Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. (Revelation 1: 3)
These divinely authorized words of blessing were pronounced over nineteen hundred years ago and they were recorded for the benefit of the whole Christian Church in the Revelation, the last book of the Bible. Yet, sad to say, even at this critical period in earth's history, few believers really study the book of Revelation, let alone keep those things which are written therein.
Why?
Because the Revelation is considered by many to be a closed book, a mystery book, a book of riddles and bewildering symbols which cannot possibly be understood by the average believer. The result is, the book is left unopened by the majority in the church.
Others, who profess to have studied its pages, contend that the book is of little practical value to the committed Christian awaiting the Secret Rapture. Why? Because most of the events it foretells, they believe, are going to occur after the main body of the church has been caught away to heaven. In other words, the book need not concern true believers because they will not be on earth when the events it predicts come to pass. References in the Revelation to God's people, they maintain, concern the Jews and perhaps a few Gentile converts who have, for some reason or the other, missed the Rapture. But it does not concern the great multitude of believers from all over the world who acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Believe it or not, these are the popular opinions many Christians hold about the book of Revelation. And so widespread are their views that multitudes of believers know little or nothing about this greatest of Bible prophecies. But, are their opinions correct? Is the Revelation a mystery book of little value to the Gentile believer today? Does it have a message for you - for me?
A Voice In The Wilderness considers it an inestimable privilege to place this booklet in your hands; for we believe that the message of the Revelation was given by the Almighty to His church to be understood. And it is insulting God's sense of judgment to suggest that the book cannot be understood. The very word 'revelation' means 'that which is revealed, made plain or disclosed.' The title of the book 'The Revelation,' in other words, is the very antithesis of mystery; so how can anyone sensibly claim that it cannot be understood?
The book, we further, believe, has been given to the church as a warning message; for God wants His people to prepare themselves for the stormy future that lies ahead. For, believe it or not, the church is not going to be secretly caught away to heaven before the Great Tribulation. Any believer, therefore, who persistently ignores God's warning message, is courting disaster!
On the other hand, those who diligently study the book of Revelation, allowing the Scriptures to interpret themselves, will soon understand the prophecy. To their amazement and delight they will come to find that they are in possession of a spiritual survey map which charts the future of humanity with awesome accuracy. Instead of the fear and uncertainty which characterises the people of this world, they will have the confidence and hope that belong to the enlightened people of God.
SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE
The book of Revelation is written mostly
in symbolic language. This, admittedly, does seem
daunting at first, but once the reader becomes acquainted with
symbolic language and learns how to interpret it, by comparing
scripture with scripture, the Revelation becomes a veritable
storehouse of information about the future of mankind. A symbol
is something which represents or stands for something else. Examples
of symbols used in the Revelation are:
Symbolic language is used throughout the Bible but more so in the prophetic books. The parables of Jesus are also good examples of how symbolic or figurative language is used to illustrate and explain spiritual realities. When interpreting the Revelation, therefore, it is important to first establish if the language used is literal or symbolic, or a mixture of both. Utmost caution should be exercised here; because if a symbol is incorrectly taken in a literal sense, confusion will result. Similarly, if a literal object or element is mistakenly treated as a symbol, an equally warped picture of the future will emerge and the reader will not be prepared for the reality of last day events when they occur.
Bear in mind also that the Revelation is a prophetic warning message given by the Almighty to the church so that all believers may prepare themselves for the final events due to occur on earth. For the plain truth is this, JEHOVAH (Yahweh) the God of Israel wants His people to be ready for the last days. He wants every member of His church to have a clear understanding of what is going to happen just before His Son YESHUA (Jesus) returns. He wants us all to know what He is doing and what He is going to allow Satan to do. The Almighty does not want us to be terrified of the future, but to be patiently confident amidst the total confusion which is going to reign when this present civilization collapses in ruins about us. For even though Yahweh is going to protect His obedient followers in those difficult days, He still wants them to know about future events before they actually occur. The Revelation is, in short, another example of that divine trait whereby
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)
Yes, it is God's will that all His church know of the future; and not only that we know what to expect, but that we come into line with His will soon, so that we may be accounted worthy to escape punishment.
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.(Luke 21:36)
Make no mistake, an understanding of the will of the Almighty God as outlined in the Revelation will be of utmost value and importance in the very last days. Indeed, your life and the lives of your family could well depend on it. Remaining wilfully ignorant is a fatal mistake. The Almighty says in Hosea 4:6.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee…
Oh, how true that statement is going
to prove with this end-time generation; a generation woefully
and wilfully ignorant of the truth, yet so eager to believe any
and everything but the Word of the Almighty God.
THE SEVEN CHURCHES
The Revelation begins with the prophet
seeing a vision of Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) the
Son of God, walking amidst seven candlesticks. A candlestick is
a symbol of a church group from which the light of God's truth shines.
… and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. (Rev. 1:20)
Seven is the number which represents wholeness, completeness and totality. The messages to the seven churches therefore are for the whole church, the entire body of believers, Jew and Gentile alike, in all ages. It is a mistake to think that most of the messages to the seven churches apply to the church in past ages; or that this or that church group is the Smyrna church, the Laodicean church, the Philadelphian church etc. For the fact is that in every church group in all ages, there were - and still are - individuals to whom one or more of the seven messages apply.
You may be sure that even in your own congregation there is the Laodicean believer who is in danger of being 'spewed out' by God. There is also the Smyrna group who are enduring great suffering for their Lord. There are those who classify themselves as 'Jews' (true believers) but who are not; and there are those who have not denied the Master's name. Yes, almost every type of believer is present in the average-sized church group. This is as true in our day as it was in the past. The letters to the seven churches, in other words, are for your church group and mine.
It is not the purpose of this booklet, however, to explain the letters to the seven churches; because with prayerful study most believers can arrive at a good understanding of those messages by themselves. Instead, in this booklet our aim is to briefly outline and explain the prophecy of the Seven Seals which is introduced in Revelation chapter four.
Revelation Chapter Four
This chapter begins with the prophet seeing a vision of the Almighty seated on His throne. In Jehovah's (Yahweh's) right hand the prophet sees a scroll which is sealed with seven seals. The only one in the universe who is qualified to open the sealed scroll is Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God). He is symbolized as the Lamb of God (John 1:29). The heavenly hosts around the Almighty's throne rejoice at the fact that at last someone has been found worthy to open the scroll and tell its contents. From this we may infer that the angelic host are intensely eager to learn about the future of those things which must shortly come to pass. Oh that the church on earth would display a similar interest in the sealed scroll and the future of humanity. It is true, multitudes are apparently interested in the future, because great sums of money are spent each week by people who consult witches, fortune tellers, astrologers and mystics of every shade and type; but how few, by comparison, consult the Word of God or study the prophecies in order to find out what the Almighty says about the future? How very few!
We trust that when you have thoroughly studied this booklet, you will have taken a great step forward in understanding what the real future holds in store for humanity at large and for yourself in particular. And though the knowledge of it may initially fill you with dread, you may be sure that if you place your trust in the Almighty and do His will, your fears will gradually give way to a growing sense of confidence, a confidence that will stand you in good stead when the terrors of the last days begin to occur in your neighbourhood.
THE FIRST SEAL
And I saw, and behold, a white
horse; and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given
unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer.
(Rev. 6:2)
Here we are shown the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the White Horse. The rider on the white horse carries a bow and goes forth conquering and to conquer. This means that he is victorious and invincible; nothing can halt his advance. Before we explain what the white horse represents, let us first draw the reader's attention to the FIRST CLUE to understanding Bible prophecy. It is comparing scripture with scripture: of letting the Bible interpret itself; of searching for the meaning of one obscure passage in another part of the Bible which describes the same subject or event in a simplified way.
It is perfectly obvious that there is only one future, and it follows that no matter how many Bible prophecies there may be concerning the future, they cannot contradict each other and still all be correct. Therefore, if one prophet describes the future in symbolic language in one book, and another tells of the same future in another part of the scriptures in simple language, a comparison of one scripture with the other will obviously direct us to the real meaning.
To help us understand the symbolic language of the Revelation we will first consider another Bible prophecy describing the same end-time scenes in simple language. The prophecy we will look at is our Lord's famous Olivet prophecy recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. In that prophecy the Master spoke of the end-time, the period in earth's history which occurs just prior to his return to earth. The Olivet prophecy is in plain language with a minimum of symbolic references. The order of events in the Savior's plain language prediction, therefore, ought to be similar to those described in symbolic language in the Revelation, for both prophecies deal with the same events in the last days. When we examine the two prophecies side by side, that is exactly what we find. One complements the other, explains and fills in details which the other lacks: and together they provide us with a detailed picture of the world's future as it will occur just before the Master returns to earth.
Using this method of allowing one scripture to interpret another, we find that the white horse of Revelation 6 corresponds with the Savior's warning message in Matthew 24.4-5
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
This is plainly a WARNING message: Take heed! says the Master. The vast majority of Bible prophecies are in a sense warning messages, given by the Almighty to warn people of approaching punishment or danger. In order to warn effectively, a prophet must do at least two things:
This is what the Master is doing in Matthew 24.4.
He is opening his truth-filled warning message with the words 'Take heed!' and he closes by pointing to a way of escape. The prophecy of the Seven Seals is no different; for, like the great prophecy in Matthew 24, it begins with a truth-filled warning message symbolized by the invincible rider on the white horse and goes on to point to a way of escape.
The color white represents purity and truth. (Isaiah 1:18, Rev. 19:8) The rider on the white horse corresponds to the Messiah's truth-filled, warning message of 'take heed' in Matthew 24.4. This rider symbolizes God's Invincible Truth, which by its very existence warns us to beware (take heed) of deception and counterfeit in the church: the counterfeit baptism of the Holy Spirit, the counterfeit Sabbaths being celebrated by believers, the counterfeit messiah that is shortly to arrive on the world scene and the counterfeit Bibles which are currently being foisted on unsuspecting Christendom.
The rider on the white horse is even now galloping across the globe and there is no power in the universe that can check his advance. Yahweh's Truth is currently demolishing the strongholds of human ignorance and error and there is scarcely a country on earth where the light of the gospel has not begun to shine. People may, of course, choose not to believe God's Truth, but there is absolutely no way any person or government can stop its advance. Yes, the events under the first seal have already begun.
THE SECOND SEAL
And there went out another horse
that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take
peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and
there was given unto him a great sword. (Rev. 6:4)
In this seal the symbolic language used is almost self explanatory. The rider on the red horse, we are told, was 'given a great sword' and power was given to him to 'take peace from the earth.' Clearly this rider represents bloodshed and war; for red is the color of blood and a sword is the universally accepted symbol of war. And that is exactly how the Master put it when he followed his take heed warning with:
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. (Matt. 24:7)
One doesn't need great spiritual insight to recognize in this verse a picture of our day. Violence, bloodshed, revolution and international turmoil are now commonplace and global war is a constant threat. The world, it seems, is glutting itself on an ever-increasing diet of violence, carnage and death; with each blood-bath being dwarfed by the enormity of the next. Read any daily newspaper, switch to any radio or TV station and the same, sad catalogue of violence and bloodshed fills the news. And always, above and behind it all, there lurks that fearful spectre of a nuclear war - a war which could well nigh obliterate life from this planet.
What's more, all the efforts of world leaders, politicians, economists, scientists and even the theologians of all the faiths, cannot stem the tide of slaughter which is threatening to engulf mankind. Nothing, it seems, anyone can say or do can prevent the on-coming holocaust. Only the Almighty can stem this tide of evil which He so accurately predicted so long ago. Yes, there is little doubt, the second horseman of the Apocalypse, the rider on the red horse, like the white horse before him, is even now breaking into a gallop; and the thunder of his hoof beats can be heard around the world.
Power was given unto him to take peace from the earth, said the divine messenger, and oh how true those fearsome words have proved to be. Peace on earth is a vanishing memory and war is taking its place. The prophet Jeremiah also predicted war on a world-wide scale. (Jeremiah 25:15-38)
THE THIRD SEAL
Rev.6: 5: And when he had opened
the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And
I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair
of balances in his hand. 6: And I heard a voice in the midst of
the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three
measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil
and the wine.
