The Sheep And Goat Judgment: The Judgment Of The Unbranded Unbelieving Gentiles

This post is a segment of my commentary on the Olivet Discourse. Because the post is lengthy and few visitors have the patience to read it to the end, I decided to present it as a separate post in order to grant visitors to our blog site easy access to it. I hope you will find it useful.

31 When the Son Of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory:

32 And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33 And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison , and ye came to me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying, Lord when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? Or thirsty and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger , and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.

41 Then shall He say unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels:

42 For I was hungry, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink:

43 I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in: naked, and ye clothed Me not: , sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not.

44 And then shall they also answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45 Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

With the antiChrist’s army and the armies of the others kings and kingdoms of the Earth destroyed at Armageddon, and anyone with the mark of the beast executed, all that will be left of the nations would be the ones who do not have the mark of the beast. Before any of these can enter the Millennium to repopulate the Earth, they must pass through the Sheep and Goat Judgment to determine their eligibility to entery into the millennial reign of the Messiah.

Jesus shall personally conduct this judgment from His Throne in the Throne Room of the newly built millennial Temple at the center of the holy area at the summit of renovated and elevated Mount Zion. It shall occur when He comes in His glory with His holy angels, just as we have pointed out after the Battle Of Armageddon(Rev.19:11-21). All nations shall be gathered unto Him in Jerusalem. All survivors of the day of His Wrath who were not immediately executed as a result of not being beast-marked shall appear before Him in Jerusalem. None of the Gentiles who appear at the sheep and goat judgment shall have the mark of the beast. Any survivors of the wrath of God who bears the mark of the beast shall be immediately executed.

All His angels will be with Him. It therefore follows these survivors shall be miraculously gathered to Jerusalem, considering the devastation caused by the final wrath of God. It shall take 45 days to gather all surviving Gentiles to the land of Israel for this judgment. It is within this 45-day period, the Restoration Period of the Kingdom, that the Earth will be renovated.

Jews who survive the wrath of God would not be required to appear at this judgment, having accepted Him as their Messiah when they see His nail-pierced hands(Zech.12:10-14), shortly before the sounding of the seventh trumpet when the mystery of God is finished at the completion of the spiritual kingdom of God on day 3 of the 30-day Reclamation Period of the kingdom. Of course, Jews who survive the day of His Wrath, who are beast-marked, shall be executed instantly like all others. But the plain truth is that no one with the mark of the beast will survive the wrath of God; for the wrath of God abides on any one who is beast-marked(Rev.14:9,10). The Greek word translated nations in KJV is ethnos which could also be rendered heathen, peoples, or Gentiles. The Hebrew equivalent is Goyim which is used by Jews to refer to non-Jewish peoples. It is not a reference to independent political states. It refers to individuals of all ethnic groups other than the Jew. So the sheep and goat judgment is the judgment of individuals of all ethnic groups other than the Jew who survive the day of His wrath, rather than independent nation states. No Jew will be judged at the sheep and goat judgment. No raptured saint will appear at the Sheep And Goat Judgment of the unbranded Gentile survivors of the wrath of God or the Day Of The Lord. The Gentiles who appear at this judgment are natural bodies.

God’s wrath would have destroyed anyone who has the mark of the beast(Zeph.1:17). “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, 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: And the smoke of their torment ascended 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”(Rev.14:9-11).

When the first avenging angel poured his bowl into the Earth, it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and upon them who worshipped his image(Rev.16:2). Most probably therefore, no one with the mark of the beast shall survive the Day Of His Wrath which ends with the seventh and final bowl judgment at Armageddon. However if any man who is beast-marked is left alive after the Battle of Armageddon, the one shall be instantly executed; for no man with the mark of the beast shall appear at the sheep and goat judgment much less enter the Millennium.

