The Showdown

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armies, beast, Christ, dragon, eternal, fire, God, king, priest, second death, white

Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Rev 19:12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

Rev 19:13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

Here you go.  This is the Revelation, this whole book has been penned to house.  In the very first chapter of Revelation we saw this personage.  Rev 1:12  And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;

Rev 1:13  And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

Rev 1:14  His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Rev 1:15  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

Rev 1:16  And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Compare that to the figure mounted astride and riding forth.  In the first chapter there is the garment and wrapped around the “breast” or pectoral area, I suppose, would be the golden girdle or sash.  Don’t forget this is not just a king but He is also HIGH PRIEST.  Here nineteen chapters and much drama later, He is clothed in a garment “dipped in blood”.  Stop right there.  When we think dipped what do we think?  KitKat bars have this running drama in advertisements about the two factories and that one DIPS and the other CLOAKS and its two entirely different processes?  Either way the cookie wafer portion is COVERED in chocolate.  But what does the Greek think about “dipped”? Well this is surprising.

Strongs # 911 baptō. A primary verb; to whelm, that is, cover wholly with a fluid; in the New Testament only in a qualified or specific sense, that is, (literally) to moisten (a part of one’s person), or (by implication) to stain (as with dye): – dip.

To cover completely to stain…where have we heard this before?  Isaiah 63:1-6.  Isa 63:1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.

Isa 63:2  Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winevat?

Isa 63:3  I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with me: yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled them in my wrath; and their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my raiment.

Isa 63:4  For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.

Isa 63:5  And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my wrath, it upheld me.

Isa 63:6  And I trod down the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.

This concept of “sprinkling” or “staining”, is best illustrated with those who tread grapes. If you have ever looked at grape “dancers”, they are whatever color the vintage is from like the knees down at least and grape juice is the sort of thing that is hard to wash out of garments and off of skin.  People who do this for a living really stand out in a crowd.  But this grape juice is the life blood of Christ’s enemies.    This is the person astride the horse.  It means He is the warrior who HAS CONQUERED.

Rev 19:14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

Now look at the entourage by comparison.  Clean white bright raiment on white horses… the pure victorious army or “Host”.  It is an army but the only one who is looking like He’s seen battle is Their King.  It’s the oddest military act ever!

I am going to go out on a limb here and I may have a valid point and I may not.  We know from Paul’s writings that the remnant remaining at His coming are caught up to meet Him in the air and forever to be with Him. Moreover the raiment of the “bride” is the righteousness of saints, or rather, is Christ who is the righteousness of the saints.  Are we not instructed to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”? I put that this army may very well be… us.  We the Body of Believers are also called the Bride who has made herself ready.  I am reminded of the concept of first the blade then the ear then the corn in the ear (Mk 4:28), or as John the Apostle put it children young men and fathers (1Jn 2:13).  Paul made mention that we to at some point become “a mature man to the measure of the stature of Christ”, for these reasons I suggest that we are the ARMY OF WITNESSES to the Mighty Deed about to be done.  For if you have been following along you will note that many of the white robed are already IN HEAVEN because they were Martyred Up. Think about it.

Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

In the first chapter of Revelation we see mention of the sharp sword that goes out of the mouth, and that is also the description of the Word of God. (Heb 4:12  For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.) (Isa 55:11  so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.)  In the case of Revelation this verse certainly applies; (Isa 11:4)  “but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”

Consider this from God’s angle, whoever is on the opposing side out in that field of battle IS HIS ENEMY AND WICKED.

Rev 19:16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

This stained raiment of the Warrior who has conquered and on His thigh is a title that world rulers use.  King of kings and Lord of lords is the title given to the suzerain who has conquered the known world of his day. In this time of this kind of title you would have many people groups with headmen over them as leaders and those leaders might establish dynastic rule and bear an emblem or artifact that marked them out as a “king”. But if another comes and begins to absorb these little kingdoms and bring them “under one banner” whilst leaving them culturally intact with their “headman” or “king”, but owing fealty and homage and tribute to the one absorbing them under his banner, that man is said to be “King of kings”. Jesus is setting down His opposition and will rule ALL THE WORLD or the planet for one thousand years.  I think this eminently qualifies Him to bear THAT title by Earthly standards.

Rev 19:17  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;

Rev 19:18  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.

Rev 19:19  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.

Here is the prophecy of this event. Eze 39:17  And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Speak unto the birds of every sort, 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.

Eze 39:18  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.

Eze 39:19  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.

Eze 39:20  And ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord Jehovah.

This really isn’t much of a battle.  He has the two trouble makers the Beast and the False Prophet… this is the first time we have a name for the second beast and how do I know this?  The words “that wrought miracles before him” stand out.  If you will recall,” Rev 13:11  And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like unto a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the authority of the first beast in his sight. And he maketh the earth and them dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose death-stroke was healed.

Rev 13:13  And he doeth great signs, that he should even make fire to come down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight of men.

Rev 13:14  And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it was given him 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 who hath the stroke of the sword and lived.

Rev 13:15  And it was given unto him to give breath to it, even to the image to the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as should not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead;

Rev 13:17  and that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name.

This we now see is called the False Prophet.  A prophet, any prophet is speaking for a deity.  Muhammad is considered the “prophet of God”, the God of the Muslims. Now, it is said that the God of the Muslim is not actually the God of the Old Testament, but I am not arguing that point.  A prophet is the spokesman for a god.  This god is false so his prophet is false also.  Now we understand who is who.

Rev 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.

Rev 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.

In classic battle theory, if you can strike down the head of the army that is opposing you, they will scatter and be demoralized before you.  Jesus, ever the consummate at whatever He does, takes out and casts into the lake the leadership which was influencing the opposition.  He then SPEAKS and they are slain.

But just as you have Father Son and Holy Spirit you also have Beast of the sea, Beast of the land and … The Dragon. The two beasts have served their part and are immediately cast into their eternal punishment. But you would think the Dragon would be joining them, but he’s not. Take a look at the next few verses.

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.

Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,

Rev 20:3  and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time.

Now you see Jesus came and won the day and all the associated prophecies have been by now fulfilled. But this is one of two confrontations with the Dragon or should I say one of THREE.  You see when on Earth Jesus faced off with the Dragon while in flesh, in the wilderness. (Matt 4:1-11, Lk 4:2-13) Now the Dragon is bound over to be released in one thousand years to deceive a whole new set of people, or to test the loyalties of the end generation of that era.

Rev 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Here is what we call the inheritance reception as it were. The souls… of those beheaded for the testimony and those who neither worshipped the beast nor bore the mark.  Now stop right there.  Anyone telling you that the bearing of the mark and worship of the beast are separate needs to read this verse, it is that they worshipped not, AND had NO MARK.  Both these camps the dead who raised up and the living who remained are found here.  Somewhere along the line whatever the rapture is, has taken place.

Rev 20:5  The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection.

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

These are the Priest Kings of whom Jesus is the High Priest and King of kings over. Can you begin to get a picture of who we are and what we will do?  Consider that there is power in the second death.  For we have been told only to fear the One who can kill both body and soul…

Mat 10:28  And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 

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Plagues: continuation and The Showdown is set up.

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bowl, God, grace, plague, showdown

Rev 16:1  And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go ye, and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth.

Now note….   In the previous chapter the Temple was closed.  This means the Angels are not in it.  The order is given and The Living God begins His recompensure.   What follows is what we on Earth see.  We see the results of a spiritual action.  Also note that the Dragon was cast down in Chapter 12. All there is, IS GOD. Without the voice of the accuser He is now free to dish out the justice mankind has called for over the years. Notice that there is no commentary, no talking, just cause and effect statements.  The angel pours and it becomes. It comes hard and fast right up to what I will call … the Show Down.

Rev 16:2  And the first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men that had the mark of the beast, and that worshipped his image.

In Exodus the ash of the kiln produced the same plague. This is the plague of boils.

Rev 16:3  And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul died, even the things that were in the sea.

Rev 16:4  And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of the waters; and it became blood.

Now notice this.  The second and third containers are devoted to the Plague of Blood.  Jesus turned water into wine for a wedding feast, Moses stretched forth the rod and the waters of the Nile and the surrounding areas and all standing water in one nation were turned into blood, but God seems to empty out judgment on the oceans and then on the fresh water.  Also realize that a full one third of the marine life had previously been killed off when the asteroid or meteor fell.

If you have been following along on this blog you would have realized that a partial judgment had already been rendered on the whole Earth.  They already had massive losses and were just struggling along.  Now, there will be no fishing industry.

The maritime and military may find that blood is not something to set any marine vessel into.  Lord only knows what may have happened to shipping on the seas when the “bowl” was poured out. But after the third judgment there is NO MORE WATER!  Water is used for so many things, that whole industries will now fail.  Moreover it is the hydration for most all the foodstuffs and if as I suspect the water table itself is now blood, then produce of anything in the ground will die as well as anything that gets its nourishment from the ground water table.  This is an devastation on an epic scale and I don’t see the rapture. This is also one of the plagues of Exodus.

Rev 16:5  And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous art thou, who art and who wast, thou Holy One, because thou didst thus judge:

Rev 16:6  for they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and blood hast thou given them to drink: they are worthy.

This right here may be the identity of the grapes trod.  It may not be the identity though either. Recall that the sole agenda of the first Beast is the eradication of the Saints.  He has already incited to the spilling of the blood of the Prophets.

Rev 16:7  And I heard the altar saying, Yea, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

Rev 16:8  And the fourth poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given unto it to scorch men with fire.

Rev 16:9  And men were scorched with great heat: and they blasphemed the name of God who hath the power over these plagues; and they repented not to give him glory.

