I wish to touch upon the themes I covered in my first postings regarding the future as previously outlined in
"They Came From Beneath",
"Apocalyptic Visions", "
Apocalypic Visions II",
"Apocalyptic Visions III", "The Iron Scepter" and finally
"Armageddon Order of Battle". Some details need clarifying while others need to be corrected for accuracy. Slight adjustments but important nevertheless considering how these details affects our understanding of the future.
As an Ambassador In Christ I am always ambivalent in deciding how I should approach the subject of prophecy with both believer and unbeliever alike. I understand there are so many interpretations out there regarding Bible Prophecy that it often leads people to just "give up" on this all important aspect of Christianity. I certainly wouldn't blame you if my conclusions are rejected in toto by the reader regarding these matters however, I would caution you that though these things may be difficult to comprehend even believe, God himself has placed this most valuable information in the Bible for our consumption. It can be and must be mastered by the acolyte of Christ. So let us begin.
1) The Demise of the Christian Religion: True Church, False Church and Saints. We are currently in a dispensation known as the "Church Age" that has temporally supplanted the "Age of Is
rael". We are the primary evangelical body to spread the gospel of Christ to the four corners of the earth. The Church is divided today between three houses of worship that covers the entire Northern Hemisphere of the globe, the entire Western Hemisphere and major parts of Asia and Africa. Roughly, the home of each resides in the following regions: Protestant Christianity in North America, Catholic Christianity in Western Europe and Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Russia.
At some point in the future of the Church Age, Jesus Christ will return for his church and recall from all three houses of Christianity those people who have bowed their knee to Christ. We cannot know who has or hasn't believed in Christ that currently resides in our churches. But we do know that only the Righteous are taken and the Unrighteous are left behind. Hence the "True" Church of Christ is taken from the earth while leaving in its place the facade of the old Church occupied by only the unrighteous. The push for ecumenicalism will be strongest at this point especially in Europe since historically the Catholic Church has represented the "visible" part of the Church for 2000 years. Even now, the Catholic Church is drawing from its viewpoint the two "rebellious" houses of Christianity back into its fold so that the Pope will once again reign as the Archbishop of all the Christian faiths.
After the Rapture of the True Church then the Vatican will fulfill its dream of unity for there will be no opposition from the Righteous since they will now be gone. The False Church becomes "Religious Babylon" designated in the book of Revelation as the Harlot and will be headquartered in Rome. All the great religions of the world with their concomitant doctrines will be represented by the False Church. I'm quite positive that many "religious" and "pious" people will accept Christ as their savior after the Rapture even though they may still belong to the False Church. We know this from Revelation 18 the words of an Angel in the Throne Room of God imploring the Righteous to leave the False Church before it is destroyed and they are taken down with it. Once God sounds the Omega Signal on the Church Age then the Age of Israel shall resume however the False Church will continue as if nothing has changed.
The Rapture ends the Church Age and re supplants the last 7 years of the
Age of Israel which has been held in abeyance since the first advent of Christ. At this point, the primary evangelical body to spread the Gospel of Christ in place of the absent Church becomes righteous Israel through the Jewish Corps of the 144,000. This unit is activated by God to counter the propaganda campaign of the Anti-Christ and will comprise 12,000 Jews from each tribe of Israel.
Anyone who believes in the Lord at this point becomes "the Saints". Historically, anyone who has ever believed in the Lord since Adam and Eve is a "Saint" in every dispensation and in every era since the dawn of man. A Saint is defined as one who has received the imputed Divine Righteousness from God at salvation which is a non-meritorious act of faith in Christ. Gentiles, Jews, people from various sects of Christianity and even people who have never heard of Christ but acknowledge a Creator as opposed to worshiping the creature are "Saints" by definition. The way of salvation has always been the same: faith alone in Christ alone. Thus, there have always been Saints and the Tribulation which is the last 7 years of the Age of Israel will be no different. So when we speak of the Saints "during the Tribulation" then we are simply referring to people who have believed in the Lord in general and not referring to the Church of Christ in particular that has existed in its present form in the last 2000 years.
