Taking a closer look

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apocalypse, Craig, grace, Jesus, peace, seven, spirits, throne

I want to take a closer look at this greeting.

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne;
Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood;
Rev 1:6 and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Please note the order of who is blessing with Grace and Peace.  The one who is, who was, and who is to come…  We have always associated that with Jesus or at least I have always associated that with Jesus but then why does the next verse list Jesus by NAME?

That first person is The Father!  So then it is the Father and the next person is the Holy Spirit, in His represented form as the Seven Spirits before the Throne.  In Isaiah 11 we find this: 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.

If you look at the list you plainly see the Seven Spirits or what is also called the Seven Fold anointing that is upon Jesus who is the afore-mentioned shoot.

I would also like to introduce the Study Called Apocalypse by Dr Mary Craig on audio and will be embedding or linking to these audios shortly.

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Who He is

Tags

ancient, daniel, fire, hebrews, Jesus, John, son of man, spirit

Rev 22:6  And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angels to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass.

Rev 22:7  And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.

To keep these words, to keep them within Holy Writ is one aspect and to obey them is another. In the letters to the churches there is much said about spiritual conditions and what He expects of His own. It is also keeping to read this book and to pray about its content regularly especially in light of things as they are today.

Rev 22:8  And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things.

Rev 22:9  And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book: worship God.

Rev 22:10  And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:11  He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still.

In Daniel we read at the end of it these words.

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.

Now we read that John is NOT to seal this book.  We have through this study seen the intertwining of both Daniel and Revelation. We also know that time is different between us and God.

2Pe 3:8  But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

He may perhaps come on the Third Day but for us from the time of His ascension it would pass as at least three thousand years.  In this time the growth of souls added to the church has been great but here at the twenty first century the great falling away has been in some swing for some time.  For indeed you cannot love the “world system” and love the LAMB. They are incompatible.

Rev 22:12  Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his work is.

This statement is the benchmark of God’s thought.  In the Old and New Testaments He says this.

Isa 59:18  According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense.

Jer 25:14  For many nations and great kings shall make bondmen of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.

In the New Testament He says:

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.

In light of this statement we all ought to be considering our ways and whether or not we have put Christ and His Kingdom and righteousness first and lived in accordance with His will or not.  Now is the hour to make things right.

Rev 22:13  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to come to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.

This washing of the robes is not only in martyrdom but in the Blood of Jesus in salvation and obedience to His will and trusting for the end redemption of the body and the life.

Rev 22:15  Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie.

Notice that the presence of sin has not left.  But we are in the city and they are not and are not allowed.  Now I have no answer for this.  However we see that He removes us from the dominion of sin and removes from us the ravages and stains of sins, in our hearts and minds that have been renewed by the washing of water with the Word and finally our bodies are redeemed and we are removed from the presence of sin entirely.  But without that place where God chooses to have a sinless environ, sin remains, or so it would seem.

Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.

All through this book we have seen the various aspects of Who Jesus is.   This is a direct correlation to Isaiah.  Isa 11:10  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting-place shall be glorious.

 

Rev 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely.

Rev 22:18  I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book:

Rev 22:19  and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

This is a warning to the scribes.  In this time letters like these were copied over and over again and this solemn warning ensures the entirety of the document and its contents.  But in keeping to this, I am doing my best to cover the whole book in these blogs.   I would recommend others that take on this book observe to do so as well.

Rev 22:20  He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.

Rev 22:21  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen.

Now I had decided it best to finish in this manner by wrapping around from the closing of the book back to its opening.  Because we see Jesus and who He is in both parts.

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John;