You would think that with such a water shortage that making the sun hotter might bring about repentance… yet it is amazing the heart’s resilience to hate.  However this brings up an important consideration.  The sun is shining and can be seen, and for some reason it is “hotter”.  This is NOT one of the original plagues of Egypt

Rev 16:10  And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,

Now in Exodus pharaoh sued after Moses to intercede and relief was given.  Just as in Deuteronomy 28 of the curses there are pauses to allow for repentance, it is know there will be no repentance and Grace has been removed, so we see the plague of the “darkness” but we also see the plague of boils has NOT been lifted. This also sounds like the Outer Darkness with the grinding of teeth.  Grace delays recompensure. Grace allows for Redemption, but it also MITIGATES.  It reduces the destruction of Wrath.  This is what happens when Grace is not involved.

Rev 16:11  and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they repented not of their works.

Ironically this verse mirrors the verse in Deuteronomy where the warning to repent is given.  Without the Grace of Salvation repentance cannot happen.  Also Rom 2:2  And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practise such things.

Rom 2:3  And reckonest thou this, O man, who judgest them that practise such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

Rom 2:4  Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Rom 2:5  but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

Rom 2:6  who will render to every man according to his works:

Rom 2:7  to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life:

Rom 2:8  but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation,

Rom 2:9  tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek;

Rom 2:10  but glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek:

Rom 2:11  for there is no respect of persons with God.

Rom 2:12  For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without the law: and as many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law; …

Rom 2:16  in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ.

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Rom 1:17  For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness;

Rom 1:19  because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them.

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse:

Rom 1:21  because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened.

Rom 1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

Rom 1:23  and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.

Rom 1:24  Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves:

Rom 1:25  for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Rom 1:26  For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature:

Rom 1:27  and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due.

Rom 1:28  And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

Rom 1:29  being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

Rom 1:30  backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Rom 1:31  without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, unmerciful:

Rom 1:32  who, knowing the ordinance of God, that they that practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also consent with them that practice them.

This passage of Romans about the downward spiral of sin and depravity is being displayed openly in Revelation.  This is what happens when Grace is removed.  It may well be that it is Grace and the Grace of God and the Grace of Regeneration by the Holy Spirit that “let” in this passage: “2 Thess 2:7  For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way.”

Rev 16:12  And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might by made ready for the kings that come from the sunrising.

Rev 16:13  And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs:

Rev 16:14  for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.

Now we come to the set up for the Showdown.  Thus far the plagues have been sufficient to get the attention of the First Beast, the Dragon, and rile him up.  Please understand who is actually in control of all this glorious havoc being wreaked on a defiled and ruined world.  What it had become in God’s eyes it is now becoming in man’s as well.  There are TWO battles of the Prince of Darkness and his ilk and The Lord of Glory and the Hosts of Heaven.  It is God who sets the time and place and makes the call.  However the unclean spirits are the clarion call from the seat of Satan.  Both Beasts utter and these unclean spirits which are spirits of demons that have a dynamic impact on the Earth and move the hearts of the world leaders to obey an edict issued to come to battle.

Rev 16:15  (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.)

If the church were not even at this hour still on the Earth this verse would not be included. Unless it is an addition to the original autograph of John the Beloved Apostle, then it indicates that there are those who must needs be vigilant of soul. Also this is RED letter in the KJV.

Rev 16:16  And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon.

Rev 16:17  And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; and there came forth a great voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done:

And now…. The Showdown!   With this last outpouring the voice of the Father in Heaven or quite possibly the voice of the Godhead together, utters the same sort of thing that Jesus cried out from the Cross. Unfortunately it is not the same word. Jesus uses “Teleo” (Strong’s #5055) which means finished and accomplished, executed, discharged and paid as in a debt paid in full, in John 19.  The word used here is Ghinonmai, which is actually stronger than teleo.  This “ghinomai” (Strong’s #1096) means not only accomplished, finished, paid, but full, complete accomplishment and payment; the type which brings about closure.  This is not the debt paid, it is the account closed.  There is a great difference.

The wrath against the Elect was ended in the Cross but the Recompense of the “Deeds of men” is finished here.  There is no more wrath.  But this is round one.

Rev 16:18  and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty.

Rev 16:19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

Rev 16:21  And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent, cometh down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great.

If we thought Seal Six was bad…. And it involved a tectonic plate shift, what happens here makes that, tame, by comparison. It is what happens to the Great City that is most important here.  Rev 11:8 talks about the Great City who is known spiritually as Sodom and Gomorrah before God, where the Lord of the Two Witnesses was crucified and that is Outside Jerusalem.  We showed proof that Scripture indicates Jerusalem as being called a Spiritual Sodom and Gomorrah. But this is not the Rapture and indeed the church and or Believers still remain.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:

This indicates that there is still the presence of the Church, even now.  But I will have pity on my gentle and not so gentle readers here.  The actual battle part one, itself, doesn’t commence until Chapter 19:11; but you will have to read that for yourselves.

The Plagues Commence

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blood, frogs, God, heaven, LAMB, lice, locusts, pestilence, Temple, wrath

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having seven plagues, which are the last, for in them is finished the wrath of God.

Rev 15:2  And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that come off victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing by the sea of glass, having harps of God.

Go back to the first time you see this sea of glass.  Rev 4:6  and before the throne, as it were a sea of glass like a crystal; and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. This is the floor of the “Throne Room” so… this is Heaven.  But now we have fire.  We have these who “came off victorious” from the “beast” AND from “his image”  and these have harps.  But let’s look at this fire for a moment.  The Greek indicates that it is literally or figuratively Fire or more specifically, LIGHTENING!  This sounds like energy, power or perhaps a manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the midst of these “victorious” ones?  This makes sense when we consider why they are Victorious.  The Beast and His Image refers to the Beast from the Sea, who is bent on the destruction of the “righteous”.  The image is what the second beast erected and did everything to get everyone to WORSHIP THE FIRST BEAST!  I am reminded of Nebuchadnezzar and his massive golden image and the result of the three Hebrews who would not kneel.  Given the result of the story would you say they “came off victorious” from that situation?  This is the same for how did these get that victory?  Rev 12:11  And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.

These are MARTYRS!  Yet and even now there is no catching away as of yet and now the last Trump has sounded.  But in 14 we did have the reaping of the Earth.  I am reminded of the parable of the wheat and the tares.  The owner of the farmed plot when asked by his servants if they should root up the tares told them to let it be, and that when all was ripe; instruction would be given the REAPERS as to the fact that there was tare in the field and to reap each separately, the tares to the fire and the wheat to the barn.  But it is obvious from the text that these are martyrs.

Rev 15:3  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages.

Rev 15:4  Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy righteous acts have been made manifest.

Here again is another New Song…  With each group there is a different song. A study to look into which songs each group sings might be fruitful.

It is interesting to note that God does use word play to “clue” the knowledgable reader into His works.  In Deuteronomy 33, Moses is given a song to teach to Israel.  This song is a witness against the nation who would in years to come follow after other gods.  This song like the book we are talking about, is a Suzerain Treaty in format. In it there are actually two names mentioned.  One is Moses and the other is Hoshea, son of Nun.  Now this man will layer turn out to be none other than Joshua, son of Nun.  Now both the names Hoshea and Joshua have a very significant meaning.  Of the names of Jesus we find an etymology.  One of the variants to this is Yaweh Hoshea, another is Yashua or Joshua.  Yeshua is a variant with Greek Iosus from which we finally have the English of Jesus.  Now it is in the Yaweh Hoshea that we really find a meaning. For the meaning of The Lamb’s name is ” Yaweh or Jehovah Saves”.  So then when the verse in Revelation 15 we read the words ” Song of Moses and of The Lamb” we needs to understand that Joshua who will lead the people into the Promise Land is a type of Jesus who leads us into the Eternal Promise of Life… Eternal Life by the Holy Spirit. Hence quite literally we have the actual song!

Rev 15:5  And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:

Rev 15:6  and there came out from the temple the seven angels that had the seven plagues, arrayed with precious stone, pure and bright, and girt about their breasts with golden girdles.

Now the above verse needs a little explaining.  The words ” precious stone” is translated in older texts as “in linen”.  Now when you consider that if indeed this linen with gold ties or girdling or sashes then the knowledgable will immediately see the priestly attire of angels.  Lest we forget that angels are His ministers too. If then these with containers of plague, are playing a priestly role on the heels of the song of indictment sung by the martyrs, there is only one ceremony that uses white linen.  Once per year a high priest dons white linen and enters into The Presence, with Blood and incense. This is Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement.  Now in this ceremony, an annual covering is provided for sin iniquity defilement et al. But in Jesus, we have permanent covering as it were.  This would be considered a blood ritual.  What we have now is seven angels functioning in a priestly role. This is also a blood ritual.  But this is not a positive thing.  Because the song is testifying against the false church. So now we find the response.  In the Yom Kippur ceremony the priest is all in white.  These angels are sporting gold at the middriff. Gold here might represent The Glory of God.

Rev 15:7  And one of the four living creatures gave unto the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and none was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished.

In chapter fourteen the grapes were reaped from the vineyard which we established to be the church.  We have seen in scripture that the “fruit of the vine” is also indicative of the Israel.  In a sense we are the continuation of that nation, spiritually.   Yet these grapes are trod out alone and fill seven cups or containers to be poured out. I had surmised that this was the apostate church.  Yet there is this in Isaiah.

“Isa 5:1  Let me sing for my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

Isa 5:2  and he digged it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

Isa 5:3  And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

Isa 5:4  What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

Isa 5:5  And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

Isa 5:6  and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor hoed; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

Isa 5:7  For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry. ”

Now the text does clearly mark the vineyard of this passage as Israel. But we also have Him saying this to us…

“Joh 15:1  I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit.

Joh 15:3  Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you.

Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me.

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing.

Joh 15:6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Joh 15:8  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be my disciples.”