From the parable of the labourers in the vineyard, we learn that a denarius (translated 'penny' in this verse) was then the ordinary wage for a day's work. (Matthew 20:2-13)
Here we are shown a symbolic picture of hyper-inflation, crippling food shortages, rising prices and mass starvation! The rider on the black horse represents famine - world famine! when food prices for even the barest of life's necessities will sky-rocket out of control. Can you imagine the world's economy so depressed that a man would work all day for the price of a few loaves of bread? I'm sure that not many of us can imagine this happening, even though rising food prices are all too familiar. But, according to this prophecy, runaway inflation coupled with frightening food shortages are due to occur in the last days. Indeed, in many countries they have already arrived, Prices are rising daily in all the markets of the world and there is very little anyone or any government can do to stop them.
The rider on the black horse may not be moving at speed in the West, but I can assure you that in the East, in South America and Africa he is out there in the field and he is soon to break into an earthshaking gallop. Famines generally follow war. In this and the Olivet prophecy Yeshua the Savior confirms this when he says:
Nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines. (Matthew 24:7)
THE FOURTH SEAL
And I looked, and behold a pale
horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed
with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of
the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death,
and with the beasts of the earth. (Rev. 6:8)
The color of the fourth horse is given as deathly pale or sickly, yellowish green. Again comparing the Revelation with the Master's Olivet prophecy we find that the sickly pale horse symbolizes pestilence: deadly disease epidemics and plagues that so quickly lay low millions of humans engulfed in war and famine. This is not to mention the agricultural pestilence (pests) that periodically wreck havoc on our farms. When the pale horse breaks into a gallop it will appear as though the finely tuned forces of nature have become dislodged. Disease epidemics of all kinds will sweep across the globe bringing death to millions of people, their cattle and their crops. The severe food shortages pictured by the black horse will most certainly exacerbate the problem of pestilence, as the world's population, weakened by war and famine, struggles to keep alive. To be sure, the rider on the pale horse has begun to ride and death is following closely at his heels.
SUMMARY OF THE FIRST FOUR SEALS
1) First, there is the white horse:
the Almighty's truth-filled, warning message! which exposes
the various spiritual counterfeits that abound in our day.
2) Second, there is the red horse: whose rider wields a great sword which symbolizes violence, revolution, bloodshed and - war!
3) Third, there is the black horse: which pictures hyper-inflation, sky-rocketing food prices and mass starvation - famine!
4) And last of all, the sickly pale, yellowish-green horse: which stands for disease epidemics and plagues on an international scale - pestilence!.
WAR, FAMINE, PESTILENCE, that terrifying trio which invariably overtakes civilizations given to sin. Reading through the prophecies of the Bible one can hardly fail to recognize the fact that warnings rejected are always followed by war, famine and pestilence; for that is the Almighty's way of dealing with those who persistently ignore His truth and reject His commandments.
… but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. (Jeremiah 14:12)
And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers. (Jeremiah 24:10)
The great prophet Jeremiah analyzed the messages of all the prophets of God that had gone before him and summarized their work in these telling words:
The prophets that have been before me and before thee of old prophesied both against many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. (Jeremiah 28:8)
Oh yes, divine warning is the opening theme of almost every Bible prophecy, and when rejected is always followed by war, famine and pestilence. But will mankind ever take heed and recognize this fact, that if warnings are rejected there always follows war, famine and pestilence? It is doubtful. People, it seems, are quite unable or unwilling to link national calamity with national sin. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have, nonetheless, begun to ride, and as described in Revelation 6:8:
Power was given them over a fourth part of the earth to kill with sword with hunger and with death.
THE FIFTH SEAL
Rev.6: 9: And when he had opened
the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were
slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord,
holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them
that dwell on the earth? 11: And white robes were given unto every
one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest
yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their
brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
Here we are shown religious persecutions involving two groups of martyrs; a) the early martyrs who were slain for their faith before the four horsemen had taken the field, and b) the end-time martyrs who are to be slain after the horsemen (war, famine, and pestilence) have begun to ride.
The Early Martyrs
These are the martyrs who died before
the 20th century, died in their millions during the period known
as the 'dark ages.' They died, we are told, 'for
the Word of God' and 'for their testimony.'
The blood of these martyrs has still not been avenged; nor
are they rejoicing in heaven right now. Instead they were each
given a white robe (accredited with the righteousness of Jesus)
and told to rest, to wait for a little season till another great
martyrdom took place.
The End-time Martyrs
These martyrs would be killed 'as
they (the early martyrs) were.' In other
words they would be martyred for the very same reason that the
early martyrs died: that is, for the Word of God (the
Bible) and their testimony. In short, the martyrdom under the
fifth seal pictures an end-time martyrdom, a persecution of believers
in our day! There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that
in some countries this end-time persecution has already begun.
But it is scheduled to intensify and will no doubt reach the free
West in due course.
In his Olivet prophecy the Master also places this final martyrdom after the wars, famines and pestilence that are symbolized by the red, black and pale horses. He said this:
Matthew 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10: And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
The scene for this end-time persecution, which culminates in the death of many leading believers, is already set. Satanic forces are even now undermining the faith of many Christians in the real Word of God and love within the brotherhood is fading away. Jealousy, hatred, slander and outright rejection are all too common in the churches today and many believers are giving up their faith altogether. Added to this sad reality is the fact that the real Word of God, the genuine Bible, is being jettisoned in favor of scores of counterfeit Bibles! Those who cling to the real Word of God will soon be a target for persecution. See our article entitled Bible Versions concerning this very serious matter.
Take warning dear reader that you are not deceived by Satan into rejecting the Word of God or into harbouring hatred in your heart towards fellow Christians; especially those who seek to do the Almighty's will. Because jealousy and slander are the stepping stones to betrayal; and betrayal is but one step away from a true believer's martyrdom. When that end-time tribulation arrives in your area it will test the faith of every believer almost to the point of destruction. But God in His infinite mercy has decreed that many will be saved through it all; be saved to stand in faultless splendour before the soul-searching gaze of the Almighty God!
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (Matt. 24:13)
That is, those who refuse to give up their faith in the Almighty, even though they may be called to give up their lives for Him. This end-time persecution is upon us, so do not be surprised when it starts in your neighbourhood. We are happy to report, however, that not all the church is scheduled for martyrdom. Many will be spared and be miraculously protected from the onslaught of the Evil One. They will live unscathed through the very worst Satan can do and will stand before God in faultless splendour in that last day. This reassuring prospect will be looked at again when we examine Revelation chapters 9, 12 and 13.
THE SIXTH SEAL
Revelation 6:
12:And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13: And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14: And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15: And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16: And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Speaking of these same events in Matthew's gospel the Master said this:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. (Matt. 24:29)
The prophet Joel writing of this same period wrote:
Joel 2: 30: And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 32: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
In the sixth seal the reader is given a preview of that same end-time celestial display. It will be witnessed throughout our galaxy. The language of these prophecies seems to indicate that besides their spiritual counterparts, these signs will also be literally fulfilled. In other words, the whole earth will be shaken to its very foundations; the literal mountains will heave and swell like the waves of the restless sea and every island will be shifted from its primeval moorings.
Jeremiah 4: 23: I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24: I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. 25: I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. 26: I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.
Panic, blind, uncontrollable panic will sweep across the globe when the events under the 6th seal occur. Earth's terror-stricken inhabitants will incorrectly conclude that the universe is beginning to disintegrate. The sun, we are told, will become black as sackcloth. It will disappear for a short period of time and the moon will glow like blood. Falling stars (meteorites) in their thousands will criss-cross the sky and the heavens will be rolled back as a scroll. In that day, every man, woman and child the world over will be filled with the fear of the Almighty and nobody will then doubt his existence. Indeed, all mankind will realize that the day of God's wrath has arrived. (Rev. 6:17)
The events under this seal have obviously not yet happened. Admittedly there have been a few isolated instances in history when unusually large numbers of meteorites have been sighted from certain parts of the globe, or when the sun was darkened for a few hours; but it is forcing the issue to suggest that those local happenings are the fulfillment of this awesome 6th seal, because they are not.
Why not? Simply because all the events under the 6th seal are to occur more or less at the same time, and will be witnessed by the entire population of the earth.
All these signs happen concurrently and that has never happened before: nor has the world's population ever exhibited the kind of blind panic described in Revelation 6:16 when mankind en-mass cried out:
'…hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
Wait for the 6th seal. It is still future. When it occurs Yahweh's true followers will be galvanized into action. Gone forever will be their reticence in proclaiming the Gospel to the unconverted. Gone too their need to even convince people of the existence of God and His Son, the symbolic Lamb. For after the earthshaking events of the 6th seal, all the world will acknowledge the existence of the Almighty God and the prospect of the soon-coming Day of Judgment.
For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?(Rev. 6:17)
Oh yes, the world's population will accept the fact that the Messiah exists; but it will be an acceptance born of terror, not of love. Nevertheless, it is part of the Almighty's plan to give mankind a final opportunity to choose between right and wrong, between obedience and sin, between the worship of Yahweh as specified in His commandments and the worship of Satan which manifests itself in various human traditions. That final appeal, that end-time work of inviting mankind to accept Yahweh's authority will reach its climax immediately after the 6th seal, after the state of widespread chaos and panic already described. It will be a unique message, a special end-time work concentrating on one aspect of the Everlasting Gospel, the Seal of the living God!
The unique message concerning the Seal of God is programd to go to all the world between the 6th and 7th seals. Indeed, its importance can only be appreciated when one considers that the events of the 7th seal are held up till that special message has reached the whole world. In Revelation chapter 7 that unique, end-time message is introduced. We will now turn our attention to that chapter and examine it carefully; not forgetting that the 7th seal has still to be opened.
THE SEALING OF THE 144,000
Rev.7:
1: And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
2: And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
3: Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
4: And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
After reading this passage the first question that comes to mind is: What is the Seal of God? According to the dictionary, a seal is a legal instrument, a device that makes a ratifying impression on wax or some other receptive substance to prove that it is genuine. The word 'seal' in this context is synonymous with an owner's name, his signature, his sign, his stamp, his brand or identification mark.
Yahweh's Seal, in other words, represents His name, His signature, His stamp of ownership, the ratifying sign He seeks to place in the foreheads of His followers. The forehead represents the mind, the seat of a person's intellect, allegiance and faith. We are told in this chapters 7 and 14 that 144,000 believer's will accept the Father's Seal or Name in their foreheads. This means they will willingly accept Yahweh's ratifying seal in their minds. They will believe it, remember it, bear it in mind and be willing to live by it. Obviously they will be moved to this high degree of acceptance by the Holy Spirit. But do not make the mistake of supposing that the Holy Spirit is God's Seal, because He isn't. A believer is sealed by the Holy Spirit with the Seal of God, just as a sheep is marked by a shepherd with a special mark. But the shepherd is not the mark any more than the Holy Spirit is the seal.
The Holy Spirit of God is the Agent who does the sealing, but the Holy Spirit is not the Seal. What, then, is the Seal or Sign of Yahweh the God of Israel? To find out we will again resort to that reliable guideline of allowing the scriptures to interpret themselves. When we do this we find that Yahweh's Seal, the identifying sign he places in the minds of followers is His LAW. Yes, the law of God is the Almighty's seal and the Sabbath commandment in His law is the unique, ratifying SIGN (signature) the Almighty places in the minds of His followers, to signify to the universe that they are His special people.
In other words, God's people are to be signed and sealed. Here is proof of this astonishing fact.
Isaiah 8:16 Bind up the testimony, says God, seal the law among my disciples.
Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
Exodus 31: 13: Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
Ezekiel 20: 12: Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. … 20: And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.
Exodus 13: 9: And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.
Hebrews 10: 16: This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
These texts clearly prove that Yahweh's law, and the Sabbath commandment in His law, constitutes the identifying seal and signature He places in the minds of His followers. Consequently, when a believer remembers them, bears them in mind and keeps the Almighty's commandments, especially His Sabbath commandments, he/she is in effect declaring to the universe that Yahweh, the God of Israel, is his/her Father. And what, you may well ask, are the Almighty's Sabbath commandments?
The answer is:
If you would like to know more about the Sabbaths of the Almighty and about the Sacred Calendar which He is currently using to organize His work, write to us for our free booklet entitled The Sacred Calendar of the God of Israel.
When , you may well ask, does the sealing of the 144,000 take place? The answer is, the sealing begins shortly after the 6th seal and finishes just before the 7th seal. Indeed, the events of the 7th seal (the hurting of the earth, the sea and the trees etc.) are held up till the sealing of the 144,000 is finished,
Rev.7: 1: And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 2: And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3: Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
The four winds which are scheduled to hurt the earth, the sea and the trees are not merely physical winds like hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons etc. They are far more than that. These 'winds' also represent the enormous spiritual authority and power angel or spirit-beings possess. Spirit-beings are themselves often referred to in the Scriptures as 'winds' and even the work of God's Spirit is likened to a 'wind.'