Besides, those who appear at the sheep and goat judgment do not seem to know why they are being judged. This is not what one would expect of those who had denied Christ and were beast-marked. It is therefore obvious that it will be Gentiles who rejected the mark of the beast, who neither acknowledged the antiChrist as God, nor Christ as Messiah, who somehow survived the wrath of Satan during the Great Tribulation, and God’s wrath during the day of the Lord, who will be required to make their way to Jerusalem during the 45-day restoration period to appear at the sheep and goat judgment.

The basis of this judgment will be the Gentiles’ treatment of Jews and Christians in hiding during the great tribulation by the antiChrist. “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the lest of these my brethren, you have done it unto me(Matt.25:40). Their treatment of these Jews and Christians would be considered as their treatment of Christ Himself. “Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as Ye did it not to one of the least of these, Ye did it not to me”(Matt.25:45). The witnesses at this trial will be surviving Jews who have just been regathered from the diaspora, and perhaps resurrected saints who will reign with Christ in the Millennium. The reason why I include Christians among His brethren is because the Dragon shall make war with the remnant of the offspring of the woman who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ(Rev.12:17). Just as Jewish remnants in their mortal bodies gathered to the land of Israel from the diaspora at the end of the Battle of Armageddon shall be present to witness the sheep and goat judgment, so also shall the resurrected saints in their new glorified eternal immortal resurrection bodies be present to witness; for they shall reign with Christ for a thousand years.

“Bring forth the blind people that have eyes and the deaf that have ears. Let all nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, it is truth. Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen; that Ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am He: before me there is no God formed, neither shall there be after me”(Is.43:8-10).

The Jewish witnesses will not be objects of Christ’s judgment. When the nations are gathered, the Gentiles will be permitted to present their witnesses from amongst the Jewish survivors in order that they may be justified. The surviving Jews from amongst the Gentiles are God’s witnesses that He is just in His acquittal or as the case may be His condemnation of the Gentiles. The resurrected saints shall also be witnesses that He is just in His acquittal or else condemnation of the Gentiles as the case may be. Those who have harmed Jews and Christians or otherwise refused them assistance in their time of distress shall be condemned though they are not beast-marked.

“Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, Ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”(Matt.25:41). Those who befriended Jews and assisted them, the righteous Gentiles shall be spared, and go into eternal life, but those who did not shall go into everlasting punishment(Matt.25:46).

It is not enough not to take the mark of the beast. It is not enough not to harm believers. Indifference towards persecuted Jews and Christians merits one the status of a goat. Christ shall say to them, “inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteousness into life eternal”(Matt.25:45,46). The cynical ones who believe that the fact that they are not beast-marked merits salvation shall be condemned. On the other hand, those who are not beast-marked, who lay no claim to salvation shall be justified. Although these gave drink to His thirsty brethren, fed the hungry, clothed those who were naked, visited the prisoners, invited the strangers and destitute amongst them into their homes, they did not believe it was sufficient to earn them salvation, nor did they believe they were doing it to Jesus. They expressed wonder as to when they did all these. Salvation is by grace alone through faith, and that also the gift of God. These righteous Gentiles were also elected before the foundation of the world(Eph.1:4,5;2:8,9). The sheep are not necessarily primarily saved spiritually but granted entrance into the Millennial reign of Christ. They will, however, have to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour on individual basis.

Avraham Shallom.

THE NATURAL WORLD TO A SYNTHETIC DIGITAL WORLD

Whenever the economy is discussed or mentioned we make assumptions on it without full comprehension(grasping) of what is meant by THE ECONOMY. A simple definition of the term would be the activities involved in production for consumption of goods and services in a defined area as small as a village and as large as the world’s economy. However, we will discover some goods and services are not captured at some lower levels of a society. A hunter who goes into the forest and comes back with bush meat to feed his family and some to sell in the village market or to motorist along the highway close to his village is hardly taken account of. Neither does the economy include subsistent farmer activities and more importantly for our discussion here, those simply living off nature. Of course it has never covered exchange of goods by barter. However, as soon as you add some technology for tilling the ground, processing your harvest and exchanging for money, then you are registered in an economy.

