The Realm Eternal – Pete Garcia - https://www.rev310.com/2020/12/the-realm-eternal
 
For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
 
So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:1-8
 
If you are anything like me, 2020 has been an extremely trying year. Not only have we been subject to the Great Reset in real-time (e.g., faux-pandemic lockdowns, massive unemployment, riots, lawlessness, epic fraud on a grand scale, etc.), but it looks like our national leaders are hell-bent on suiciding the nation. In fact, I was tempted to title this article, The Swamp Strikes Back, given the seemingly hopeless, uphill battle Trump and his 75,000,000 loyal supporters have endured this election cycle. However, that seemed a bit too nihilistic, even for me. It would seem, the world of 2020 has become every bit as much like the world of 1914. One half pretends no existential threats exist, while the other is about to start a civil war over the former’s willful ignorance. All the world is kindling, and a single spark could set it ablaze.
 
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 2 Cor. 4:3-4
 
I suppose, were I not a Bible-believing Christian, my faith in our system would have crashed on the rocks of inevitability, long ago. Nevertheless, I am a Bible-believing Christian, so my faith is not rooted in government institutions, regardless of how noble. Furthermore, I am a Bible-believing Christian who actually takes serious, the warnings Scripture affords us regarding the end times. The truth, aside from the fact bible prophecy comes from God Himself and not outcome determinative of man’s opinion, is the evidence we are now witnessing. It is not simply the signs in and of themselves, which have been present more or less in every generation since Jesus walked the earth; it is the convergence of all of them together in a single generation.
 
·      Nation (ethnos) rising against nation (ethnos)
·      Kingdom against kingdom
·      Wars, rumors of wars
·      Earthquakes in divers places
·      Pestilences
·      Love of many growing cold
·      Rise of apostasy, complacency, and luke-warmness
·      Rebirth of national Israel
·      Formation of a revived, unified, Roman Empire (EU, UfM, NATO, etc.)
·      Globalism, global anxiety, global crisis
·      Rapid advancements in travel, medicine, weaponry, global communications, etc.
·      The death of fiat currency, traditional economics, and the rise of digital currency
·      Artificial intelligence, quantum technology, Internet of Things (IoT), etc.
 
The 20th and 21st centuries have seen more carnage, bloodshed, destruction, and ruin than the previous 19 centuries combined. There is simply no comparison between what we have witnessed in these past 120 years (or since 1900), then anything in history, with the exception of the Flood. The question many are asking now is how much longer can this go on?
 
When is not only a great question, it is the appropriate question we are all asking and one I hope to shed some light on here today. We see so much evil and wickedness in the world today, and our souls are increasingly vexed. That is not simply our own sensibilities being offended, but the Holy Spirit who lives in us taking issue with the increasing lawlessness. Granted, there are some unregenerate (unredeemed) who are equally appalled at the wickedness they see in the world, yet that is simply the residue of the God-imprinted conscious He has put in all of humanity. Still, the unregenerate soul has no solution to the systemic problem of universal decay due to sin; all he has are man-centric, temporary solutions (politics, philosophy, war) that cannot fix what is broken. Only Jesus can make the universe right and whole again.
 
Allow me to provide three controlling principles that will guide my thought process here moving forward.
 
1.   Nothing physical lasts forever. Our universe (our reality) is winding down. Man cannot change this.
2.   God will execute His strategy. Mankind may not like it, but there is no avoiding it.
3.   The Lord is coming back soon. We may not know the day or hour of the Rapture, but we will know the season (if we are watching).
 
Assessment
 
Not too long ago, I came across a compelling video about the Berisheet Passover Prophecy. I tried looking it up through other ministries to see what their take on it was, but I couldn’t find anything negative about it. Quoting here from Bill Perkin’s website on the meaning of Berisheet.
 
The very first word spoken by the Lord that is recorded in scripture is the single word Berisheet. It means “In beginning” (“the” is added in English). Berisheet is composed of six Hebrew letters. Read from right to left, “Berisheet” looks like this when written today:
 
·      Beit- House or tent
·      Resh- the head person or prince
·      Aleph- (ox) strength or strong leader
·      Shen- (teeth) devouring/destruction
·      Yod- hand
·      Tau- cross
 
As noted above, each of the letters has its own meaning and numerical significance. What is compelling about what Rock Island Books has done was to draw out in painstaking detail their hypothesis of God’s millennial perspective. The millennial perspective is the theory of the divine modeling for all of creation, meaning the seven days of creation (6 work- 1 rest) will equal the seven millennia of human history. Six millennia (or 6,000 years) have thus transpired. We await one final millennium (The Kingdom led by Christ Jesus).
 
[We use the word theory, not because it may not happen, but because it has not happened yet.]
 
This Berisheet Prophecy centers around the idea God used Creation to show our past, present, and future history will turn out in advance (Isaiah 46:9-10). Their timeline does not begin at Creation itself (4004BC), but with Adam’s fall (3970BC). They demonstrate the death of Jesus on Mt. Calvary is the fulcrum for which all of history rests. Therefore, if Jesus’s sacrifice is the fulcrum upon which our reality hinges upon, then they must start with Adam’s fall because before Adam sinned, he did not need a savior. Thus using Adam’s fall and the millennial perspective, the 70th Week of Daniel must begin by 2023. They do not, however, give a proposed date of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, because as Scripture states, no man knows the day or hour.
 
Now, my two personal concerns regarding all of this are with using the year 4004BC as a start point. I know there is some debate over this, and I am not educated enough in it to make a definitive argument either way. I know this was James Ussher’s timeline, and I tend to agree with it, but if we are wrong on this exact start point, then it throws their entire hypothesis into question.
 
My only other concern was regarding man’s recollection of time. We know that there have been at least three major calendars used in the West, and even these have changed over time. There is the Hebrew lunar calendar, the Julian calendar, and the Gregorian calendar. Again, I am not versed enough in this subject to make a definitive claim either way. However, if this Berisheet Prophecy is correct, then we are very close to the Rapture indeed. Again, watch the video and come to your own conclusions, but I think you will find it as compelling as I did.
 
Now I mention all of this, to say how I (and others) fully believe that we are in the decade of our Lord’s return. I believed this before ever watching the video or even knowing anything about the Berisheet Passover Prophecy. However, if they are right, then perhaps Trump’s loss (or reelection) figures into the formation of the coming final world government.
 
Let me add some of my own thoughts to this idea that this Berisheet Prophecy is in fact, correct. First, Daniel 12:4 says; “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Now, not only did national Israel cease to be a nation in 70AD due to Roman violence but also their language eventually died out during the Jewish Diaspora. Hebrew was a dead language until about the turn of the 20th-century. How is it now that we are coming to discover all these fascinating truths about the Bible after nearly two millennia? Well, it commenced when God began stirring the Jewish people in Europe to return to their native tongue, thus uniting them in purpose, decades before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the rebirth of Israel.
 
My second thought on this is our understanding of the Olivet Discourse. As my good friend Ron is quick to point out, the Olivet Discourse is technically for the Jews, not the Church. Perhaps the main reason there are so much debate and consternation over its meanings is that it was not for the Church to understand, especially Matthew’s Gospel. Therefore, it is interesting to me that both the first and last books of the New Testament are the most Jewish-centric in all of the New Testament canon.
 
For instance, Matthew begins Jesus’s genealogy not from Adam, but Abraham. Many things in Matthew’s Gospel are not explained to the reader, because they (the Jews) did not need it explained. Whereas the other Gospel’s (Mark, Luke, and John) do explain Jewish euphemisms and events as they were intended for more Gentile-centric audiences. The book of Revelation likewise, as given to the last-living apostle, John, in 95AD borrows heavily from the Old Testament. Perhaps, when the Jews finally do recognize who Jesus really was/is (their Messiah) it would be in the middle of the Tribulation. They will not have time to digest the entirety of the New Testament. It has taken the Church nearly two-thousand years and we still disagree on much of what Jesus and the Apostles said. How much can they understand in 3.5 years, while under extreme duress?
 
Conclusion
 
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you. 2 Cor. 4:7-12
 
If I could paraphrase Dr. Andy Woods here, Genesis 1-2 and Rev 20-21 are the real normal. Everything else is an aberration of that. Think about that for a moment. What we see around us, is not normal. Not even, close. We exist in a broken version of what God had originally intended. He is coming back soon, to fix what we messed up. Presumably sooner rather than later, if the Berisheet Prophecy is correct.
 
If you would humor me for a moment, I have often used the analogy to my own kids that our entire universe, is like a fish tank. God does not exist in the fish tank with us because we are bound to time; He is not. Nevertheless, He sees everything and can intervene when He deems necessary, but He has largely allowed us to manage our own tank.
 
The results?
 
As man is fallible, temporary, and mortal, things went downhill from the start beginning with Cain. Our tank went from pristine and clear, to grimy and spoiled so much so that God had to change the tank out once already, sparing only eight fish (the Flood). The second time He does this, He will remove His own out first, and then began a massive purging process. Upon completion, He will move into the tank, expanding it, and keeping it pristine for one-thousand years. Beyond that, I believe, He takes the walls off the tank and allows the water to spread in every direction infinitely, continually exploring, building, discovering, and creating an infinite realm of worlds, dimensions, etc. This might be a silly analogy, but apply the truth of it into our world and we can put in perspective, all the wickedness and injustice we see all around us today.
 
If we can apply this to what is going on today, it seems the entire world system is hedging against Trump. Either one of two things will happen: either God will pull out a last-minute victory for him and continue to use him to set the prophetic stage, or God will allow the wicked to steal this election in the egregious manner they have done, and expedite our rendezvous with divine destiny. Either way, God’s will, will be done.
 
To be clear- Trump is not our savior. He is simply, in my mind, a barometer, of the world’s wickedness. He is representative of the average man, who, with a God-given conscience, can see something is deeply wrong with this world. We have never had a president who has so brazenly taking on, not just the American deep state, but also the global deep state. Think of all the things he has exposed in just four short years. Look at all he has exposed as complicit in the destruction of western civilization and the advancement of Luciferianism: the media, the bureaucracy in D.C., the courts, the U.N., academia, Hollywood, the military-industrial complex, big pharmacy, etc. Did we really expect they would let him stay at the top?
 
I am beginning to believe God just used Trump (aside from his prophetic dealings with Israel), to expose the level of corruption (grime and muck) we have come to accept as normal in this world. Despite all the evidence that he overwhelmingly won this election, the world does not care. The world wants him out so they can continue, mucking up the fish tank unimpeded. Well, if I am correct and Trump is the symbolic weather vane in God’s prophetic dealings, Trump’s fraudulent defeat can only mean the winds are changing, and something terrible this way comes. To my fellow believer do not be dismayed, even if Trump loses and the world, which hates you, ramps up its persecutions against you….
 
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Cor. 4:16-18

​The Scriptures Are Amazing - By Daymond Duck - https://www.raptureready.com/2020/12/13/the-scriptures-are-amazing-by-daymond-duck/
 
This article has a few current events, but it is mostly about showing that the Scriptures are amazing.
 