During the first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation the False Church consolidates her power on the back of the European 10 Nation Confederacy. However, before the middle of the Tribulation the 10 Nation Confederacy will move against this religious body much to the glee
of atheists in Europe and completely disembowels the False Church of her wealth, buildings, land holdings and killing her priests and acolytes. It will be a terrible sight to see as the Vatican is burned by the stormtroopers of the European Confederation and will thusly be lamented by the world as their "beautiful and peaceful" muliticultural religion will be desecrated by the evil and jealous intentions of this political body. This in turn creates a religious vacuum and a new form of worship will replace the old: Emperor Worship. This in turn causes 3 nations within the Confederation to rebel against the European Emperor and I suspect but can't be sure that it will be Italy, Spain and Portugal who have historically benefited from the Catholic Church in Rome for so long that will rebel under his authority and though they will see the error of their ways they will be too late to prevent his Satanic "assension". The Emporer will now take his throne as he will become imbued with Satan himself. He overthrows these three nations by military force to establish his supremacy over the European peoples thus the European Emperor becomes the Anti-Christ.
With the True Church caught up to Heaven by Christ and the False Church destroyed by the 10 Nation Confederation, the Anti-Christ moves against the last remaining obstacle to full power: the Saints. He will consider them a "fifth column" of rebellious followers of Christ and he will brook no opposition. His apprentice known as the False Prophet will sing the praises of the Anti-Christ and will institute a policy of total fealty to the new Emperor as he now assumes his rightful position in the world as the Deity. Naturally, the Saints will not worship this false god and will not take the oath of fealty known as the "mark of the beast" as their loyalty lies with Jesus Christ and thus the Anti-Christ turns his stormtroopers against the Saints and destroys them. This is known as the Genocide of the Saints in Revelation 6 when the fifth seal is broken by Christ. There will be no escape and as God reminds us that this will test the Saints to the extreme so he calls for their faithful endurance and patience during their darkest hour thus calling to mind that the death of the righteous is precious in the sight of the Lord.
2) 666 - Devil in the details. Why did God mention this number in the book of Revelation beyond its more obvious and sinister ramifications? Yes, this is the number of the name of the Anti-Christ. Yes, people must have the number in order to buy and sell. Yes, they must have the number as proof of their loyalty to the Anti-Christ. Yes, they who don't take the number will be put to death by the executive order of the Anti-Christ. But there is more here than meets the eye in that we know from the viewpoint of God those who take the number in their turn will be executed by the shock troops of Christ at the Second Advent! The Anti-Christ begins his rule with a genocide of the Righteous after Operation Archangel and so too Christ begins his rule with one as well against the Unrighteous after Operation Iron Scepter since their loyalty lies with the defeated Satan. You reap what you sow in this instance. This is a little known and perhaps purposely ignored (as far as people are concerned) detail in the book of Revelation and stands as a warning to those who give their loyalty to Satan vis a vis the Anti-Christ that their disloyalty to Christ himself will be paid in full. They who take the
mark of the beast will not enter into the "Kingdom of God" which is the earthly Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ that begins at the Second Advent.
We also know this from the Book of Matthew and Luke when Christ mentions the signs of the end times. Before he consolidates his rule there will be two in the fields but one will be taken and the other left. Two will be in bed and one will be taken and one will be left. Two will be grinding wheat at the mill but one will be taken and the other left. Is this a description of the Rapture? It's tempting to think this but the answer is no. Why? Simply because the Rapture at the beginning of Tribulation does not precede the Second Advent of Christ at the end of Tribulation which ushers in the Kingdom of God on earth. Christ mentions the "revealing" of the Son of Man which the Rapture itself does
not do. The Second Advent however does reveal the Son of Man as his return to earth to take possession of it will be quite unmistakable as lightning which flashes from one of end of the sky to the other. The Rapture is Christ taking possession of his
Church which historically has been invisible and thus the Son of Man is not seen by the unrighteous. The Second Advent however is Christ taking possession of the
world with his earthly throne centered at Jerusalem which will be seen by all. Between the Rapture and the Second Advent we have seven years of "tribulation", so what we have here is the reaping of the pagan unbeliever from the earth at the end of Tribulation, a separating of the chaff from the wheat, in which only the
righteous may enter the new era of Pax Christi Mundi physically alive after the return of Christ and his True Church with him at the Second Advent.
Dare I call this mass execution of the unrighteous who do survive the tribulation the "Genocide of the
Sinner"? Not the best of phrases but should capture the fact that these unbelievers at this particular time in history have not repented from their ways even after Christ returns and thus go to the sword defiant to the last pagan man with the
mark of the beast on their bodies as a symbol and badge of both their idolatry and sedition. Eventually the apostles do ask Christ regarding the Coming of the Kingdom of God in Luke 17
where those that are taken actually go? His response to them is "where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather" thus signifying the ultimate demise of those who are
taken.