FROM PRODUCE TO PRODUCTS

In the past, farming was THE economy. With the advance of technology(1st to 3rd Industrial revolution), manufacturing gained dominance. This evolution was captured in economic lexicon with products from farm debased and called PRODUCE while manufactures are called products. This evolution is real. We are now moving into dangerous times called THE DIGITIZED ECONOMY and the undigitized economy. We are all being prepared for this digitized world by being individually numbered and digitized. It started with Social Security Numbers in the West and now National Identification Number NIN in Nigeria.

What is happening? Is it simply the natural evolution of the world and to what end?

Watchman Nee in his book LOVE NOT THE WORLD(1937), wrote that every human activity including RELIGION moves further and further away from God. What we are seeing is a WORLD moving away from God’s Natural World to a Synthetic Satanic world. This should not surprise us. Satan not being creative(he is not made in likeness of God) has hijacked human creativity to move humanity away from God and God’s creation. There are both knowing and unknowing human collaborators of Satan and it takes a deliberate effort not to help advance the satanic kingdom in our daily legitimate endeavours.

This third decade of the twenty first century, we are moving into another epoch. It could be the final era/age with the onset of Digital Economy. It is starting with post COVID 19 Global Reset Agenda and it is ominous. It has been long in coming and matches the prophecy in Revelation 13, “Without Numbers You Can’t Buy Or Sell”. I believe it is finally here because without a number, be it BVN or NIN, I can’t operate in the commercial world, in fact; it is deemed criminal to do so in my country Nigeria attracting jail term.

A way to follow the movement away from the real world is to track the evolution of money and the still evolving world financial system. Please follow this in the following links to see what I have written about it:

1) The Monetary System Of The World.Link: https://mtzionheritageministries.com/?s=Monetary+system+of+the+world+

2)The Future Of Money. Link: https://mtzionheritageministries.com/2019/08/30/71/

3) Master Master. Link: https://mtzionheritageministries.com/2019/09/01/master-master/

4)Global Digital Identity And Fonancial Inclusion. Link: https://mtzionheritageministries.com/2019/09/01/global-digital-identity-for-financial-inclusion-gdifi-creeping-in-like-a-serpent/

5)Satan’s Number Is Up. Link: https://mtzionheritageministries.com/2020/08/16/satans-number-is-up-2/

A SUMMARY OF WHAT IS IN THESE LINKS

We have evolved from exchanging our goods by barter to substituting cowries and then metals like gold, silver then copper as media of exchange. Paper, representing gold etc as currency later became another means of exchange. Now a new entrant and maybe final frontier, the introduction of digital currencies by world Central Banks! Competing with Central Banks Digital Currencies(CBDCs) is the decentralized cryptocurrencies. Cryptos are being used for purchases across the world while China is testing its own digital Yuan. Indeed Bytes is the new electricity and currency!

TO THE REAL OR MATERIAL WORLD; TELEVISION SCREENS IN CHURCH AS A METAPHOR

A number of us, for different reasons, now focus on TV screens to receive our pastors words whenever we are in Church. The import of this is lost on us that our reality is now screen based. Add to this is our accessing the word on electronic gadgets, hand phones, and laptops unlike the hardware Bible. What happens when one is permanently cut off from the grid? This simple fact of Bible depending on synthetic world illustrates where we are headed and our vulnerabilities.

Another illustration is children at play. In the past it was that we climbed trees, took potshots with catapults etc, now it’s video games. We played football and other games on playgrounds, but now it’s played on screens. We played out door, but now it’s on couches in living rooms.

I am using the above scenarios to show a sustained movement into an artificial world far removed from the natural world. We might say it’s the inevitable advance of technology and that I should not play the Luddite, but how far before it’s overwhelming? Soon, what has been achieved in the financial world, making money as essential to life as air would be achieved in the real world. Without Digital connection and a Number you become a non person. And if you go the whole hog with the movement you are recognized as a global citizen.