Rev 1:2  who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Here again is the blessing conferred to those who read and keep what is written as in keeping in mind that this is the last chapter and the culmination of how we come into our inheritance.  In the Gospels so much was said about the inheritance of the Kingdom and we who serve being good servants that we might enter into the Joy of our LORD.  In writing that the time was “at hand” many over the years have considered that the events would take place in a very short few years.  Unfortunately we have missed the point that it is from God’s perspective and not ours that this “time is at hand”.  When Christ entered into time and space as the Word made flesh the End Days countdown began.  Now which is the exact moment of time where in God the Father sets the start point is not known.  It is not to be known for the whole point is the attitudinal change of the heart, and the idea of consistency for the whole of the life lived on this Earth. Because we do NOT know the exact day we must stay vigilant. We do understand that like a thief in the night the time of these events will suddenly come.  Right now this writer is facing financial distresses that have her quite perplexed even somewhat upset. But if I for one moment think this is bad, I must concede that the events to come are far worse than I could ever imagine and people are still alive even in the midst of all that!  But we are to be found serving in obedience to whatever the Lord has us at task doing.  Consider that a thief in the night is not announcing or calling ahead but is sneaking in subtly and quietly with no fanfare.  So then vigilance to watch in the dark is needed if one suspects a thief may come. Moreover as I have mentioned earlier what is but one day to God is one thousand years to us.  So for God shortly is just that… shortly, but for us the generations drag on by.  We lose sight of it and should long for the day of our inheritance to come.  This is the blessing of reading this book.  It reminds us that He will come again and He will remember us and the PROMISE of the Glorification of the body and resurrection of the dead will come.  The blessing is the strengthening of hope and the relighting of a fire to do His will while we yet live.

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits that are before his throne;

Rev 1:5  and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood;

Rev 1:6  and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Rev 1:7  Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, Amen.

Here we see evidence of the Trinity.  The Seven Spirits before God are also spoken of in Isaiah by name.

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.

Each of these is the aspect of the Holy Spirit who is apparently seen as seven spirits before God.  We know that things in heaven are not the same as on Earth.

We have the mention of the Father whose priests the Son has made us to be.  Also we see in this book what Paul talked about in His epistles that Jesus would come again with the clouds.

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.

Rev 1:8  I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Rev 1:9  I John, your brother and partaker with you in tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

Here is the story as it unfolds as to how John the Apostle acquires the vision.  Note that this is the only vision that is actually accepted in the New Testament as part of the Canon of Scripture. Based on the long standing understanding of the works of the Prophets of the Old Testament this book was allowed to remain within canon to this day.

Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet

Note that it came in the time of worship.  John was in worship …. In the Spirit on the Day the Lord set aside for worship.

Rev 1:11  saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Rev 1:12  And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks;

Rev 1:13  and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle.

Rev 1:14  And his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Rev 1:15  and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters.

(This is still talking about one person and that is Jesus.)

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

Rev 1:17  And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last,

Rev 1:18  and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Rev 1:19  Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter;

Rev 1:20  the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks are seven churches.

This is the revelation of Jesus as He is now.  In all this time He is still in this manner and we find evidence of it in Daniel. But this may not be the same person.

Dan 7:9  I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire.

Dan 7:10  A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

This is not Jesus but The Father.  This is the great white throne judgment of the dead in sin. We found this in the twentieth chapter of Revelation.

But this is the LAMB

Dan 7:13  I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

Dan 7:14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

I am struck by that the Ancient of Days in Daniel has the same look as the “one like unto a son of man” does in John’s revelation.

How is this possible?   I am immediately drawn to Jesus and Hebrews.

When asked to see the Father what did Jesus say? Joh 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and dost thou not know me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father?

In Hebrews of Jesus it says: Heb 1:3  who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

In this book we see the Revelation of Jesus as Lord of the Church as Lord of Lords as the King of the Kings of the Earth. He who will come and repay the evil that has been done to His own, Himself.  We see the pattern through which it will take place.  We see that He is control of every part of this and should in our personal lives, as this writer is struggling to do right now, that He is ultimately in control of our lives as we yield to and listen to and obey Him, He will lead us.  We will live and not die.

Timing Part One

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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.

The Rise of the Beasts.

Tags

Alexander, beast, breath, buy. sell, daniel, devil, dragon, image, Jesus, LAMB, mark

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.

In Rev 12:7-9 we see this: 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.

We have heard the declaration about salvation. There might also be a declaration of how he is overcome but listen to this last: 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.