First, here are four amazing things that happened on the exact day that the Bible said they would happen when Jesus came the first time:
 
·      From the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the Triumphal Entry of Messiah, there were 173,880 days (69 Weeks of years or 483 years; Dan. 9:25; Neh. 2:1-8).
·      From the Triumphal Entry of Jesus as the Lamb of God (Isa. 53) to the death of Jesus as the Lamb of God on Passover, there were 5 days (Nisan 10 to Nisan 14; John 12:1, 12).
·      From the death of Jesus on Passover to the resurrection of Jesus on the Feast of First Fruits, there were 3 days (Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19).
·      From the resurrection of Jesus on the Feast of First Fruits to the beginning of the Church on Pentecost, there were 50 days (Lev. 23:15-16).
·      No one but God could reveal in writing the exact day that these events would happen before they happened.
 
Second, here are some amazing facts regarding Bible prophecy (Jesus not only told us to watch for His Second Coming, He also gave us some things to watch for):
 
·      Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a great statue (Dan. 2) is a Gentile timeline from Babylon to the Second Coming and Millennial Kingdom, and history has moved from the top of the head to the beginning of the toes on the statue (near the end of the feet; EU, USMCA, etc.).
·      Jesus told us to watch Israel, and for 1,878 years (70 A.D. to 1948) there was no nation of Israel to watch, but our generation can watch Israel.
·      Jesus said the generation that sees Israel growing will not pass away until everything is fulfilled, and our generation has been watching Israel grow for 72 years (Matt. 24:34).
·      Gabriel told Daniel that the Antichrist will rise to power in a reunited Europe, and Europe has been reunited (the EU; Dan. 9:26).
·      Daniel said Ten kings will rise before the Antichrist appears, and the WEF wants to replace the U.S. with a handful of nations perhaps as soon as 2021 (Dan. 7:7-8, 24).
·      Gabriel said the Tribulation Period will begin when the Antichrist confirms a covenant with many, and it looks like many nations will make a covenant with Israel soon (Dan. 9:27).
·      The world government will be anti-God, and the Democrats left God out of their party platform (Rev. 13:4-6).
·      The world government will reject the Scriptures, and there has been a relentless effort to bring down the heads of the only two nations (Israel and the U.S.) that were founded on the Scriptures.
·      The Antichrist will be supported by a False Prophet, and Pope Francis supports world government and world religion (Rev. 13).
·      God said Russia, Iran, Turkey, and others will attack Israel in the latter days and latter years, and it looks like this could happen soon (Ezek. 38:8, 16).
·      There will be a system that will let everyone on earth see the resurrection of the Two Witnesses and the Second Coming of Jesus, and that system is being put in place by Elon Musk now (Rev. 11:9-12).
·      Capitalism will be done away with under a world government, and there will be a meeting next May to discuss the end of capitalism (Biden supports the end of capitalism).
·      There will be a world government after the Rapture, and the UN plans to have a world government up and running by 2030 (World government is why the effort to remove Trump has been so strong and unrelenting).
·      The Jewish Temple will exist during the Tribulation Period, and the recent peace treaties between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE say all faiths should be allowed to worship on the Temple Mount.
 
Third, it is possible (emphasis on possible) that Peter said the Church will be here 2,000 years.
 
·      Peter was a student of the Old Testament, and it is obvious that Peter was familiar with the prophet Joel’s writings (Joel 2:28-29).
·      In the book of Acts, Luke wrote, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4).
·      A crowd gathered, and some accused Peter and the others of being drunk, “But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy” (Acts 2:13-18).
·      Was Peter talking about 24-hour days, or 1,000-year days? What did Peter mean when he said we are in the last days?
·      Know that it was Peter that said, “Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (II Pet. 3:8).
·      This is partly why some early Church leaders (Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and others) believed the Church Age would last for 2,000 years (2 God-Days on the Gentile calendar).
·      The 2,000 years are almost up, and our generation is seeing all of the prophecies coming on the scene.
 
Fourth, here are some amazing things that show that the Tribulation Period is shaping up:
 
·      The rider on the white horse is the Antichrist, and he will bring in a world government through deceit (Rev. 6:1-2), and the U.S. election could be an effort to bring in a world government through deceit.
·      The rider on the black horse is hyper-inflation and economic collapse (Rev. 6:5-6), and trillion-dollar stimulus packages are leading the U.S. toward hyper-inflation and economic collapse.
·      The rider on the pale horse is global pestilence, hunger and more (Rev. 6:7-8), and the lockdowns are attributed to global pestilence, and they are leading to record levels of hunger.
·      The Antichrist and False Prophet will force everyone to take a Mark (Rev. 13:14-18), and Biden plans to force everyone to wear a mask starting on Jan. 21, 2021, and Bill Gates wants to force everyone to be tattooed (take a mark) when they are vaccinated for Covid.
·      The Antichrist and False Prophet will deny those that refuse to take the Mark the right to buy and sell, and some politicians want to deny those that refuse to be vaccinated the right to buy and sell.
·      The Antichrist and False Prophet will track the buying and selling of everyone on earth, and some politicians have suggested that the government use “contact tracing” to track everyone that tests positive for Covid.
·      Some prophecy teachers believe the Antichrist and False Prophet will establish a cashless society, and some globalists want to establish a digital currency (cashless society).
·      The Antichrist and False Prophet will outlaw freedom of religion, and some politicians are outlawing freedom of religion.
 
Here are two other things that fit into the “For Your Information Category”:
 
One, here are four things that must happen before the Tribulation Period (do not assume that the last three must happen before the Rapture).
 
·      The Rapture (II Thess. 2:5-10).
·      The rise of the Ten Kings (Dan. 7:7-8, 24).
·      The appearance of Elijah as one of the Two Witnesses (Mal. 4:5-6).
·      Confirmation of the covenant with many (Dan. 9:27).
 
Two, here are three things that God said will happen on an exact day in the future:
 
·      From Antichrist’s confirmation of the covenant that begins the Tribulation Period to the end of the Tribulation Period and the Second Coming of Jesus, there will be one week of years (7 years on the Jewish calendar) or 2,520 days (Dan. 9:27).
·      From the confirmation of the covenant until the Jews in Judea flee into the wilderness, there will be 1,260 days.
·      From the beginning of Jesus’ kingdom on earth (Millennial reign) to the end of the Millennium, there will be 1,000 years (Rev. 20:4).
 
Now, here are four events with prophetic implications that recently made the news:
 
One, concerning an economic collapse, some Democrats are proposing a Universal Basic Income (UBI; people that support the government will get a monthly check, but those that do not support the government will not get a monthly check).
 
It is beginning to look like some politicians (Democrats and Republicans, but mostly Democrats) are using the lockdown with no science behind it on small businesses that are obeying the rules to crush them (employers and employees) and to force them to depend on the government for handouts to control them.
 
On Dec. 6, 2020, it was reported that the Director of Medicine at Stanford and more than 43,000 learned scientists believe some politicians are creating “a medical police state.”
 
America’s debt has now topped 27 trillion dollars, and it is unlikely that future generations will be able to pay it back.
 
Two, in response to my statement that I believe there has been widespread election fraud, I have received two e-mails telling me that Atty. Gen. Bill Barr said the DOJ has not found any fraud.
 
That is a distortion of what he said, and even if it was accurate, how can we trust the DOJ after the way it has handled the Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden investigations and spied on and trapped Michael Flynn.
 
While this article was being written, one Republican congressman was accusing the DOJ of hindering the voter fraud investigation.
 
If citizens are to believe what the DOJ officials say, many of them need to clean up their act.
 
Because officials in Democrat-run cities and states have allowed criminals to riot, loot and burn without consequences, there is no reason to believe those officials would not allow voter fraud without consequences.
 
Three, on Dec. 3, 2020, the U.S. Dept. of Defense introduced a vaccination card that people can carry in their wallet to show that they have been vaccinated for Covid.
 
Those vaccination cards could eventually lead to a Quantum Dot tattoo (Mark).
 
Four, on Nov. 30, 2020, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former head of the FDA, said 30% of the U.S. population will probably be infected with Covid by the end of 2020.
 
Please take notice: If the Scriptures are accurate, and they are, that includes everything in them: heaven, hell, only one way to be saved, resurrection of the dead, and more.
 
Jesus said you must be born again (John 3:7), and the number of prophecy teachers that believe society is running out of time is growing larger and larger.
 
Finally, God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.
 
Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.
Daymond Duck
duck_daymond@yahoo.com

The Fullness of Sin: Part 3 - By Randy Nettles - https://www.raptureready.com/2020/11/21/the-fullness-of-sin-part-3-by-randy-nettles/
 
Toward the end of Solomon’s life, God told the prophet Ahijah to seek out Solomon’s servant, a mighty man of valor named Jeroboam, and give him a message. Jeroboam was from the northern tribe of Ephraim (a descendant of Joseph). This was the word from the Lord to Jeroboam:
 
“Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you (but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), because they have forsaken Me, and worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David” (1 Kings 11:31-33).
 
Ahijah told Jeroboam that the Lord would not do this during Solomon’s life but would take the kingdom (ten tribes) out of Solomon’s son’s hand and then give it to him. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, would keep one tribe (actually two tribes – Judah and Benjamin were counted together) for David’s sake and the promise that God made to him. The Lord also gave Jeroboam the same conditional promise that he made to Solomon: “If you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you”(1 Kings 11:38-39).
 
Israel’s second wave of fullness of sin began after Solomon died and Rehoboam became king. All of Israel met in Shechem for this event. Jeroboam and the whole assembly of Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you” (1 Kings 11: 4).
 
Rehoboam did not listen to the sage advice of his father’s older counselors but instead listened to his young friends who now counseled him. Foolishly, Rehoboam told them he would make their yoke even heavier and that he would chastise them with not only whips but scourges! Naturally the 10 tribes of the north rebelled at this and set up their own kingdom. They called it Israel, with Jeroboam as their king, just as the Lord had spoken to him through His prophet Ahijah. The southern kingdom was called Judah.
 
Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim and dwelt there. He immediately ignored God’s word and started sinning against the Lord, as he made two molten calves of gold. Jeroboam sinned twice as much as the children of Israel did in the wilderness (during the exodus), as he made two calves of gold to worship. Jeroboam said to the people, “Do not go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:28).
 
By this statement, Jeroboam claimed the golden calf was the god who delivered the children of Israel from Egypt instead of the one true God, Yahweh. You can’t get much more evil than that. I believe Satan, the father of lies, put him up to this, as this was indeed a whopper! Jeroboam set one god in Bethel and the other in Dan and offered sacrifices in these places (instead of the temple in Jerusalem}. He also made priests of the people who were not of the sons of Levi, another great sin against the Lord.
 
About that time, Jeroboam’s son became sick. Jeroboam had his wife go to Shiloh and ask the prophet Ahijah what would become of their son. Ahijah told her to tell Jeroboam, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes; but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back –
 
“Therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the Lord has spoken! Arise therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die” (1 Kings 14:7-12).
 