A lot of us now reside in a synthetic post-nature world having left the natural world completely. Much of this subtle change is yet to arrive in low income countries safe their capital cities. However, I ask those residing in the developed world where the synthetic world is much advanced to share developments there as they occur, so the rest of us might know what is coming in.

Here are some of the advances already in place in technologically advanced countries.

A) GMOs and GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS whose seeds for sowing is in the hands of a few, meaning our food sustenance is being placed in the hands of just one or two for profit conglomerates.

B) Total CCTV coverage such that there is no hiding place.

C) Facial recognition and Social credit scheme far advanced in China.

D) 5G, 6G, Starlink(Elon Musk creation), meaning total internet blanket of the whole world especially with Starlink.

E) Coming Human Redundancy

–driverless cars and trucks.

–drone delivery.

–AI, Robots, etc

F) Becoming identified as a global citizen over citizen of a nation state.

G) Universal Basic income. This is the idea that moves Social Security payments(the dole) to another level that involves everyone especially one identified as a global citizen. You receive this income irrespective of whether you are working or out of job.

H) New Realities: Augmented realities and Virtual Realities. DIGITAL WORLD: How soon will these realities be the functional realities? How soon will humans carry number plates like our vehicles carry number plates for identification?

DUMBING DOWN of HUMAN RACE and DOG CHAIN IMPULSE IN MAN

(Humans on a leash, time for believers to be as wise as serpents).

Jangle your dog’s chain or leash and you see the dog allowing you to chain it as the dog had associated the leash with outdoor walk. However my metaphor here is showing how freedom can be lost and humans chained down by these cascade of gadgets such that we are no more Homo Sapiens(the wise ones) but Homo “Serfiens”(the SLAVES).

Once it was that wise men, philosophers, scienctists, and theologians were the celebrities and influencers of society and shapers of our young. Now, pop singers, comedians, and actors are influencers of our youth. Their weight in gold is reckoned by the number of followers they have and not by anything of substance. Theology which was in the fore is now relegated to the back burner making room for the advance of Antichrist. So also is the removal of Judeochristian ethos as pillars of civilisation.

IMPORTANCE OF PREPPING

Believers in Christ Jesus need to heed this clarion call and warning against sheepishly being corralled into this synthetic world, an ensnarement leading to final enslavement to the Antichrist. For this reason, I salute our brethren who set up the WISE VIRGIN ENDTIME GROUP. A place whose objective is to sensitive believers on how to live off grid. With time, I hope this can morph into the original Boy’s Scout kind of movement where we and our loved ones can live on nature for stretches of time, weekends then weeks in a year. We can also learn how to scavenge in towns and cities.

Noah prepared an Ark before the deluge; should we not? Believers like quoting the book of Mathew 24 verse 37ff…, where our Lord said those days shall be like the days of Noah, but I do not see many of us building an Ark to prepare us ahead of time. I do not see any of us being ready to leave civilisation like lot had to depart Sodom.

Dr. Olugbenga Jaiyesimi.

The End Times

There is a teaching afloat amongst believers that if we live a holy and righteous life, we shall be raptured whenever the Rapture takes place. This is a half truth, and half truth is always dangerous because it is a lie. In a court of law a witness swears to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. For half truth, a witness could be jailed; he has committed perjury. We are ambassadors of Heaven, witnesses for Christ. We must tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We must not hold back anything that is needful and profitable for the saints in this journey. If a believer does not lie, cheat, nor live an amorous life, but does not know the times and the seasons, he will be caught off guard, that day will come to him as a thief in the night. But as believers we need not be caught off guard. That day should not come upon us as a thief in the night, unawares. We are children of the day. We are children of light. We are not of the night nor of darkness(I Thess.5:4-8).

