Nevertheless, the discussion of the world's history of great turning points would not be complete without talking about the moment in time when thousands of those who loved Jesus Christ are suddenly removed. This is commonly called the Rapture of the Church. The word "Rapture" is not in the Bible, but nobody but Liberals and Reformers complain about it.
Since this event has not happened at the time we go to press with this article in August on 1998, we can only tell you what the Lord Jesus Christ and His prophets and Apostles said about this event in their entries under inspiration in the Bible.
As it was in the days of Noah and Lot-- life will be good.
Luke 17:26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so
shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage,
until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed
them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank,
they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone
from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
This text is primarily a prophecy by Christ to the Jew of the Great Tribulation era of the future. The Church will be raptured just before this era. The reference to Lot and Noah is clearly to the Church which will be removed just before the Tribulation Wrath of God against sinful man. While Lot was in compromise in capitulating to Sodom, he WAS elect, or he would not have been saved. Noah is the picture of a man in victory. So, we also see that there will be victorious saints and compromised saints taken in the Rapture of the Church. This lays to rest the treacherous teaching of William Marion Branham who claimed that the saints are raptured in two batches, his faithful who listen to the tapes of the tin horned prophet, and the rest of us defeated believers who will be taken after suffering part of the Tribulation wrath.
You Branhamites need to pawn your tape recorder and buy a King James Bible and READ it cover to cover. If nothing else, you will learn that the revelation of God was given in good grammar.
You will not know the day or hour, but you will know the season.
Mt 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Again, this is for the Jew primarily, but it shows a principle with the great acts of God, that is, God does NOT give the day of His entries into human events. Those who claim to know the day of the Rapture or the Second Advent are false prophets, and that now includes Harold Camping of Family Life Radio.
We DO know the seasons. The following text makes it clear that we should be able to discern that the end of this era is arriving. Prophecies have been fulfilled, and the world now has one language. The Gospel has been preached in the whole earth, churches established, and then they all have turned Laodicean in the majority. This kind of discussion and observation should cause the saint to see things seasonably. Thus:
1 Thessalonians 5:1 But of the times and
the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh
upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you
as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not
of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
So, while we must NOT try to give days and hours for the Rapture of the Lord's Church, we may and must keep an eye on the world as it fulfills God's prophetic landmarks and arrives at the "season" of the end times.
Those who are dead in Christ will go first.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I would not have you to
be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not,
even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive
and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ
shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with
the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Those who are dead, but not in Christ, don't go anywhere. Their damnation has been sealed because they refused to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ when they were still alive. So, those who are dead and received Christ's Gospel during life will be leaving earth physically BEFORE the rest of us. This is God's way of comforting believers regarding their dead loved ones.
The dead in Christ are also NOT in Purgatory. This place was 100% the invention of Roman Catholic Popes who wanted a better way to fleece the sheep. ALL of the getting ready for heaven was done for the believer when Jesus Christ died on the cross one Wednesday evening in Israel on a hill outside of Jerusalem. Any system which demands the believer pay part of the price of his salvation is a mongrel counterfeit gospel, and it should be ignored.
Great falling away and delusion will accompany that day.
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;
Tim Holtrop was talking about this one time during fellowship, and he suggested that ALL religions, not just Christendom, will experience a falling away from any god and a resorting to secularism and self-deification. At first, I thought Tim was pushing the thing too far. Now, I am convinced that Tim was right. Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, the cults, as well as Christendom have ALL turned away from the zeal of their founders. The world is now self-possessed, and it only one small step for Satan to enter and exalt man to lust for godhead. Is there any precedent for this? Answer: YES, and this is where the fall of man started in Eden:
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto
the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees
of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath
said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall
be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
There will be found very little faith in the earth.
Luke 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Faith is in very short supply in the world now. Doubt has been exalted in theology and in the Roman Catholic Church. Evolutionists have been given the lead as Christian thinkers have ceased to demand faith in the literal application of Bible truth and Bible historic facts. Faith in Jesus Christ as the only way, truth, and life has been trashed by the likes of Billy Graham who has claimed that Buddhists and other pagans will be allowed into God's heaven based on sincerely. This essentially blasphemes the unique claim of Christ that men must come ONLY by Him to find eternal life. Faith is definitely out of fashion in the whole earth.