The author of Hebrews had this to say about God’s wrath: “For we know Him that has said, Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense, says the Lord, And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:30-31).
 
Of course, everything the Lord told Jeroboam’s wife came true. As soon as she came to the threshold of their house, the child died. Jeroboam ruled Israel for 22 years and then he died. His son Nadab became king over Israel, and he reigned for two years. “And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin” (1 Kings 15:26).
 
Then Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him and killed him at Gibbethon. “When Baasha became king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, because of the sins of Jeroboam” (1 Kings 15:27-30).
 
Throughout the 186 years of Israel’s (northern kingdom) existence, there were 20 kings across 10 different dynasties starting with Jeroboam and ending with Hoshea. All of them were evil and did not obey God’s statutes and commandments. God sent many prophets to these kings to warn them of judgment to come if they did not repent and follow the Lord. None of them listened. Many of these evil men became kings by killing the previous king.
 
Here is a brief history of the kings of Israel and the fullness of their sins as recorded in 1st and 2nd Kings: Jeroboam (1) rebelled against Rehoboam. After he died, his son Nadab (2) became king of Israel. Baasha killed Nadab and all of Rehoboam’s family and then became king. After Baasha (3) died, his son Elah (4) became king. Zimri, a captain of the king’s chariots, killed Elah and all of his male kinsman and friends. Zimra (5) lasted 7 days as king before Omri, the captain of the host, came against him. Zimri committed suicide by burning down the house of the king around him, and so he died.
 
At this point, the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni (6) and made him king, and half of the people followed Omri (7) and made him their king. Tibni died two years later, and Omri reigned over all of Israel. Omri built the city of Samaria in northern Israel. After Omri’s death, his son, the wicked Ahab (8), became king.
 
“Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him” (1 Kings 16:31-33). Just as the children of Israel did, in the time of the Judges (and also King Solomon), Ahab did likewise by worshipping the false god/idol Baal.
 
Baal worship was rooted in sensuality and involved ritualistic prostitution in their temples of worship. At times, appeasing Baal required human sacrifice, usually the firstborn of the one making the sacrifice (as per Jeremiah 19:5). They would usually burn the babies with fire to their death.
 
The word of the Lord came unto the prophet Elijah the Tishbite, who was from Gilead, to confront Ahab and Jezebel. Elijah’s first appearance in 1 Kings 17 was to challenge the evil reign of King Ahab by declaring a three-year drought. He then tells Ahab to gather all Israel, including the priests of Baal and the groves, to Mount Carmel.
 
“And Elijah came to all the people and said, How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, then follow Him; but if Baal, follow him. But the people answered him not a word” (1 Kings 18:21).
 
‘He challenges the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah (1 Kings 18:18-19) in the ‘mother of all showdowns’ to see which God could supernaturally send fire down from heaven to burn up their sacrifice. After thoroughly destroying their credibility as prophets and their false gods by God sending fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice, he then had all 850 of them put to death by the Jewish people who came to watch. Afterwards, he declares an end to the drought, but a scorned Jezebel puts a bounty on his head, and Elijah flees for his life. God supernaturally protects and strengthens Elijah and sends him on several more important errands.‘ {1}
 
The word of the Lord came again unto Elijah to give Ahab a message (prophecy) after Ahab and Jezebel had Naboth the Jezreelite killed so they could steal his vineyard. Elijah told Ahab, “Thus says the Lord, Have you killed, and also taken possession? In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood, even yours. You have sold yourself to work evil in the sight of the Lord.
 
“Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisses against the wall [male descendants], and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith you have provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin. And of Jezebel also spoke the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. Him that dies of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dies in the field shall the fowls of the air eat” (1 Kings 21:17-24).
 
‘Not long after this, Elijah was ‘taken up’ by a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11). This was the second rapture that is recorded in the Bible, although totally different from Enoch’s. Elijah’s disappearance was about 180 degrees opposite of Enoch’s. First, he and everyone with him knew when his rapture was coming (2 Kings 2:1-5). Second, aside from the timing, Elijah’s rapture (or manner of departure) was not a mystery. He knew he was going up to heaven, although he may not have known exactly what that would look like. Last, his deliverance upwards was not some instantaneous translation from mortal to immortal. In fact, there is no mention of Elijah’s physical transformation at all. Instead, he is taken up in an over-the-top chariot of fire, which becomes a whirlwind of fire that could be seen from a distance’ (2 Kings 2:11).‘ {2}
 
The rapture of Elijah (in front of credible witnesses) served as a warning to the idolatrous kingdom of Israel that God’s judgment would be forthcoming (when the fullness of their sins was complete) unless they changed their evil ways. It was also a reward for the righteousness of Elijah, that he should not see death.
 
Ahab reigned over Israel in Samaria 22 years and died in battle while in his chariot. His body was brought back to Samaria for burial. “Then his chariot was washed in a pool in Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood while the harlots bathed, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken” (1 Kings 22:37-38). Ahab’s son, Ahaziah (9) then became king. Ahaziah died from complications of an injury due to a fall. Ahaziah’s brother Joram (Jehoram) (10) then became king of Israel as Ahaziah had no son.
 
During the reign of Joram (grandson of Ahab), Elisha the prophet called a fellow prophet and sent him on a mission. Elisha was an apprentice of Elijah and was now his successor as prophet extraordinaire to speak the word of the Lord to the evil kings of Israel. Elisha told the young prophet to go to Ramoth-gilead and find a captain of the host named Jehu and pour anointing oil on his head and tell him,
 
“Thus says the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. And you shall smite the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood, of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisses against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel: and I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah: and the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her” (2 Kings 9:1-16).
 
Elisha’s message fulfilled Elijah’s prophecy that he made 20 years earlier.
 
Jehu was the weapon that God used to make this prophecy come true. Jehu killed King Joram and all of Ahab’s male descendants in Jezreel, as well as all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left none remaining. Jehu went on a killing spree at this point. He had all the priests of Baal put to death. Jehu also killed Ahaziah the king of Judah and all his brothers. He then had Jezebel thrown from a window of a tall house to her death. Some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trampled her under foot. He then told the people to bury her as she was a king’s daughter.
 
“And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands, Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: and the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel” (2 Kings:33-37).
 
Thus, Elijah’s prophecy was completely fulfilled just as the Lord had spoken.
 
Jehu (11) became the next king of Israel after he killed Joram. Although he destroyed the idols and priests of Baal, Jehu continued the idolatrous ways of Jeroboam and worshiped the golden calves that were in Bethel and Dan. “And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because you have done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and have done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, your children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin” (2 Kings 10:30-31).
 
This is basically what the Lord said about all the evil kings of Israel. He said they sinned in the manner of Jeroboam. He did not mention Solomon, who sinned in like manner, because he did not make molded images or idols like Jeroboam did. Also, Solomon repented before his death, and I believe God did not mention him out of respect for King David.
 
After the death of Jehu, his son Jehoahaz (12) reigned in his stead. Jehoahaz followed in the footsteps of Jehu and Jeroboam. During his reign, Israel was nearly wiped out by the Syrians, “and had made them like the dust by threshing.” Jehoahaz died and was succeeded by his son Joash (13), who was evil but a capable military man who recovered the cities of Israel from Syria. Jeroboam II (14), the son of Joash, was the next king after the death of his father. He also followed in the footsteps of his evil father. He was one of Israel’s most successful rulers and was able to almost completely restore Israel’s borders to where they had been under Solomon.
 
Jeroboam II died, and his son Zachariah (15) became the next king of Israel. Zachariah was the great, great grandson of Jehu. He also departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. His reign lasted only six months. Shallum (16) the son of Jabesh conspired against Zachariah and slew him, and reigned in his stead. “This was the word of the Lord which he spoke unto Jehu, saying, Your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. And so it came to pass” (2 Kings 15:12).
 
Shallum ruled in Israel for a full month before Menahem (17) came to Samaria and slew him, and reigned in his stead. Menahem reigned ten years in Samaria and was another evil king, as were all before him. He was king during Assyria’s assault on the land and had to pay tribute to their king to keep them at bay. Assyria was becoming a world power at this time (approximately 743 BC).
 
This was the first of three Assyrian invasions into the land of Israel. Menahem died, and his son Pekahiah (18) became king of Israel. A captain of his named Pekah (19) conspired against Pekahiah and smote him in Samaria, and killed him, and took over the kingdom. In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria and took many cities and lands of Israel. He also carried many captives back to Assyria. This was the second invasion of Assyria into Israel. Hoshea (20) made a conspiracy against Pekah and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
 
Hoshea the son of Elah reigned in Samaria over Israel 9 years (9 is not a good number for Israel -see: https://www.raptureready.com/2019/07/14/dog-days-summer-randy-nettles/ ). He was the last king of the northern kingdom of Israel. “And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel that were before him” (2 Kings 17:2). Can you imagine putting that on your tombstone: He wasn’t as evil as those who came before him? Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it.
 
This was the third invasion of Assyria into Israel, and the siege lasted for three years (725 BC to 722 BC). You know what they say: The third time is a charm! In the 9th year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and destroyed Israel completely, carrying away most of the people and resettling the land with foreigners.
 
Interestingly enough, in the same year of the siege of 725 BC, Jonah the prophet went to Nineveh, the capitol city of Assyria, and reluctantly preached the message of repentance from wickedness that the Lord had commanded him. This was after the great fish incident as recorded in the book of Jonah. “Jonah cried out to the people of Nineveh and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them” (Jonah 3:4-5).
 
Even the king believed and issued a decree saying, Let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yes, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not: And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not” (Jonah 3:8-10).
 
Of course, this repentance by the Assyrians only lasted for a few generations, as Nineveh and the might of the Assyrian Empire was overthrown by the Babylonians in 612 BC. However, it’s strange indeed that the enemy of the Jews which destroyed Israel would repent from their wickedness (even for a short time) while the supposed people of God would not. That is why God allowed for the people of the ten kingdoms to be destroyed or removed from the land.
 
The Lord God spoke through one of his prophets (possibly Jeremiah), and he summed up the fullness of Israel’s sins as recorded in 2 Kings 2:17.
 
“Yet the Lord testified against Israel (and Judah), by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn you from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed worthless idols, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about the, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.
 
“And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven (demons), and served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only” (2 Kings 17:13-18).
 
Next time: The fullness of sin of Judah will be examined.
 