As touching living holy and righteous, there is no need for us to deceive ourselves. The Church is a mixed multitude. From both the pulpit and the pew, the Church is bedeviled with cheating, lying, falsehood, sexual immoralities, pornography, drug addiction, marital infidelity, alcoholic and sexual incontinence, embezzlement of funds, scamming, stealing and youth rebellion, greed and graft. A lot of our youths are messed up with one another in sex, drug, and pornography. There are couples who are married for 20-30 years who engage in extramarital relations. Recently a well known Christian family in town was broken up because the husband was playing around with the maid and impregnated her. They are both elders in their church. That is not to say that there are no holy and righteous believers. But they are few and far between. The genuine pastor grapples with these challenges amongst the flock. Over the years no amount of preaching and teaching on holiness and righteous living has solved these problems altogether.

Of late, the Bishop of one of the big Pentecostal churches in Nigeria called for one month prayer and fasting for repentance. In one of these meetings which I happened to attend, he told the congregation that God said their sin was too much. This Church is one of the best in this nation, and the Bishop is well respected. What about those whose bishops and pastors are fake? Everyone of us may have had experiences with brethren who cannot be trusted with anything. It is not proper for us to wash our dirty linen in public. Neither is it fitting for us to accuse one another. That will be doing the enemy’s dirty job. We are not the accuser of the brethren. Let me say it up front, in a bald language: Our Lord is coming for a glorious Church, without spot, wrinkles or any blemish. If thousands of years of teaching and preaching on holiness and righteous living cannot do, then what will? The Church must go through the Fire of purification, the school of the crucible to be rendered rapturable. This is the essence of the Great Tribulation, to take way the dross from the gold. Every goldsmith purifies gold by processing and passing it through the fire. God, being the best goldsmith that He is will do nonetheless. The purpose of the Great Tribulation is to separate the chaff from the wheat; to fit us for the kingdom. “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, He will gather the wheat into His granary; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire(Luk.3:17). It is also a certain token of the the doom of our persecutors when the Lord comes to be glorified in His holy ones(2 Thess.1:10).

The Great Tribulation is sufficient to purge, purify, and cleanse the Church. Therefore the Church will not go through the wrath of God which consists of the trumpets and the bowls(1 Thess.1:10, 5:9). However, the unbranded Jewish remnants shall go through the trumpet judgments in order to be purified, purged and cleansed. The seventh seal has no judgments of its own, but opens into the seven trumpets. The breaking of the seventh seal marks the terminus-a-quo(starting point) of the wrath of God. The very same day the Church is raptured, the seventh seal is broken and the outpouring of the wrath of God begins(Matt.24:37-39; Luk.17:26-30). In like manner, the seventh trumpet has no judgments of its own, but opens into the seven bowls. The bowls target only the branded Beast worshippers, and end in the war of Armageddon, the terminus-ad-quem(end point) of the wrath of God, at which point Jesus reclaims physical possession of the Earth for the Father.

Today believers are not studying the times and the seasons which The Father has revealed to us in His Word. We are consumed with sending one another motivational messages every day, talking about the good life, how to succeed in life by getting the good things of life, to be happy and prosperous all the time. Are we going to be happy and prosperous all the time when it is given us to suffer with Him in order that we may reign with Him(2 Tim.2:12), when we are destined to suffer tribulation and persecution on account of the word? We need not be reminded of the times and the seasons as our brother Apostle Paul said to the Thessalonians(1 Thess.5:1).

Most ministers of the Gospel, let alone their congregants know nothing of the Book of Revelation: it is too mysterious and symbolic; nor the subject matter of the Olivet Discourse(Matt.24,25; Mk.13; Luk.21). They know nothing about the background of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. They don’t understand the Book of the Prophet Daniel. Whenever they teach or preach from these books, they spiritualize, allegorize, contextualise, customize, and personalize them, leaving the primary interpretation untouched. They ignore the fact that if believers are taught the primary interpretation of the Scriptures, they will be able to apply them to their own lives.