Now this is admittedly written to Jewish Disciples who in turn form the proto-church.  Lest we forget that what we see today started out as a Jewish community of believers in Jesus and His Disciples.  Yet if we are to understand the pastoral prayer of John chapter seventeen, it tells us that the intercession is not only for His Disciples of the day but for those who would believe because of their word, or Gospel message, and those are us today.  Now Paul picks up this thread in extension in Galatians chapter five with the fruit of the Spirit.

“Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Gal 5:23  meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.

Gal 5:24  And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof.”  What does Jesus say? “ Joh 15:8  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be my disciples.”  That we bear much fruit.  The fruit of the VINE.  But just as in the Vineyard of Isaiah’s day there were “wild grapes” that had a bad taste so then there are those whose fruit is that of the Deeds of the Flesh.  A careful read of Paul’s letter to Corinth will tell of a church riddled with problems and deeds of the flesh.  If in that time there were so many problems of morality and ethic and the Apostles were in force in that day, how shall we today be surprised to find pockets of problematic believers in the midst.  Jesus Paul and even Jude spoke of those who would arise after their passing (Jude gives the description of such men) whose sole purpose was to lead astray.  Consider then the grape that is trod out as being that which is not indicative of the Fruit of the Spirit but rather false.  Consider also all these little celebrations and the SONGS being sung.  All that blood is spilled on the ground by those who serve the first beast.  This is what is in those containers.  This is not the Wrath of the Father but of THE LAMB.  You see the LAMB hung and took the wrath and curse of the Father, so that we might have fellowship with the Godhead, as we had once had in the beginning before Adam fell. (Only better)  But this is the wrath now poured out on those who REFUSE TO BELIEVE in the Jesus.  Interestingly enough we do have a list of plagues from Exodus.  Blood, Frogs, Lice, Flies or Gnats, Pestilence, Boils, Hail, Locusts, Darkness, Death of the First born.  Of these it is listed in the next several passages in Chapter sixteen which plagues are contained in the angelic containers.

Now in consideration of pure speculation here.  John sees the Temple and the skies were rolled up like a scroll or boiling clouds way back in the beginning when the seals were being opened. Is it possible that the people of the Earth are now seeing the Temple?  Remember that as far as Earth’s perspective is  it is dark the sun moon and stars are “not giving forth their light” meaning “Not visible” so there is for all parts and practical purposes a pall of cover over the Earth.  However what John sees Prophets in the Old Testament and men in the days of Solomon and Moses saw as well.  The glory of the Lord and the smoke of His presence or rather the Column of Smoke indicative of the very personal visible presence of God (YHVH) or the LAMB is filling the Temple and the doors are shut.  Noone is permitted entrance until the out pouring is complete.

Now there is only one other time when we ever see the Temple doors shut.  It is the Temple in Jerusalem and the time is Yom Kippur.  It is the DAY OF ATONEMENT when the Temple is shut while the High priest enters into the Holy of Holies, to MAKE ATONEMENT for the priesthood and the people.

This is the DAY OF RECKONING wherein recompensure is meted out to each as his deed warrant.  There is no sacrifice being offered for this, no atonement being made for this, but there is the built up iniquity and sin that must now be dealt with.  God measures out to all Creation the finality of judgment and punishment for all that has been done on the Earth and for all the unbelief therein.  Thus we do not get to see God’s reaction.  Also it occurs to include this characteristic of The Father. Hab 1:13  Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he;

Hab 1:14  and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

Now in that this is the LAMB’s wrath or so it would seem this could be the Father turning away while the wrath is being poured out.  Just as He turned away when He dealt with our sin in His Son on the Cross.

One last observation here:Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having seven plagues, which are the last, for in them is finished the wrath of God.

Please note the end of the sentence.  …”for in them is FINISHED the wrath of God.”  God’s wrath has been poured out many times over all of history.  Israel was delivered in the WRATH of God on Egypt.  Israel was AFFLICTED by the very same wrath when she sinned.  Jesus took the wrath and curse of The Father for the sin and iniquity, et al, of The Elect of God, now it is being recompensed out on those who have rebelled or sided with the Rebel.  This is most likely that of which we have been told we would be spared.  It is most likely precisely this that Rapture Doctrine was conceived to explain.  So far I am not seeing a clear cut Rapture but a lot of Martyrdom.

Timing Part Two

Tags

Babylon, Cambyses II, daniel, Ezra, God, israel, Jeremiah, Jerusalem, Ken Raggio, Nehemiah

Let’s look at Jeremiah then.
 Jer 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Jer 25:12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith Jehovah, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate forever. 

This is a key: “seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon” The timing of this prophecy should be from the move of Nebuchadnezzar on Israel and its captivity date to the fall of Babylon under Belshazzar the son of Nabonidus a soldier under Nebuchadnezzar. Or it could also be the time of the madness of Nebuchadnezzar which was a direct punishment from God. So let’s look at this math. Scholars date the sacking of Israel for this Diaspora anywhere from 597 to 587 to 582 BC. Nebuchadnezzar rules from 605 – 562 BC But there is a window of time where he went insane and was not on the throne. Now Wikipedia reports that in 597 Jerusalem’s king was deposed by Babylon for revolting and non-payment of “tribute” But the date set for the burning of the first Temple and deportation of the inhabitants of Judea is 587 BC, it is possible that it took five years to go through all this procedure to the King’s satisfaction. (Possibly with 582 as a completion date) In the first year of Cyrus’s rule in 538 BC Ezra was sent with Jews to begin to re-establish Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. But Ezra was tasked by God to get the protective walls up. 522 BC is when Cambyses II, the son of Cyrus died and Darius one of his officers took over quelling various revolts that had arisen at the time of Cambyses II death. It will be in the second year of this reign that Darius sends word to confirm Royal decree to stop those petty officials that were hampering the progress of Ezra’s work. I can’t find an exact date for this edict but in a time of revolutions the successor had to be quick to establish himself. So it is likely 520 BC before Darius makes this confirmation. Apparently the Temple was done in anywhere from 518 to 517 BC. If you take the date of the actual destruction of Temple at 587 BC until its dedication using the 517 BC date you have an exact 70 year lapse. THAT is Jeremiah’s prophesy but NOT Daniel’s. We know this because of the language. Jeremiah and 2 Chronicles use the word shanneh which is the feminine form of shannah as is Rosh Ha Shannah or Head of (the) Year. Jeremiah is referring to actual years. And it was so. (Selah)

Daniel is not speaking about the rebuild of the Temple but the coming of a time when a savior will come or when the iniquity and such will be finished. That language can only be fulfilled in Messiah. So now we are back to the seventy sevens or Sabbaths. In Dan 9:25-26 we see the word week. This is Shabua or Seventh. Strongs indicates that it pertains to a Seventh portion of time, in this case of years. Thus we have a seventh(ing) of years. It isn’t too difficult to see now why so many books are written on the subject. (OY VAY!)
Once again with understanding, I hope, Daniel “Dan 9:25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.
Dan 9:26 And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
Here is the key: the time the clock starts counting… from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem…. NOT the Temple! That’s the key! Jeremiah spoke of a Sabbatical land rest from the time of captivity to the dedication of the Temple but Daniel is not talking about the Temple. Cyrus issues his edict in 538 which punches the timer. Now we will have seven weeks of years or forty nine years… but this is sevenths so they are sabbatical years… that’s seven times seventy or four hundred and ninety years. Ok that’s not to bad certainly there will be this whole time passing till…the Temple is rebuilt with a moat in troublous times… (????) Now here is where things get confusing. We have already established that it was an actual 70 years to the rebuild of Temple number two. So what Temple is this? Some say, it is number three. They were not in captivity for 490 years… only 70. So what happens in 490 years after the edict of Cyrus? Some say the Crucifixion. Does that work? First off, scholars conclude for the most part that there is a four year lapse in the Hebrew and Roman calendars for the BC/AD year one. This apparently puts the Nativity at 4 BC. Ok, it says that Jesus was around 30 years of age when the famous baptism of the Jordan took place so we will do a simple 30 year march forward from 4 BC. The year is 26 AD and a nondescript Jewish male approaches a prophet on the Jordan river in the Judean area and is baptized. Forty days and much business later he is beginning that all famous public ministry by gathering disciples in Capernaum. I will punch in for a simple 3 years. Now the date is 29 AD and this same no descript Rabbi is hanging on a cross amid much controversy. A sign reads “King of the Jews”. The Jews don’t like the sign. Too bad they don’t understand who it is that is taking the wrath and curse for their sins and iniquities thus ending them, in that sense. Now let’s go back 490 years from 29 AD. (if I do this on a calculator I get an -461) Here’s an oddity, as I fully expect to have some error in my simple calculations I find this date falls in another edict.
Neh 2:1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, that I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
Neh 2:2 And the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid.
Neh 2:3 And I said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
Neh 2:4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Neh 2:5 And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favor in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.
Neh 2:6 And the king said unto me (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.
But we have a major discrepancy don’t we? This edict has passed as it was issued in 445-444 BC. But I did my simple math based on 490 years, seventy sevens of time. There’s an addition here. 62 weeks or Sabbaths of time will have passed until the Prince is “cut off”. Those in the know say this refers to the crucifixion. So now let’s adjust the time line here… I am overshot to 461 BC. This is a combination of weeks here. One set is 62 weeks and added to it is seven weeks for a total of 69. 69 times 7 is 483. Four hundred and eighty three years is the new target time. Going from 29 AD and subtracting 468 we arrive at 439 BC.

Now I expected there to be some error but this is very close indeed to Nehemiah. What we have is a five year offset from my arrival to the earliest sending at 444 BC. You see Jeremiah’s prophecy is NOT Daniel’s. They hinge off each other because they involve the Kings past Babylon but they are not one and the same. So with wiggle room the math does work. I am also using a simple math here not a actual calendar thing. Here is someone who did. http://kenraggio.com/KRPN-Daniels-Seventy-Weeks.html‘
Daniel Foresaw And Accurately
Pre-Dated Jesus’ Crucifixion
Knowing that I may be accused of error, I nevertheless take the simplest argument, that in seeing Messiah “cut off,” the prophet Daniel foresaw the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

By holding to that definition, I know that I am in conflict with the teachings of “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” “Seventh-Day Adventists,” historicists, preterists, amillenialists, Jewish Orthodoxy, and other interpretations.