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)
The four angels are granted authority to hurt, that is to wreck havoc upon the earth, the sea, the trees and the grass once the sealing of the 144,000 is finished. And in measured onslaughts of destruction that is exactly what we will find them doing at the 7th seal. See Trumpets 1 to 3 later.
THE INNUMERABLE MULTITUDE
Besides the 144,000 commandment keeping
Israelites who are sealed, and this number will
certainly include many Gentile believers who are grafted in the
Olive of Israel, (Romans 11:17-24) the prophet sees another mighty
throng -
an innumerable multitude -
from every nation, kindred, tongue and people. (Rev. 7:9)
It is not specified in chapter 7 whether or not these believers accept the Almighty's Seal at the same time as do the 144,000. But this much is certain, they will eventually all come around to keeping the commandments of God; and that includes the keeping of His weekly and annual Sabbath days. Here is proof of this amazing fact:
Rev.7: 13: And one of the elders
answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in
white robes? and whence came they?
14: And I said unto him, Sir,
thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came
out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15: Therefore are they
before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple:
and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
16:
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall
the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17: For the Lamb which is
in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them
unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes.
Note the words, these are they which came out of the great tribulation. These believers, in other words go through the tribulation - or at least part of it. We are expressly told that they shall hunger and thirst no more, implying that they had already experienced hunger and thirst during the tribulation. Remember this important point.
The prophecy goes on to say that they washed their robes. What does this mean? It means that through the merits and power of the blood (life) of the Savior these believers now begin to keep the commandments. The figurative phrase 'wash their robes' in chapter 7 is translated 'do the commandments' in Revelation 22.14. The innumerable host, in other words, will begin to keep the commandments of God. They will clean up their lives (wash their robes) by bringing them into line with the high and holy standards of Yahweh's law.
If this multitude hadn't accepted the claims of God's law at the time of the sealing, they will most certainly do so shortly after - during the tribulation. That is what these scriptures are impliedly saying.
In the blood of the Lamb .
What does this phrase mean? Blood is life. It also symbolizes life. (Lev. 17:14, Deut. 12:23) The blood of the Lamb, therefore, symbolizes the life giving power of the Messiah the Lamb of God. Washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, in short, is a symbolic way of saying that this innumerable multitude of believers would begin to keep the commandments of God, accomplishing the seemingly impossible feat by the sanctifying power of the living Messiah. In their own strength it would have, of course, been utterly impossible to attain the high and holy standards required by God's law. But when aided by the power of the blood, the wonder-working, sanctifying and cleansing power of the Messiah's matchless life, they will reach the required standard of obedience. They will be pure, holy and perfect. Figuratively speaking they will then be clothed in white robes .
As the old hymn POWER IN THE BLOOD puts it:
Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?
There is power in the blood, power in the blood.
Sin stains are lost in its life-giving flow.
There is wonderful power in the blood.
Note that the innumerable multitude of blood-washed believers is not in heaven at the moment. Nor will they be caught away to heaven before the great tribulation, as some suppose. We are plainly told in verses 14-17 that they will come out of the great tribulation after having experienced hunger, thirst and the great heat of the sun. And only after that terrible time, after they have washed their robes (begun to keep the commandments) will they stand before the throne of God. Then it shall come to pass that God will wipe away all tears from their eyes and the Lamb shall lead them to fountains of living waters. The word shall is repeated several times in this passage and it clearly places the fulfillment of this part of the prophecy after the great tribulation.
In view of these texts, and there are others, there is obviously no truth in the popular theory about the church being secretly caught away to heaven before the tribulation. In this chapter we can plainly see that an innumerable host of Gentile believers will be on earth during the tribulation.
Summary of Revelation Chapter 7.
1) The chapter briefly tells of that unique, end-time work of God - the sealing work.
2) The sealing work will begin after the fearsome events of the 6th seal have occurred: that is, after the great earthquake, after the sun is darkened, after the mountains and the islands have moved, and after the sky is rolled back as a scroll and after world-wide panic overtakes the peoples of the world. (Rev. 6:12-17)
3) The sealing work must however be finished before the 7th seal starts: that is, before the four angels begin to hurt the earth, the sea and the trees. (Rev. 7:1-3)
4) The Seal of Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel is His law, and the Sabbath days in His law represent His signature. They are the divine, identifying sign of sanctification which the Holy Spirit places in the minds of believers willing to obey Him. (Eze. 20:12 & 20, Isa. 8:16)
5) 144,000 believers accept Yahweh's Seal in their minds. They are Israelites, but some Gentile believers willing to obey the Almighty's commandments are numbered among them. (Rev. 7 and Romans 11:17-24)
6) The innumerable multitude from all nations will suffer hunger, thirst and scorching heat of the sun during the great tribulation. But they will eventually come out of it and wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb. That is, they too will begin to keep the commandments of God and will accomplish this seemingly impossible feat by the life-giving power of the Son of God.
7) At the end of the great tribulation they will stand in the presence of the Almighty. And then God will wipe away all tears from their eye. (Rev. 7:13-17)
THE SEVENTH SEAL
Let us now return to the mainstream of
the prophecy, back to the seals. The 7th seal, remember, has still
to be opened. Chapter seven was inserted between the 6th and 7th
seals simply because that is when the sealing work will occur
in the stream of time. But once the 144,000 are sealed, the four
angels standing at the four corners of the earth are allowed to
release the four winds which will hurt the earth, the sea
and the trees. The hurting of the earth, the sea and the trees
is in fact the beginning of the 7th seal.
The 7th seal is divided into seven sub-sections, each introduced by a Trumpet blast. The seven Trumpets, in other words, constitute the 7th seal; they are the 7th seal in terrifying detail.
Remember this important point, for great confusion will result if the seven seals and the seven trumpets are treated as two separate prophecies. The 7th seal is introduced with these words:
Rev.8: 1: And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. 2: And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. (Rev. 8:7)
At this Trumpet, mighty continents housing millions of human beings will be devastated by hail and fire mingled with blood. Similar scenes, though on a much smaller scale, were witnessed in ancient times at the destruction of Sodom and Egypt. (Gen. 19:24, Exodus 9:24) The God of Israel then literally rained hail and fire on mankind because of their grievous sins and stubborn refusal to acknowledge His authority. The same thing is due to happen at the 1st Trumpet. We are also told that one third of the world's forests and all the green grass will be burnt up. As foretold in Rev. 7. 1-3 the four winds are beginning to hurt the earth and the trees.
What these events do to the agricultural output of the world is difficult to imagine: but it is quite obvious that this 1st Trumpet ushers in the terrible Time of Trouble! a time of international turmoil and terror unparalleled in the history of humanity.
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; 9: And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
At this Trumpet one third of the earth's oceans will congeal like the blood of a dead man. The sea, like the earth and trees before it, is being hurt as foretold in Rev. 7.1-3. All the traffic on the ocean/s involved will stop; and all the fish in those waters will perish. In addition to these immediate effects, there will be other awesome repercussions, such as freak weather conditions, lack of rain water, fresh air and oil. The oceans of the world, as any ecologist will confirm, regulate the weather and help purify the very air we breathe. So the death of even one ocean is a catastrophe of unimaginable magnitude. This Trumpet, in short, will disrupt the weather, the agricultural output, the economy and the physical welfare of the whole human race.
At about this time the sun will begin to scorch the earth, for the cooling effect of the oceans will have diminished and drought will become a world-wide problem. Hunger and thirst will then become as common in the West as they are today in the East. The Great Tribulation will have then entered its second terrifying stage.
Rev.8: 10: And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; 11: And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
Like the 1st and 2nd Trumpets before it, the 3rd Trumpet causes untold damage and distress on earth. A third of the rivers and fountains of water are now polluted and many people die as a result. The question is often asked, Could not the terms earth, sea, trees, grass, ships and fish be symbolic?
A Voice In The Wilderness does not deny that possibility for it obviously does exist. Indeed, some of the terms (trees, grass, fish etc.) could easily be taken to represent people and scriptural texts found in support. The main reason why we favor the literal translation, however, and avoid references to people, is because 'a third of mankind' is scheduled to die under the 6th Trumpet That frightening fact by itself, which is expressed twice in Revelation 9 verses 15 and 18, compels us towards the opinion of that the hurting of a third of the sea, a third of the ships, a third of the rivers, a third of the trees and all the green grass cannot also refer to people, but must - at least on a lower plane - refer to the literal sea, ships, rivers, fish, trees and grass. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine what else they could be, especially when we remember that a third of the human race is scheduled to die at the 6th Trumpet. Nevertheless, and we say this without reservation, symbolic representation may still be present here; but to date we have not come across any person capable of explaining away the anomalies such an interpretation would create.
And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. (Rev. 8:12)
The punishment hitherto confined to this planet now mounts up to the heavens. The sun, moon, and stars are somehow smitten and begin to shine with a greatly diminished beam. How this almost unimaginable catastrophe is brought about is not explained, but it is obvious that if this trumpet is understood in a literal sense, then physical light as we know it will be greatly reduced on earth.
Once again we ask the question: Could it be that this Trumpet presents a symbolic picture of heavenly powers, and that the sun, moon and the stars in this instance actually stand for spiritual agents of light and energy - perhaps angel beings?
The possibility obviously must exist, especially in view of the plain statement like: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. (Rev. 1:20) If this were the case, then this Trumpet's reference to darkened stars could well present a drastic reduction in angelic authority throughout the universe. A third of the angelic host - would be smitten by God, and their privilege and ability to radiate spiritual light taken from them. This Trumpet, then, may be the prelude which is mentioned in Revelation 12:9.
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Yes, the 4th Trumpet could well have symbolic overtones; but whatever its interpretation, it sets the scene for another dark age - a spiritual twilight zone in time - when light from heaven will diminish greatly and Satanic activity on earth will increase sevenfold.
The picture presented so far is undoubtedly grim and the reader is probably wondering if there is any good news in this catalogue of catastrophe; any protection for the true believer in the terrible Time of Trouble. We are happy to report that there is a great deal of good news and a most encouraging degree of protection; but these blessings are conditional, being reserved for those who genuinely endeavour to obey God. (Read Deuteronomy 28 for proof of the principle that the blessings of God are reserved for the obedient.)
We have already seen that the Seal of Yahweh the God of Israel is His law, and that His Sign (signature) is the Sabbath commandment in His law. We have also seen how that 144,000 believers will at that time accept the Almighty's Seal in their minds, and will begin keeping the commandments of God with faultless dedication and effect. The blessings which follow that kind of obedience will be beyond comparison and will manifest themselves in many miraculous ways during the Time of Trouble. One of the blessings will be that of divine protection. A perfect example of the protection afforded the 144,000 sealed believers in the Time of Trouble is given in Revelation chapter 9, which outlines the event of the 5th Trumpet. In verse 4 we note - with great relief - that at that time all sealed believers (those who obey Yahweh's law) will be supernaturally protected from torture and abuse. All others will suffer. This matter of divine protection is dealt with later. Yes, there will be protection during the Great Tribulation, but it will be reserved for those who obey the Almighty God and bear His Seal. Of all mankind, they alone will be kept from Satan at the time of the end, and will walk unscathed through the fiery trials just as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did in ancient Babylon. (Daniel 3) Indeed, those bygone experiences in Daniel's day were especially staged by the Eternal as miniature demonstrations, prophetic prototypes of a mighty deliverance which is to be repeated on a world-wide scale before the entire universe, when the Almighty will once again miraculously protect His obedient servants form the terrors of the Evil One.
Bearing these reassuring thoughts in mind, let us now return to the prophecy of the seven seals, for there are still three trumpets to explain. The last three Trumpets (5, 6 and 7) are so fearful that even by angel standards they are classified as 'Woes.'
And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Rev.8:13)
The Fifth Trumpetst Woe)
Rev.9: 1: And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 2: And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 3: And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4: And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 5: And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 6: And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
No one will deny, but that here before us is a picture of absolute terror, when for 5 months earth's mighty population, all except the sealed servants of Yahweh, will be tormented by a host of merciless beings who are to arise from the bottomless pit. For obvious reasons we will not dwell on this frightening aspect of the prophecy once having presented it. Instead, we will briefly answer the following questions and point to a way of escape.
1) What is the bottomless pit?
2) And who are the beings that ascend out of it?
The general lack of interest in the Revelation has over the years resulted in a dearth of information about the bottomless pit. But it is obviously a subject which all the world should know about; for is not mankind going to be tormented for 5 months by beings which come out of the bottomless pit? The answers to those two questions about the bottomless pit and it occupants are of vital importance, so let us closely study the matter.