Woe for or to the Earth and Sea…  this is a very ticked off Dragon/Devil/Serpent of Old/antichrist. This is not a benevolent dictator although he/she/it will most certainly play the part with consummate perfection.  For it is true that if you want votes you not only have to make promises you fulfill but you also have to win the hearts of the masses over.  As to the head wound, looks like some lucky angel maybe even Michael himself got in a good punch. This is a switchout of sorts.  This is the Dragon fallen and the Beast rising. This is the connection. Rev 13:4  and they worshipped the dragon, because he gave his authority unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? And who is able to war with him?  In this translation of the ASV the right word is used: authority.  The Greek word is exousia which means delegated power or authority.  Delegated….  The Dragon is spiritual but the Beast is physical.  Now watch this.  Just as the Holy Spirit indwelt Jesus so does the Dragon indwell the Beast.  This authority is the power and permission to use the power as delegated and commissioned by the indwelling one, and that’s all there is to it.

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

Now we have seen these animals before in Daniel.  In fact Daniel has seen this beast … sort of.  In the order they appear in this beast let’s look at Daniel’s understanding of these animals. The Leopard.   7:6  After this I beheld, and, lo, another, like a leopard which had upon its back four wings of a bird; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. This is the four headed leopard of the division of Alexander the Great’s land holdings or conquered nations as he died without declaring his successor. The body of our beast is that of the leopard representing the Grecian influence colored by possibly the Persian empire.  Wikipedia tells us that: “The species’ success in the wild is in part due to its opportunistic hunting behavior, its adaptability to habitats, its ability to run at speeds approaching 58 kilometres per hour (36 mph), its unequaled ability to climb trees even when carrying a heavy carcass, and its notorious ability for stealth. The leopard consumes virtually any animal that it can hunt down and catch… Leopards are agile and stealthy predators”  It’s a fast opportunistic hunter that isn’t picky about its diet.  It is a carnivore a predator a hunter and agile or cunning and stealthy or secretive.  Do you get the picture here?  This is how it looks, it blends, it consumes, it is a hunter,  it’s like a roaring lion seeking something to devour.  The Bear.   Dan 7:5  And, behold, another beast, a second, like to a bear; and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.

This is Persia.  The Persian law was unrelenting and its princes could be quite cruel.  Persian Kings could “do as they pleased” and the Princes were quite possibly elected for life.  There was also a lot of political maneuvering in these courts.  The father of Xerxes, Cambyses was quite the despot. So we see the despotic rule of the bear; in its goings about and, because we are talking animals with paws, then also in its doings.  This is how the government was, Despotic, harsh, absolute and possibly capricious in nature. The bear is known for force and strength and some agility.  Bears are said to have tremendous physical presence and charisma which would be important as the beast goes about setting up government.

The Lion.  Perhaps the most important feature of the Beast is the mouth of the Lion.  In Scripture almost always the Lion is the symbol of Messianic Rule. But in Daniel we find the lion as well. Dan 7:4  The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man; and a man’s heart was given to it. This would be the ensign of Babylon, but the plucking of the wings means conquering. The lifting up and giving of the heart of a man and being made to stand like a man, actually, reduces the Lion.  But in a rather twisted manner it could be construed almost as Messianic in its own right.  Too bad this was representative of Nebuchadnezzar. He lost his kingdom to God for a period of time and gained the perspective of the fear of the LORD and thus do we see the change from mere animal to thinking man, God fearing and thinking man.

However as I have previously said the Lion figures in Messianic understanding almost exclusively. It is said of the One who opens the seals on the scroll… Rev 5:5  and one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not; behold, the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book and the seven seals thereof.  The reference to the Root of David would be also of Jesse his father for a “Root” can be a son or descendant. Isa 11:10  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples, unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting-place shall be glorious.

The “Root” here is Jesus.  David never stood as an ensign for the peoples.  However Solomon was one whom  the nations sought but it is Jesus whom the Nations seek whose resting place is all glorious.  Both the terms Lion and LAMB are used in Revelation. Rev 5:6  And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.  In the previous verse He had been described as the Lion of Judah.  Hence the speech or the rhetoric will sound Messianic. In fact He will pass Himself off as Messiah, in so far as it concerns the believers. This is what the mouth is saying, this is the message of the Beast.  “I am come to set up my Kingdom, come join me.” In fact this BEAST will pass himself as the “salvation and way to heaven” for all the religions of man. However our concern is that amongst these he will be passing himself off as Our Christ.  Here is that statement of “if it is possible he would deceive the Very Elect”(Matt 24:24, Mk13:22) But for all this there is a wound.

Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as though it had been smitten unto death; and his death-stroke was healed: and the whole earth wondered after the beast;

Could this be the work of the atonement? (“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.” Gen 3:15) Could this the felling stroke of Michael the Archangel?  In the Hebrew we come up with an interesting tie into the Genesis verse.  It comes in the form of the word for bruise. Strongs Hebrew # 7779  shûph  A primitive root; properly to gape, that is, snap at; figuratively to overwhelm: – break, bruise, cover. Now this could be an appearance of a death stroke healed.  And the WHOLE EARTH… wonders or is in admiration of the fact that the “wound” healed.

Rev 13:4  and they worshipped the dragon, because he gave his authority unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? And who is able to war with him?

Herein is a blasphemy.  For it is supposed to be said of the LAMB…  Mal_3:2  But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap:

Rev 6:16  and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

Rev 6:17  for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand?

There is One who is able to stand and to war with the Beast.  That One is the LAMB.

Rev 13:5  and there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and there was given to him authority to continue forty and two months.

42 months or 1260 days… If you divide 1260 by 30 you get 42.  Please understand though that this is a 30/31 day scenario so it’s roughly 42 months. If you divide 42 by 12 you get 3.5 hence the concept is proven by math to be roughly three and one half years.  So then it is quite possible that the witnesses are there the leader of the “bugs” is the one who kills them meanwhile the Beast is hunting down the remnant of “her seed” the saints. Meanwhile “she” is in the “place prepared” being “nourished”.  Because we see these images in this grouping we understand that all this is happening during this portion of time.  All during this time our beast is speaking great blasphemies.  Now at some point a great bible search would be to find bible wide all the scriptures that have “time, times and half a time” in them and see what they say.  In the Diasporas it was not three and half years it was seventy, for the land to rest fallow for the Shabbats it lost. Then there is the   Seventy  years of prophecy.  Sixty two are accomplished which includes the time of Jesus Christ. There is one last seven weeks or years, for in the numbers God uses seven is the number, supposedly, of perfection.  Most all this you will find in Daniel.  You will also find a seven year treaty of peace with Israel and all the surrounding land… a treaty that is broken in middle of the years.  Now the exact ramification may be spelled out or they may be implied and this may be where eschatologists begin to fancy themselves as knowledgeable.  For the purposes of this however, if it not spelled out then we don’t want to make unsound predictions. (Dan 9:24-27 see Timing link)

Rev 13:6  And he opened his mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, even them that dwell in the heaven.

Now this is the way the blasphemy is being done.  The Name, The Tabernacle, and the “Citizens” One has to realize what is meant by Blaspheme.  To blaspheme in the Greek is to defame or to slander the character or person or name of someone or rather to also take the fame and denigrate the Name of God and His Tabernacle and His “people” by making himself out to be the “real deal”.

Rev 13:7  And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation.

In fact this is purportedly the proof that the “evil righteous” are not supported by God.  But remember they actually OVERCOME him.  “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.”  So his overcoming is to eliminate them but their overcoming is to be forever out of his reach. After all are we to fear him who can end our physical life or Him who do that and consign us to hell?(Matt 10:28) You see the flesh has this notion of physical prosperity and or being physically in a place of peace and safety.  This type of life has been proven to make one become cold and aloof and distant from God and thus it is in the fire of persecution with an understanding that it is not our physical lives that matter but the estate of the spirit and the Holy Spirit’s freedom within us to live act and be, that matters to God the most.  That is “setting the eye on things spiritual”.

Rev 13:8  And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain.

Everyone whose name is NOT WRITTEN in the book of life of the LAMB, meaning those who are not born again, those who are not filled with the Holy Spirit, to whom the Blood of the LAMB has not been applied and of whom it is safe to say, they are NOT ELECT. Seeing as they serve Satan in serving only themselves no matter how philanthropic or noble or heroic, at the end of the day they are self serving or self deceived.  Either way they are serving the Adversary and will fall in line with the Beast because their flesh calls them to it.  You see either we serve the Holy Spirit by the crucifixion of the flesh with its passions and lusts(Gal 5:24) or we are slaves to it. We are remanded not to live according to the flesh but by the Holy Spirit. So then is it any wonder that those not in the Lamb’s book are worshipping the Beast?