The Church will
be vastly sick spiritually--
poor, blind, naked, and lusting for new things.
Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
The whole of Christendom is not poor, blind, and naked spiritually. Worldwide, the Church is mocked as unable to bring change to the evils rampant in all nations. Social concern by Christendom is totally void of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so humanitarian aid is doled out with no change in the recipient. Dead men stay dead, and they go to hell better fed and better clothed as this mongrel church meets their physical needs without Christ.
Alleged saints rush to the front of the Charismatic churches to indecently expose themselves as they wallow in their own vomit, and the lusting preacher calls this the work of the Holy Ghost. Is this not a literal fulfillment of the above passage? One lady, wife of the pastor, in England goes forward every Sunday morning, during the worship service, and has an orgasm on the carpet as the saints cheer-- they claim it is the work of the Holy Ghost.
Hell has no better friends on earth that the Brownsville-Toronto Blessing gang.
The saints will experience change, while the earth will lose salt.
Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Luke 14:34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost
his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast
it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
The Church is the salt of the earth. The salt is tasteless now days as Charismatic frenzy makes the church look like the B Ward in a mental hospital. The whole of Christendom has traded in its conviction against sin and compromise in exchange for the approval of the Pope and washed out scholars and the media. So, the salt is cast out. The true Church of Christ is to be removed, and Christendom, as a profane cur dog, will run loose in the earth and raise its voice in exaltation of Satan himself. This is just as it should be, for these pigs need an era to wallow in the mire and slime so that Christ's Kingdom will be in 100% contrast to the Tribulation church.
Terror will immediately come upon all men who miss this Rapture.
Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun,
and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations,
with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those
things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Heart attacks will literally take millions as the Beast takes over the world and as God's wrath pours out on the earth in fierce measure. We already see the effect of fear and worry on humanity in a way unknown in past years. As the terrors of end Times disasters destroy fortunes and wreck havoc on the earth, heart failure will become endemic. This is the preparation for the Great Tribulation.
Israel will be again a nation and ready to crown the Antichrist.
Hosea 14:1 O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God;
for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all
iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our
lips.
3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we
say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the
fatherless findeth mercy.
4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger
is turned away from him.
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth
his roots as Lebanon.
6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and
his smell as Lebanon.
7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive
as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine
of Lebanon.
Micah 5:3 Therefore will he give them up, until
the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of
his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty
of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be
great unto the ends of the earth.
Malachi 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake
often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of
remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that
thought upon his name.
17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make
up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth
him.
18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
This return happened in 1948 when the Jews returned to Palestine and Israel became a nation again after 2500 years in dispersion. This is clearly to happen close to the return of Christ as Messiah, as king of Israel for 1000 years. So, by this we see that the Rapture of the Lord's Church must be near.
Russia will have a good reason to attack Israel.
Russia in the Bible is known as Gog and Magog. She is the ultimate rebel. Russia will soon attack Israel, and she will be defeated by God personally. Russia will only get back one in six of all the men she sends against Israel. This will not cause Russia to learn. After the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ, as she did during the Great Tribulation, Russia will again come against Israel. There are today many true believers in Russia. What I say next has nothing to do with them because they love Jesus Christ and the Jewish people. As a nation, it is very important to understand that Russia has always been a brutal and barbarian people. And, they will be that way until the end of earth's history. Any nation which trusts the leaders of Russia, or joins them in any kind of league, will be injured severely.
Now, read the terror soon to come against Russia:
Ezekiel chapter 38
Ezekiel 38:1 And the word of the LORD came unto
me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince
of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the
chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring
thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed
with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields,
all of them handling swords:
5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters,
and all his bands: and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that
are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come
into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of
many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste:
but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all
of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to
cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same
time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will
go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without
walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate
places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out
of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst
of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions
thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered
thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle
and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord
GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not
know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many
people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a
mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover
the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my
land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O
Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time
by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many
years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against
the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my
face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in
that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts
of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all
the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence,
and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall,
and every wall shall fall to the ground.
21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith
the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will
rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with
him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in
the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Ezekiel chapter 39
Ezekiel 1:1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy
against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee,
O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will
cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the
mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows
to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,
and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds
of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord
GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in
the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and
I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall
know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day
whereof I have spoken.