The original Greek word abussos is translated in the Bible (in Rev. 9:1) as bottomless pit. Some Bible dictionaries render abussos as 'abyss.' The word abussos means exceedingly deep gulf or pit. Abussos is also used in Luke's gospel where it is translated simply as the deep. In the incident recorded in Luke 8. 26-36 we are given an important clue as to what the abyss is and how frightened evil angels are of being sent there. If the reader will turn to Luke's gospel he will see (in verse 31) how certain devils who had taken possession of a man were themselves terrified of being ordered into the abyss. They literally begged the Messiah for permission to enter a herd of swine rather than be sentenced to the abussos - the exceedingly deep pit.
From this incident we can see that the abussos, the bottomless pit is a place or condition which evil angels dread; a kind of spirit penitentiary or dungeon which existed thousands of years ago. Strong's concordance describing the 'bottomless pit' says it is a:
"pit of immeasurable depth, a very deep gulf or chasm in the lowest parts of the earth used as the common receptacle of the dead and especially as the abode of demons."
It is from somewhere within that unlit dungeon that a myriad symbolic locusts will arise at the 5th Trumpet or 1st Woe. (Rev. 9:1-3) What are these locusts that torture mankind for five months? They are evil angels, devils of mind-bending depravity who were sentenced to the abyss long before the early Christian era. At this very moment (August 2009) they are still chained and completely immobilized within the blackness of the abyss, held there in total darkness awaiting the judgment of the Great Day. Here is proof of this astounding fact.
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; (2 Peter 2:4)
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. (Jude 6)
Yes, fallen angels are at this moment held captive in the abyss, the bottomless pit, fettered in a way we humans do not properly understand, so the symbol of a 'chain' is used to help us. At the 1st Woe, a mighty angel (star) will be divinely authorized to open the abyss, and out will pour this host of devils like the smoke of a great furnace. (Rev. 9:1-5) The only people on earth who will be protected from their sadistic onslaught will be the ones who bear in their foreheads the Seal of the God of Israel. All others will be tormented. Here is proof of this frightening fact.
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads..(Rev. 9:4)
Without labouring the point, we will at this stage again respectfully remind the reader to seriously consider accepting Yahweh's Seal, for fearful indeed will be the lot of those who reject it. References in this woe to Abaddon, the king of the bottomless pit (verse 11) are covered later where the identity of this king who is to ascend from the bottomless pit is considered.
Revelation 9:12 brings us to the end of the 1st woe (the 5th Trumpet). The reader will have noticed that even though the scenes portrayed here are fearsome, divine protection is assured to those who have God's Seal, especially from the terrors of Abaddon the Destroyer from the Abyss.
The Sixth Trumpet (The 2nd Woe)
Rev.9: 12: One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. 13: And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14: Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15: And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. 16: And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 17: And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 18: By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
The events that occur at the 2nd Woe are so catastrophic that nothing we can say or write will adequately describe them. Here is a woe that defies the imagination and leaves even the enlightened believer aghast; and because of this we will simply list the three main events scheduled to occur at this Trumpet and then very briefly explain them.
To begin with, the reader must bear in mind that the record of the 2nd Woe begins in Rev. 9.12, continues right through chapter 10 and ends at Rev. 11 verse 14. The events that are described between these two scriptural boundaries, therefore, are contemporary, they occur during the same period of time, that is - during the 2nd Woe. This is an important point to remember, especially when trying to interpret the events of Revelation chapter 11, which deals initially with the overthrow of Jerusalem and the work of the Two Witnesses.
The three main events scheduled to occur at the 2nd Woe (the 6th Trumpet) are as follows:
Let us now consider these three events and discover what is going to happen on earth at the 2nd Woe. The Great River Euphrates mentioned in Revelation 9: 14 is not the natural stream of water which flows in the Middle East, but a great spiritual outflow upon which sits that mighty metropolis of evil, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS! The literal Euphrates on earth, real enough though it is, is merely the physical replica or shadow of the Great River Euphrates above. At this point we will briefly explain the second, vital clue to understanding Bible prophecy.
The first clue is to realize that certain prophecies in God's Word are written in symbolic language. To understand them one must compare scripture with scripture and allow the Bible to interpret itself. This process was explained earlier.
The second clue is to know that certain realities in the spirit realm above are reflected or duplicated in some physical way on this earth. In other words, here below, in a very real and measurable form, we find miniature models, transient earthly counterparts, scaled-down physical replicas of the mighty spiritual originals which exist in the realms above. There is, then, this significant difference between a symbol and a model. Symbols are used in Bible prophecy to represent the qualities, characteristics, procedures, work and purposes of human or spiritual agencies. Whereas models are miniature copies or replicas of the agencies themselves. For example, consider a candlestick. It is used in Bible prophecy to symbolize the church's duty or purpose to shed spiritual light. A candlestick is a symbol of a church group, not a replica of one. The literal Euphrates, on the other hand, is a model, a scaled-down physical replica, a miniature copy of the spiritual Euphrates above. The prophecy of the Revelation has a great deal to say about these earthly counterparts; and as we study them here below we are able to learn a great deal about what is happening in the realms above.
Returning to the prophecy with this second clue in mind, we find that at the 2nd Woe four mighty angels are released from somewhere within the Great River Euphrates. They are obviously beings of awesome authority and power, and in the echelons of evil they stand as near to Satan as the four living creatures do to God. (see Rev. 4:6-8 where the throne of the Almighty is briefly described)
One Third of Mankind Slain
Marshalling an army of some two hundred thousand, thousand (200,000,000) these four demons slaughter one third of mankind! Statisticians tell us: that in the year 1500 the world's population stood at around 500 million. By the year 1800, just 300 years later, it had doubled and topped the 1000 million mark. By the year 1930, a mere 130 years later, it had doubled again and stood at 2,000 million. And by the end of this century, barely 18 years hence, it will have rocketed to over 6,000 million souls! That's how fast the world's population is growing.
This prophecy states that at the 2nd Woe, one third of mankind will be slain. That's 2 billion people!
Let the reader pause for a moment and consider that stunning fact; for it means that in the near future, even at the present count, some 2,000,000,000 people are going to die at this Woe. This colossal figure of two thousand million represents the combined populations of China, and India. Or, put another way, all of Europe, the U.S.A, Canada, Russia, Japan and several other nations besides. How this coming holocaust will be brought about is not fully explained; but it is going to happen nonetheless, for the scripture must be fulfilled. I repeat: One third of earth's population are scheduled to die under this 2nd Woe! We could, of course, speculate as to what type of warfare, if any, will bring this about (nuclear, biological, chemical, radiological, electronic or conventional) but we will not, because we could be totally wrong. The prophecy simply states that:
And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. (Rev. 9:15)
Strange as it may seem, the remaining two thirds of mankind do not link this massive slaughter with personal or national sin: for we are told that at that time people will still be unrepentant and will continue in their witchcraft, idolatry, deception and blasphemy. (Rev. 9:20-21) Here is spiritual blindness (or is it stubborn pride?) as its worst. Chapter 10 is inserted into the mainstream of the prophecy at this stage and the scene changes somewhat.
The reader must, however, bear in mind that the 2nd Woe is still in progress and will remain so till Revelation 11 verse 14 is reached.
In chapter 10 we read of how the prophet is given a little, open book. He is told to eat it. The open book could either be the prophetic book of Daniel, which was to be kept sealed or shut till the time of the end when it would be understood (Daniel 12:4). Or it could be the seven-sealed scroll which the Lamb had just taken from the Almighty's hand and opened seal by seal (Rev. 5:1-5). Either way, the message of the open book is sweet to the taste; that is, to those who figuratively eat, understand and believe it. But the reality of this Woe, when witnessed, is very, very bitter indeed. 'One third of mankind is slain!' That, dear reader, is a bitter prospect by anyone's standards. The bitterness will be bearable, however, especially when one considers that the prophecy does not have long to run. The end of all things will take place, we are told, in the days of the seventh angel, when he begins to sound his trumpet. (Rev. 10:7)
The message of Revelation 10 is one of great encouragement, for it reminds all believers of two things:
Having briefly considered the message of Revelation chapter 10, let us now return to the mainstream of the prophecy and continue with the events of the 2nd Woe.
Jerusalem's Capture
The second event scheduled to
take place at the 2nd Woe (6th Trumpet) concerns the
holy city of Jerusalem, which is to be captured by the
Gentiles and dominated for a period of 42 months.
But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. (Rev. 11:2)
We know that the term 'holy' or 'great city' means Jerusalem because in verse 8 it identifies this city as 'where also our Lord was crucified.' That means - Jerusalem. The rising tension in the Middle East strongly suggests that an all-out attack on Jerusalem is not only inevitable - but near. The whole Arab world, and many other nations besides, are lining up against the tiny nation of Israel, and it will not be long before the predicted attack will occur and Jerusalem will be captured.
Please note that the 42 month duration of Jerusalem's subjugation is 42 literal months, which is 1260 days or three and a half years. The principle of reckoning a day for a year and arriving at 1260 years does not apply in the prophecy of the Revelation. Some commentators have used that principle here and as a result have been obliged to begin this Woe in the distant past, some 1260 years ago. Because of this misapplication they have been unable to point to any time since the Revelation was given (AD96) when a 'third of mankind was slain,' or when 'Jerusalem was under the heel of the Gentiles for 1260 years.' Never in history has a third of mankind been slain; nor has Jerusalem ever been trampled under foot by Gentiles for an exact period of 1260 years, or days for that matter. Any historian will confirm that Jerusalem has been over-run by Gentile armies several times in its long and tumultuous past, but never for an exact period of 1260 years. So the day for a year principle cannot possibly apply in the book of Revelation.
The only remaining alternative is that at the 2nd Woe - which is still future - the present Middle East crisis will erupt and after another blood-bath the city of Jerusalem will be captured by the Gentiles. The exact 42 months period of brutal domination will then begin. Grim though this prospect may appear to those of us who worship the God of Israel, all is not lost, for the Messiah is scheduled to return to earth and to liberate Jerusalem from Gentile rule.
Speaking through the prophet Zechariah, Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel has this to say about the end-time capture and liberation of Jerusalem.
Zec.14: 1: Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2: For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3: Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4: And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5: And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. 6: And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: 7: But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. 8: And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. 9: And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
This amazing prophecy about Jerusalem being attacked, captured and then miraculously delivered by the Messiah who is to descend upon the split Mount of Olives has obviously never been fulfilled. In other words, it has still to happen; and happen it will in the near future. All the events in the Middle East indicate that the final scenes are set; the mounting tension, the anger of the nations at Israel's behavior, the utter fruitlessness of the various peace talks, the trade and arms embargoes, the outbreaks of anti-Semitism around the globe, all these indicate that a multinational attack on Jerusalem is not only certain but imminent.
We may be absolutely sure, however, that in spite of all these foreboding signs, pregnant with peril as most of them are, behind and above them all the Almighty God of Israel is working His twofold plan out. And that plan is this:
Measure the Temple
The 42 month subjugation of Jerusalem,
followed by its dramatic liberation by the Messiah, will accomplish
the first part of the plan. And the instruction to rise and
measure the Temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship
therein (Rev. 11:1) will trigger the second. Let me explain
further.
Following the clue of comparing scripture with scripture, we will turn to the prophecy of Ezekiel where in chapters 40 and 43 a similar instruction to measure the Temple of God was carried out. In the vision of Ezekiel, the prophet is given detailed measurements of every conceivable part of the temple: the wall, the gates, the chambers, the pillars and posts, the steps, the galleries, the courts and even the territory on which the temple stood. All were accurately measured and the specifications cover several chapters of Ezekiel's book.
"And why." you may well ask, "was the temple measured? What was the Almighty's purpose in ordering that painstaking exercise?"
The answer is, the temple was measured so that God's people could see, investigate and learn to live by the laws and principles which govern true worship of Yahweh the God of Israel. Here is proof of this astonishing fact.
Ezekiel 43: 10: Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities: and let them measure the pattern. 11: And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof: and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them.
The order to rise and measure the Temple, in other words, is the Almighty's way of drawing His people's attention to the principles and laws of the Temple in Heaven: the sacred original of which the earthly temple was but a copy. And this is precisely what He aims to do during the 2nd Woe, while a third of earth's mighty population is perishing. He will then open the eyes of the innumerable multitude of believers to the eternal principles and laws of the Temple in Heaven, its layout, its structure, its services and its divine purpose. And many believers who had previously rejected the commandments of God at the time of Sealing will at this Woe begin to understand and obey the regulations of the Temple which governs the worship of Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel. They will then repent of their sins and begin to keep the commandments of God in accordance with His will.
