door or gate of which Matthew wrote is Christ, and he is also the narrow way that few men discover.

John 14:6 – Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

There is only one way into the kingdom of light, and there is only one door through which you must pass – the way and the door are both Jesus Christ. There are many ways and many doors along the path that leads deeper and deeper into the kingdom of darkness. It is a broad pathway filled with wide doors – a path made wide by the thousands of different ways the religious world has provided for men to follow, and doors made wide by the countless numbers of ways religion uses to open them.

The path into the kingdom of light was so narrow that only one man was able to walk it – its door was so small only an anointed one could pass through it – that man was Jesus Christ, and he did it for me. The way into the kingdom of light is as narrow and as small as the lone figure of a man hanging on the cross for our sinful condition – the man Jesus Christ, who is the living Son of God.

Hebrews 7:25 – Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 199

November 19, 2004

Servant Israel Glorifies God by Jesus – Part 18

Isaiah 51:1 – Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.

The law manifested the righteousness of God to which no man except Jesus ever attained. It was to teach all the rest of us what sinners we are, and that before God we have no righteousness of our own.

Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 3:10 – As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Galatians 3:24-26 – Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. [25] But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. [26] For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

It was the Lord Jesus Christ who came to dig us out of a pit of bondage to sin from which we could not deliver ourselves. And it was the Lord Jesus Christ who then set us on himself as the Rock of our salvation, and gave to us his righteousness by imputing it to our account, and, in so doing, did forever set us free from the pit of God’s condemnation for our sins.

Romans 4:3-8 – For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. [4] Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. [5] But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. [6] Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, [7] Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. [8] Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

John 8:36 – If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

John 5:24 – Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, HATH everlasting life, and SHALL NOT come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

With this in mind, let us examine Isaiah 51:1, phrase by phrase, as it applies to related scriptures associated with the ministry of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

“HEARKEN TO ME,”

Deuteronomy 18:15-19 – The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; [16] According to all that thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. [17] And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. [18] I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. [19] And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

“YE THAT FOLLOW AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS,”

Romans 9:30-33 – What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. [31] But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. [32] Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; [33] As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Christ was the stumbling stone that they stumbled over by refusing to accept him as the King of righteousness, and the only righteousness that could justify them as cleansed sinners before God. They followed after the righteousness of the law, which was God’s standard of righteousness, and it was supposed to lead them to turn to God and admit they could not attain to it, and repent of that reality, turning to the hope of a righteous King who could, the Messiah.

Galatians 3:24 – Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

And this is what it was supposed to teach all men who attempted to keep it.

Romans 7:14 – For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

And realizing what Paul came to understand, it was to cause them to do this.

Acts 20:21 – Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

And this would be the resultant action performed by God when they did.

Galatians 3:25,26 – But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. [26] For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

John announced the coming of the righteous Messiah, and Jesus appeared to keep the Law as a man born of a virgin without sin. Both called out to Israel to accept him as their sacrifice for their lack of righteousness. He brought the Kingdom as its King of righteousness, and they rejected his righteousness and his kingdom.

Matthew 3:1,2 – In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, [2] And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew 4:17-25 – From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. [18] And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. [19] And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. [20] And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. [21] And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. [22] And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. [23] And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Isaiah 51:7 – Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

“YE THAT SEEK THE LORD:”

John 1:34-41 – And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. [35] Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; [36] And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! [37] And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. [38] Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou? [39] He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. [40] One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. [41] He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

LOOK UNTO THE ROCK WHENCE YE ARE HEWN

I Peter 2:4-7 – To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, [5] Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. [6] Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. [7] Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,

I Corinthians 10:1-4 – Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; [2] And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; [3] And did all eat the same spiritual meat; [4] And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

“AND TO THE HOLE OF THE PIT WHENCE YE WERE DIGGED”

Exodus 2:23,24 – And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. [24] And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

Exodus 14:13-16 – And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. [14] The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. [15] And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: [16] But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

Colossians 1:12-18 – Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: [13] Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: [14] In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

John 8:36 – If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.