Randy Nettles
 
nettlesr@suddenlink.net
 
Endnotes:
 
{1,2} https://www.rev310.com/2019/05/three-raptures-elijah

​Jesus Shows John the Focus of the Tribulation - by Pastor Mike Taylor - https://pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com/2020/12/jesus-shows-john-focus-of-tribulation.html
 
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.” (Revelation 12:1-3)
 
In the last three parts of this study of Revelation, our Savior has revealed to us the history of the church leading down from Pentecost until the coming of our Lord for His Church and beyond. We have read and understand that from chapter 6 when Jesus opens the first seal while standing before the ABBA Father in heaven, with the saints of God that are seated on thrones and the angelic host giving God glory, each seal has given us a futurist view of the judgment that befalls the earth dwellers that are still on this planet and the judgment that rains down upon them. We have seen the first four seals reveal the use of mankind as the hammer to bring death and destruction over the entire earth, leading into Divine judgment and the unleashing of demonic forces designed for nothing else, but to enact vengeance on a God rejecting world, and the only source of salvation, found in Jesus Christ our Lord. We have come to the chapter that I have spoken of in past messages, that divides the Tribulation from the coming Great Tribulation, as now the Abomination who Causeth desolation will be revealed quickly in the next chapters. But here God focuses our attention on the actors in this spiritual drama that is being playing out in the physical world.
 
Many believe that this chapter appears to somehow be out of place, but here God reveals what His plan is for the people who are His chosen from ancient times and God will purge them as silver is refined in the fire.
 
3 “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.
6 For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:3-6)
 
But let us work our way through this chapter and see what God is trying to reveal to us for the coming time known as “Jacob's Trouble”.
 
SIGN OF A WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN
 
Looking at the first verses that begins this chapter..we know that in Genesis, Jacob clearly understood that he was the sun, his wife was the moon, and his twelve children were the stars, as Joseph had a dream.
 
8 “And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.” (Genesis 37:8-11)
 
This is the root of the nation of Israel. In Revelation, these symbols are used for two reasons. One is to signify the root of the woman portrayed there, that she is Israel: the sun, moon, & stars—Jacob, Rachel, and the twelve sons. But the sun, moon, and stars also have a secondary meaning: to indicate glory. She is a glorious woman—one that can be associated with the glorious things in the heaven—the sun, moon, and stars.
 
Note this allusion to glory because, as God is looking at Israel at this time—that is, in the prophetic sense, in the time within the prophecies—Israel is glorious. Israel's beginning was glorious—glorious as the heavenly bodies. Israel’s end will be just as glorious, because of the promise made to the fathers of Israel, not because of anything they have done, but because of God’s Holy Name and His promises to Israel. God fulfills His Word.
 
Some denominations erroneously try to paint this as the church, but that is replacement theology and as Paul told us in Romans:
 
17 “And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.
20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.
24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.” (Romans 11:17-25)
 
Here the apostle Paul reveals that Israel has been set aside till the “fullness of the Gentiles be come in”, then the focus of God's attention will be turned completely on the redemption of Israel. She has not been replaced by anybody or by any Church, or the Bride of Christ. God's Holy Spirit has been working with the church for nigh 2000 years and when the body of Christ is completed, then Israel will be brought to bear and as Paul told us in the same chapter.
 
26 “ And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the father's sakes.
29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” (Romans 11:26-29)
 
The Roman Catholic Church tries to make it appear that this is Mary and she is pictured here as the “Queen of Heaven. It is common in Roman Catholic art to represent Mary as standing on a crescent moon with twelve stars around her head. As this cannot be, as the woman is revealed to be in pain, which is a sign of the persecution that Israel faced during the Roman occupation and oppression. v. 2 of this chapter.
 
I make no apology when I say that Replacement Theology is a lie of the adversary, designed to those who believe such a lie, to forsake Israel and her rightful place according to the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not for their sake, but for God's Holy Name, as God keeps His promises.
 
The woman has been identified as Israel, even if others try to distort who she really is, and as the first player in this future drama that is part of the coming tribulation. Then we have the next player in this drama in the next verses.
 
3” And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.”( Revelation 12:3-4)
 
Clearly,this is a sign of old “slewfoot” that in ancient times, even before mankind, drew a third of the angelic host in rebellion against God and was cast to the earth in judgment for his rebellion.
 
Satan is pictured as a great red dragon who has tirelessly waged war against the children of Israel in an effort to usurp the plan of God and prevent the fulfillment of the prophecy at the Garden of Eden:
 
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)
 
Here the prophecy of the coming Messiah was proclaimed by God, and Satan has attempted to thwart God’s plan from the very beginning. He hates mankind as they were made in the glory and image of God and given dominion over the earth, instead of giving it to Satan, (Lucifer in the beginning) and his pride just could not stand it.
 
The adversary stands before the woman waiting to devour her child upon it being born. Of course, this is not literally a dragon, but a symbol of the nature of this fallen cherub who was once an ark angel. His description “symbolically suggests his fierce power and murderous nature . . . a picture of the fullness of evil in all its hideous strength. Seven diadems on his heads: This dragon had great power (seven heads and ten horns) and claimed royal authority (seven diadems). The crowns represent his presumptive claims of royal authority against the true King. He wants to be considered a king.
 
From the similar description given in 13:1 and the parallel references in Daniel 7:7-8, it is clear that the revived Roman Empire is in view . . . The seven heads and ten horns refer to the original ten kingdoms of which three were subdued by the little horn of Daniel 7:8, who is to be identified with the world ruler of the great tribulation who reigns over this revived Roman Empire.
 
WHO IS THE CHILD THAT IS BORN?
 
There have been various interpretations of who this child being born in verse 4. From reading the passage in a literal sense, we know that Israel was the nation that produced the Messiah, so is this Jesus who the adversary is waiting to devour? We know that when Jesus was born, that Herod made an evil attempt to have the infant Jesus killed, thereby slaying every male child of two years and younger, as the wise men came to a house and gave gifts to a child, not an infant, so Jesus was about two years old when Herod destroyed the Hebrew babies that were born in Bethlehem at this time.
 
I also have heard interpretations that this is the heavenly Jerusalem as well as Israel, noted by this woman and gives birth to the Church, as she has been “in utero” as Jesus said that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, but we must be “born again”...When the church was formed at Pentecost, she was not “born” but she was conceived and as a woman carries a baby to term of approximately 9 months. So has the True Church of the Living God, we have been growing as a body of Christ for the last two thousand years. If this is speaking of a dual prophecy of the church and of Christ, we are part of Christ, as we are His body, and He is the head of the Church. Some believe this is a reference to the church being born and raptured to the throne room of God. Which would be a connection between this verse and the beginning of chapter 4 when the 24 elders are seen in the throne room of God. Satan wishes to destroy the church, just as much as he wanted to destroy the child Jesus and had murdered many innocent children in the process.
 
“She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.”
 
Clearly this is a description of our Lord and Savior,as a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: Clearly, this refers to Jesus Christ, the Messiah. He rules the world with a rod of iron (Psalm 2 and Revelation 19:15).
 
But coming back to the duality of this prophecy, the Church is also designed to rule the nations, right along with Jesus Christ. We will be His Kings and Priest and each of us will be given a portion of that rule. As Jesus was caught up to God the Father by ascending to His right Hand, so we will also be caught up to the throne room of God at the rapture of the church, to reign and rule with Jesus Christ for a 1000 years. This was confirmed in chapter 5 of this apocalyptic book.
 
9 “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)
 
Do you see the parallel here? It is a duality of prophecy that pertains to Jesus Christ, but could also pertain to the Church that is born from the New Jerusalem that we are abiding in Her Womb at the present waiting to be born. I believe John is speaking of both.
 
ISRAEL, THE WOMAN FLEES BEFORE THE DRAGON
 
6 “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
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.”( Revelation 12:6-9)
 
Another duality of prophecy is spoken of in these verses, as this has happened to Israel before in 70 AD, when the Temple was destroyed by General Titus who later was to become emperor of Rome. The time of the destruction of the nation of Israel began approximately in 66 AD, and continued until about 72 AD with the Temple being destroyed during that time. The historian Eusebius wrote about these dreadful events. He wrote around AD325, amazingly close to those events, and with the extensive records of Josephus to draw upon. He wrote:
 
“For the Jews after the ascension of our Savior, in addition to their crime against Him, had been devising as many plots as they could against his apostles. First Stephen was stoned to death by them, and after him James, the son of Zebedee and the brother of John, was beheaded, and finally James, the first that had obtained the episcopal seat in Jerusalem after the ascension of our Savior, died in the manner already described. But the rest of the apostles, who had been incessantly plotted against with a view to their destruction, and had been driven out of the land of Judea, went unto all nations to preach the Gospel, relying upon the power of Christ, who had said to them, Go and make disciples of all the nations in my name.
 
But the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation, vouchsafed (transitive verb. 1a : to grant or furnish often in a gracious or condescending manner. b : to give by way of reply refused to vouchsafe an explanation. 2 : to grant as a privilege or special favor.)( my explanation) to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called Pella. And when those that believed in Christ had come there from Jerusalem, then, as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men, the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men.
 
But the number of calamities which everywhere fell upon the nation at that time; the extreme misfortunes to which the inhabitants of Judea were especially subjected, the thousands of men, as well as women and children, that perished by the sword, by famine, and by other forms of death innumerable—all these things, as well as the many great sieges which were carried on against the cities of Judea, and the excessive sufferings endured by those that fled to Jerusalem itself, as to a city of perfect safety, and finally the general course of the whole war, as well as its particular occurrences in detail, and how at last the abomination of desolation, proclaimed by the prophets, Daniel 9:27 stood in the very temple of God, so celebrated of old, the temple which was now awaiting its total and final destruction by fire — all these things any one that wishes may find accurately described in the history written by Josephus.”
 
Here in this passage we see the exact thing happening again, as the woman, Israel comprised of those who believe the message of the Gospel, (possibly from the two witnesses, or the 144,000 Jewish evangelist who proclaim what Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24)
 
15 “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
7 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matthew 24:15-22)
 
This whole chapter of Matthew 24 is directed squarely as a warning to Israel, and also repeated here in Revelation chapter 12. A remnant of Israel will see the abomination that causeth desolation, that Jesus warned of and will believe the Gospel, and take warning and flee to the mountain fortress of Petra in the Jordanian wilderness. Many make the mistake to interpret this chapter written to the Church, but the focus is obviously Israel, as Jesus was speaking of Jews in the future, as He spoke to Jews in the present time. The Church will not flee to the Jordanian wilderness, or worry about a Sabbath day's journey, or wonder how to flee in winter, as it gets cold even in Israel as it does in the Midwest. Jesus warned the Jewish people, that when they see the Abomination that causeth desolation, to run for the hills, and run for their lives, as this evil last dictator will attempt to destroy them all.
 
In this passage of verse 9, Satan and His demons are cast out of heaven where they have had the ability to come and go from heaven to the earth. Now they are imprisoned on the earth, and Satan know he has but a short time and he becomes frantic and seeks anyway he can devise to destroy Israel and make God out a liar. But a remnant of those of Jewish ancestry have escaped to Petra and Satan will pursue them.
 
HEAVEN REJOICES
 
All of heaven shouts with joy as they know that Satan and the evil committed on the earth is destined to end very shortly.
 