The Ark of the Covenant
Towards the end of Revelation chapter
11 the prophet John tells of the heavenly Temple being opened.
What did he see inside that sacred place? He saw, believe it or
not, the Ark of the Covenant, the heavenly original
which contains the Ten Commandments. Please note
that John saw this some 60 years after the resurrection, so the
commandments were not cancelled at Calvary as many Christians
suppose.
And the Temple of God was opened in heaven and there was seen in his Temple the Ark of his Testament. (Rev. 11:19)
Yes, the Ark of the Testament, in which is deposited the original version of Yahweh's perfect law, (the eternal constitution of the mighty universe) is still within the heavenly Temple and John saw it over 60 years after the resurrection. The reader may be sure that at the 2nd Woe, when the Temple in heaven is measured, those same principles and laws enshrined within the Ark of the Covenant will arouse the interest of believers all over the world. Then many will be ashamed of their hitherto rebellious attitude towards Jehovah's laws and will begin to keep His commandments just as He directed in the vision of Ezekiel.
… write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them. (Ezekiel 43:11)
This measuring of the Temple, in short,
is a divine call to obedience, a call which is directly linked
with the message of the Two Witnesses, who we will now consider.
The Two Witnesses
The
third major event to occur during the 2nd Woe
(6th trumpet) will be the powerful work, death and
resurrection of the Two Witnesses.
Rev.11: 3: And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. 4: These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 5: And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 6: These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 7: And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Who are the Two Witnesses, the two symbolic olive trees that stand before the God of the earth? They are two spirit-filled beings who come down from the Temple in Heaven. The prophet Zechariah tells of them in the following words:
Zechariah 4: 11: Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? 12: And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? 13: And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 14: Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the LORD of the whole earth.
Though we cannot at this stage be certain as to the identity of the Two Witnesses, because their names are not given, these scriptures tell us the following facts about the Two Witnesses and their work.
a) They are two spirit-filled sons of oil who stand in the very presence of the God of the whole earth. (Zech. 4:14, Rev. 11:4)
b) Like the two angel messengers who visited Sodom before its overthrow (Genesis 19), they will come down to the earth just before the end of this age to give mankind a final warning before the seven lasts plagues devastate the earth.
c) They will preach for a period of 1260 days, which is 42 months, the exact duration of Jerusalem's final subjugation. (Rev. 11:2-3)
d) Being filled with the Spirit of God, they will have supernatural powers, and no humans will dare restrain them for fear of speedy retribution. (Rev. 11:5)
e) At the end of the 42 month period they will be murdered by the Beast who rose from the bottomless pit at the 1st Woe. Their bodies will then be exhibited in the occupied city of Jerusalem, where the Lord was crucified, and the world will rejoice at their apparent end; for they and their message where most unpopular. (Rev. 11:7-10)
f) Then after three and a half days they will be raised to life and will ascend to heaven in full view of their enemies. (Rev. 11:11-13)
g) The 2nd Woe or 6th Trumpet will end at the time of their resurrection. (Rev. 11:14)
It is not necessary at this point in time to further identify the Two Witnesses, because when they do eventually arrive on the earth the whole world will speedily become aware of their presence. There will be no mistaking them or the absolute authority with which they preach. Even in the city of Jerusalem, which at the time will be under the Gentile heel, they will declare the message of God with awesome effect. No earthly authority will dare restrain them, for like Elijah of old they are able to reduce their opponents to ashes; and like Moses and Aaron, can cause all manner of plagues. (2 Kings 1, Exodus chapters 7 to 12)
Many and varied have been the claims and interpretations concerning the Two Witnesses, but not one of them meets all the conditions listed above. Nor is that surprising, for these two divine messengers can only appear on the world's scene at God's appointed time, which is when a third of the world's population is being slain and the city of Jerusalem is under the Gentile heel. When they do arrive, however, they will bring to all mankind a final appeal from God. Their message will be, in fact, the same call to repentance and obedience which every true prophet of God has delivered since the days of Enoch. Multitudes of believers from every nation, kindred tongue and people will heed their call and begin to obey God's law. This will be the time when the innumerable multitude (see page 12) will wash their robes and come into line with the eternal principles of God's law which is within the Ark of the Covenant inside the Temple of Heaven.
The vast majority of mankind, however, will reject the Two Witnesses and their powerful call to repentance, faith and obedience. Why? Because at about that time the most diabolical Agent of Evil this world has ever seen will be parading the earth and seducing its inhabitants into serving Satan. The Two Witnesses will be murdered by this being, who is symbolically referred to in the Revelation as the Beast.
See AVITW articles the Two Witnesses and Who/What is the Antichrist for more information on these beings. This brings us to the end of the 6th Trumpet, the terrifying 2nd Woe, when within a short space of three and a half years:
The second Woe is past; and behold a third woe cometh quickly. (Rev. . 11:14)
The Seventh Trumpet (The 3rd Woe)
Revelation 11:
15: And the seventh
angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying,
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord,
and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
16: And
the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats,
fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
17: Saying, We give
thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art
to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and
hast reigned.
18: And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is
come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and
that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets,
and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great;
and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
19: And the
temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his
temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and
voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
The 7th Trumpet brings us to the climax of human history, when another mass-confrontation between good and evil will take place. It will commence with a spiritual election which will test the allegiance of every soul on earth; will then progress through the unimaginable terrors of the seven last plagues (called the Wrath of God) and end with the total overthrow of Satan and his system.
Fearsome though the events of this Trumpet are, and this is why it is called a Woe, great joy will overwhelm the heavenly host at its sounding (Rev. 11:15), for only then will the mystery of God be finished. We know this from the following verse.
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. (Rev. 10:7)
To most people God is a mystery and His involvement with mankind is even more mysterious than His invisible presence. How often have we heard people say: "If God is a God of love and is all-powerful as He claims to be, why doesn't He put an end to human suffering?" Or "What is God doing about the rising tide of crime? Why doesn't He use His power to prevent sickness, sorrow, pain and death? Doesn't He care?"
Questions like these, many of them awash with tears, are repeatedly voiced by people all over the globe. And, as conditions worsen, the same apparently cruel response comes back from heaven - a bewildering, deathly silence. At the 7th Trumpet (the 3rd Woe) that silence will be broken. The mystery of God, hidden from most of humanity since the dawn of time, will be finished and made plain. All the questions about God's strange dealings will then be answered.
Analysing the main events of the 3rd Woe we discover that they fall into three distinct categories involving authority, anger and reward. These three are summarized in the following words. The words in bold type are ours.
Rev. 11:17: Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. (AUTHORITY) 18: And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come (ANGER) and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. (REWARD)
Most of the remaining chapters in Revelation tell of the final scenes on earth just before the end of this age, and in varying degrees they deal with either a call to recognize Yahweh's authority, the outpouring of His anger or the distribution of His rewards. Let us now very briefly consider these chapters. It would obviously help a great deal if the reader read each chapter before the explanation.
REVELATION 12
In this chapter we are given a symbolic
overview of Satan's age-old revolt against the authority of God,
a revolt which began in the distant past but still manifests itself
in hatred for the people of Zion, the Messiah of Israel and all
commandment-keeping believers down to this present day. In vision
the prophet is shown a 'woman clothed with the sun and standing
on the moon.' A symbolic dragon then tries to devour
her child at its birth, but the boy is caught up to God and to
His throne. The dragon then turns on the woman in an effort to
kill her, but she is miraculously lifted out of his reach and
taken to the wilderness, where she is nourished for a period of
three and a half years (verses 13-14). In a fit of fury the dragon
then turns on the woman's remaining offspring, the 'remnant
of her seed,' who are still in human society and who keep
the commandments of God (verse 17).
The woman in this vision, who is seen standing on the moon, represents the ekklesia of Yahweh, the spiritually called out ones, the 'wife' or church of the Almighty, whose faithful members make up the Israel of God.
The 'man-child' who is to rule all nations with the rod of iron (absolute authority) is Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), the only begotten Son of the living God.
The 'dragon' is Satan the Devil, the leader of the revolution against the Eternal. During this Woe, the Almighty will miraculously protect his spiritual 'wife', the church, from Satan's wrath, especially those of Zion who are clothed in His righteousness and who take their stand upon the requirements of His calendar - which is symbolized by the moon. If you would like to know about Yahweh's Calendar and of His sacred festivals which are directly linked to these prophecies in Revelation, write for our free booklet entitled The Sacred Calendar of the God of Israel. The booklet will introduce you to the amazing time-element in Yahweh's schedule of salvation, something so few believers know anything about.
REVELATION 13
This chapter is a forecast of the strangest
spiritual election ever to be staged in the history of
humanity. The electorate will be the citizens of every
nation and the main issue will concern obedience to the law of
Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel.
Satan's visible representative on earth at the time will be the Man of Sin, the Antichrist, the coming World Dictator. He will be a being of commanding presence and power, and will exercise all the authority of the Devil himself. The Man of Sin is symbolically referred to in the Revelation as the BEAST! According to the prophet John, the Beast is scheduled to make a personal appearance on earth at this Seal, and will govern the whole of the world for a period of three and a half years. The vast majority of mankind, we are told, will worship him in abject terror, demonstrating their acceptance of his authority by doing his will and receiving his Mark.
Those who refuse to accept the Mark of the Beast will lose the right to buy and sell. In other words they will be totally barred from the world's markets, banks and other economic institutions. On the other hand, those who do worship the Beast will receive the full measure of Yahweh's anger, which is to be poured out undiluted on mankind in the form of the seven last plagues.
A symbolic description of this coming World Dictator is given below:
Rev.13: 1: And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2: And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3: And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
4: And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5: And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6: And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7: And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8: And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9: If any man have an ear, let him hear.
The Apostle Paul writing in plain language about the same being - the Man of Sin - said this:
2 Thessalonians 2: 1: Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2: That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4: Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5: Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6: And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7: For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8: And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Yahweh's warning message against worshipping the Beast and accepting his Mark is as follows:
Rev.14: 9: And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10: The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Who will dispute but that here before us is a prophetic warning of unparalleled importance; which we must understand if we wish to escape the wrath of the Almighty. The two burning questions that immediately come to mind are:
THE BEAST OF REVELATION 13
Countless millions of words have been
penned over the centuries as to the Beast and almost every major
political or religious power has at some time been classified
as being the Beast, the Antichrist!
The Beast we are told is:
The list is long and confusing to say the least, but it is obviously an important issue which we must settle if we want to escape the wrath of the Almighty God. And so we ask, which one of these - if any - is the Beast? Before we give our answer let us make one point clear; the Scriptures do not state in plain and simple language who the Beast is. Nonetheless, we are given a number of vital clues as to his identity, clues which we must bear in mind if we are not to be taken in by every plausible theory that comes our way. Six clues as to the Beast's identity are considered below for the reader's guidance.
CLUE ONE … He is the Lawless
One
Elsewhere in the Scriptures we are told
that this same blasphemous power, who is scheduled to arrive on
the world scene just before the return of the Messiah, is the
Lawless One, the Wicked One, the Man of Sin. (2 Thess. 2:1-9)
He is the Lawless One because he not only breaks God's law, but vainly imagines that he can change it. The commandment he is particularly interested in trying to change is the one dealing with the sacred seasons, with TIME. This, of course, is the Sabbath commandment; for that is the only one which deals with the element of time. (Daniel 7:25)
He ... shall think to change times and laws.
This first clue, in short, tells us that the Beast is an outlaw, a blatant sinner, whose main objective is to change the times in Yahweh's law. In other words, he thinks he can change the Sabbath commandments; for these are the only ones dealing with the element of time.
CLUE TWO … He existed before
the vision of the Revelation was given.
Our next clue comes from the lips of
a mighty angel who plainly tells us that the Beast was in existence
before the Revelation was given, but was not alive at the
time it was given.
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit…(Rev. 17:8)
This is a vitally important clue, for it means that when establishing his identity we will need to look for a person or power that existed before the book of Revelation was given (AD 96): a power 'that was.' Moreover, that power 'was not' around at the time the prophecy was given, but would ascend to life some time later - some time after AD 96.
CLUE THREE … He will arise from
the Bottomless Pit.
Our next clue is even more meaningful
than the first two, for it tells us where the Beast comes from.