That Messiah being “cut off” infers the crucifixion of Jesus is obviated by the simple fact that there is a reliably calculated span of 483 years between the story of Nehemiah in Artexerxes’ court (found in Nehemiah 2) and the actual death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That perfectly fulfills Daniel’s prophecy of the first 69 weeks.

I am also aware that there are countless other arguments pertaining to the reliability of ancient calendars: irregularities in profane history, discrepancies between Roman and Jewish calendars, solar-cycle versus lunar-cycle calculations, ad infinitum. All too often, the seeker of truth is left paralyzed by the flood of arguments from contentious “scholars.”

Still, we must refuse to be bamboozled by the multitude of opinions. I believe that Daniel foresaw the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and I believe the calculations pertaining to that fulfillment are just as reliable and believable as any other argument that has been set forth.

We cannot afford to overlook the glorious reality of fulfilled prophecies because of some who are “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith,” 2 Timothy 3:7-8.

According to Daniel’s statement, the entire 69 weeks ENDS with the CRUCIFIXION of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we can BACK-DATE the prophecy from CALVARY.

We can calculate backwards from the generally accepted date of Jesus’ death – in approximately 30-32 AD. (Most scholars believe the Roman calendar has a four-year error, placing the birth of Jesus Christ in 4BC.) Again, we must not be put off by endless disputes over so-called inaccuracies in calendars.

SIXTY NINE WEEKS (483 Years) had to be fulfilled before Jesus’ crucifixion to fulfill this prophecy.

If we BACK-DATE the calendar 483 years from 30 AD, we arrive at 453 BC.

However, THAT DATE (453 BC) would be calculated on Solar-based Julian calendar years, consisting of 365.3 days, as given to us by the Roman Catholic Church.

If, on another hand, we calculated BACKWARD from Jesus’ death, using a Lunar-based Hebrew Calendar (360 days per year), such as was used throughout the Bible, we would arrive in about 445 BC.

The Commandment To Build
445 BC – “The Going Forth Of the Commandment …To Build Jerusalem.”

Nehemiah the Jew was serving as the king’s cupbearer, in the household of Artaxerxes (465 BC to 424 BC), king of Persia, in the palace at Shushan.

“And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence,” Nehemiah 2:1.
For more on this man’s work go to the link above and enjoy. You can see that with even my offset calculations I also arrived in the ball park of time referring to Nehemiah. But here is our conundrum. We only have sixty nine of seventy. So we have one more week and this is what gives us that all important seven years. But they don’t show up in Revelation. The only things are time, times and half a time… or 1260 days.

Now I want to throw in a monkey wrench into this.

Dan 12:11 And from the time that the continual burnt-offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand and two hundred and ninety days.
Dan 12:12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

Is this dealing with the Maccabean revolt or something else? I ask because there is a time, times and half a time in here which is 1260 and this will refer to Revelation after the last trump.

Dan 12:7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
Dan 12:8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my lord, what shall be the issue of these things?
Dan 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end.

1290 days is 30 days more. But 1335 days? That’s a difference of 75 days which is slightly more than three months.
A little about Daniel’s book. Daniel records three sets of events. One set is the things that happen in Babylon while he is there, so in that sense it is a historical book. Then he has these visions and God sends this angel to talk with him, perhaps more than one even. One set of visions has to do with the events leading up to the time of Christ. The great statue of Nebuchadnezzar plays an important role in that is serves as an archetype of kingdoms that countdown to Christ. Then there is another set of statements almost purposefully woven into the first. They tell of a ruler who is not like the preceding kingdoms in the countdown to Christ, and they mention the Ancient of Days and Thrones of Judgment. One could theorize that perhaps Christ’s coming which is to like the Refiner’s Fire and Fuller’s Soap is that image of the Thrones judging but that fails to wash as He came not to judge but to seek and save. Then as the book is closing there is a command to seal up the prophecy. Now the detail of events that Daniel records involves and validates the books of the Maccabees as historical record of what God is up to during the 490 year or so gap of silence and its archaeological corroboration makes for an impressively well recorded piece of work. But these little statements like the last beast in the pantheon of beasts or the Thrones being set up and the horn that became a man and blasphemed God and then the dating of a set period of time. Revelation unlocks the “time, times, and half a time” to 1260 days. We have reference to a covenant made and broken, which some see as Christ making the covenant with Israel and the in death breaking it. Jesus made no such covenant to rule so, that understanding can’t be correct.

Looking back at Revelation 11-14 which seems to be a major focal point for so many things that are occurring on Earth; the witnesses, the woman facing off with the Dragon and giving birth to the man-child and then successfully fleeing to “the place prepared” which is spiritual, the beast rising from the “sea” and the beast rising from the “earth” and the things the “Earthbeast” does to point the world’s affection and cooperation to the “Seabeast” (yes that’s what I am calling them here). All these things happen after the last recorded Trump in Scripture and as I have been saying the last trump is… the last trump. There is also John’s Temple which is later mentioned as demolished and the city of Jerusalem itself pretty much trashed by a massive quake. Jesus does enter into the picture in chapter 14 to pick up 144000 sealed people, from Olivet. They are virgins and they follow the Lamb wherever He goes… but are they Jewish? I don’t know but they are called up to represent twelve tribes so they might be. Considering that the witnesses of Chapter 11 have the power to defend themselves from any form of onslaught and can cause the plagues to Egypt to come upon the planet as often as they choose, (as often as God dictates and to whom and to where He sends them…) perhaps Israel doesn’t need to be secure but to build a Temple there, now that has to be in some sort of armistice truce. Is it possible that a truce happens while the Witnesses are prophesying? It is apparent that multiple things happen during this “time, times and half a time, period. However those things are best reserved for another part.

Timing Part One

Tags

Alexander, Christ, daniel, God, israel, Jeremiah, Jesus, Lord, Nebuchadnezzar, prophecy, Prophecy of Seventy Weeks, seventy, Temple

First off please understand this is not date setting, or my theories on the math of “well if you calculate from this date in antiquity…”, no this is exposing certain scriptures and looking at them. Are we in the last days, according to some, yes. You see when Jesus became flesh the last days began. One must always take into account the already- not yet dynamic. So in many noticeable ways the last days and the Kingdom are now upon us and yet there is the dynamic of the passage of linear time. Unlike the time travelers we can’t just flit through time and space even if Einstein’s theories and those of the men who have built upon him say that it can be done. Happily we don’t have the technology for it either. Add to this the fact that prophecy can repeat itself in pattern application time and again to certain points in history and still apply to the time of the “beasts”. Having said all this lets take another look at Daniel.
The weeks of prophecy:

Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.

To make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness… finish transgression and make an end of sins…. All of these have a peculiar familiarity don’t they? For instance the Hebrew word for reconciliation is Kaphar… one of its definitions is to expiate and another is to cover. That’s the Cross Work of Jesus Christ. This is Atonement for …. Iniquity and the Hebrew word here, Amon, has to do with perversion and that bent toward evil. Humanity can get really fascinated with the dark secretive world of occult. It can applaud the daring do of the really clever thief or even the murderer. But all this is an affront to a Holy God so we have this interior flaw. Iniquity because it is so ingrained in us from the Fall and the Curse, needs to worked out from within by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, but it starts with a need to “cover over” the mess within until there is no more need to be “covered” for the Sanctification is complete. Bringing … Everlasting (Olam) or the vanishing point wherein time goes “out of memory” or is “incalculable”, in other words… Forever. Righteousness or tsedek meaning right, equity, prosperity, justice etc; which is the Crux of Salvation. This is the Plan of long ago which God the Son fulfills in human flesh for all time without end. To finish transgression and make an end of sins… this is further on then Salvation and yet Salvation does exactly this. Yet within the Church transgression still happens and so does sin and iniquity. Why? Because the work is both done and complete and still in progress, the point of the work is the cleansing of the Bride and the Land and God’s People Israel. When the Seventh Trump was sounded we heard a statement: “Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign forever and ever.” Actually it reads that the Kingdom of the world is become of our Lord and His Christ… this is a literal change of possession. What was done in a Spiritual sense from the Cross is completed in the Physical sense. We will see it with the Lady who give birth and the “baby” is caught up. Now after all the dust of the birth and the catching away of the Baby and the Dragon who she faced off with during her great Labor and Delivery not only losing the baby but being defeated in combat with Archangel Michael and his “warrior group” and the Dragon trying to kill the woman, which fails spectacularly, as the dust settles and a furious Dragon finds himself deposed as Prince of the Power of the Air…. There is another statement. It reads: “Rev 12:10 And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and night.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.” Now while this is the beginning a massive campaign of persecution against the Believer’s which even makes the Holocaust, or anything more recent to now, pale in comparison, this one line “Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ” completely matches the function of the prophesy of Daniel: “To finish transgression and make an end of sins” because at this point the reality hits. You see the Kingdom of the world was owned by someone… and changed owners. But now the “Power” and the “Kingdom” of the Godhead is established. You see? Therefore in the first place of the seventy weeks, we find the historical data of the second Temple in the time of Zerubabel being built with Joshua as the new high priest. After that we have this countdown that matches the statue of Nebuchadnezzar in that it is a countdown of kingdoms until Christ. We also know it was a “week /year” ratio. Seventy years of time or Ten Sabbath years of fallow time was determined to let the land rest. That was the prophecy: “Jer 25:11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
Jer 25:12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith Jehovah, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate forever.” The Seventy Years unto the time when the Temple was complete did finally happen.

Dan 9:25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troublous times.
The Anointed one in this instance is Cyrus whose edict sent Israelis home. But we have this curious split of seven years and sixty two years.