10” And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:10-11)
 
The accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down: Satan’s work of accusing only ends here, when he is cast out from his access to heaven. Remember the story of Job? Today, we have (and need) an intercessor and advocate (Hebrews 7:25 and 1st John 2:1)
 
Verse 11 remembers the many martyrs for the cause of Christ down through the ages, at the hands of the Roman Empire and the “holy Roman Empire” (sic), as there was nothing holy about her. This continues even today all over the world, into the Middle East, Africa, China, and other nations of the far east, and even to Europe. It has not reached America just yet, but it may before this is all over. Christians will be killed world wide that do not take the coming “Mark of the Beast” and especially anyone who is Jewish.
 
THE EARTH HELPS THE WOMAN
 
13 “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” (Revelation 12:13-16)
 
What are we to make of these set of verses? The woman runs for her very life, or the lives of every Jewish person who escapes to the mountain fortress of Petra, much as they did in 70 AD. You see metaphor after metaphor, of a great eagle that takes her into the wilderness and she is nourished for a time, times and half a time. This would be 3.5 years, which would be the sum total of the Great Tribulation. She will be sustained and nourished by Divine intervention. And this verse that says that the earth opened her mouth and swallowed some flood that the dragon cast out of his mouth. ??
 
Eagle’s Wings are an emblem from the Exodus deliverance (Exodus 19:4), another way of connecting these people with Israel.
 
“Some have wondered if the reference to the two wings of a great eagle do not in fact describe a great military transport plane used to evacuate people in an emergency situation. That is a theory, but however they are swiftly taken, God will provide.”
 
Prior verses have depicted a woman—symbolizing Israel—fleeing a dragon—symbolizing Satan. Satan's latest attempt to destroy Israel is poetically described as a flood coming from the serpent's mouth. According to this verse, the serpent's attempt to sweep away the woman fails, because God helps her. Most likely, the "river" is an army intent on invading and destroying Israel. God opens the earth to swallow the flood/river—typically identified as the northern army described in Ezekiel 38 and Joel 1—that the serpent sends to destroy Israel. This apparently refers to a natural phenomenon, possibly an earthquake.
 
Ezekiel predicted this devastating earthquake that destroys the northern army. He wrote: "But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, my wrath will be roused in my anger. For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. … And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. …With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire, and sulfur" (Ezekiel 38:18–22).
 
 
This passage also describes God’s ultimate protection of Israel from the fury of Satan and his antichrist in the great tribulation.
 
As it says in Isaiah 59:19 , “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.”
 
Why does Satan attack the Jewish people? As it looks like they are the ones who are fleeing, and those who Jesus mentioned that they should flee, hoping that it wasn't on a Sabbath, or women who give suck, or the cold of winter that prevents them from traveling at a fast pace. This is a question for all history, not only for the Great Tribulation. The reason is because from the time of Abraham, Israel holds a critical role in God’s plan of redemption. First, it was in bringing forth the Messiah and Redeemer. Then, it was in the fulfillment of His plan, because Jesus promised that the Jewish people would exist and welcome Him when He returns in glory to this world (Matthew 23:39). If Satan succeeds in destroying the Jewish people, then God’s eternal plan is in some way thwarted.
 
As mentioned, some try to make those who flee into the Petra fortress as Jews and the Church that is somehow still here, but note what is said in verse 17.
 
17 “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 12:17)
 
But if the woman represents all the people of God (the church and faithful Israel), then who are the rest of her offspring described in verse 17? It is best to see her as Israel in general or Messianic Jews in particular.
 
SATAN COMES AGAINST SECULAR JEWS
 
Satan has been defeated in the ability to harm those who belong to God and he comes after a remnant of her seed. What seed? Those who have not been able to escape, or that didn't believe the two witnesses and their preaching. It was as it was in 70 AD, and history is repeating itself.
 
I have preached for some time, that the Tribulation is designed for two things only. 1. the refinement of Israel is as silver in a hot furnace to remove the impurities within her and prepare her to receive her Messiah (Malachi 3:3)...our Messiah that saved a people who were not His people, but Israel are His people, and God will fight for them, as we will see in future chapters. 2. God will destroy all rebellion on this earth and wiping it totally clean of all unrighteousness and lawlessness, making this earth to become again like the Garden of Eden for a 1000 years before He finally creates a New Heaven and a new earth.
 
I want each of you to see the commonality of events that presents itself in this chapter and every chapter that God reveals to those who seek His Truth found in this revelation. God will destroy all mankind on this earth who don't accept His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Along with it, the Anti-Christ will be hunting down all who do not worship him or take his mark. Even if you are not Jewish (as they will be marked for extermination), you will be hunted down because you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior, and my friend, it will cost you your life in martyrdom, and the suffering of your family and friends, whatever is left to be family or friends. Otherwise, you will succumb to the coming Mark of the Beast and be doomed for all eternity, as it is spoken of in Revelation chapter 14, v. 9-11.
 
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.”(Revelation 14:9-11)
 
Revelation is a continued warning to all who will listen that a time is coming that no one wants to live or go through if they only knew what the time will produce for all who are still here. As mentioned numerous times, the Church is being judged now, and we “are not appointed to wrath”, so to place the church in the middle of being refined or martyrdom is to say that the blood of Jesus was just not quite good enough to save us utterly. That doctrine is found in Catholic purgatory and is not found in the Bible anywhere. I throw you a life line, His name is Jesus Christ. He is the only One who will keep you from this coming time and He wants to save all men, not willing that any should perish. Will you accept this free gift of His mercy and grace found in his death, burial and resurrection? It is oh, so simple a child can do it. There are many places that speak of this act of faith, but there are two passages that brought me as a child to the knowledge of my need for a Savior and I understood it as a child, then you can too.
 
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)
 
8 “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 10:8-11)
 
See? I told you it was simple...believe in your heart the above verses, repent, and ask Jesus to come into your life as Lord and your example of how to live. Then confess to others, your family, your friends, or your co-workers, and you shall be saved...it's that simple...Make that decision for Jesus Christ this side of the Tribulation, while you still can..Next time we will continue to explore thehorror of the coming Great Tribulation that will slay most of mankind.
 
This is Pastor Mike Taylor, praying for your salvation through faith in Jesus. If you need prayer, counseling, or just a friendly, listening ear, email me at PASTORMIKETAYLOR@YAHOO.COM, or visit me online for more biblical messages of Jesus Christ as Lord. God bless you all...
 
TILL WE MEET AT JESUS FEET...............SOON!

​Anchored to the Rock - By Todd Hampson - https://www.raptureready.com/2020/12/08/anchored-to-the-rock-by-todd-hampson/
 
Psalm 2:1-4
 
“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.’ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.”
 
Everyone sees the world deteriorating in a myriad of ways. Unfortunately, many do not understand that this is exactly what the Bible says the world would be like near the time of the end. So much has happened in 2020 that people are just ready for the year to be over. Relatively few are aware of some gigantic prophecy-related events on the horizon which 2020 merely set the stage for. If you think 2021 is going to offer a return to normalcy after the unprecedented events of 2020, I’m afraid you’ll be blindsided by what’s coming our way.
 
I’ll resist launching into a commentary about how political corruption is at an all-time high, or how our country is crumbling before our eyes. Neither of those are exaggerations, by the way. If we don’t have a reliable voting system, we no longer have a democracy of “we the people.” I’ll also resist addressing (for now) the globalists’ planned “Great Reset” in June of 2021 (although just about everything we’re witnessing geopolitically is directly connected to that coming event). In this particular article, there’s something much more encouraging I’d like to focus on, and it is this:
 
God is still on the throne.
 
God is not pacing in the throne room wondering what to do next. He is sovereign over all things. God raises up and puts down leaders. His ways are high above our ways, and everything God allows moves history along to its prophesied end. Perhaps God wants us American Christians to put our trust solely in God, rather than our comfort and security. He is enough. Actually, God is MORE than enough. Whatever we might face in the coming years, God is allowing it. Perhaps we’ll face strong persecution. Perhaps the world will get worse and our light will shine brighter. Perhaps the Lord will come to take his Bride home and we’ll finally be raptured out of this corrupt world with its impending globalism, lawlessness, upside- down thinking, and strong delusion. Regardless of what lies ahead, we must trust in Christ alone like never before. He is our only real security, and he is all we need.
 
In Exodus 17 as Joshua led the people to fight the Amalekites, the Israelites were winning as long as Moses held up his staff. Apparently, the battle went on for a long time, and as Moses’ hands grew tired, Aaron and Hur provided a stone for Moses to sit on as they held up his weary arms. When studying this passage, I’ve always focused on the help from Aaron and Hur as they held up Moses’ arms. But recently I noticed the other key detail—Moses sat on a rock. This may seem inconsequential, but I don’t believe it is. Every detail in Scripture is there for a purpose.
 
Earlier in the same chapter of Exodus, we have the account of Moses striking the rock and water gushing out of it. Later (in Numbers 20) Moses struck another rock twice for water to pour out, but God chastised Moses because he was only supposed to speak to the rock. For this reason, Moses could not enter the promised land. This seems harsh until we realize that God was using the rock as a prophetic foreshadow of the Messiah. We read this in 1 Corinthians 10:4, “They drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” Jesus was only struck once. He died once for all (Romans 6:10). Psalm 118:22 tells us, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
 
So, Moses sat on the rock. His foundation was Christ. Jesus picks up on this theme in his parable of the wise builder in Matthew 7. If you’ll recall, the foolish builder constructed his house on sand while the wise builder assembled his on the rock. The wise builder drove down deep until he hit bedrock to which he anchored his foundation. Both builders had the same construction materials. Both builders faced the same storm. The only difference was the wise builder had his foundation anchored to the Rock. Jesus is our firm foundation. Unshakable.
 
Here’s the practical application question we need to consider in the context of the coming year—2021. What are we anchored to? Are we anchored to Jesus, the unshakable one? Or, have we placed our trust in the unstable and temporary things of the world (people, politics, candidates, money, comfort, our country, etc.)? Will we face even tougher times? We might, but if we are anchored to the Rock, we will not be shaken. If Jesus is not shaken, neither should we be. What if the worst happens? What if (insert your worst-case scenario here) actually comes to pass in our lifetime—or even in the next year? Will it occur apart from God allowing it to? No. Will we still be able to live out our calling in this generation? Yes.
 
In times like these, we need to make sure we truly believe verses like Romans 8:28 or Psalm 139:16. As we head into the unknown of 2021, let’s take stock in what really matters and evaluate what we are really trusting in. Regardless of what lies in our immediate future, we can’t lose sight of God’s sovereignty and his appointed times. We should not be surprised that the world is headed full-speed in the direction of last-days developments. Perhaps we’re closer to the rapture than most people realize. Perhaps there is yet more time and we’ll have to face tougher times than 2020. In either scenario (rapture or growing persecution and lawlessness), God is in control. In either case, God will guide us. In either case, we are destined for this moment. In either case, we must anchor deeply into bedrock. In either case, we must share the fantastic news of the cross with a lost world while we still can.
 