Rev. 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
The fact that the Beast arises from out of the Bottomless Pit is also seen in Revelation 11: 7:
And when they (the Two Witnesses) shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
We know from our previous study of the abyss that it is a spirit-penitentiary of some kind where multitudes of evil angels are imprisoned and are awaiting the day of judgment. The Beast will come from that place, from the Bottomless Pit.
CLUE FOUR … He will actually
reveal himself.
2 Thess.2: 7: For the mystery of iniquity
doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he
be taken out of the way. 8: And then shall that Wicked be
revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Rev.17: 8: The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
CLUE FIVE … His reign will last
for 42 months.
Rev.13:5: And there was given unto
him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was
given unto him to continue forty and two months.
This 42 month period will coincide with the 1260 days or three and a half years the ekklesia of Yahweh (the church) is in the wilderness. See Revelation 12: verses 6 and 14) In other words, during the Beast's 42 month reign, when he is terrorizing the world's inhabitants into serving him, the church of the Most High will be divinely protected in the wilderness - well out of Satan's reach.
CLUE SIX … He will meet his end
at the Savior's return.
The Beast's reign, we are told, will
end at the Messiah's return. Together with the False Prophet who
deluded the world into accepting his Mark the Beast will be cast
into the lake of fire.
Rev.19: 19: And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20: And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
This clue tells us that the Beast is an authority who is able to marshal the military might of all nations ( the kings of the earth and their armies) and to lead them in battle against the returning Son of God! Bear this vital clue in mind when trying to identify the Beast.
From these SIX meaningful clues we conclude that it is highly unlikely that any person, religious organization or political party on earth today can sensibly be classified as being the Beast of Revelation 13; for of whom could it be said:
With due respect to the many opinions about the Beast which have been voiced in the past, it is perfectly obvious that in this present world there just does not exist any person or power - political or ecclesiastical - which could meet even 3 of the above conditions, let alone all 6 of them.
Who then, is the Beast of Revelation 13?
From these 6 clues the AVITW - USA
presents the following answer. The Beast, the Antichrist,
the Lawless One, the Little Horn is a supernatural being who existed
millenniums ago and was imprisoned in the blackness of the Abyss
for crimes too grievous for our puny minds to even imagine. Though
the evil influence from his past existence still pervades human
civilization, the Beast himself is in the Abyss at this very moment.
In Rev. 9: 11 we are plainly told that a mighty monarch called Abaddon, the Destroyer, the Exterminator shall arise from out of the Bottomless Pit to terrorize mankind: that is, all except those who have accepted the Almighty's seal. The prophecy also tells us that three unclean spirits like frogs, the spirits of devils, motivate the Dragon, the Beast and the false Prophet. In other words, the Beast is an evil, unclean being like Satan the Devil and the False Prophet. Unclean output (lies) issues from each of their mouths.
Rev.16:13: And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
As king of the evil host which emerges from the Bottomless Pit, Abaddon is the personification of evil, a sadist of unspeakable depravity and he speaks with an unclean, lying tongue!
Bearing these six clues in mind and comparing them with the prophecy of the Abyss, it is our considered opinion that the Beast who also rises from the Abyss, could well be Abaddon, the Destroyer, the King of the Bottomless Pit, the Exterminator, the Son of Hell! Yes, the Beast could well be Abaddon, the King of the Bottomless Pit, the unclean spirit who teams up with Satan and the False Prophet against Yeshua the Messiah. When the Beast rises from the Abyss at the 1st Woe, he will attract to himself the world's allegiance and adoration - an adoration born of terror. He will then go on to be worshipped as the Antichrist - God on earth!
2 Thess.2: 3: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4: Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
At that time the Beast's most ardent followers will abandon themselves to violence, sexual licence and Devil worship, the very sins multitudes of evil angels were imprisoned in the Abyss for in the days gone by. (Jude 7). For three and a half years the Beast will govern the whole world, compelling its terrified inhabitants into receiving his Mark. At the end of that period he will organize the military might of all nations and dare to launch an attack on Yeshua the Messiah at his return. He will perish in the attempt and be hurled to his doom in the Lake of Fire. (Rev. 19:19-21)
THE MARK OF THE BEAST
When the Antichrist visibly manifests
himself on earth and begins his three and a half year reign, he
will compel the people of all nations to bear his Mark. Acceptance
of it either in one's forehead (faith in it) or
the right hand (acting upon it) will be compulsory, and
those who refuse to receive the Mark will not be allowed to buy
and sell in the markets of the world. In the prophecy of Daniel
7 we are plainly told that the Little Horn power (the Antichrist)
will attempt to change the commandments dealing with time
(the Sabbath days in Yahweh's law) which constitute the
Sign of the God of Israel.
In other words, the Beast will attempt to counterfeit Yahweh's signature (His Sabbath days): and in their place he will popularize various festivals of his own choosing. It is these substitute festivals or rest days which are scheduled to become the dreaded Mark of the Beast, the Signature of Satan!
'And what,' you may ask, 'are these substitute days which are to become the Mark of the Beast?' There is only one true answer to that question and it presents itself as the only conclusion that the foregoing facts allow. And that one inescapable conclusion is this:
That as the true weekly Sabbath (the day known as Saturday) and the Annual Feast Days in the sacred calendar constitute the Sign or Signature of Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel, then the Mark of the Beast, the signature of the Lawless One, the one who vainly thinks that he can change the Sabbaths in Yahweh's perfect law and replace them with festivals of his own choice, must, by a process of simple deduction, be the bogus rest-day of Sunday and all the other unholy festivals of heathenism which are currently posing as the festivals of the Almighty God. (Christmas, Easter, Whit Sunday, Ash Wednesday etc.)
Astonishing as this may sound, these popular festivals are nothing more than the unsanctified output of paganism. Most were kept by the heathen centuries before the Messiah was born in Bethlehem. In the course of time they imperceptibly inveigled their way into the Christian church and are now being boldly proclaimed as the Lord's Day, Christ's birthday etc. Yet, and this is an unequivocal fact, there is not a single verse in the Holy Scriptures which even hints at their supposed sanctity, let alone calls for their observance.
When the Antichrist rises from the Abyss and begins his three and a half year dictatorship he will greatly magnify these ancient heathen festivals and rank the keeping of them as a Sign or Mark of allegiance to him. Who knows, he may even have been instrumental in organizing their observance by the ancient pagans when he first lived; that is, centuries before he was imprisoned in the Abyss. When the Antichrist arrives the observance of Yahweh's Sabbaths will be banned and these bogus pagan festivals will be raised to their ancient glory and will again attain the dubious distinction of being the Mark of the Beast!
Strange as it may seem, not all the inhabitants of the earth will be deceived into receiving the Antichrist's Mark. There will be at least two groups of believers who will totally reject it.
They are:
1) The 144,000 Israelites who will have already accepted the Almighty's Seal at the time of the sealing.
2) An unspecified number of commandment-keepers who will bear the brunt of the Beast's anger when he discovers that he, as Satan the Dragon's agent, is unable to harm the woman in the wilderness. (Rev. 12)
The 144,000 Israelites are a special company of believers who are to be sealed by the Holy Spirit with Yahweh's character, which is specified in the principles embodied in the law. The 144,000 will not only observe God's commandments with faultless obedience, but they will keep His weekly and annual Sabbaths in the truest sense of the term: keep them as a sign of the absolute sanctification which Yahweh will have by then wrought in their lives. They are called 'Israelites,' so obviously a large proportion of that number will be blood-born descendants of the original children of Israel who will have accepted Yeshua (Jesus) as their promised Messiah. Nevertheless, among them will also be many Gentile believers who do not baulk at the idea of being classified as Israelites; for these souls know and live by the inspired pronouncement that says:
And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)
These commandment-keeping Gentile believers are grafted in the Olive of Israel (Romans 11) and are, hopefully, not barred from being numbered with the 144,000 Israelites mentioned in this prophecy. True Israelites, in other words, are not merely the Messiah-accepting descendants of Jacob, but believers who not only have faith in Yahshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), but also endeavour to keep the laws of Yahweh the God of Israel: particularly the Sabbath and food laws which so strikingly sets apart Israel from every other nation on earth.
The 144,000 Israelites could well make up the company who are symbolized by the woman in Rev. 12, but other than this brief explanation of our view it would be infantile of us to presume as to the particular denomination or race from which they will come. The innumerable multitude of commandment-keepers mentioned in Rev. 12:17 will also refuse to accept the Beast's Mark and though many of them will be martyred for their stand, they will all reign with the Master when he returns to earth to begin his millennial reign. (Rev. 20:4) This company will most certainly be made up of believers from every denomination and race; but, perhaps, for not having accepted Yahweh's Seal at the time of the sealing, they are not part of the wilderness group who will be supernaturally protected during the Beast's reign. (Rev. 12:13-17)
THE THREE ANGELS' MESSAGES
Revelation 14 concerns three special
messages of the Almighty which are scheduled to go to all the
world during the time of the Seven Seals. To a limited degree
these three messages are already being proclaimed to mankind by
a few Christian groups, but it is quite obvious that they still
have a lot further to go before they are concluded.
The 1st Angel's Message (the Everlasting
Gospel)
Rev.14: 6: And I saw another angel
fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel
to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation,
and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7: Saying with a loud voice,
Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment
is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the
sea, and the fountains of waters.
Plainly this message is a special call
to all mankind to worship the Creator, the one who made
heaven, and earth, and the sea and the fountains of the water.
At a time when the scriptural record of creation is contemptuously
set aside by most of the intellectuals of this world: at a time
when multiplied millions of people disdainfully reject the Everlasting
Gospel: at a time when the prospect of the approaching Judgment
is sniggered and sneered at, this sacred message calling all mankind
to worship the Creator is scheduled to go forth.
Every true believer will agree that that time has arrived. The 1st Angel's warning message, calling upon mankind to worship the Creator is going into all the world at this very moment and there isn't a power in the universe that can stop it. See article The Everlasting Gospel for more details of this angel's message.
The 2nd Angel's Message
And there followed another angel,
saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,
because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of
her fornication. (Rev.
14:8)
Here we have another example of that
second clue to the understanding symbolic prophecy, where the
operation and outcome of the spiritual realities above can best
be understood by watching their earthly counterparts below. Babylon,
in this context, is not King Nebuchadnezzar's capital city, but
that other metropolis of evil BABYLON THE GREAT which straddles
the Great River Euphrates above. What is even more stunning is
the fact that all the vaunted earthly systems of which men are
so proud, are really only sub-systems of this spiritual capital
above -
Babylon the Great! whose monarch is Satan the Devil.
The fall of Babylon the Great,
as predicted by this message, not only means the utter degradation
to which Satan's capital has descended, but also the total
overthrow of the spiritual capital itself. Just as ancient
Babylon fell into sin and was later overthrown on the very night
it's rulers were engaged in blasphemous revelry (Daniel 5), so
too will Babylon the Great and all it's sub-systems literally
collapse before the armies of God.
As far as this present world is concerned, the message of the 2nd Angel means that at the fall of Babylon the Great, all the Babylonian sub-systems of the world will collapse in confusion. It is probably at that time of collapse, when total anarchy and confusion reigns, that the Beast will visibly manifest himself on earth and masquerade as the long awaited Savior of the human race. When he appears he will be welcomed by millions as Jesus Christ himself; as the only one powerful enough to rescue mankind from its myriad problems. The Antichrist will then take over the government of the world and dare to rule mankind as God! (2 Thess. 2:3-4) According to the Revelation, Yahweh's followers are advised to come out of Babylon at that time; come out in order to escape the seven last plagues scheduled to fall on mankind.
Rev.18: 1: And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2: And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3: For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 4: And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 5: For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Spiritually and socially we believers are, of course, already coming out of Babylon; but the day is not far distant when Babylon the Great will literally collapse before the armies of Yahweh and then we will physically move out of the world's cities just as God's people left ancient Babylon. May Yahweh hasten that day. The fall of Babylon the Great will be reflected on earth in the total economic and social collapse of all nations. Then will follow the punishment of Babylon's harlot daughters, the false religious systems and, finally the seven last plagues. These events are detailed in Revelation chapters 15 to 18. The reader is strongly advised to read those chapters in conjunction with the record of ancient Babylon's fall as given in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel.
The 3rd Angel's Message
Rev.14: 9: And the third angel followed
them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast
and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his
hand, 10: The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God,
which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation;
and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence
of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11: And the
smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they
have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image,
and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 12: Here is the
patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments
of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Every knowledgeable Bible student will recognize that here is a message of unparalleled importance, undoubtedly the most awesome warning recorded in the entire Scriptures, and one which we must understand and heed if we are to escape the wrath of the Almighty. In view of this fact the AVITW - USA has published a special tract entitled THE MARK OF THE BEAST which explains in greater detail what the Mark is and how to avoid receiving it. The 3rd Angel's message is an awesome warning to mankind of the fearsome consequences awaiting those who accept the Mark of the Beast.