Dan 9:26 And after the threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and even unto the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
Dan 9:27 And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.
Now what you need to understand is that there is a whole chapter dedicated to explaining these weeks. It has to do Alexander the Great and the rise of the Seleucid Ptolemy wars over Israel and the final person of Antiochus Epiphanies and the reaction of those Jews who felt the desolation of the pig’s blood and the idol that was stood up in the Temple and the Maccabean revolt that got the Temple back… even Channukah. But there is a wider circle here… the second Temple was rebuilt and we have Jesus who is “cut off” in the middle of things. We are finally left with three and a half years.
Some interpretations take this as a cycle of Sabbaths or 490 years.  Some say that from the time of the edict of Cyrus to the rise of one Alexander Yannai, the last Hasmonean high priest who in his brutal rule slaughtered some fifty thousand Pharisees, is the time of the last Anointed One or legal high priest. Others add that the finishing up of the iniquity is the rejection of Christ, to which Jesus does allude that there was to be a “filling up” of the sins of the people, Mat 23:32 “Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.”, though I find this to be quoted out of its context of a real punishing tirade against the leaders of the Temple of His day. Yet there is a sense that this rejection factors into this prophecy.

Assuming that nothing in Scripture is “up for grabs” then I have some grave misgivings about a lot of the interpretations of these texts. You see Scripture MUST be the Source of its own interpretation as wisdom is given by the Holy Spirit. In light of this I will confess to looking online in Wikipedia to find out just what was being said. Jewish thought regards the seventy years as seventy Sabbath cycles. Thus departing from the Seventy year/week idea we look at the possibility at of actual time lapse. First off one must understand that the Old and New Testament fit together as hand in glove or as a right and left glove (matched set). They must be regarded TOGETHER. So to understand the seventy week prophecy which in all fairness if you truly look at it, seventy years is NOT how long the Babylonian Diaspora was, one must look at the starting point and understand the Torah or Mosaic Law. This is the law of Sabbath (Shabbat) Lev 25:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto Jehovah.
Lev 25:3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruits thereof;
Lev 25:4 but in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto Jehovah: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
Lev 25:5 That which groweth of itself of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, and the grapes of thy undressed vine thou shalt not gather: it shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.
The “bumper crop” of the previous year would last and the land would “go to seed” for one year. I won’t pretend to understand how the complexities of a farming system and cattle management if the land is to truly “lay fallow”, but the point is the observance of a marked out year. Now then, the math goes something like this: Seventy times seven equaling four hundred and ninety years, will be marked out and the land will enjoy its Shabbats.
However this is the prophecy as it is recorded in 2 Chronicles. 2Ch 36:21 to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths: for as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. The words here are precise. Seventy literal years of fallow time for the land, not seventy cycles of years. But Daniel records….Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Something has to give…   More in the next section.

In Between

Tags

covenant, God, Jesus, LAMB, manchild, saints, spirit, woman

It needs to be understood that this book is written to the churches with a mandate to those who would copy it and pass on the original to the next church.  It was not to be edited in that it was never to be added to or detracted from.  This is the testimony of Jesus Christ.  Just as Christ took the wrath and curse of the Father now the world will receive the wrath and curse of the LAMB.

Wrath and curse is the result of Covenant breaking on one end or the other.  Since God, who is able and doesn’t go back on His word, is self-sworn to abide by the Covenant He set in Gen 3:15; and we are the weak, needy, and limited Creation with a tendency towards iniquity and are forgetful and ungrateful as a result and unmindful as well tend to be the ones breaking the “rules of the Covenant” and thus the Covenant itself then it follows that unto the Covenant Breaker goes the wrath of God and that is the indignation of having the “contractual agreement” “breached” for the believer it is more the displeasure of an angry Parent (Father) but don’t be fooled correction can be just as devastating as out and out enmity.  Curse is the result of wrath in that God places His hand against the Covenant Breaker and turns His face away, removing or simply never setting up any “hedge of protection”. Blessing is the result of abiding or living within the bounds of obedience to the Covenant (thus keeping it) and God’s delight and pleasure are found there.  In the Old Testament Israel the People of God had agreed to this incredible Covenant on Sinai and, because this is how God sees Creation, in potentiality every circumcised male thereafter.  So if one Hebrew male blew it or if the People of that time failed then the failure cycled forward three to four generations and presumable another opportunity to “obey was given”; however because failure was constant with Israel even after the written conveyance of such displays as Egypt and the Exodus, the “ire” of “displeasure” just compounded on itself and God being who He is “hit the roof”.  Enter the Son who now comes to become the sacrifice willingly taking the wrath and curse of the Father throughout the whole of His life whose One Righteous Act so pleased the Father that having vented on the Son He has ended His hostility to those whom He has Elected to be His from the beginning.   But there is still those who are outside of Election and who are considered Covenant Breakers and while God the Father will chastise and correct the Believer; it is the “children of pride, disobedience and wrath (unbelievers whom the Spirit seems to not be working in regeneration on) that are the subject of this spectacular display of The Son’s furious anger or wrath.  The Key is the Holy Spirit.  He is the One Sent by Father and Son to “do the work of sanctification” on Believers and to “judge the world” with the Gospel. Jn 3:19  And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.  Now is the strictest sense of the verse the Light refers to Jesus Himself who will shine brightest in the darkness of the Calvary’s Cross. But the Gospel message is in a way its own light as well, But we also have to consider another group beyond the believer and the non believer and that is those who apparently once believed but have “left the faith” and are considered to be Apostate. Not of the faith. It has been said the verses of Hebrews 6:4-6 maybe the impossible condition for the bonds of salvation are unbreakable and that is the Calvinistic position.  In that it is mentioned at all begs certain questions I am unwilling to discuss here.  For as long as the Spirit of God will strive within you to continue the work of Grace then you continue on in the faith.  Jude wrote a whole book on the subject.  It is an interesting read and you will find it right before the Book of the Revelation of Jesus, God’s Christ.  It is against the Dragon and the two Beasts and all who side with them whom the LAMB aims His wrath.  For you see it is the work of the Holy Spirit that prepares the heart to receive the Gospel and after regeneration and redemption does the work of sanctification so to spurn the Gospel or to neglect so “great a gift” is to actually spurn or neglect the Holy Spirit.  It may actually be construed if continually done as an act of blasphemy.  One could blaspheme the Father and even the Son and it might be forgiven but the Holy Spirit?

Mat 12:31  Therefore I say unto you, Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.
Mat 12:32  And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come.

That sounds rather final to me.  Let’s be clear on this that the Dragon and the Beasts are blaspheming the entire Godhead. They are the principle targets but all those who are their property by virtue of not being saved or by choice having sided with them are taken down with them.

Before we go on I want to have us take one final look at the Woman and the Manchild.

many theorize this woman to be Israel the Nation or Mary the mother of Jesus.  But the word is gune or woman or wife.  Interestingly we see the same word later in Revelation 19 and it refers to a wife who has made herself ready and the rejoicing unto the marriage of the LAMB.

In Gen 3:15 a promise is made to a woman.  This woman is not named…. she will become Eve.  God is addressing the serpent when He says He will put enmity between “your seed” (serpent) and the “seed of the woman” and the word here is a generic terminology ishshah nashiym.  Ishshah is the femine form of Ish or man or husband. Nashiym is possibly the femine form of enosh… pretty much meaning a mortal.  So then a natural flesh and blood woman.  But this word ishshah canalso be translated as “wife.”

Add to this a principle:

1Co 15:44  It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
1Co 15:45  So also it has been written, “The” first “man”, Adam, “became a living soul;” the last Adam a life-giving Spirit. Gen. 2:7
1Co 15:46  But not the spiritual first, but the natural; afterward the spiritual.

Not the spiritual first….  so first the natural Adam the living soul and then the spiritual Adam the life-giving Spirit.  So then follows the Natural Israel the physical nation and natural witness, under Law.  Then the Spiritual Israel and spiritual witness, under Grace.

So then too the Natural or Visible Body of the Holy Elect of the Called Out Ones. Then the Spiritual Invisible Body of the Holy Elect of the Called Out Ones…  the first is an unglorified immature “standard” in the Earth. The Second is a glorified mature standard in the Heavens.  The first might be said to represent the God-Man as man on Earth humbled and obedient yet empowered to overcome sin self satan and the world system.  The second might be said to represent the glorified risen unbound God-Man as King/God in the Heavens.

The key is in the identity of the manchild.  But for a certainty this is spiritual thing.

Remember the last trump promise…

1Co 15:51  Behold, I speak a mystery to you: we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed.
1Co 15:52  In a moment, in a glance of an eye, at the last trumpet; for a trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.
1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
….  Isa 11:1  And a Shoot goes out from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch will bear fruit out of his roots. Isa 11:4  But He shall judge the poor in righteousness, and shall decide rightly for the meek of the earth. And He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and He shall cause the wicked to die with the breath of His lip.

 

Branch

Isa_4:2  In that day shall the branch of Jehovah be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
Jer_23:5  Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
Jer_33:15  In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.Zec_3:8  Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy fellows that sit before thee; for they are men that are a sign: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch.Zec_6:12  and speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh Jehovah of hosts, saying, Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build the temple of Jehovah;

All three of these references are about Jesus.  The Zechariah “branch” continues to speak about rule as priest on a throne.  There was never a high priest to build a temple who then ruled as a king from his “seat”.  So then…. This speaks to the King/Priest modality of rule.  But then Jesus turns a table here….

Joh 15:1  I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit.
Joh 15:3  Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; so neither can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from me ye can do nothing.
Joh 15:6  If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
Joh 15:8  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and so shall ye be my disciples.