As believers we must not live like practical atheists. If we say we believe God is on the throne; if we say that Jesus is King of kings and Lord of Lords; if we say we trust God with our lives and the future; if we say that we believe God is ultimately sovereignly in control of all things; if we say we believe what the Bible says about where all of this is headed—then we can live with joy, hope, courage, faith, and perseverance even now. We must not let the deteriorating world conditions get us down. Fear and faith cannot occupy the same space. Trust and anxiety are polar opposites. My first pastor used to say, “Worry is a Christian sin.” When we worry, we are not trusting God (see Matthew 6:25-34 and Proverbs 3:5-6.)
 
Let’s rise up to be the Church that God intended for us to be at this moment in history. Though our number is shrinking in the West, we (along with believers everywhere) are still the salt and light of the World. We still have the guidance and enabling power of the Holy Spirit. We are still called to such a time as this. Don’t give up now. Seize this moment with our promised future in mind. You’ll be glad you did.
 
The darker the night, the brighter the light. As our spiritual eyes adjust to the darkness, let’s shift our gaze from the shiny things of the world to the leading light of Christ who provides just enough light for us to take the next step of faith. Believer—it is time for your Christian faith to be more real, more raw, more grounded, and more authentic than it has ever been. Let’s rise to the occasion and sprint to the finish line together. Perhaps the rapture is soon—but if not, we must be tethered to the unshakable Rock of Christ and stand firm in these truly unprecedented times.
 
Matthew 5:14
 
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”
 
Todd Hampson | toddhampson.com 

​Patriotism Versus Eternal Expectations – Jonathan Brentner - https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/https/jonathan-brentner-g8fgsquarespacecom/config/2020/12/7/patriotism-versus-eternal-expectations
 
The America into which I was born and grew up now seems like a far distant memory. I was only ten at the time of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, but I remember an entire nation engulfed in grief regardless of party affiliation or political ideology.
 
As someone taught to love my country from childhood all the way through my college days at John Brown University, I feel a deep sense of sadness by what I now see happening here in the United States and I suspect that those living in other countries have similar feelings.
 
On the one hand, I believe that God’s tribulation judgments are very close at hand. How much longer will He wait before He intervenes and judges the United States for the daily toll of murder via abortion and the rampant wickedness here on our shores?
 
On the other hand, I often find myself pleading with the Lord for justice to prevail in the final outcome of the U.S. 2020 Presidential Election. I desire to live under a President who will protect our freedoms, particularly those of worship and speech. Donald Trump has a proven track record in this regard, which will surely not be the case with a Joe Biden administration.
 
I have reached the point where I no longer want to hear more stories of how people cheated while counting ballots so Biden would win. How could so many people have acted so treacherously as to steal an election from a sitting United States’ President? Do they not understand the consequences of such evil behavior? I long for a fair and quick resolution to the election drama.
 
Yet . . . I surely know that my ultimate hope lies elsewhere. I dare not forget the myriad of prophetic signs that point to the soon and imminent appearing of Jesus to take all those who belong to Jesus home to heaven.
 
How do I resolve the tension within me between patriotism and my expectation of Jesus’ soon return for His bride, the true church?
 
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE RESTRAINER OF 2 THESSALONIANS 2
 
I believe the Holy Spirit is the one to whom Paul refers to as restraining the appearance of the antichrist (see 2 Thess. 2:3-8). Yes, the Holy Spirit will remain active after our departure; many people will come to Christ during the tribulation. However, in some way the rapture will end His restraining work in regard to the antichrist’s rise to power and domination of the world.
 
As I read articles and watch a video or two about The Great Reset on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) website, I see the work of Satan and his demons setting up the world for the coming kingdom of the antichrist. I see the beast of Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 forming before right before my eyes. This Communist agenda is also readily apparent in the details of the New Green Deal in America and in the UN’s Agenda 2030.
 
However, as long as the Holy Spirit remains in His current restraining role through New Testament saints, I believe He will continue to hold back the full implementation of the globalists’ demonic agenda for the coming totalitarian world government with the antichrist at the helm.
 
I believe Ephesians 6:12 also speaks to this matter, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
 
This verse tells me that through prayer, we can battle the demonic forces that seek to plunge our world into the horrors of a government that will enslave all those under its jurisdiction. In this sense, we can join forces with the Holy Spirit in resisting Satan’s plans for the world by praying against these “spiritual forces of evil.”
 
With this understanding, I will continue to pray for justice to prevail in the results of the 2020 United States Presidential election. Those behind the great election fraud in American have as their goal the surrender of the United States to The Great Reset (see It’s All About the Moment and Our World Hangs on the Edge of Eternity for the reasons why a Biden presidency would rapidly place America under the umbrella of the WEF).
 
AMERICA DESERVES GOD’S JUDGMENT
 
I also realize America deserves God’s judgment as a result of its great wickedness and that at some future time the United States will find itself under the control of a world government during the seven-year tribulation.
 
In 2012, Billy Graham quoted his wife Ruth as saying, “If God doesn’t punish America, He’ll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” The wickedness to which she referred has grown exponentially worse since she spoke those words sometime before her death in 2007.
 
In a previous post, Not Now, I Have My Life to Live, I examine several reasons why America stands at the edge of paying a sorrowful and devastating price for the great wickedness that’s so prevalent here. It’s only a matter of time.
 
However, God’s tribulation wrath will not descend upon America or the world until after all the New Testament saints are safely with Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says, “For God has not destined for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The context specifies that this is “day of the Lord” wrath rather than hell.
 
The story in Genesis 19 foreshadows our future deliverance from this world. This chapter records how the Lord used angels to lead Lot, his wife, and his two daughters out of Sodom before the Lord destroyed the city. God will severely judge the United States along with the world during the tribulation, but not before He sends His Son to fetch His bride and take her home.
 
WHAT DO I VALUE THE MOST?
 
In one of his recent prophecy updates, J.D. Farag asked whether believers in America longed for the rapture or four more years of President Trump? That brought me face to face with the heart of the matter. What do I really value in this matter? What is more important to me?
 
The key here consists of valuing “the things that are unseen” over “the things that are seen” as the apostle Paul wrote about in 2 Corinthians 4:18. One reality, the “unseen,” is “eternal” while the one that so often captures our attention remains “transient;” it’s temporal and fleeting.
 
It’s not that we forget about the things of this life or never plan for our future on the earth, but that we do so recognizing the relative value of the temporary world compared to the exceeding value of eternal glory that will someday surely be ours at Jesus’ appearing (see Rom. 8:18-25).
 
A just outcome to the Presidential Election in the U.S. would definitely be welcome news to my weary soul, but it falls under the category of “transient” aspirations. My imminent departure, on the other hand, ushers me into eternity, which is far, far better than four more short and fleeting years.
 
The reality is that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). What could possibly be more important than that (I keep asking myself)? So, while patriotism and flying the American flag remains important, my expectations of the Jesus’ appearing trumps my temporal and fleeting aspirations every single time.
 
PRAYING WITH AN ETERNAL AWARENESS
 
As a result of the above considerations, I will remain fervent in prayer for a just outcome to the election with an eternal awareness through which I understand that:
 
1. I prefer Jesus’ appearing to take me home above all else. I am not saying I feel this way 24/7, but that I always come back to this mindset when despair from current events overwhelms my soul.
 
2. We live in the last moments of human history as we know it. For now, I pray against the powers that seek plunge the world into the darkness of a New World Order. However, I know that eventually every nation will fall under the umbrella of The Great Reset, including America.
 
3. I know that Ruth Graham is absolutely correct; God’s punishment is coming to the United States and deservedly so. However, the Lord’s tribulation wrath will not fall on the United States or any other nation until after Christ takes all who belong to Him out of this world.
 
We do not know for sure what lies ahead for us during our time remaining on the earth or even how much more time we have before Jesus appears. We also do not even know the final outcome of the election in America. On some days, the news for President Trump seems rather hopeful, on other days not so much.
 
What we do know is that the tribulation now appears on the horizon like dark ominous clouds before a powerful and destructive storm arrives on our street. Even so, we rest in the assurance that Jesus is coming for us before the one the Bible calls the “man of lawlessness” rises to power and begins his deadly reign of terror over those that dwell on the earth.
 
So, I will continue to pray passionately for the best outcome for my country and its citizens in full awareness that by far the best future outcome for believers like me is Jesus’ appearing, which will usher us into His presence with immortal and imperishable bodies. This, after all, is the “blessed hope” of the Gospel into which Jesus has saved all those who know Him as their precious Savior (Romans 8:23-25; Titus 2:11-14).

​Unprecedented - By Daymond Duck - https://www.raptureready.com/2020/12/06/unprecedented-by-daymond-duck/
 
We are living in an unprecedented time, and although no one knows the day or the hour, the Rapture could occur at any moment, and people need to be ready.
 
This list of unprecedented events with prophetic implications is just a small indication of why I believe the Church could be removed soon.
 
One, in Pennsylvania on Nov. 25, 2020, a court judge stopped the certification of Biden as the winner of the Pennsylvania election pending a hearing on Nov. 27.
 
On Nov. 27, 2020, a panel of judges ruled against Trump, leading his attorneys to say they are headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
 
Also, in Pennsylvania, on Nov. 25, 2020, at a hearing held by the State Legislature, an expert witness testified that at one point, information shows that Biden was credited with about 570,000 votes and Trump was credited with a little more than 3,200 votes, which is statistical evidence of voter fraud.
 
Attorney Rudy Giuliani told the State Legislature, the state reported that 1,823,148 mail-in ballots were sent out, 1.4 million mail-in ballots were returned, but officials recorded 2.5 million votes.
 
Giuliani also said 22,686 ballots returned on the day they were put in the mail, about 20,000 ballots were supposedly returned on the day before they were put in the mail, and 8,021 ballots were supposedly cast by people who are deceased.
 
On Nov. 26, 2020, 26 Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives introduced a resolution to decertify the election of Biden because of “substantial irregularities and improprieties associated with mail-in balloting.”
 
In Georgia on Nov. 25, 2020, Attorney Sidney Powell filed a 104-page complaint with 30 allegations asking for the results of the 2020 General Election to be set aside because of “evident fraud and multiple violations of the Constitution and Georgia’s laws in the running of the election.”
 
One piece of evidence that Powell presented was an affidavit from a highly respected Cyber-Crime expert that has worked for the CIA that says hundreds of thousands of votes were shifted from Trump to Biden in the battleground states.
 
There seems to be little doubt that the greatest Cyber-Crime in the history of the world has been used against the U.S. by U.S. citizens with outside help.
 
On Dec. 1, 2020, it was reported that billionaires George Soros and Michael Bloomberg are funneling $300,000 to the Democrats in the Georgia runoff election in an effort to take over the U.S. Senate (some say Democrat Warnock is a socialist).
 
In Michigan, Powell filed a similar complaint (Powell asked people to pray for her).
 
On Nov. 30, 2020, it was reported that a recount in Antrim County, Michigan, switched the election victory back to Trump.
 
According to the report, thousands of Trump’s votes were incorrectly given to Biden (nothing was said about how this will ultimately come out).
 
In Wisconsin, there was a 105% turnout in one Milwaukee District.
 