3) Man of Lawlessness - Emperor vs. Anti-Christ. Who is the anti-Christ? No one knows for sure and why is this? Isn't he supposed to be born with the number 666 on his skull like in the movies? Actually, any human may accept this exalted position of being the vessel
of Satan's personification in human form
if and only if Satan himself offers this position to him. This is a free-will issue and not a physical limitation predicated on the birth of a human being from the womb of a female. No, in order to become the Anti-Christ one must be "elected" by his diabolical majesty, Satan the Devil, in order to reach such a political apex. And he doesn't just offer it to any mere plebeian! Satan himself only once before has offered the "kingdoms of this world" to such a man in the past and this man turned it down: the man Christ Jesus. Satan knows that Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and thus he offers this "honor" of being possessed by Satan only to
rulers and not to peasants, if you will. Thus, sometime in the future a man will again meet this criteria of ruler of the world in the form of an Emperor and no he will not be Chinese.
Only in Europe do we see the power vested in a single person with the executive power to move not just a single nation or even a group of nations but the entire world! At first his exalted position is weak and he comes to power "peacefully" at the beginning of the Tribulation after the Rapture of the True Church from the entire earth. He makes a military pact with Israel with the 10 Nation Confederacy supporting his political overtures. His power slowly grows when finally the 10 Nation Confederation makes their move against the False Church before the middle of the Tribulation and destroys it out of greed and jealousy. The European Emperor now steps into his role as Pontifex Maximus and unites both religious and political in one person and at this point Satan offers him and only him the "kingdoms of this world" and unlike Jesus Christ, the European Emperor accepts the position as the vessel of Satan. The European Emperor becomes the Anti-Christ as he is now possessed fully by Lucifer and sets his face against all that Christ is and stands for.
4) Heralds of God, Heralds of Satan - Dynamic Duos. It would be an understatement to say there will be many "unusual" people that walk onto the stage of the Tribulation. We do not see the stage door open however until the middle of the tribulation when Satan and his fallen Angels retreat to their earthly bastion after their route in the heavens under Operation Archangel. Satan only has a mere 3 1/2 years to conduct his final campaign against God and his
earthly forces in the form of righteous Israel and ultimately the resurrected Church.
The second half of Tribulation sees humans with extraordinary powers which both serve as a beacon and a warning to others that these men are making straight the path of their Lords. Satan as the Commander in Chief of all
rebel forces has two individuals that forge his will on earth in the form of the Anti-Christ and the False Prophet. These two men support each other in their quest to unite humanity against Jesus Christ and to stop the coming Second Advent. The Anti-Christ himself is possessed by Satan so his diabolical Majesty can unify his command over his remaining human and inhuman forces against God. The False Prophet is the other half of this rebel Angelic dynamic duo that is able apparently to rain fire down from heaven at his will. He is notable in that he is Jewish and represents the Jewish rejection of Christ unlike the Anti-Christ which represents the Gentile rejection of Christ. The False Prophet sings the praises of the Anti-Christ and causes all of mankind to erect statues to worship the Anti-Christ for the god that he is. The False Prophet also commands all of humanity to take the "Mark of the Beast" which is the name or the number of his name upon their right hand or forehead as on oath of fealty as well as a system of checks and balances to prevent those who don't actually bow their knee to the Anti-Christ to suffer deprivation and ultimately death.
Jesus Christ as the Commander in Chief of all
Royal forces responds to Satan's evil twins with his own heralds in the form of "Two Witnesses". They are Moses and Elijah deployed from Heaven just for this special occasion. Both Moses and Elijah are the "true" Prophets of God as opposed to the False Prophet of Satan's herald. Both of these "witnesses" are able to project fire from their mouths against their enemies at will and to whomever they wish. They are able to control the weather and strike plagues against whomever they wish. They proclaim the imminent Kingdom of God about to be ushered in by the Second Advent of Christ. They lead the corps of righteous Jews known as the "144,000" and protect Israel against the Russian invasion from the North which I have coined as Operation Magog. They are the two wings of an eagle from which Israel shall fly to safety.
Both of these Dynamic Duos are endowed with superhuman abilities and yet they are not invincible. The Two Witnesses of God meet their match when the Angel of the Abyss who commands the inhuman forces of Operation Scorpio engages both Moses and Elijah in a duel of the ages towards the end of Tribulation. These two heralds of God are struck down as they perform a rear guard action to prevent the Angel of the Abyss from identifying the location of righteous Israel hidden in the desert wilderness by the Corps of 144,000. Yet, after 3 1/2 days their bodies come to life once again and they bodily exit the earth in full view of everyone resulting in a sonic boom and vapor cloud left behind in their wake. Satan's two heralds on the other hand are captured by the armies of Christ at the Second Advent and are immediately interred in the divine correctional facility known as the LOF (Lake of Fire) for their decision to be the vessel and hand of Satan.