9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set
on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows
and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them
with fire seven years:
10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any
out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall
spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the
Lord GOD.
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place
there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the
sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they
bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they
may cleanse the land.
13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them
a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through
the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the
earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's
bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it
in the valley of Hamongog.
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse
the land.
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered
fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather
yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even
a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and
drink blood.
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes
of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings
of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken,
of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty
men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see
my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that
day and forward.
23 And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity
for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my
face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they
all by the sword.
24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have
I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity
of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous
for my holy name;
26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby
they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and
none made them afraid.
27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out
of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
28 Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to
be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their
own land, and have left none of them any more there.
29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out
my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
In Chapter 38, verse 6 you read that Gomer and Togarmah will join Russia and come with them against Israel. Gomer is Germany. Germany is second only to Russia as the brute of the White race. I saw the results of their colonial policy in Africa. The Germans treated the Africans under their power in the most brutal terms. Germans have a nature which is beyond belief when Satan takes them over. Of course, when Jesus Christ is invited into the heart of a German, the change is complete, and we look back on the Germans of the Reformation and the Anabaptists of Germany and marvel at their zeal to throw off the Pope and the Roman Catholic bondage. Germans who are living in Christ are mighty to the pulling down of Satan's strongholds.
But, the ungodly Germans of today's Germany are now rising up again in hate of Jews and anyone who is not of the German race. History is destined to repeat itself again soon in Germany as Gomer (Germany) joins Russia and attacks the Jews in israel. Many people can think back no further than Hitler in viewing the psyche of Germans. Do some reading on the Kaiser and the Bismark. These men were mindless animals. I also note that Hitler made a concordat with the Pope which the Pope found very much to old Mother Church's taste. We must remember that Germany and the Whore Church are very cozy pals. This too will fit well with the Roman Church's hate for Israel and the Jews which is an ongoing policy since Constantine.
The kings of the East will also have reason to attack Israel.
Revelation 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out
his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried
up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
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.
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto
the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle
of that great day of God Almighty.
Who would have thought that the whole Far East would unite and march against Israel one day? Only 50 years ago this would have seemed impossible. The 1938 massacre of China by Japan is one of the historians' most evil secrets. The story of this massacre is basically unknown by 99% of the world today. And, it would seem that China and Japan are very close to a bond of self-preservation, along with Indonesia and the Philippines, which would make the Far East the world's most powerful financial power. With this clout, these nations could then turn west and march against Israel, and possibly against Europe.
If the Muslim nations joined these forces in some political and commercial union, the world would be at their mercy. This aspect of the times just before or after the Rapture of the Lord's Church is highly significant. The battle field of these kings of the East will of course be Armageddon. And, it will be the final battle and rebellion of humanity against Christ. So, the kings will be defeated in the end, and all who join them will be destroyed. Will YOU be with them, or are you now ready, by faith in Jesus Christ, to go out of here BEFORE this horrific battle?
Babylon will be ripe for destruction.
Babylon has NEVER been totally destroyed as the following chapter prophecies. Bible teachers have for years claimed that Babylon was destroyed in the past. NOT SO!! In fact, Saddam Hussein has completely restored Babylon to its original glory, with only the hanging gardens to finish at last report. Hussein calls himself Nebuchadnezzar III, and Saddam has monster bill boards in Babylon depicting himself shaking hands with Nebuchadnezzar II. This will be finished, and the ancient city of Nimrod and Satan will be restored so that the world can use it as a target to fulfill God's wrath. This also gives us a clue that Babylon and Iraq will continue to be a great source of agitation to the Middle East and the world, thus earning worldwide hate and revenge motives. You can just plan on it. Also, there is no indication that this destruction of Babylon must happen after the Rapture of the Lord's Church. It could happen at any time in the future.
Jeremiah 50:1 The word that the LORD spake against
Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish,
and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken
in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall
make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove,
they shall depart, both man and beast.
4 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel
shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they
shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
5 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come,
and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall
not be forgotten.
6 My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go
astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from
mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
7 All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We
offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of
justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.
8 Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the
Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.