In Nevada, on Nov. 27, 2020, a judge ruled that the Republican legal team can issue subpoenas, depose witnesses under oath, etc.
 
The Democrats appear to fear what will be uncovered because it was reported that they have sent in a team of about 10 attorneys to try to stop the litigation.
 
It is impossible to predict how the judges will rule on the many cases, and it is a longshot for Pres. Trump, but until every lawsuit is dropped or litigated (including at the U.S. Supreme Court because there are questions about the constitutionality of some state laws), the election is not over.
 
(Note: It has been reported that Twitter is blocking the posting of some of Sidney Powell’s charges of widespread voter fraud and information on her lawsuits).
 
Two, on Nov. 25, 2020, it was reported that Biden’s special envoy for climate, former Sec. of State John Kerry, has assured the World Economic Forum (WEF) that Biden will advance the Great Reset (a globalist scheme to control the world) faster and harder than many might imagine.
 
On Nov. 26, 2020, it was reported that several of Biden’s cabinet picks share one thing in common: they are members of the Council on Foreign Relations (evidence that the new normal will include the old shadow government if Biden wins).
 
On Nov. 27, 2020, it was reported that Trump suddenly fired 11 members of the Pentagon’s Defense Policy Board (Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, and 9 more swamp creatures).
 
It is about time.
 
Biden and Harris are just small-time players (puppets) in the Shadow government.
 
It is not enough to drain a puddle when the real pollution is coming from a lake.
 
Three, on Nov. 29, 2020, Amir Tsarfati showed about 40 seconds of a video produced by the WEF’s Global Future Councils that says, “The U.S. won’t be the world’s superpower. A handful of countries will dominate.”
 
Don’t forget that the Bible teaches that 10 Kings (heads of 10 regional groups of nations; a handful of countries) will rise before the Antichrist rises (Dan. 7:7; 24).
 
Be aware that Phase I of the U.N. quest for a world government is to create 10 regional trading groups of nations (10 trading blocs; E.U., USMCA, etc.; an economic NWO); Phase II is to transform the 10 regional trading groups of nations into 10 political groups (a political NWO); and Phase III is to merge the 10 political groups into a one-world government (the NWO).
 
This explains why the shadow government is trying so hard to bring down Trump.
 
Their goal is to replace the U.S. as the world’s only superpower with a handful of countries (10 Kings).
 
Also, do not forget that the Antichrist can’t rise to power while the Restrainer (Church and Holy Spirit) is here.
 
By the way, according to the video, people will not own property in the future (wealth distribution; everything will belong to the government, and they will use it to control everyone), and the WEF is openly admitting it.
 
Here is the link to the Amir Tsarfati video (go to the 49-minute mark).
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGSJhXjmVDg&feature=youtu.be
 
For your information, the WEF does not have the authority to put the Great Reset into motion.
 
They will submit their Great Reset recommendation to the World Bank, IMF, G-7 and G-20 for approval, and that will take a little time.
 
Four, on Nov. 20, 2020, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she looks forward to working with Washington (the Biden administration) “on a new rulebook for the digital economy and digital society.”
 
This digital economy and society are a forerunner of the cashless society, and it will lead to the tracking of all buying and selling.
 
Five, concerning an economic collapse, some Democrats are proposing a universal income (everyone that pleases the government gets a monthly check); the cancellation of all debt; free college tuition; free healthcare; a two trillion-dollar stimulus package; a lockdown in the U.S. for up to six weeks (even though it will destroy many businesses and put millions of people out of work); and the cancellation of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” policies.
 
I know very little about economics, but this looks like a deliberate attempt to weaken the U.S. and boost the Great Reset.
 
One-third of the small businesses in New York and New Jersey have closed in 2020.
 
Six, concerning a rebuilt Temple, on Nov. 26, 2020, it was reported that Jordan is concerned that Trump may transfer control of the Temple Mount to Saudi Arabia in exchange for Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel, and so Trump can further enhance his legacy as one who blessed Israel.
 
According to the article, Trump has not said anything about this, but the warming relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia has Jordan concerned that this is going to happen.
 
Seven, concerning the Mark of the Beast, on Nov. 26, 2020, it was reported that Israel’s Chief Innovation Officer was talking about mandatory vaccinations in Israel when he said, “Government won’t force you to take the vaccine. Amazon will. Airlines will. Banks will. You won’t be able to buy, sell, or trade without the vaccine” (Israel expects to start Covid vaccinations in Jan. 2020; it is being reported that they will start sooner than that in the U.S. and U.K.).
 
Christians should thank God that we won’t be here when the Antichrist and False Prophet demand that people take the Mark of the Beast if they want to buy and sell.
 
Eight, many Americans have good reason to be concerned about mandatory Covid vaccinations and what is in the vaccines (in addition to cells from fetal tissue, chemicals to change one’s DNA, etc. — some require two vaccinations that producers claim are 95% effective or should I say 5% ineffective?).
 
On Nov. 4, 2020, it was reported that Shi-Hua Xiang, a virologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, is in the early stages of developing a nasal spray to deliver a vaccine to the mucosal system in one’s nose and mouth.
 
If successful, the vaccine will cause one’s immune system to produce antibodies to attack the Covid virus before it moves to other parts of the body.
 
Hopefully, people will not have to go to a doctor and take a mandatory injection.
 
Pray that God will provide something that does not use cells from fetal tissue or change one’s DNA, and believe that with God all things are possible.
 
Nine, concerning the dangers of ministry, Jesus said, “the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death” (Matt. 10:21).
 
These words appear to extend from the time of His disciples to the time of His Second Coming.
 
Anyway, on Nov. 26, 2020, it was reported that Vermont’s governor asked the state’s schools to question students about the size of their family Thanksgiving gatherings so those that had been in large gatherings could be tested, quarantined, and forced into remote learning (those that test positive for 14 days; those that test negative for 7 days).
 
Asking citizens to snitch on each other is becoming another part of the new normal, and another sign of where we are on God’s calendar.
 
Ten, concerning the Battle of Gog and Magog, there has been a lot of speculation that Trump may launch an attack on Iran before he leaves office.
 
·      Trump recently asked the military about his options for an attack on Iran and decided against it;
·      Prime Min. Netanyahu and U.S. Sec. of State Pompeo flew to Saudi Arabia for a secret meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman;
·      Saudi Arabia has given Israel permission for Israeli military aircraft to use Saudi airspace if Israel wants to;
·      Trump sent several B-52H Stratofortress planes to the Middle East;
·      Trump dispatched an Aircraft Carrier Strike Group to the Persian Gulf; Iran’s top nuclear scientist was assassinated;
·      Iran is threatening to attack Israel;
·      Jared Kushner has scheduled a trip to Saudi Arabia this week to discuss a normalization treaty between Saudi Arabia and Israel;
·      and an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commander was assassinated in Syria this week.
 
It is impossible to predict what will happen, but this shows a flurry of activity and threats in recent days.
 
Finally, God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God, who died for the sins of the world, was buried and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.
 
Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc.
 
Daymond Duck
 
duck_daymond@yahoo.com
 
 

It’s All About the Moment – Jonathan Brentner - https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/https/jonathan-brentner-g8fgsquarespacecom/config/2020/12/1/its-all-about-the-moment
 
The voices we hear from the world are increasingly at odds with what read in God’s Word. The commercials we see on television encourage us to get the most out of this life, to “just do it.” The message of the world is all about living for the moment.
 
And I would agree . . . although I have a much, much different “moment” in mind. In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Paul wrote, “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” (emphasis mine)
 
For those of us who belong to Jesus, it’s not about the thrill of a moment in time; it’s all about the moment when eternity begins for us. It’s all about the “twinkling of an eye” when Jesus takes us home to the place that He’s now preparing for us (John 14:2-3).
 
It’s this future “twinkling of an eye” that has repeatedly refreshed my soul during this shocking year that has forever changed life on planet earth.
 
THE MISERY OF 2020 POINTS TO A MUCH GREATER THREAT
 
I am sure we all can recall heartbreaking and disturbing experiences from 2020. We have witnessed the activity of our enemy in our world as never before. The devil has created a culture of fear in our communities and furthermore, his minions have made their endgame abundantly clear; they plan to take full advantage of COVID-19 to make Satan’s plan for world domination a reality.
 
The coronavirus and what the World Economic Forum (WEF) dubs as The Great Reset go together like a couple in love walking down the street arm in arm. These elite globalists intend to use COVID-19 as a springboard to advance their plans for a Marxist New World Order.
 
The articles and videos on the WEF website openly describe their radical plans for controlling the lives of everyone on planet earth. One of the videos begins with these chilling words about their vision for 2030, “You’ll own nothing, and you’ll be happy.”[i] They make The Great Reset sound like a glorious utopia when in reality it will become a living hell for those alive when it comes to full fruition.
 
The intent of the world’s most powerful and wealthiest people is communism; how else can one describe their vision for 2030 where no one owns any personal property, not even the clothes they wear (yes, they actually say this in one of their articles). This is Satan behaving precisely as Jesus described him in John 10:10. Satan will work through the Antichrist and those who follow him to “steal and kill and destroy.” These words precisely sum up what the elite globalists at the WEF and UN have in mind for the people under their jurisdiction.
 
According to James Delingpole of Breitbart News, “COVID-19 has provided the perfect pretext” to usher in “a globalist takeover” of virtually every aspect of human life. “Put simply,” Delingpole continues, The Great Reset “is the blueprint for a complete transformation of the world economy. There will be no money, no private property, no democracy. Instead, every key decision — what you do for a living, how much stuff you consume, whether you can take a vacation — will [be] decided for you by a remote, unaccountable elite of ‘experts.’”[ii]
 
Lest you think the idea of The Great Reset is the product of a bygone era when John Lenin sang Imagine about a wistful utopia, it has become a hot topic today. Newsweek recently devoted an entire issue to it. The campaign slogan of Joe Biden, “Build Back Better,” comes directly from the WEF and their plans for world dominance.[iii]
 
Kerry, who Biden named as his special presidential envoy for climate last week, has already affirmed his allegiance to the radical agenda of the WEF. “The notion of a reset is more important than ever before, I personally believe … we’re at the dawn of an extremely exciting time.” Kerry further assured the elites of the World Economic Forum (WEF) that a Joe Biden presidency would quickly advance the globalist “Great Reset” agenda “with greater speed and greater intensity than many might imagine.”[iv]
 
In a recent prophecy roundtable led by Amir Tsarfati, Jan Markell said, “The Great Reset is the great tribulation.” I wholeheartedly agree. A lady from Australia recently sent an e-mail to me in which she said the tribulation is coming toward us at “warp speed.” This is so true!
 
What we see happening around us is the beginning of what the apostle John wrote about in the book of Revelation. And if this is the case, and it is, then the rapture will happen sooner than many people can even begin to imagine.
 