The next verse is an alert to these two.  This Beast is given permission to make war with the saints in an attempt to deceive and overcome them. If you are destined to be caught or killed you will be caught or killed.

Rev 13:9  If any man hath an ear, let him hear.

Rev 13:10  If any man is for captivity, into captivity he goeth: if any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

The patience of the saints is in that they are purified through the tribulations of these trying times. You see patience has a perfect work of maturation so that the saint is perfect, complete, entire and lacking nothing.(Jas 1:4) However as if this first beast rising as the Dragon falls is not bad enough there is a second and this one is much scarier.  You be the judge, is this the apostate church?

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.

Two horns like a Lamb or a RAM.  The Ram was the dedicatory function of the lamb.  Whereas a young LAMB would be offered for sacrifices like Passover, the Ram was used as a dedicatory for the priesthood.  Moses’ brother Aaron and his sons used the blood of the ram as the dedicatory animal (dedication to service) on the day when the Tabernacle first opened.  Horn denote power might ability militarily or magically or spiritually.  This is spiritual. So the appearance mimics the LAMB but the mouth doesn’t match the WORD.  No indeed its “dragon speak”, and what does the Dragon speak? “Rev 13:5  and there was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies;…” , blasphemies.  But while the Beast from the sea gets his power from the Dragon, and everyone knows it; this Beast from the Earth exercises all kinds of authority in the sight of the Beast from the sea.  What is going on here?!

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.

To exercise all the authority of the first beast in the sight of the beast, smacks of the works of the Believers in the “sight or presence” of the Lord. One gets this authority or empowerment from the “presence” of the Lord and miracles happen but it is the LORD not the Dragon.  Unfortunately mankind is going more and more to the wrong source to be empowered to go beyond themselves so when this day comes it will be no surprise. The calling down of fire from heaven may be like the days of Elijah of old who called down fire from heaven or it may be manmade “fire” from the “heavens” it is debatable which the writer is intending here but there is a point; “as in the days of Elijah” will take on a whole new meaning.  These action and the certain subsequent “teaching and or preaching” of the Second Beast causes all those who are susceptible to the effects of these miracles and wonders to perceive the first Beast as GOD, so they worship.  Then the second beast tells the humanity to make an image of the first beast.  Is it a statue or a computer generated thing? How it’s done is unclear but that it’s done harkens back to Nebuchadnezzar and his great statue.  Will they be animating something here?  Somehow it appears to be animated. it is the people that he gets to build the “image”.  He does this by deception.  Deception, we are warned that if we get involved in this “beast” we could be “deceived” (if it is possible… where is discernment?)  But how is this beast so successful. The first beast is given permission to persecute the Saints (Christians) and the second gets permission from the first and yet is able to deceive?

2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, touching the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him;
2Th 2:2 to the end that ye be not quickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be troubled, either by spirit, or by word, or by epistle as from us, as that the day of the Lord is just at hand;
2Th 2:3 let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition,
2Th 2:4 he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season.
2Th 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.
2Th 2:8 And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming;
2Th 2:9 even he, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

What you need to understand is the Personage that is sending this delusion…  that is not restraining the error.  That Personage is God Himself.  This is how the second Beast manages to be so successful.  The mind of the masses is receptive and willing to believe, because God has made it so.

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.

Here’s the thing EVERYONE KNOWS it’s an image … right?  Is breathing into it some form of enchantment or technology?  I have no answer as of yet myself. In that everyone is worshiping the Beast himself why wouldn’t they also worship an image of him?

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.

Rev 13:18  Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred and sixty and six.

For the longest time I have supposed that the beast who rises from the sea was the one behind the economy of the mark.  Turns out I was wrong.  Everything above me is about the beast who rises from the earth.  The one with horns or power or is of two halves, but looks like the LAMB and speaks like the DRAGON.  Horns of a ram, we find them in Daniel and ram that is raging to the right and the left with none to withstand it until the goat enters.  The ram in that image is the medo-persian empire.  So then horns, denotes split power or governing.  If indeed this horned Lamb represents a fallen apostate church then it represents a fallen apostate Jew and Gentile union.  You see, the Jew and Gentile in Christendom are united in Christ, but here they are united under the beast from the sea.