The Righteous Branch who builds the Temple.  Is now calling Himself a Vine….  and refers to us as Branches… But the word in the Old Testament for Branch (tsemach) also means sprout or bud.  Now think carefully…. before a vine is mature is it not a “sprout or branch”?  This set of Old Testament prophecies refers to the role God is playing while in flesh as Messiah/Savior/Highpriest,  In this role He makes atonement for those who will come after Him.  But in the fullness of time once He has established the atonement and “seen His posterity”, so to speak, He has grown to the full…. VINE.  Now He makes US the Holy Elect to be the sprouts and buds that will grow in Him as Source. We then “bear fruit”

The fruit is a really interesting word.  Strongs Greek 2590

karpos Probably from the base of Strongs Greek 726; fruit (as plucked), literally or figuratively: – fruit.

Greek 726 is harpazo….  the fruit that is caught up away…. or a “manchild”

Rev 12:5  And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne.
Isa 11:4  But He shall judge the poor in righteousness, and shall decide rightly for the meek of the earth. And He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and He shall cause the wicked to die with the breath of His lip.

Is this the same thing?  You decide.  So then this is “The Body with Christ as Head” Its spiritual and the sign is a representation of a spiritual state.

Apparently I am not the only one who thinks this way.  The Reformed Churches, according to wikipedia, also believe the manchild to be the faithful and cite that the promise to rule the nations with a rod of Iron is given to those who overcome the scenario of the church of Thyatira.

Thyatira had a problem.  She had a prophetess in the midst who was causing the menfolk to … sin.

Rev 2:18  And to the angel of the assembly in Thyatira, write: These things says the Son of God, the One having His eyes as a flame of fire, and His feet like burnished brass:
Rev 2:19  I know your works, and the love, and the ministry, and the faith, and your patience, and your works; and the last being more than the first.
Rev 2:20  But I have a few things against you, that you allow the woman Jezebel to teach, she saying herself to be a prophetess, and to cause My slaves to go astray, and to commit fornication, and to eat idol sacrifices.
Rev 2:21  And I gave time to her that she might repent of her fornication. And she did not repent.
Rev 2:22  Behold, I am throwing her into a bed, and into great affliction those committing adultery with her, unless they repent of their works.
Rev 2:23  And I will kill her children with death; and all the assemblies will know that I am the One searching the inner parts and hearts. And I will give to each of you according to your works.
Rev 2:24  But I say to you and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this teaching, and who did not know the deep things of Satan, as they say: I am not casting another burden on you;
Rev 2:25  but what you have, hold until I shall come.
Rev 2:26  And the one overcoming, and the one keeping My works until the end, “I will give to him authority over the nations,”
Rev 2:27  and “He will shepherd them with an iron staff” (they are “broken to pieces like clay vessels”), as I also have received from My Father. Psa. 2:8, 9
(Psa 2:8  Ask of Me, and I will give the nations as Your inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the earth as Your possession.
Psa 2:9  You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. ) { Now the Psalms verses are said of Jesus Himself, but the afore mentioned verses in Revelation is said by Jesus to the innocent “Thyatirians”…(?) applies to the over comers… notice too, the description of the keeping of His works… or perhaps Commandments…}
Rev 2:28  And I will give to him the Morning Star.Rev
2:29  The one who has an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

ok if we remove the controversy from this letter we have the faithful who never got involved and to them He says…Rev 2:18  And to the angel of the assembly in Thyatira, write: These things says the Son of God, the One having His eyes as a flame of fire, and His feet like burnished brass:

Rev 2:19  I know your works, and the love, and the ministry, and the faith, and your patience, and your works; and the last being more than the first. …Rev 2:24  But I say to you and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this teaching, and who did not know the deep things of Satan, as they say: I am not casting another burden on you;
Rev 2:25  but what you have, hold until I shall come.
Rev 2:26  And the one overcoming, and the one keeping My works until the end, “I will give to him authority over the nations,”
Rev 2:27  and “He will shepherd them with an iron staff” (they are “broken to pieces like clay vessels”), as I also have received from My Father. Psa. 2:8, 9
(Psa 2:8  Ask of Me, and I will give the nations as Your inheritance; and the uttermost parts of the earth as Your possession.
Psa 2:9  You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. )

{ Now this is said of Jesus but the afore mentioned said by Jesus to the innocent Thyatirians…(?) applies to the overcomers… notice too the description of the keeping of His works… or perhaps Commandments…}
Rev 2:28  And I will give to him the Morning Star.
Rev 2:29  The one who has an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

notice that this is the description of the manchild: Rev 12:5 b … a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: …  “I will give to him authority over the nations,”

Rev 2:27  and “He will shepherd them with an iron staff” as I also have received from My Father. Psa. 2:8, 9

Now here is another clue….

Jesus is sharing the right of rule.  In the Old Testament in Isaiah the prophet talks about princes that will rule with their king.  This is the same idea of delegated authority and power.  We will reign with Christ forever.  That’s the basic premise.  What’s being overcome here is error and whoredoms by the spirit who worked in the original Jezebel who seduced a willing King (Ahab).   Those who did not go there into the error and whoredoms overcame it all.  Those who hold onto “what they have” to the end and Keeping the Works of Christ, who identifies them as “My works”.  What are His works?  They had apparently increased over time.  Faith and Patience are two works of the LORD.  He is the giver and increaser of His faith in us, for it’s nothing of us, it’s all of Him and Patience in trials and tribulations has a “perfect work” (Jas 1:4) It is said that this Manchild then is the “faithful” saints.

Could this then indeed be a separation of the invisible from the visible Church.

The Seventh Trump, the last trump of God Pt 2

Tags

Abraham, God, israel, jacob, Jesus, manchild, seed, woman

The woman in the sun.

Rev 12:1 And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars;

The only other place we even glimpse these images is here: Gen 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream: and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
This is Joseph and the father here is Jacob the covenant son of Isaac the covenant son of Abraham. Of Isaac it is said that in the “seed of Abraham would be called” indeed he had two sons and one of them got a name change from Jacob to Israel. Thereafter his sons eventually became twelve tribes the “sons of Israel” and the man’s name became the name of the nation. But here in Joseph’s dream the sheaves are the brothers obviously but the sun and the moon would have been Israel the sun and Rachel who is now deceased or Leah who is still alive at this time, I do believe, as the moon. It is noted here that the mindset is that the husband is head of the household and a good wife is his crown and glory. He is the sun around which she orbits her life and she is the reflection of him as is the moon. (Of course then it is easy to see that this is also archetypical of the LORD and the Body of Christ aka the BRIDE.) Indeed the images are the same here for this is the “wife” of a “covenant son” In that God the Son takes on human flesh He becomes both Keeper of the Covenant and The Covenant Son, for in Him is a “seed called” we are called “the righteousness of God” in Christ. We become “sons of God or God’s son” However the images are presented differently. She is clothed with and that compound Greek word is Strongs # 4016 periballō From (4012 peri From the base of (4008 peran Apparently the accusative case of an obsolete derivation of peirō (to “peirce”); through (as adverb or preposition), that is, across: – beyond, farther (other) side, over.); properly through (all over), that is, around; figuratively with respect to; used in various applications, of place, cause or time (with the genitive case denoting the subject or occasion or superlative point; with the accusative case the locality, circuit, matter, circumstance or general period): – (there-) about, above, against, at, on behalf of, X and his company, which concern, (as) concerning, for, X how it will go with, ([there-, where-]) of, on, over, pertaining (to), for sake, X (e-) state, (as) touching, [where-] by (in), with. In compounds it retains substantially the same meaning of circuit (around), excess (beyond), or completeness (through).) and (906 ballō A primary verb; to throw (in various applications, more or less violent or intense): – arise, cast (out), X dung, lay, lie, pour, put (up), send, strike, throw (down), thrust. ); to throw all around, that is, invest (with a palisade or with clothing): – array, cast about, clothe (-d me), put on. To throw all around or wrap around … to invest… and there is the connotation of pierced through. All these things match the Body of Christ who is invested with authority and power by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and who is wrapped or clothed with the “sun”. We are told to Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. Put on Christ. Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings; and ye shall go forth, and gambol as calves of the stall. Notice the words “sun of righteousness”, now most translations use the term it’s for whose wings have the healing. But most commentators agree that the “sun” here is Messianic, and since when would the actual sun rise with healing… IN it’s wings? No this is sort of the bird in flight deal or the coming King and the healing would be an obscure reference to harpazo which for us is the ultimate healing without death. So the Jesus is our SUN OF RIGTEOUSNESS. We are to be clothed in Him hence the image of one “clothed IN the Sun.” But she also has the moon at her feet. Well we are to put on the Lord Jesus Christ… the SUN and make no provision for the “flesh”. The moon here quite possibly would represent the “flesh”. This “flesh” is “under the feet” in the position of being conquered. This is the wisdom not from above that is earthy sensual devilish (Jas 3:15) Now looking at it this way we can also see the mind renewed in that it is now the “mind of Christ” that we see. The verse also tells us not to make any provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts or appetites and this because it is the image of a woman is almost always in Greek thought going to be represented in the moon or the lusts and appetites of the feminine which are here seen as at the feet and conquered or overcome. Now she is also crowned with twelve stars. The stephanos of the Bride is the foundation laid in the prophets and also the Apostles. Twelve apostles are the crowning stars of the “church”. The doctrine of these apostles epistles are her rule and guide which is also represented by the crown that she is in authority, under authority. But she is hard labor to deliver …

There have been various understandings about this lady in the sky for many generations. I have wrestled over the images myself. Jesus spoke of “birth pangs” and listed what they would look like. Indeed everything up until this point might be listed as a birth pang with the exception of the “witnesses”. They are the first time stamped item in the book. They do their job for a set amount of days.

Rev 12:2 and she was with child; and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered.