OUR ETERNAl HOPE FAR EXCEEDS ALL EARTHLY THREATS
 
So why bring up all the current news about the coming Great Reset in a post about the moment Jesus comes for us? Because it confirms that the tribulation is knocking on the door, and this means Jesus’ appearing is ever so near. The threat to our future wellbeing is substantial, but our hope in Jesus’ soon appearing is greater; our hope far exceeds all threats from the enemy of our souls.
 
Because the rapture must happen before the tribulation, we are not waiting for the “Reset” of life and the radical transformation of life as we know it, but rather for our ascent into the clouds. We may see more of Satan’s plans for this world come to fruition before the rapture, however, the Bible assures us that we will be with Jesus in heaven well before the antichrist assumes control of the rapidly approaching Great Reset.
 
I do not know what the remainder of 2020 or 2021 have in store for us who believe. We may experience greater restrictions on our freedoms and perhaps added suffering.
 
Circumstances, no matter how terrifying they seem, cannot derail our hope nor hinder the Lord’s sovereign agenda for His church, Israel, and the world. In other words, nothing can interfere with our “blessed hope.” Jesus is coming soon to take us home; that is the moment when our faith will become a reality.
 
In Philippians 3:20 Paul wrote, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” The word for “await” in the Greek denotes an eager anticipation of something. I believe it signifies the apostle’s “goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14)
 
SPECTACULAR NEWS FOR ALL THOSE SECURELY IN CHRIST
 
Paul also wrote about his excited expectation of Jesus’ appearing in Romans 8:23-25. I especially like his words in verse 23, “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
 
This is spectacular news for all my fellow groaners in 2020. Jesus will not disappoint us; He is coming and at that moment we will receive immortal bodies and fully experience our membership in God’s forever family.
 
If you are wondering why I am so certain that our departure from this world will occur before the start of the coming tribulation, see my blog post entitled The Biblical Necessity of the Pretribulation Rapture.
 
If you groan because the events of 2020 have taken a heavy toll on you, take heart and focus on the prize that lies ahead of you. The Lord may keep us waiting a bit longer, but we can be absolutely certain He will not disappoint us. Jesus will surely reward our patient endurance just as He promises us in Revelation 3:10-11.
 
If you have not read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 recently, I encourage you to do so often as a reminder of your wonderful and glorious hope. These verses reveal the outcome of our faith. Many today make the foolish mistake of divorcing our “blessed hope” from the Gospel message; they say it’s a third order doctrine. It’s most assuredly not!
 
Our imminent departure from this world is the essence of our Gospel hope per the Lord’s assuring words through the apostle Paul in Romans 8:18-25.
 
I very much need a constant reminder of my hope and I suspect that many of you do as well. Despite writing about it, I far too often lose sight of the Lord’s appearing as the true prize that awaits me as well as all those whose sins are covered by Jesus’ blood.
 
You see, it’s all about the moment Paul described in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; it’s the “twinkling of an eye” when the glorious hope of the Gospel becomes reality for us and Jesus turns our perishable bodies into imperishable and immortal ones.
 
I cannot imagine a better moment than that.
 
Note: Please consider signing up for my newsletter on the home page of my website at https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/ . It will greatly help me in reaching more people. Thanks!
 
[i] The WEF has revised this video, but it still can be seen here on the Zero Hedge website: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/horrifying-future-wefs-vision-post-covid-world
 
[ii] James Delingpole, The Great Reset Is Trending. Here’s Why…, On the Breithart website at: https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/11/18/the-great-reset-is-trending-heres-why/
 
[iii] Ibid.
 
[iv] Article on the LifeNews Website: John Kerry: Biden presidency would advance globalist ‘Great Reset’ with ‘speed’ at: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/john-kerry-biden-presidency-would-advance-globalist-great-reset-with-speed
​

The Death of a Global System - By Matt Ward - https://www.raptureready.com/2020/12/01/the-death-of-a-global-system-by-matt-ward/
 
I often wonder about Job and his amazing resilience. I wonder how I would react if the calamities that afflicted him came upon me. To accumulate such great wealth, status, and comfort and have it all reduced to nothing in such quick fashion, and then have your loved ones taken away from you in such a devastating manner as he. It must have been crushing for him.
 
I wouldn’t have the resolve or fortitude of Job; I think few would. Yet today, we are all of us like Job. We stand on the very brink of everything we know and have come to accept as “normal” being forcefully changed in just a moment, and almost nobody seems to know it, or worse, care.
 
We all take everything for granted, even our precious loved ones. Even they can be taken away from us. Very soon, our world will be filled with men and women just like Job. People who have never known the pain of overwhelming and complete systemic loss. People who will very quickly be plunged into the most extreme circumstances of loss imaginable.
 
This is because our current global system is already effectively dead. Right now, we await the emergence of a new global order, a one-world system of governance and control that will leave no person untouched. Something serious has gone wrong with our current world order, and it now stands on the verge of total collapse.
 
This is no mere hyperbole either. There is a feeling, just a sense perhaps, that the masses are finally beginning to realize this, even if only at a subconscious level. There is a deep feeling of unease wherever one chooses to look; it permeates all our societies from the Middle East to Russia, from North America to South America, and throughout Western Europe. And with this volatility and unease, there is a tangible sense of societal failure, betrayal and even foreboding over what might yet be in the not too distant future. People and societies are increasingly on tenterhooks.
 
Stable world orders that last for prolonged periods of time are rare things indeed. Our current world order, now about 75 years old, arose from a period of intense convulsion and violence caused by the Second World War. Over a hundred million people died in the process of birthing our current world order. It is a truism of history that new world orders never arise out of calm but from the ruin of destruction and chaos.
 
Maintaining any kind of stable world order for any length of time requires skillful diplomacy and statecraft, as world orders are made and maintained; they do not just suddenly appear. If they are not maintained and managed effectively with creative diplomacy, with functioning national and transnational institutions to hold them up, and creative effective decision-making at just the right time to avert crisis, global systems eventually break down and fail.
 
This is where we stand today, on the very brink of collapse.
 
Our global system is breaking down and failing right before our eyes. Millions upon millions are still living their lives under the false daily presupposition that the way things are today is the way things will always be in the future, both for themselves and their children. This viewpoint could not be more wrong. Our current global system is fragmenting before our very eyes.
 
It is no feat of extraordinary prognostication to say such things either. All world orders come to an end eventually. It is an inevitability of all history. Ours will be no different. What is not in any way inevitable, though, is what comes in the wake of a collapsed world order. There is no guarantee that one world order will move seamlessly and peacefully into the next. What is more likely is that there will be another intense period of convulsion and violence before another world order is birthed. It is becoming increasingly clear that we are even now heading into another period of extreme chaos.
 
It strikes me as being highly unlikely that we will experience a period of peaceful transition into the next world order. In history, I can think of few such examples ever occurring.
 
Everything in our global system is linked and intertwined. And I do mean everything. The financial system, supply chains, transportation, food, oil production, the electrical grid, nuclear power… everything. When one system fails, it all fails; and the crash, if one is to occur in our global system, will not be a slow one as in previous world systemic crashes, like the Roman Empire that declined over a period of a century or more.
 
When our society crashes, it will be an epic fast crash.
 
The interconnectivity of our global system ensures it. The interconnected nature of our world, which enables worldwide business and trade, which in turn generates such huge profits, has not made our world system strong; it has made it incredibly fragile and brittle. If just one element in the complex system fails, all other systems inevitably crash too.
 
Consider this realistic feedback loop crash related to our dependence on oil. When oil prices rise, so does everything else simply because all things are connected to oil in some way. So, oil prices rise, slowly at first but then very quickly. Food prices then rise in step with the oil price rises. The high price of oil begins to drive many businesses into bankruptcy, which leads, in turn, to a failure in the financial system leading to a collapse in belief in the monetary system. This then leads into societal revolt, which ultimately is what collapses governments.
 
But even that scenario, bad as it is, would not be the end of the matter. It would get even worse from there. Oil prices, which caused this hypothetical fast crash through high prices, would then experience a price crash because demand would fall to zero. All drilling would then stop, and new exploration projects would end, meaning that in likewise fashion all other connected businesses and industries would stop, and the worldwide economy would crash again. A double whammy.
 
It would be a domino crash, with one system bringing down the next, and the next, and so on until all that is left is chaos. And this is just one example of many. It could happen in a thousand different ways. What is important is that it will certainly happen.
 
But are there any indications of this happening today, or even soon? Well, the short answer is yes, there are. There are very real parallels between where our global civilization is today and those of the past, especially to the global system that existed in the mid-nineteenth century, during the Concert of Europe period.
 
This period saw the most sustained efforts up until that time at building and maintaining a truly global world order, until the modern day. From 1815 until the outbreak of the First World War, a little under a hundred years later, this period saw the first real multinational effort to define international relationships through global law and order, and attempted to set basic norms for international conduct between countries. It was the precursor to our own current United Nations-led world system.
 
And it failed catastrophically in 1914 with the outbreak of the “war to end all wars.” The crucial lesson for our generation today lies in the way this world system failed, not in the fact that it did so. The Concert of Europe’s increasing failure and demise had become apparent long before it actually came crashing down, but crucially world leaders and decision-makers failed to recognize that simple fact. This meant that the decline was managed poorly, and that led directly to the calamity and carnage of the First World War.
 
And this is exactly what we are seeing today. We are witness to an ever-growing distrust both within nation-states and especially between them. Civil war is even openly discussed in the United States today as a potentially realistic outcome of the entrenched partisanship of a current US political system that has divided US society, especially in the wake of the recent contested general election.
 
There is chaos and bloodshed everywhere one chooses to look. In the Middle East, there is no end in sight to the undeclared war between Israel and her blood-sworn enemies Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran is resurgent and increasingly bellicose. Syria is still in the grips of a civil war and is now a ruined land, being eaten up by Iran, Turkey and a host of other competing nation-states. Iraq is as unstable today as it has ever been in its history.
 
In Turkey, Recep Erdogan has transformed a once pro-West country into an increasingly Islamized one, and an increasingly anti-Israel one too; Asia is riven by tension, and China is actively seeking to reassert itself globally as the world leader that will usurp the United States’ place over the coming decade. This strain can be seen daily in the ongoing tensions in the South China Sea.
 
Europe is reeling from one crisis to another, mass migration is reshaping the very fabric of the continent, and there is chaos and uncertainty coming to Britain from Brexit.
 
What makes the demise of our current world system a certainty is that America’s traditional dominance in international affairs is rapidly coming to an end, with its influence in world affairs starting to diffuse. This is why we are seeing the power and the influence of the United States being challenged now like never before.
 
The election of Joe Biden, if it stands, will only increase this.
 
None of the current world leaders or decision-makers of today seem to recognize these simple facts. This is likely because the consequences of this actually happening – that our world system actually does collapse – are too awful for many of them to seriously contemplate.
 
But it will, and all we are waiting for is the crisis that will start the free fall and push us all over the edge.
 
The really pertinent question, however, is who or what will come forward to take over when the world emerges from the coming chaos?
 
The Antichrist will. Keep looking up.
 
wardmatt1977@gmail.com