5) Operations Scorpio and Draco - Out of this world! The Book of Revelation is quite explicit when it describes an inhuman force of beings that exit from deep inside the earth towards the end of Tribulation. Many people have tried to "square the circle" by suggesting that these forces represent human tanks and helicopters or worse yet think these are the human armies of the "Kings of the East". Both are incorrect and no it is not an analogy. My friends, we know these are not "human" armies because both demonic forces are led by fallen Angels! Fallen Angels that directly answer to Satan as Commander In Chief of all rebel forces in the Last World War to be exact.
The 5th Trumpet Judgment of Revelation 9 which I have dubbed Operation Scorpio is a force of inhuman creatures that are "hideous to look upon" and have humanoid faces but with features like lions in terms of fang like teeth and long hair like the mane of a lion. Additionally, they have tails like scorpions that sting when struck by them and apparently causes a form of bodily paralysis in which the victim is unable to move. Above all else, these "scorpion" troops are led by the infamous "Angel of the Abyss" which clearly no human force would have in their command.
The 6th Trumpet Judgment of Revelation 9 which I have dubbed Operation Draco describes even more incredibly an inhuman host of cavalry troops that total 200 million soldiers altogether.
These "riders" exit from beneath the dried bed of the Euphrates River towards the end of Tribulation. They too are led by Angels and Satan has assigned this large cavalry force not just one but four fallen Angels most likely to command an army group of 50 million troops each. The Bible describes these "horses"as having heads as "lions" and tails with snake-like heads covered in scales furthermore, these equine creatures are able to breath fire, smoke and sulfur. Their tails are likely a bulbous head to cause blunt force destruction against structures and people much like a mace. I have surmised that these forces are by definition "dragons" because they are ridden upon like horses and breath fire but they are not horses in the traditional sense as we know cavalry today. We also know the number of casualties they inflict upon humanity numbering approximately 1/3rd of the earth's population and thus this cavalry force kills
billions of people in their path by the fire, smoke and sulfur that issues forth from their mouths. Clearly, this amazing foe is not human nor an analogy.
Additionally, we know that these inhuman forces are not related to mankind in any way, shape or form because God has assigned his own Royal Angels to ensure that these demonically led inhuman forces are kept locked up in both the Abyss (Scorpio) and beneath the Euphrates River (Draco) until such time that
God allows them to be used by Satan in the Last World War. God does not assign his Angels to "prevent"
human armed forces from attacking or defending each other in this world during this time or anytime in human history for that matter.
I have also surmised that it is the True Church that was previously Raptured at the beginning of the Tribulation that destroys this inhuman force at the Second Advent of Christ at th
e end of Tribulation. We know that Christ personally destroys the rebel human armies that will surround Jerusalem during Armeggedon thus taking credit for relieving this city himself. The other inhuman forces are clearly destroyed but the Bible does not describe this scene in any detail and thus I have taken the liberty to introduce this concept of the Resurrected Church dispensing and destroying by fire and maneuver the fallen inhuman forces of Satan at the Second Advent. I believe there is a "division of labor" in terms of who God assigns which enemy to destroy. In other words, God's Angels attack and defend against Satan's Angels. Likewise, God's
superhuman armies attack Satan's
inhuman armies at the Second Advent. Someone has to do this
dirty and
physically demanding job and I believe Jesus Christ assigns the ressurected Church, the shock troops of Christ, that mission since we will possess invincible human bodies to counter their inhuman abilities. Onward Christian Soldiers, indeed.