9 For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly
of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in
array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be
as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.
10 And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith
the LORD.
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage,
because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed:
behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land,
and a desert.
13 Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall
be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished,
and hiss at all her plagues.
14 Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend
the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.
15 Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations
are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD:
take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.
16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the
time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one
to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the
king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon
hath broken his bones.
18 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will
punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on
Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and
Gilead.
20 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel
shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and
they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the
inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD,
and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon
become a desolation among the nations!
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and
thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven
against the LORD.
25 The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of
his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land
of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her
up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.
27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them!
for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to
declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.
29 Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp
against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according
to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath
been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.
30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of
war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.
31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts:
for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up:
and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about
him.
33 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children
of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them
fast; they refused to let them go.
34 Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly
plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the
inhabitants of Babylon.
35 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants
of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
36 A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty
men; and they shall be dismayed.
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the
mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women:
a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
38 A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the
land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands
shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more
inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof,
saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man
dwell therein.
41 Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many
kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
42 They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew
mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses,
every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter
of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed
feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
44 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto
the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from
her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like
me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will
stand before me?
45 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against
Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the
Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall
make their habitation desolate with them.
46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry
is heard among the nations.
The Gentiles, non-Jews, will have all heard the Gospel and fallen from it.
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Though this is a Kingdom prophecy, it is consistent with God's mercy. The Gospel of Grace will also be preached to the whole world.
Luke 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Galatians 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
There may well be a world financial crisis which calls for one united answer and manager.
Revelation 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the
sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns,
and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
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.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth
with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the
faith of the saints.
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two
horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth
the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose
deadly wound was healed.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven
on the earth in the sight of men,
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles
which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell
on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the
wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image
of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship
the image of the beast should be killed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,
to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name
of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore
and six.
What motivation could possibly cause ALL men, even the most articulate and skeptical scholars and thinkers, to fall in worship of a man with an answer? What motive in humankind would collect the whole world in submission to Satan?
Answer: Financial panic and disaster. Men will do ANYTHING for their wealth and financial security:
1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Last question: What could possibly cause the whole world to collapse into such financial and economic disaster that they would be ready to worship anyone, even Satan, if the man had the answer for them to retain their wealth?
Answer: After a united One World Currency and Monetary system, a computer crash-- The collapse of worldwide commercial and financial cartels and arrangements would be assured by a powerful object from space which was electromagnetic. While this seems a bit far out, a neutron bomb over detonated over the center of world trade and banking would fry all computers and shut down trade and destroy all record keeping balances and accounts due. There would be no trade two minutes later. Terrorist nations and groups are now shopping for these weapons. Osama bin Laden has proved that the best laid schemes of mice and men can be circumvented.
Do you see how close we could be to the Rapture of the Lord's Church?
If you are a skeptic and you feel that you could not possibly be deceived by such a scam from Hell, well God intends to aim His mighty power at you and MAKE you believe in Satan. You see, God wants you to arrive at His throne one day in the future and have NO excuse. You have every opportunity to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ now, and repent and believe in Jesus. You have refused this Gospel. But, God wants your rebellion to mature, to grow stronger, to be so evident that no one would question His authority to toss you into hell with Satan and the world's other rebels. So here is what God will do to your mind after the true Church has been removed fro the earth:
2 Thessalonians 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
"for this cause--" What does that mean? Answer: Because you are a committed rebel. You mock at the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. You have no time for anything but your own lusts. You reject the Gospel as "pie in the sky." So, God intends to give you just what you deserve-- hell on earth in the immediate future, and hell in the Lake of Fire for eternity. And, you are just fool enough to laugh at this and plod on into eternity without Jesus Christ, right? You poor fool!
So, if you find it hard to believe that Satan could be your leader one day, and you feel you would never bow to the Devil himself, just be patient-- God will help you to believe in Satan soon enough. I do wish deeply that you would turn to Jesus Christ today and receive His salvation so that God in mercy can take you into His heaven with the rest of the Church.
You see, friend, it is your choice. God never forced anyone to choose life. Any fool can choose death and go to hell with bells and whistles blowing. God will step aside and let you do it.