This is not prelabor this is what has been called Labor and Delivery or L&D for short.
There is a verse that comes to mind here… Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope
Rom 8:21 that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
The redemption of the body, the revealing of the “sons of God”, the liberty of the GLORY of the children of God… all these images speak of birth. This is the woman giving birth. Jesus told us that all the things we would see in those days were but birth pains… and the end had yet to come. What is the end of birth pains? Deliverance. But is this harpazo? I don’t think so because the church is still spoken of well afterward. But she does give birth. But who gets the “infant”? it is caught up to God and unto his throne (Rev 12:5 c) Those are also images we know of. Col 3:1 If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Eph 2:6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus: … I also want you to look at this: Col 3:3 For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (clothed in the Sun)
Col 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory. (Manifested may actually equal born) (when Christ shall be manifested… in us?)
Are we in our lives at this point truly seated in those heavenly places? No … our minds are more set on the world the flesh and all and not on God. But there comes a point where this does happen. This is that point. Eph 4:13 till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: To the point of maturity…. And yet this is birth. In Ephesians this is talking about the building up of the Body of Christ with gifts or aids or graces to help the growth along… This is a maturation/ gestation. This is the sense of terminology here. In one sense growth to adulthood and maturity and in another, gestation to a revelation. But she is not the only “thing in the sky” is she?

Rev 12:3 And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems.

The great red dragon who will be cast down faces her. She is travailing gestating living breathing and maturing in the direct presence of opposition and the oppose is the dragon the serpent of old. THIS is the ENMITY. Gen 3:15 and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Technically the seed mentioned is Jesus… and the heel bruise is the Cross. Also notice this is bruise not crush. The bruise denotes woundedness, weakness, defeat, loss of power. All these things are combined in the taking of the “kratos” or “dominion” from Satan directly. But as Jesus has defeated Satan so also must the Bride defeat Satan…. We are as He is… and short of the things which only pertain to the Godhead, we do what He did. (We don’t die for ourselves or save ourselves that pertains only to the Godhead and its position regarding the Elect.) He fought … we fight. He grew as a man… we grow… as a “man”. In the presence of our enemy. There in this opposition is the table spread and the oil and wine and cup runs over. All signifying the work of the Holy Spirit. This is the war and the race. All these images converge on her. Now this dragon has seven heads or headships and they are crowned. It also has ten horns or powers. It is the beast. How do I know look at the image. Rev 13:1 And he stood upon the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns, and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names of blasphemy.
Now the place that differs is the heads… the dragon has “diadems” and the beast has “names”. The key is in the word diadem also translated crown. But a diadem is not quite a crown. A crown is a badge of rule. A diadem is something bound about the head, like a crown would be but the difference is in the word itself. Strongs Greek #1238 diadēma From a compound of (1223 dia A primary preposition denoting the channel of an act; through (in very wide applications, local, causal or occasional). In composition it retains the same general import: – after, always, among, at, to avoid, because of (that), briefly, by, for (cause) . . . fore, from, in, by occasion of, of, by reason of, for sake, that, thereby, therefore, X though, through (-out), to, wherefore, with (-in). In composition it retains the same general import.) THE CHANNEL OF AN ACT THROUGH, and (1210 deō A primary verb; to bind (in various applications, literally or figuratively): – bind, be in bonds, knit, tie, wind.; a “diadem” (as bound about the head): – crown. Bound unto… a channel of an act through something bound onto. Now compared to stephanos this could be a writing like… names of blasphemy. Now blasphemy is an interesting thing. It is basically in this context titles belonging to the Holy Spirit. Of the Godhead the only one blasphemed whose blasphemy of is unforgivable is that of the Holy Spirit. So there would be seven names of Him on the dragon’s heads. These then quite possibly are the names: Isa 11:2 And the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Jehovah.
You see that concept of rest upon Him was in that it rested upon and in Jesus but quite literally it will “rest” UPON the heads of the DRAGON. But these are not the real Spirit but the titles. So it will look like Jesus but not be Jesus…. This is important. Blasphemy also is in ascribing to God that which is not His. The dragon is the “power” of the BEAST. The dragon’s Diadems are the Beast’s names. The Dragon is deposed and the Beast rises. See the connection? Back to the woman.

Rev 12:4 And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon standeth before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered he may devour her child.

In a very real sense this “woman” has been in the presence of the Dragon for a long time. He would be the roaring lion seek whom he may devour (1Pet 5:8) (Devil, Dragon, Serpent, Satan, Lion who devours souls; are all the same entity)

Rev 12:5 And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne.

This man child is the mature Body of Christ. This is not a harpazo but a sign. It is a spiritual event the same as the horsemen. This is the “he shall be My Son” manchild. Rev 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. This is that which overcomes. This is where the power comes in for the bride and yet she delivers and then…

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

Here also Jesus spoke of taking us to a “place prepared”… he would come again to take them to the “place prepared” In the wilderness. The word here for wilderness is Strongs Greek # 2048 erēmos Of uncertain affinity; lonesome, that is, (by implication) waste (usually as a noun,(5561 chōra Feminine of a derivative of the base of (5490 chasma From a form of an obsolete primary “chao” (to “gape” or “yawn”); a “chasm” or vacancy (impassable interval): – gulf.) through the idea of empty expanse; room, that is, a space of territory (more or less extensive; often including its inhabitants): – coast, county, fields, grounds, land, region. being implied): – desert, desolate, solitary, wilderness.
This matches the Hebrew concept of wilderness or place of desolation. In other words she is going into hiding. Now if there is a sudden moment in time wherein Christians start disappearing away in droves not to be found but neither are they in heaven then might that presuppose “rapture”? Once again we also have a time stamp. This tells us two events are happening at the same time. Because this time stamp matches Rev 11:3, the Martyrs who prophesy are doing so for 1260 days. The woman is nourished for 1260 days. They are together. This would mean that Apollyon is still around and maybe even the locusts. It also means the Beast is about to rise. This is the Church Purified in Persecution and Trial and Tribulations and Patience has had its “perfect work”

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels;
Rev 12:8 And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.

You see the transition? The Beast is defeated and there are the names… and his angels are cast down with him… there are your stars that the tail is dragging down. Notice the next statement.
Rev 12:10 And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and night.
Now is come salvation because the Accuser is cast down… but when the seventh trump blew we hears a different statement..: Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign forever and ever. It is in this immediacy of the Kingdom becoming of YHVH and His Christ that Salvation, power and the Kingdom and Authority of YHVH and His Christ comes….
This is a really twisted knot to unravel. I could be wrong but here is the way the test lays, in my humble estimation. The trump sounds and birth takes place…. These are both spiritual. The witnesses testify and the woman hides out and a temple is built. These are all events on Earth. The statements made come almost one on top of the other. If it does and I am right in what I see here then the statement come together or very nearly so. “, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign forever and ever. Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and night. ..”

Rev 12:11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.
Rev 12:12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea: because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time.
Rev 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man child.
Rev 12:14 And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Here’s the next clue of a possible harpazo. Wings of a great eagle…. Isa 40:31 but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.
Is this harpazo, rapture, or something much greater in a way? This might be a gloriously empowered church triumphant. This might be the invisible church separated from the visible church? Also we now know the identity of the times time and half and time… 1260 days! Why? Verse six told us the woman would flee to the place prepared to be nourished for 1260 days and the above verse shows the flight of the woman and reiterates the time stamp as time 1000, times 200, and half a time 60.

Rev 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream.
Rev 12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Rev 12:17 And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus:

Here again this may be spiritual it may be literal but it is the end of that confrontation and it is because of the fury the dragon has with the woman that he now turns the hose of the considerable anger on the “rest of her seed”. The rest of her seed is not apparently caught up to the throne but is now … on Earth? Who are these? They keep the commandments and have the testimony of Jesus (Spirit of Prophesy) They are also the ones who OVERCOME… Rev 12:11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death. The word testimony or marturia means these are martyrs in a sense, they are saved (Blood of the LAMB) the word of their testimony is the testimony of Jesus (Spirit of Prophesy) and loving not their lives to the death or resistant to blood. You see I told you even after all this there is the presence of the Church, possibly the visible church. So the beast/ dragon makes war on the saints… where is this also found? Daniel. In fact there is a lot on our nasty Beast in the seventh chapter. But these apply to our war. Dan 7:19 Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was diverse from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet;
Dan 7:20 and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows.
Dan 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;

It prevails against the saints…. The sanctified ones. This is not a part of Alexander the Great, the Ptolemy and Seleucid wars, or the Maccabees. That is clearly outlined but the images converge. In the same venue as an Alexander or an Antiochus or even a Hitler, is the Beast. Yet even though he prevails against the saints to kill them bodily they overcome him in resistance unto blood.

 

The Seventh Trump; The Last Trump of God Pt 1

Tags

Christ, God, last trump, revelation

Now this is just two of three and this is the sixth trumpet blast. Now come the “last trump” recorded in scripture.

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign forever and ever.

Look at this. The last trump brings out this declaration. In the King James it says Kingdoms but in the American Standard Version it’s kingdom. That word Basilea does not connote a plural use or a singular use but maybe more correctly is understood as realm of rule. In other words, the realm or nations or rule are now become… Also the way the scripture has it seems to add the words “the kingdom” of our LORD. Read like this: the realm of rule of the world is now become “of our LORD and His Christ” makes more sense. In other words this is a declaration of intent to set up dominion. Now contrast this please to the first horseman who sat astride his mighty white horse and has his weapon and possibly brandished it with much fuss and rode forth overcoming to overcome and this simple statement from “great voices” (or is it very loud voices?) in the heavens. Ouranos which is the Greek word used here (Strongs Greek #3772) literally means the sky, indicating elevation, so then from up on high in the sky this really loud statement rings out and there is no rider… no bow… no white horse.. not yet at any rate. Now this is interesting because we see this in the New Testament many times and in almost only one place; the Gospels. (Matt 3:17, Mk 1:11, Lk 3:22, Jn 12:28,) It does appear one in the book of Acts to Peter in his vision. (Acts 11:9) But for the most part this is God the Father bearing witness to His Son. This is God the Holy Spirit making the declarative announcement on behalf of the Father and the Son, note the language of our Lord AND His Christ or Messiah. You might just be able to juxtapose it this way, “of our LORD or YHVH and His Anointed One. However you look at it note one thing, Christ is NOT on Earth. But there will now come a pretender wont there?