May the Holy Spirit enlighten your soul regarding these matters.
rael". We are the primary evangelical body to spread the gospel of Christ to the four corners of the earth. The Church is divided today between three houses of worship that covers the entire Northern Hemisphere of the globe, the entire Western Hemisphere and major parts of Asia and Africa. Roughly, the home of each resides in the following regions: Protestant Christianity in North America, Catholic Christianity in Western Europe and Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Russia.
of atheists in Europe and completely disembowels the False Church of her wealth, buildings, land holdings and killing her priests and acolytes. It will be a terrible sight to see as the Vatican is burned by the stormtroopers of the European Confederation and will thusly be lamented by the world as their "beautiful and peaceful" muliticultural religion will be desecrated by the evil and jealous intentions of this political body. This in turn creates a religious vacuum and a new form of worship will replace the old: Emperor Worship. This in turn causes 3 nations within the Confederation to rebel against the European Emperor and I suspect but can't be sure that it will be Italy, Spain and Portugal who have historically benefited from the Catholic Church in Rome for so long that will rebel under his authority and though they will see the error of their ways they will be too late to prevent his Satanic "assension". The Emporer will now take his throne as he will become imbued with Satan himself. He overthrows these three nations by military force to establish his supremacy over the European peoples thus the European Emperor becomes the Anti-Christ.
We also know this from the Book of Matthew and Luke when Christ mentions the signs of the end times. Before he consolidates his rule there will be two in the fields but one will be taken and the other left. Two will be in bed and one will be taken and one will be left. Two will be grinding wheat at the mill but one will be taken and the other left. Is this a description of the Rapture? It's tempting to think this but the answer is no. Why? Simply because the Rapture at the beginning of Tribulation does not precede the Second Advent of Christ at the end of Tribulation which ushers in the Kingdom of God on earth. Christ mentions the "revealing" of the Son of Man which the Rapture itself does not do. The Second Advent however does reveal the Son of Man as his return to earth to take possession of it will be quite unmistakable as lightning which flashes from one of end of the sky to the other. The Rapture is Christ taking possession of his Church which historically has been invisible and thus the Son of Man is not seen by the unrighteous. The Second Advent however is Christ taking possession of the world with his earthly throne centered at Jerusalem which will be seen by all. Between the Rapture and the Second Advent we have seven years of "tribulation", so what we have here is the reaping of the pagan unbeliever from the earth at the end of Tribulation, a separating of the chaff from the wheat, in which only the righteous may enter the new era of Pax Christi Mundi physically alive after the return of Christ and his True Church with him at the Second Advent.
of Satan's personification in human form if and only if Satan himself offers this position to him. This is a free-will issue and not a physical limitation predicated on the birth of a human being from the womb of a female. No, in order to become the Anti-Christ one must be "elected" by his diabolical majesty, Satan the Devil, in order to reach such a political apex. And he doesn't just offer it to any mere plebeian! Satan himself only once before has offered the "kingdoms of this world" to such a man in the past and this man turned it down: the man Christ Jesus. Satan knows that Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and thus he offers this "honor" of being possessed by Satan only to rulers and not to peasants, if you will. Thus, sometime in the future a man will again meet this criteria of ruler of the world in the form of an Emperor and no he will not be Chinese.
earthly forces in the form of righteous Israel and ultimately the resurrected Church.
These "riders" exit from beneath the dried bed of the Euphrates River towards the end of Tribulation. They too are led by Angels and Satan has assigned this large cavalry force not just one but four fallen Angels most likely to command an army group of 50 million troops each. The Bible describes these "horses"as having heads as "lions" and tails with snake-like heads covered in scales furthermore, these equine creatures are able to breath fire, smoke and sulfur. Their tails are likely a bulbous head to cause blunt force destruction against structures and people much like a mace. I have surmised that these forces are by definition "dragons" because they are ridden upon like horses and breath fire but they are not horses in the traditional sense as we know cavalry today. We also know the number of casualties they inflict upon humanity numbering approximately 1/3rd of the earth's population and thus this cavalry force kills billions of people in their path by the fire, smoke and sulfur that issues forth from their mouths. Clearly, this amazing foe is not human nor an analogy.
e end of Tribulation. We know that Christ personally destroys the rebel human armies that will surround Jerusalem during Armeggedon thus taking credit for relieving this city himself. The other inhuman forces are clearly destroyed but the Bible does not describe this scene in any detail and thus I have taken the liberty to introduce this concept of the Resurrected Church dispensing and destroying by fire and maneuver the fallen inhuman forces of Satan at the Second Advent. I believe there is a "division of labor" in terms of who God assigns which enemy to destroy. In other words, God's Angels attack and defend against Satan's Angels. Likewise, God's superhuman armies attack Satan's inhuman armies at the Second Advent. Someone has to do this dirty and physically demanding job and I believe Jesus Christ assigns the ressurected Church, the shock troops of Christ, that mission since we will possess invincible human bodies to counter their inhuman abilities. Onward Christian Soldiers, indeed.
An AV-8B Harrier assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 166 (reinforced)launches from the flight deck of amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa (LHA 1). www.navy.mil