In all this display what we need to realize is that the issue here is SOURCE. What is the SOURCE of the power?  TO who are the masses going for power? Certainly not the LAMB.  Also you see a lot of chicanery and trickery but perhaps nothing truly genuine. So then the Dragon or Satan who is more powerful than a mere human is has begun to the stand out and make his stance against Jesus Christ by slowly displaying himself AS CHRIST.  Is there any reason why the LAMB should not be truly furious and His wrath not be massive?

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.

 

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 Seals: Seal One

Tags

antichrist, conquer, Jesus, overcome, realm, revelation, serpent, spirit, white horse

Rev 6:1  And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, Come. 

Rev 6:2  And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow; and there was given unto him a crown: and he came forth conquering, and to conquer. 
Is this a literal horse and rider?  Maybe.  It is spiritual? Maybe.  Is it Allegorical?  No.  We are not dealing with myths but events and some we can see from an Earthly perspective and some we cannot.  But the two perspectives of the Spirit realm and the Earthly realm are connected and interacted upon and interacting with one another at various points.

This book is a VISION.  The events unfold in a certain order and every character, if you will, is clearly introduced and takes their place within the unfolding of events as they occur.

So this is, part of the vision  Let’s take a closer look at this image, maybe it has been used before.  Here is where Scripture needs to interpret Scripture.

A white horse.  The horse in Scripture came to the Conqueror.  Ironically there is no English mention of a WHITE HORSE in any other place save one; Rev 19:11 has the other White Horse and the name of its rider is “Faithful and True”

Rev_3:14  And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: 

Witness in the Greek is not the one who testified or went door to door witnessing.  (Strongs Greek # 3144 martus Of uncertain affinity; a witness (literally [judicially] or figuratively [generally]); by analogy a “martyr”: – martyr, record, witness.)  Now let’s replay that verse the faithful and true MARTYR, for what He believed He gave up His life willingly as a Martyr for His own Testimony, as it were.  In that this is one of the Letters from Jesus to the Churches the identity of the 19th chapter rider is NOT IN QUESTION.  This is Jesus.

So who then would the 6th chapter rider be?  He is coming out conquering and to conquer. But the Greek word Nikaos (to subdue) is used twice.  Look at this in the Literal translation.
Rev 6:2 And I saw, and behold, a white horse! And the one sitting on it had a bow. And a crown was given to him, and he went out overcoming, and that he might overcome.
Now this is a cause and effect.  Lets look a little closer at this image.   First off the crown was given to this rider.  So this is delegated authority unlike both Jesus and Anti-Christ or the Beast who have a right to rule on their own. Jesus as God the Son has all the Power and the Beast is permitted to exercise power for a short time.  But this rider is neither Jesus whose mouth is a sharp Sword or the Beast who has no weapons at all.  No this rider represents THREAT.  This rider is going to kick start a series of attitudes among those who are not in Christ.

Eph 2:2 states, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

Is this our rider?  One might think so but this Prince is already at work even in the world of this writer.  For the first verse tells us that we were once dead in our Trespasses and Sins.  It is these that we walked in and it is these that the Prince of the power of the air already uses.  It is these that the course of this world follows.  But another word for all this might also be Lawlessness.  Now we do have the Mystery of  Lawlessness.  2 Thess 2:7 states, For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way.  Now in the previous verses it talks about the revealing of the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction and that is Anti-Christ.  That is an actual personage whose number is 666.  But the mystery of Lawlessness the working of Satan as an influencer is not off the table of suspects for who our rider is.  What our rider seems to encourage results in war.  So the lawless attitude that is already prevalent in humanity today simply gets amplified.

This is the Evil day having its way with us and when that happens we simply STAND.

Eph 6:13 states, Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  We dont fight back, we dont get even, though this rider comes to overcome or subjugate.  To cause the already rife desire to rise up against uncomfortable rule in insurrection, anarchy, rebellion, as so many revolutions have done before and so many since this is the threat that hasnt the power to create permanent change.  Lawlessness only causes temporary change ups and stirs the pot so to speak.  This is our first rider.  In response to this overcoming we simply stand.