Some ministers assume that because of the confusion of views about the Eighth And Final Beast Empire, there is no way we can know the truth about the identity of this empire and it’s emperor, the antiChrist. Though there are a variety of views about the Eghth And Final Beast Empire, the Scriptures are clear as to its composition. All the descendants of Noah after the flood are involved. They are listed in the Table Of Nations in Genesis 10, 11. Gog who is the head of Magog is also the ruler of Meshech and Tuval; he is the antiChrist. Magog, Meshech, and Tuval are the legs of iron, and the iron in the ten toes which is the Roman Empire in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Dan.2. The patrician families that founded Rome in the plain of Latium came from the nomadic tribes of Magog, Meshech, and Tuval(Ezek.38:3). The other peoples groups are Persia(Tiras), Cush(Sudan) which some inappropriately translate as Ethiopia. What is called Ethiopia today was formerly called Abyssinia. Queen Candace who was referred to as Queen of Ethiopia in the KJV was actually Queen Candice of Mero, an ancient kingdom in what is modern day Sudan(Acts 8:27). To complete the list are Phut(Libya, Tunisia, and parts of Algeria), Gomer, and Togarmah(Turkey, Azerbaijan), Javan(Greece or Greek Syria), Babylon(Iraq) which is Arphaxad(Ezek.38:4-6; Rev.13:2).

The Medes who are the Kurdish people of today are not part of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire of Satan. The Kurds are found in southern Turkey, northern Iraq, north and eastern Syria, western Iran, with pockets in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. Although they started the Medopersian Empire about 550 BC before the Persians joined, thereafter the Persians became dominant. So, the Medes(Madai) will not be part of the bear of Rev.13:2. This accounts for its absence in the list of peoples groups in Ezek.38:3-6. They may however be allied to the antiChrist. They will be the first to attack Babylon before it will be finally annihilated by the kings of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire(Is.13:17,18; Rev.17:16,17). Saddam Hussein killed their women and children with poison gas in the 1980s. Even today, they are persecuted in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. If we study the migration of the various descendants of Noah we can identify these peoples groups and where they settled. The European Union is not synonymous with the Eighth And Final Beast Empire of Satan, though members states like Javan(Greece) and Magog(Germany, Austria etc) are involved.

The same also is true about the identity of the antiChrist. Of late some like Joel Rosenberg and Walid Shoebet have come up with the idea of the Islamic antiChrist and Mideast Beast. They believe and teach that the antiChrist will be a Muslim from the Mideast. They believe that Turkey will be the power behind the Eighth And Final Beast Empire. Other figures like Nero, Juan Carlos of Spain, and the Pope have been identified as the antiChrist. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Scriptures have always been clear as to whom the antiChrist will be. He will be a man who has ruled over one of the 7 previous Beast Empires of Satan, was killed with a military weapon in battle, died, descended into the bottomless pit, and ascends out of it to rule over the Eighth And Final Beast Empire(Rev.13:3; 17:8-11). If he ascended out of the bottomless pit, he must have been imprisoned there as one of the fallen evil angels. Human spirits do not go to the shaft of the abyss. They go to paradise or Hell depending on their relationship with God. So the antiChrist is not a human spirit. He is the son of perdition or destruction(2 Thess.2:3). The Greek word translated perdition or destruction is Apolleumi. Apollyon(Greek) or Abaddon(Hebrew) is the king and angel of the bottomless pit(Rev.9:11). The antiChrist because he ascended out from the bottomless pit is the son of Apolleumi(destruction or perdition). Apollyon is the king and the angel of the bottomless pit.

Except for Adolf Hitler of Nazi Germany, none of the emperors of the other seven Beast Empires would be recognizable were they to be seen in the streets of our cities today. Photography had not been invented in their times. This is the one singular factor that will give the antiChrist overwhelming influence over the lives of the living wicked earth-dwellers when he is unveiled at the midpoint of the 70th week. He shall be recognized as a dead man who had ruled one of the seven previous Beast Empires and has come back to life to rule over the Eighth And Final Beast Empire. Those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of Life shall be frightened and awed to submission(Rev.13:4).