Fear will be rampant in those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Hebrews 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that
we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice
for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which
shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy,
who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of
the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done
despite unto the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will
recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Luke 21:11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Romans 2:8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Once this process starts, and the true Church is removed, the terror will be calculated by a creative God in order to generate the maximum fear worldwide. If you are so unblessed as to reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and you are left here on the earth, which will be the target of God's wrath, well then YOU will find that you will live in terror day and night. You will experience terror of murder, terror of traitorous family members who betray you, terror of bodies arriving from deep space and poisoning the water, terror of devils who will have open season on your mind, terror of starvation, terror of severe disease, terror of animals gone crazy and attacking humanity, terror of Satan himself as he sets out to kill the maximum number of people on earth. If that turns you on, then just do nothing about Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose from death again to save you from all of this-- just DO NOTHING.
Just one more warning-- the coming terror God sends you will not be on a video you rent from Blockbuster. It will be inside your head day and night until you die or fear.
True believers will be at peace.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Romans 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The church worldwide will best be described as a Whore.
You note the lower case "c" on "church." This is because the world church after the true saints are removed will be the sole property of Satan. If you miss the Rapture of the saints because you rejected Jesus Christ as you Savior, well then, you will be part of Satan's church. You can deny this possibility now, but after I am out of here, YOU will become a full participant since your mind will be altered by God so that you receive Satan as if he were Christ himself. Thus...
Revelation chapter 17
Revelation 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.
6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the
blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great
admiration.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee
the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath
the seven heads and ten horns.
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.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains,
on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other
is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the
seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received
no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the
beast.
14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them:
for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are
called, and chosen, and faithful.
15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth,
are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the
whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and
burn her with fire.
17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and
give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over
the kings of the earth.
Revelation chapter 18
Revelation18:1 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.
6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according
to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment
and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no
widow, and shall see no sorrow.
8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine;
and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who
judgeth her.
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.
11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man
buyeth their merchandise any more:
12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls,
and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and
all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood,
and of brass, and iron, and marble,
13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and
oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots,
and slaves, and souls of men.
14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and
all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou
shalt find them no more at all.
15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand
afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen,
and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster,
and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood
afar off,
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.
Revelation chapter 19
Revelation 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.
Now, what does this mean to you? If you are born again, you will leave BEFORE this Whore is given complete power. Why can I say this? Answer: God is not the author of confusion in the Church. God will NOT allow the complete submersion of all religious life into Satan's very mind until the salt is gone. By nature, the true saints, as the salt of the earth, are now restraining the Whore system. The Pope and Jack Van Impe, along with Charismania and TBN, cannot take complete control. They plan on it, they talk about it, and they implement it, but they fail over and over. God is using YOU, dear saint, as His chosen restraint on the Whore. You are the biggest pain in the neck to the Pope and the New World Order.
To you who have rejected Jesus Christ, if you do not turn to Him you will be part of a great worldwide Whore church which will draw in ALL religions. Already, the Pope has wooed in the Mullahs of Islam, and the Pope and the Dalai Lama are on good terms. Men like Billy Graham, Bill Bright, and Jack Van Impe have drawn many alleged Protestants into the arms of Papa Roma. The United Nations and other world bodies are talking more and more of spiritual union. Refusing religious union is spoken of more and more as an act of genocide and bigotry. Just keep spitting in Jesus' eye, and you will go right on into this killer church after the Lord's saints are removed.
This whole picture causes HOPE in the Bible believer, fear and doubt for the backslider.
2 Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall
come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Conclusion:
There are three more great turning points in earth's history, But, this one, the Rapture of the Lord's Church, is the most urgent to us all at this time. That is obviously because it is the next event. That is also why many people don't like to talk about it. They are not ready for the actual event to take place, so they avoid it.
To the true believer in the Lord's true Church, this soon Rapture out of here is a blessed hope and a point of joy. It gives us all a sense of walking on the edge of eternity-- not in some nutty Hale-Bopp suicidal mentality-- But, we have the very real sense that things are very close to be taken out of our hands by our Lord. All of our plans and schemes and vocational activity could be resolved for us rather suddenly and at any moment.
To you who continue to reject the salvation offered you by Jesus Christ, sorry about that-- You are in for some bad times.
Hebrews 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;