Rev 11:16 And the four and twenty elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17 saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast; because thou hast taken thy great power, and didst reign.
Rev 11:18 And the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth.

“That destroy the Earth” One might think of this as industrialists and their waste or loggers deforesting or strip miners or litterbugs or illegal chemical dumping or the many manifold issues of this post industrial world we live in but you might be wrong. If you look on this book alone and see the destruction of ecosystems and land and sea with them, it is the UNREPENTANT ones who are the “destroyers of the Earth”, all this comes on them. It is time to destroy the destroyers of the Earth… It is quite possible where in this begins the “day of the wrath of God” but… the church is still here. So far beyond the taking up of the witnesses do you see any splitting of the Eastern Sky or harpezo or anything? I don’t.

Rev 11:19 And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven; and there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant; and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail.

Now can we see this or is this confined just to heaven itself? We can see however another earthquake to go along with the one that rocked and devastated one tenth of Jerusalem, and “great” or big hail. The lightening and thunder might mask “voices” from on high but suffice it to say another major storm has just hit.
I also want my readers to understand the vastness of this planet and what it can take and there would still be some form of civilization. In fact the whole mess might be confined in some ways and adjusted to in others. Does it not say that men remained UNREPENTANT?

A lot is happening in this last Trump so this will be in parts.

Trumps One and Two

Tags

blood, corintheans, eathquake, God, Jesus, mountain, revelation, sea, thessalonians, trumps

Now after the silence things heat up and speed up and get far worse than that first set of whatever you want to call it. To me its would appear to be declarations or the releases of the judgment cycle. From here till at least chapter fourteen its all about seven trumps. Now I want you all to keep in mind this: 1Th 4:13 But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, who have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first;
1Th 4:17 then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
And this:
1Co 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

Folks the last trump is the last trump. The word trump is Strongs Greek #4536 salpigx Perhaps from (#4535 salos Probably from the base of (#4525 sainō Akin to (#4579 seiō Apparently a primary verb; to rock (vibrate, properly sideways or to and fro), that is, (generally) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); figuratively to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern): – move, quake, shake.); to wag (as a dog its tail fawningly), that is, (generally) to shake (figuratively disturb): – move.) ; a vibration, that is, (specifically) billow: – wave. (through the idea of quavering or reverberation); a trumpet: – trump (-et).)

In Revelation the word used for trumpet is Strongs Greek# 4536 salpigx. So when it says last it quite literally means last trump. So now then if there is any harpezo, and scripture appears to indicate that there is, wherever in the last book we find both a last trump and a archangel shouting whatever is tied to those two things should be a form of this harpezo. But before that one sounds, there are six to endure. For what we most likely will be receiving may the LORD make us to be truly grateful for all He grants us.
Rev 8:7 And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

This come hard and fast and the impression is that it comes one right after the next to a stopping point. But let’s look at this. So far we have had economic destabilization and there is social unrest in response. Crime is sky high and there may not be a police force much to handle it all. In these conditions at least in this Nation of the USA we would be under Martial Law and a Military State would most likely occur in other nations where this is happening. Not to mention the massive and devastating Quake that has so shifted the planet so at to cause every mountain and island to move or flee out of known positions. We have lost one quarter of our population and it may be a global geopolitical mess. Now out of nowhere a rain of hail and fire mingled with blood that burns up one third of the trees and grass on the face of the planet. Do we recall the last thing that happened was an angel filled a censor with fire and flung to Earth? Now when we here in the USA think of hail we think of water pellets or large irregular balls of ice pelting. But this isn’t … ice, is it? Is it? I looked on the internet and found nothing (of course maybe my internet skills leave much to be desired) on the concept of what would cause hail with fire. My best educated guess is that this ice traps a flammable gas in formation that as it falls and friction melts it, there is a fiery ball and this is mingled with… blood. The effect is to cause out of control forest and grassland fires. But the effect of the loss of 1/3 our green vegetation and forests is to cause our air quality to plummet.

Rev 8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

Now we are getting somewhere. This of necessity would have to be the censor. The contents of the brazier have fallen now the burning censor as big as a mountain hits the sea. As it were a great mountain… as it were makes this simile. But the word for mountain is this:Strongs Greek #3735 oros Probably a from an obsolete word orō (to rise or “rear”; perhaps akin to G142; compare G3733); a mountain (as lifting itself above the plain): – hill, mount (-ain). Considering the words otherwise used it is a cross between something that lifts of bears away and something that rears up and flies away. It could actually look like censor which is not like the disc of a scale but rather like a stylize cup or pitcher with three chains on it. This was filled with file and flung. The stuff inside comes first then the item holding the stuff follows. There is clear evidence for this understanding.

Rev 8:9 and there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, even they that had life; and the third part of the ships was destroyed.

We now lose both one third of our marine aquatic sea life and one third of the ships in the area of the strike. This is clear evidence for a item cast into the midst of either the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. Now where these military ships or merchant ships? It doesn’t say but the cost of the ecological disasters is devastating. It could be a combination of both; either way the price of food is about to rise.

The Pause before Round Two

Tags

angel, antiochus, daniel, earth, God, high priest, judgement, mercy seat, revelation

Rev 8:1 And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

This is like taking the silent breath in and holding it for a moment. This is a poignant pause. We have seen significant happenings here. The sealing of the representative what have you from the tribes which in itself is its own mystery. How on Earth does anyone but God KNOW who these people are and from what lineages and whatever? Only God can do this. There is if you consider this to be like the curses of Deut chapt 28 a good reason for the pause, a time of grace unto repentance. Because when He continues the whole thing ramps up a considerable notch.
If we as believers are in this may we remember who has sent it and BE GRATEFUL.

Rev 8:2 And I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and there were given unto them seven trumpets.

This is the transition now to the next phase. Formerly we opened the scroll which will contain what? Prophesy Edicts or … could this be DANIEL’S REVELATION. Now I know we all can read the writings of Daniel who is not considered a prophet by Judaism because he did not preach. But he was told to SEAL it unto the time of the end. When we look at Daniel and at History leading from Alexander the Great through to Antiochus Epiphanes, a son of a Seleucid king who wound up be reared in Rome of all places, imbued with Roman culture and mythos and honoring Roman gods, not Seleucid or Macedonian/ Medo-Persian gods, who was extremely contemptible. But when we get to chapter twelve it’s almost as if someone stole out a page. Thus we have these verses which seem out of place with everything else. “Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” ,and “Dan 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end.” Ironically the texts involved seem to be dealing with the final pitched battle of Lucifer and Jesus as it were and the Great White Throne Judgment, or so it is called. That by the way doesn’t happen until after the millennia of rule and the second and final confrontation of Satan and God. Meanwhile the trumps are being distributed.

Rev 8:3 And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
Rev 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand.

Now in this piece of action there are images that converge on each other that call to specific images in the Old and New Testaments. I want to point out first the altar. When Mary discovers that the gardener at the tomb is her Lord she is excited to see Him and I would suppose she might have either tried to detain or to touch Him. He warns her off saying He had not as yet ascended to His Father. Later on He has no problem at all being touched. One the Cross He cries the Greek word “teleo”(Strongs Greek 5055) which can be translated among other things as either finished, executed, complete or paid (Jn 19:30) but is it really? Is the completion of all the work of atonement complete? On the Cross He has taken our place and received unto Himself the out poured wrath of the Father as the sacrifice offered up; but in Hebrews He is the High Priest and the High Priest annually does one thing; he brings the blood to the Mercy Seat.(Heb 9:7) We are told to come boldly to the Throne of Grace to receive mercy and obtain grace in time of need. (Heb 4:16) Can you see the connection here? Jesus had to still come before His God (also His Father) as HIGH PRIEST and pour out that blood or essence or whatever it was HE offered up before the Throne of Grace. You see our atonement is IN His SHED BLOOD and that blood was poured out onto the ground from the cross, and from the whipping post. In that the ground had been our “kinsman redeemer” and was thus cursed for our sakes when His blood hit it, it was cleansed, for He has become our “Kinsman Redeemer” for all time. This is but a few aspects of all that He did for us on the Cross.

Now then In the Earthly tabernacle the golden altar of Incense wherein prayer was made stood before the veil to the Holy of Holies wherein was the ARK. In my opinion it would appear that the Ark and the Throne are seen as one and the same. For us the Ark holds the representations of Christ as Priest King and Apostle/Prophet. In this verse we see the real altar of which the Earthly Tabernacle is but a representation. Interesting, no?
The next image is the angel who pours out incense and “prayers of the saints” this would have to be all the prayers from of all time quite possibly or it could be those who are in the persecution or have been persecuted over the centuries, but whatever prayers it is once its offered up the censor is refilled. You see the prayer incense thing went up before God from the Angel’s hand.

Rev 8:5 And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

What is being cast to Earth now is a response. One heavenly censor of unknown proportions full of fire… and here is thunder voices lightening and an earthquake… wait didn’t we just have a massive quake? Well its either an aftershock or another or it could be that in the economy of the book itself certain things tend to wrap together. It could be that this is the quake of the seals that is so devastating. I tend to doubt it but no one got the Incarnation right so how are we to know the actual real time truth of this book? All that is in this study could be nothing more than pure speculation. I hope there is revelation instead. My thought is that this could be aftershocks. Remember a Tectonic plate shift on a global scale will most certainly have aftershocks and then there is the matter of a censor from heaven manifested as (what?) hitting the Earth from whatever angle and its spilling fire. Oh now that will most certainly cause yet another round of shaking. Scripture sits silent as to the things the voices said.

Rev 8:6 And the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

Round two is about to commence.