Besides, Robert Van Kampen of blessed memory had conclusively proven in his wonderful work, The Sign, that the antiChrist is Hitler come back to life. The Ottoman Empire is not one of the seven previous Beast Empires of Satan. They are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medopersia, Greece, Rome, and Nazi Germany(Dan.2,7; Rev.17:9-11). Both Assyria and Babylon existed in the same general area of modern Iraq. The other title of the antiChrist is Gog of the land of Magog, the head of Meshech, and Tuval(Ezek.38:2). From the table of nations in Gen.10, 11, and their subsequent migration and settlement, it is evident that the Magogites are the Germanic peoples of Germany, Austria, the Sudetenland in The Czech Republic, Silesia in modern day Poland and ethnic Germans in areas southwest of Moscow in the present Russian Federation. The original Anglo-Saxons who settled England came from Lower Saxony in Bavaria, Germany. The original Franks out of whom came The French were also ethnic Germans. These are historical facts that can be verified. As I pointed out earlier, the only way to settle these issues is to study the Table Of Nations in Gen.10, 11, and their subsequent migration and settlement following their dispersion after the confusion of languages at Babel in the plain of Shinar which is modern day Iraq, which is biblical Babylon. That way, there will be no confusion as to the composition of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire; one can readily identify the various peoples groups.

We the Pentecostals, with our prosperity message, are the major culprits. If the Church Age were to continue for another 100 years, we shall be 180 degrees off course. I have always wondered how any believer can live holy and righteous without knowledge of the times and the seasons. If we think of holiness and righteousness only in terms of not cheating, nor lying nor fornicating, we have missed it already. What about the spirit of the age? Majority of christian youths spend a greater part of their time playing video games. Sharing messages on WhatsApp. The volume of such messages per day alarms me. There is no how one can read all these messages and still have time to educate oneself in the word of God. Some of the messages look spiritual on the surface, but indeed they are very hollow. When I was a senior in the secondary school, I exchanged letters with my one and only girl friend. When I entered the university, I got born again. On graduation eight years later, I returned to my village and found these letters in my cupboard. I had carbon copies of my letters to her. I read through them over again; they were very hollow. I wondered what was exciting about these letters in the first place. What happened? I had become wiser.

When I was a medical student in Ife, one of our revered professors of cardiology, Dr. J. J. Andy would interpret what was going on in the cardiac chambers and valves by palpating the pulse. We, the students would be awed and puzzled. Once, he observed the look of awe and amazement as well as admiration for his skills and expertise on my face, and said to me: ” don’t worry, in 20 years time you will be wiser.” To tell you the truth, I became wiser in few years. In 20 to 25 years of the modern world, the changes that will take place will certainly make some of us wiser, however the fools will remain foolish(Rev.22:11). The Scriptures tell us where the world is headed. The future of this world is prewritten history. Those that will understand it are those who have already learned it from the Scriptures. How can anyone accurately interpret current affairs without proper understanding of the End Times? Do you know what? You can become wiser in a couple of hours, days, months, and years by studying these things for yourself. Some are consumed with football and other sports. Some literally live in the Internet. What about the cares of this life which are legitimate anyway? Our Lord Jesus warned us about them nonetheless(Matt.13:22). There is a tendency for them to displace and crowd out God in our lives.

The Church as well as the world is being primed for the antiChrist harvest, and most pastors, the pretribbers amongst them do not warn the sheep under their care. There is a lot of antipathy towards this teaching that the Church must of necessity go through the Great Tribulation. The attitude of some others is nonchalant. Let me feed my family first and send my children to school before I can listen to any talk about Heaven, Hell, the Great Tribulation and the Rapture. Do you know that one day you may be so old that you find no pleasure in these things(Eccl.12:1-7), and unable to read one good book in a year. There will be tribulation and persecution on account of the word(Matt.13:21). In Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, our brother, Apostle Paul confirmed the souls of the disciples, exhorted them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God(Acts 14:22).