If any man worships the Beast ... and receives his Mark ... the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.
Let the reader pause and take note of
that terrifying prospect, for it is fearsome beyond imagination.
Here is no idle message, no meaningless threat, but the Almighty
God's last warning to mankind concerning a subject dearest to
His heart.
In summary the Three Angels' messages
call upon all believers:
1) To heed the Everlasting Gospel
which calls upon mankind to worship the Creator.
2) To separate themselves from Babylon the Great, the Great Whore and her prostitute daughters.
3) To reject the Mark of the Beast, which manifests itself in the keeping of bogus pagan festivals which are currently being celebrated in place of the Sabbaths of the Creator.
Believers who remember Yahweh's Sabbaths are by their very stand heeding the messages of the three Angels.
Third Clue
At this point we will briefly explain
the 3rd clue to understanding Bible prophecy. It concerns the
existence of prophetic dramas. A drama is,
of course, a play, a staged performance directed by someone to
convey a given message. Prophetic dramas are staged
performances, real live shows directed by the Almighty
to put across the life-giving message of salvation. They are divinely
authorized productions designed to demonstrate to the entire universe
the spiritual realities scheduled to take place some time later
in the Plan of Salvation.
A perfect example of a prophetic drama
can be found in the first few books of the Bible which catalogues
the experience of ancient Israel in the time of the Pharaohs.
There we read of Israel's slavery, the sacrifice of the Passover
lamb, the miraculous deliverance from Egypt, the receiving of
the law at Mount Sinai and the subsequent journey to the Promised
Land. Those ancient experiences were all divinely directed
real-life dramas of prophetic significance, for they foreshadowed
mankind's slavery in sin, salvation through the blood of the Messiah
(the Lamb of God), the total overthrow of Satan and his system,
the Sealing work in the last days and the church's triumphant
entry into the glorious Kingdom of Heaven.
Yes, all those ancient experiences, and there are literally scores of them in the Scriptures, were prophetic dramas which were arranged and directed by the Creator to prefigure the mighty spiritual realities involved in the salvation of mankind. An understanding of them is a vital key to understanding the future. To grasp the meaning of the Revelation, therefore, we must go back to the Scriptures to the records of those ancient prophetic dramas. Together with the law of God they constitute an illustrated systems specification of the complex Program of Salvation which the Almighty is currently running. The following text of Scriptures will prove this point.
1 Cor.10: 9: Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10: Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11: Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Note the words: 'all these things happened unto them for ensamples.' In other words, all the events recorded in the Old Testament were prototypes, shadows, examples, living dramas, prophetic illustrations of events scheduled to occur on a universal scale in these end times.
Let us now take one of those prophetic
illustrations which took place in ancient Babylon and
see how it warns us of coming events in Babylon the Great.
The example we will take is found in Daniel chapter 3. It is the
well known story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the three
young Jews who were cast into the fiery furnace for refusing to
bow down to Nebuchadnezzer's image of gold. Almost every Christian
is acquainted with the story and knows how these three commandment-keeping
youths were miraculously preserved from death in the midst of
the furnace. But how few know that that experience was a prophetic
drama, a figure, a living prototype
of a far greater spiritual event scheduled to take place on
a world scale in our day? How many realize that very soon all
the world will be called upon to submit or bow down to another
'image of gold,' a computer-controlled economic
system which will monitor the financial activity of every person
on earth! Yes the time is almost upon us when every wage-packet,
every payment, every transaction involving money (gold) will be
vetted, processed, recorded and monitored in an international
economic system controlled by the coming Dictator of the World.
And once again, obedience to the commandments of Yahweh will be
the test of faith just as it was in the days
of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
According to the prophecy many believers
will hearken to the message of the 3rd Angel in that day. They
will refuse to accept the Mark of the Beast or bow down before
the 'image of gold' in order to trade in the market
place. Instead, they will obey the commandments of the God of
Israel and like the three ancient worthies enter the furnace
of affliction unbowed. Then one of the greatest miracles
ever known to man will occur. Yahweh the God of the Hebrews will
miraculously intervene. His Son will once again walk with His
obedient servants in the midst of the furnace and all the
forces of hell will be powerless to destroy them. That is the
prophetic message of Daniel chapter 3. In dramatized form that
chapter tells us how the Treasures of Truth are
an invincible force, that their faith cannot be extinguished and
their numbers never totally wiped out. Persecution, in other words,
is totally incapable of destroying the commandment-keeping church
of the living God.
The closing words of the 3rd Angel clearly indicate that Yahweh's church will live through the fiery trials of that time and still maintain its faith and obedience. That's good news and it is expressed in these meaningful words:
Here is the patience of the saints:
here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith
of Jesus. (Rev. 14:12)
THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES
The record of the seven last plagues
is found in Revelation chapters 15 and 16. They are called the
last plagues because they occur towards the end of the
7th Seal, just prior to the Messiah's return.
The 1st plague causes a noisome and grievous
sore to break out on all who have the Mark of the Beast
(Rev. 16:2). So it is obvious that these horrible plagues can
only occur after the Beast has arrived on the world scene
and deluded the majority of mankind into receiving his mark. These
plagues are fearsome, to say the least, and because they are adequately
explained in the Revelation we will only mention two points about
them in this booklet.
1) The seven last plagues are referred to as the Wrath of God. (Rev. 16:1)
1: And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth..
The reader should not confuse the Great
Tribulation with the Wrath of God, because they are
not the same. The Great Tribulation is that terrible time
of trouble mentioned in Rev. 7:14-17 through which multitudes
of believers will pass. It is a time of scorching heat, famine,
thirst and agonizing tears for all mankind; and it begins with
the 1st Trumpet at the opening of the 7th Seal. The
Great Tribulation is experienced by the obedient and disobedient
alike with, perhaps, the exception of those believers who accepted
the Seal of Yahweh before the events of the 7th Seal began.
The Wrath of God, on the other
hand, is only experienced by the persistently disobedient, and
it occurs towards the end of the 7th Seal. This means, most
of humanity will experience the great tribulation -
believer and unbeliever alike -
but only the persistently disobedient will experience the wrath
of God. That is the difference.
2) The seven plagues will be poured out undiluted, without mercy. (Rev. 14:9-10)
For the first time in human history the universe will witness the pouring out of the undiluted wrath of God. Previously when punishing mankind the Almighty has always tempered His anger with a generous measure of mercy. But at the end time it will be very different. For whosoever worships the Beast and receives his mark shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. Wrath, without mixture, means undiluted punishment of the severest kind! To those who accept the Holy Scriptures as the Word of the living God, that prospect is terrifying beyond imagination, and has led us to the conclusion that:
The responsibility of identifying the Mark of the Beast and then publishing information concerning it, is by far the most important and urgent commitment any church organization could possibly undertake in these last days
Indeed this is the prime reason why A Voice In The Wilderness is sending out this booklet, (and placing
it on the Internet) so that every person who reads it will have
a clear understanding of the momentous issues at stake and know
how to escape the undiluted wrath of the Almighty God.
Encapsulated in a single instruction the route a person must take to escape God's wrath is as follows:
Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
To fear God (Yahweh) means to
respect him, to honour him, to have faith in him, to love him,
to stand in awe of his immeasurable holiness and worth; and above
all to gratefully accept the priceless gift of salvation which
he has made available through his only begotten Son, Yeshua
the Messiah (Jesus Christ).
To keep His commandments needs
little if any explanation. It simply means to obey Yahweh's law
(Exodus 20). Obedience is in fact an expression of faith, the
fruit of faith, the only reliable manifestation of true love to
God. In other words, believers who love the Almighty should seek
to obey His commandments, because faith without obedience is dead
(1 John 5:1-3, James 2:17-26). All those who fear Yahweh and keep
His commandments will most certainly escape His wrath -
the seven last plagues. Let the reader pause and note these vital
facts.
THE GREAT HARLOT
Rev.17: 1: And there came one of the
seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying
unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the
great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2: With whom
the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants
of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3: So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and
I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names
of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4: And the woman
was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold
and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand
full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5: And
upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
The identity of the Great Whore has
been the subject of speculation for centuries. And even though
the various church groups differ as to who she is, almost all
agree that she represents a religious system or organization
of some kind which has prostituted itself for the sake of popularity,
power or gain. But what kind of a religious organization -
human or angelic? That is the question.
A clue to the answer is given in the text itself. She bears the name of a city, Babylon the Great, which is a mighty metropolis of evil situated on the Great River Euphrates above. This city:
1) Governs all the nations of the world.
18: And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. (Rev. 17:18)
2) She has already spiritually seduced and corrupted all mankind.
For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. (Rev. 18:3)
3) Her economic policies have been adopted by the leading businessmen of the whole world.
…for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.. (Rev. 18:23)
4) Within her gates lies the guilt of every murder ever committed in the annals of human history.
And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. (Rev. 18: 24)
Let the reader pause and consider those
four stunning facts, because they mean that Babylon the Great
is an inter-galactic metropolis of awesome authority which is
currently ruling over all the governments of the earth;
a city whose main objectives are to usurp the authority of the
Almighty, abolish His laws and wherever possible annihilate the
prophets and saints who remain faithful to him. In short, the
Great Harlot symbolizes a spiritual city on high
- the
epicentre of the Kingdom of Satan -
a city which is the implacable opponent of the Heavenly Jerusalem
itself.
The daughters of the Great Harlot are her earthly offspring, the religious organizations of men, which have also prostituted themselves for the sake of popularity, power and gain. Like their fallen mother they too have set aside the commandments of Yahweh and have adulterated His truth with errors to numerous to mention. Over and over again they have degraded themselves with Satan and their guilt has now mounted up to the heavens. More details concerning this Harlot and her prostitute daughters can be found in the AVITW article The Great Whore.
This, then, is the overview of the world in which we live: a world of mystifying extremes, of order on the one hand of confusion on the other, of righteousness and sin, of love and hate, life and death. Oh how few people even suspect that behind the scenes there are those two super-cities above - Jerusalem the Golden, the mother of the believing church (Galatians 4:26), the heavenly home-base of all the saints who have ever lived: and Babylon the Great, the implacable opponent of everything holy, just and true.
Of the Heavenly Jerusalem the Scriptures have a great deal to say. Here is just one beautiful passage about her.
Psalm 87: 6: The LORD shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. Selah. 7: As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her.
Galatians 4:26: But Jerusalem which
is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
THE FALL OF BABYLON THE GREAT
Rev.18: 18: And cried when they saw
the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this
great city! 19: And they cast dust on their heads, and cried,
weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein
were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her
costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. 20: Rejoice
over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for
God hath avenged you on her. 21: And a mighty angel took up a
stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying,
Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down,
and shall be found no more at all. 22: And the voice of harpers,
and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no
more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he
be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone
shall be heard no more at all in thee; 23: And the light of a
candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the
bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee:
for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy
sorceries were all nations deceived. 24: And in her was found
the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain
upon the earth.
According to this passage and from others
in the Scriptures the collapse of Babylon the Great is
absolutely guaranteed. Indeed, it is so certain to occur that
the Almighty especially ordered a miniature version of the event
to take place on earth thousands of years ago in the fertile plains
of Mesopotamia. The inspired records of the prophets tell us in
great detail how ancient Babylon was defeated on the very night
its kings and courtiers were honouring their idols in blasphemous
defiance of the God of Heaven (Daniel 5).
On the orders of the Eternal, the earthly Babylon, which as we have pointed out was merely a model of the spiritual metropolis above, was literally demolished as a fearsome forecast to the entire angelic host of what was in store for the Great Harlot above. Consequently, to properly appreciate what is scheduled to occur throughout the mighty universe in the near future, the reader is strongly advised to study the fall of the ancient Babylon as recorded in the Old Testament (Isaiah chapters 13 and 14, Jeremiah chapters 50 and 51). On doing this he/she will quickly see how certain is the collapse of Babylon the Great. When that spiritual capital's collapse occurs this shout of triumph will reverberate across the mighty universe.
Rev.19: 1: And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 2: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 3: And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. 4: And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. 5: And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6: And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7: Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
The fall of Babylon the Great
will have immediate repercussions throughout the universe. On
earth an economic crash of unparalleled proportions will occur,
which will permanently cripple thousands of business enterprises
the world over. International trade, which we all know is motivated
mainly by greed rather than anything noble, will come to a standstill
as though smitten by a massive stroke; and many shops, banks,
factories and business corporations around the world will shut
down.
The whole of Revelation 18 is given over to describing the trade and economic side-effects of Babylon's fall. Strange as it may seem, the Revelation clearly indicates that mankind is not only going to share in a small way Babylon's punishment and collapse, but is also going to eye-witness the event itself. Just as human eyes will be permitted to actually see the throne of the living God at the 6th Seal (Rev. 6:16-17) so too at Babylon's fall millions of human beings will actually stand aghast as they see that evil super-city above going up in smoke.
Rev.18: 9: And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10: Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Then, in a frenzy of awareness, men and woman will realize how terribly deceived they have been in religious matters: how easily the Harlot and her promiscuous earthly daughters had inveigled them into accepting as truth the dubious doctrines of devils. Mankind will then turn in rage on all the religious organizations of men - Christian or otherwise - and will literally tear them to pieces.
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. (Rev.17:16)
Goaded on by the Beast, whose deadly
dictatorship at that time will be universally accepted, men will
abandon themselves to the service of the Man of Sin. It
will, indeed, be a Time of Trouble such as never was since
there was a nation. But, and this is the most wondrous part of
it all, Yahweh's true church, the ekklesia
of God,
the sealed commandment-keeping servants of the Most High -
will be saved out of it. During that awesome period the
sealed church, symbolized by the pure woman in Revelation chapter
12, will be safe in the wilderness of the nations out of the
Devil's reach (Rev. 12:13-16, Ezekiel 20:33-37) See AVITW article
entitled The Coming Exodus.
In the unseen spirit realms above and
on the earth below there will be total confusion and chaos at
Babylon's fall. But at that time Yahweh's followers throughout
the universe, especially those on earth, will rejoice with joy
unspeakable. For they will have a measure of peace and protection
which no demon will be able to disturb.
Isn't that good news? We think it is. Indeed were it not for those encouraging passages in the prophecy which tell of pardon, peace and protection for those who trust and obey the Almighty, the Revelation would terrify the bravest heart and produce panic in the mind of every believer who read it. It is precisely for this reason that A Voice In The Wilderness has put out this booklet, that believers the world over may begin to study the Revelation, understand its symbolism and pay special heed to those inspired passages which indicate that obedience is a vital pre-requisite to protection. For, believe it or not, divine protection is conditional; and the main condition believers must meet to qualify for protection is to add to their faith - obedience.
Remember:
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. (Rev. 1:3)
The Almighty God of Israel wants His
followers to understand the revelation, to wake up and
prepare for the cataclysmic events scheduled to engulf mankind
in the near future. But far more than this, He wants them to demonstrate
their faith in Him by obeying His law. Do you have the will to
do that? We hope you do, because if you do not you will be overwhelmed
by the troubles which have already begun and are escalating out
of control all over the world.
THE FINAL SCENES
The final scenes of this age will be
swift and decisive. The Antichrist will have by that time completely
established his authority over mankind and to a certain extent
life on earth will have regained a semblance of normality. The
whole kaleidoscope of religious opinion, however, with its multiple
shades of Pagan and Christian interpretation, will have gone.
Instead, the Beast alone will be revered by the vast majority
of earth's population as God On Earth! All the world, with
the exception of Yahweh's church, will in that day worship and
obey the Man of Sin -
the Lawless One.
2 Thess.2:3: Let no man deceive you
by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a
falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the
son of perdition; 4: Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God
sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
When Yeshua (Jesus) finally returns to earth, as he repeatedly promised he would (Matt. 24, John 14:1-3) the Beast will convince mankind that the Savior's approach is an invasion from outer space, an alien attack to be repulsed. The peoples of this world, already programd to the idea of space invaders and inter-galactic wars, will rally to the Beast's call and strongly resist the returning Son of God. The outcome of their short, sharp encounter with Jesus Christ is pictured in these telling words:
Rev.19: 11: And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12: His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13: And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14: And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15: And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16: And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 17: And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18: That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. 19: And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 20: And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21: And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
It is not necessary to write at length
about the Beast's crushing defeat by the Son of God. Suffice to
say that it will be swift, total and eternal in its effect. The
Antichrist, we are told, will be incinerated in a lake of fire,
a prospect too terrible to imagine.
THE MILLENNIAL REIGN
At the Beast's death in the lake of fire,
Yeshua's millennial (1000 years) reign will begin. The millennial
reign is a Reign of Peace, a Reign of Rest and a
Reign of Righteousness. It is to mankind's past six thousand
years of toil, trial and terror what the Sabbath day is to the
working week, a day of regeneration, refreshment and renewal;
a day of harmony, health and happiness; a day of worship and thanksgiving.
When the millennial reign begins humanity will witness a breathtaking
transformation in every department of life. There will be complete
reversal of all the evil trends and abuses that have been for
ages accepted as normal. During the millennium, the Messiah's
authority will extend from shore to shore and all the nations
of the world will be speedily brought into line with his requirements.
The Scriptures abound with prophecies about the Messiah's Reign
over all nations. Indeed, this is one reason why ancient Israel's
leaders failed to accept him at his first coming. They were expecting
a conquering monarch who would throw off the Roman yoke and lead
Israel to victory over all nations. They did not expect a dying
Lamb who called for self-sacrifice and holiness of heart. But
for all that, the prophecies of the Messiah's world-wide reign
will still be fulfilled during the millennium. Here is a short
list of the events that will take place at that time.
1. At the Messiah's return the first general resurrection will occur, a resurrection at which millions of believers will rise from their graves to meet the returning king. (1 Thess. 4:16-17, Rev. 20:4-6)
2. Then the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and he will begin to exert the authority over mankind which he has already received from his Father. (Psalm 2, Psalm 98, Daniel 2:43-44, Zechariah 14, Matthew 28:18)
3. Special positions of authority will also be granted to certain believers in that day to govern the nations under the leadership of the Messiah. Foremost amongst them will be those who are martyred for refusing to accept the Mark of the Beast. (Luke 19:11-27, Rev. 2:26-27, Rev. 20:4-6)
4. During the millennium Satan will be completely immobilized in the Abyss, that bottomless black-hole where the Beast was formerly imprisoned. (Rev. 20:1-3 Rev. 9)
5. Yahweh's law, the sacred specifications of His lifestyle, the eternal constitution of the universe will then be proclaimed to all the nations of the world and will be administered by officials of the Kingdom with telling effect. Sin will be subdued and righteousness will flourish as never before. Then at last mankind will rest; mankind will rejoice with joy unspeakable; mankind will be full of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 2:1-5, Isaiah 51: 1-11)
6. The earth itself will blossom as the garden of God and even the barren wilderness will bring forth fruit. There will be no more food shortages, no famine and no more freak weather conditions. All nature will be at rest and a spiritual calm will settle upon the human race the like of which has never been seen before. (Isaiah 35)
7. During the millennium the Festivals of Yahweh, those sacred memorials of His greatest acts in the Program of Salvation, will be observed by all the nations of the world. This amazing fact is amply proved in the prophecy of Zechariah, where we find a whole section (chapter 14) devoted to the keeping of the Feast of Tabernacles during the Messiah's millennial reign. Oh yes, God's signature will be upon all mankind in that glorious age of peace.
In a sentence, the Messiah's millennial
reign will be a day of rest and gladness, a day of health and
holiness, a day of peace and prosperity for all mankind. Is it
any wonder that even the Almighty is looking forward to it?
At the end of the millennium three notable events will occur.
1) Satan will be loosed from the Abyss for a very short period. He will come out unchanged from that spirit-penitentiary; that is, he will be totally unrepentant of his monstrous crimes and still fully convinced that his life-style is superior to Jehovah's and his form of government more to be desired.
2) The second general resurrection will occur and all those billions of unbelieving souls who were not resurrected at the Messiah's return to earth will rise from their graves. Their numbers will be as the sands of the sea.
3) Strange as it may seem, the vast majority of this newly resurrected host will again succumb to the deceptions of Satan and will even side with him in an all-out attack on the city of Jerusalem, vainly imagining that their superiority in numbers over the saints would somehow guarantee victory. The ensuing battle will end in a holocaust - a lake of fire - an incinerating slaughter so permanent that rebellion against the Almighty will never again raise its ugly head. The lake of fire, which totally annihilates the unbelieving host, is referred to in the Revelation as the second death. There is no resurrection from the second death.
The above three events are specified in the Revelation in these words.
Rev.20: 7: And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8: And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9: And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10: And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11: And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12: And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13: And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14: And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15: And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
THE NEW EARTH
The Bible tells us that after the millennium
Yahweh will create a new universe. We shall witness Him doing
this and never again will mankind doubt the Almighty's ability
to create.
Rev.21: 1: And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2: And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3: And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5: And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6: And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
No one will doubt but that the Revelation
tells of disasters on a scale quite impossible to imagine; of
wars, famines and pestilence involving all humanity;
of persecutions and other spiritual pressures geared to exhaust
the bravest heart; of deception so subtle that only a few believers
will detect them; of sin so blatant that multitudes of believers
will abandon righteousness and return to their sins. But, and
let us pause here to praise Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel
for this fact, the Revelation does not end on a note of despair
and doom. The above passage about the creation of a new universe
is proof of it. Indeed the whole of chapters 21 and 22 are additional
proof. This old universe, battered and scarred as it is through
sin, is going to be renewed at the end of the millennium -
the Day of the LORD! (2 Peter 3:10-13)
The new earth will be the absolute masterpiece
of creation, a sanctuary of happiness and peace far beyond anything
anyone can imagine. On the new earth there will be no suffering,
no sickness, no sorrow, no pain and no death. What's more, the
Creator has promised to make all things new, (Rev. 21:5)
a promise so encompassing that one could spend hours musing on
it.
The final passages of the Revelation tell of the New Jerusalem, the capital city of the new universe. Its glories, symbolically described in chapters 21 and 22, are as numerous as the saints who will one day walk in its magnificent streets. And, believe it or not, it is to this eternal paradise of God that you dear reader are being invited. If you have not already accepted the Savior's offer of salvation, then here in the Revelation is an invitation which includes you. After reading this invitation pause awhile and let its infinite worth sink into your mind. Think about it, believe it and accept it for yourself. Above all, act upon it, for failure to do so would be a mistake too tragic to tell.
Rev.21: 6: And he said unto me, It
is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I
will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water
of life freely. 7: He that overcometh shall inherit all things;
and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8: But the
fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:
which is the second death.
Rev.22: 12: And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 14: Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15: For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 16: I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. 17: And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
For many centuries the declarations of
Jehovah by the mouth of His prophets have been treated
by unbelievers with a measure of bemused contempt bordering on
blasphemy. The Holy Scriptures, published in hundreds of languages
at enormous cost to the saints, have been generally set aside
by the masses in preference for a diet of fiction, much of which
is too degrading to even consider. But, and here is a truth so
profound that it cannot be repeated too often, the Scriptures
must be fulfilled. (Luke 21:22) This means that the predictions
of the Almighty will come to pass, they will happen, no matter
whether people believe them or not. Politicians may prattle, priests
and parsons may preach, monthly prognosticators may pretend, but
this Himalayan fact becomes increasingly clear every day -
Bible prophecy is being fulfilled before our very eyes all
over the earth.
Therefore, to really benefit from this
study of the Revelation we will advise the reader to do three
things: Compare, Examine and Obey.
FIRST: Compare world events with
Bible prophecy. Take special note of what the news bulletins and
papers say and see for yourself how astonishingly accurate the
Holy Scriptures are. In particular check world events against
the messages of the Seven Seals and do not be slow to recognize
the fact that the Revelation is exactly what it claims to be -
a divine disclosure of mankind's future.
SECOND: Examine those passages in Bible prophecy which warn of Satan's many counterfeits which are designed especially to delude mankind, and especially the Christian church, into rejecting the Almighty's Truth.
Thoroughly investigate the truth about
the Sign or Signature of Yahweh the God of Israel. Also learn
to recognize the signature of Satan, the Mark of the Beast.
Carefully study all the references quoted in this booklet and
do not allow others to detract you from the Truth, because your
eternal salvation could be jeopardized if you do.
THIRD: Obey the Almighty's commandments. Yes, add to your faith - obedience, before it is eternally too late. The Revelation, as you can see, is Yahweh's final warning message to this rebellious world. It is a divine call to obedience and it specifies the only route believers may take to escape the terrors of Abaddon. Be quick to take that route, for the crisis at the close of this age has already begun!