Our brother, Apostle Paul was in Thessalonica for very short time. No sooner had he started the church in Thessalonica than he had to leave due to opposition from civil authorities. Within that short period of time he had taught them not only the message of salvation, but also that the church will go through the Great Tribulation before being raptured. The order of his message was salvation, and then the antiChrist before the Rapture. In the southern part of Nigeria, where we are not terror bombed by Boko Haram, the end times have been relegated to the back burner if at all mentioned. After convert class, the new believers is notured and weaned on, and inundated with the prosperity message and messages about the good life. I always ask myself, if our Lord Jesus and Apostle Paul were here today, will the content of their messages be the same as the ones we hear in our churches today? I doubt very much.

In Sweden in 2015, 98% of all transactions were cashless. Cashlessness will soon be acceptable all over the world. We have BVN in Nigeria. One day, there will be a worldwide BVN. By then, the number of digits may expand to 18. This with some biometric data specific to the individual may be introduced hypodermically into the body. Tattoo marks are now fashionable especially among sports celebrities. And our youths see them as role models. Wearable chips with which one can lock and unlock one’s phones, tablets and computers, homes and offices and cars and electronic gadgets are fast becoming fashionable amongst the upwardly mobile. The Scandinavian countries are far ahead of the rest of the world in these things. Many in Sweden wear chips and are branded already. And you know what? They brag about it. It will not be long before it becomes fashionable in Nigeria and the rest of the world.

There is talk right now about the global generation. The global generation will be a generation of cyborgs. ‎A cyborg is Homo Sapiens Sapiens who controls everything around him with wearable chips implanted in various parts of the body, and is turn controlled by a giant computer somewhere run by a Big Brother. These things are very tempting especially for the youth who may be under peer pressure to belong, and besides, there are obvious benefits. Some day chips may be implemented in the brain to aid memory, solve problems and desolve doubts etc. It will be a huge temptation for Christians who are students especially in institutions of higher learning as these chips may enhance performances in their academic pursuits. Some of these biometric implants are as small as a grain of rice. Will a believer that is so hybridised be acceptable to God? In the ancient world as it is still practised today, people wear their gods on their bodies as necklaces, earrings, nose rings, bangles, scarification marks, etc. This is the reason why God forbade the children of Israel from stripping these items from the corpses of their enemies slain in battle, nor take their images lest they become a snare to them(Exod.34:12-16). How could these inanimate objects become a snare to the children of Israel? They were dedicated to the gods of their enemies. They were initiated objects. Anyone who has dealt with demons knows they are very legalistic. They always go for what is theirs. It is for the same reason that we should not take the mark of the Beast(Rev.13:16-18). My advice to believers is that we should avoid biometric implants. This of course excludes cardiac pacemakers and insulin pumps and other biomechanisms that deliver drugs to patients.

Most of us think that the computer is innocuous. Some of us do not understand that there are satanic forces behind the explosion in computer technology. Why do some of these computer programmers smoke ganjar in other to perform. Or do we not understand that performance enhancement drugs bring one into contact with demonic forces as do other temple defiling sins. In the field of robotics and artificial intelligence(AI), there is what is called fuzzy logic. How can a mere combination of digits 0-9 yield intelligence. One of my sons-in-the Lord has observed that some complex computer programmes are demonic incantations. Some of these robots and drones and driverless and flying cars will be employed as killing machines during the day of the Lord to wipe out a third of impenitent humanity(Rev.9:13-21). So let them go ahead.

There are some amongst us who do not see anything wrong with the explosion in technology. ‎Martin Heidegger, the German philosopher, over a century ago warned that technology was going to destroy the world. There are some of us believers who see the explosion in computer technology as very innocuous. But it is the seemingly innocuous things that are very dangerous. The explosion in computer technology is in no doubt beneficial to the Church in so many ways, more so in the area of evangelism. But I have met some nuclear evangelists who intimated to me in confidence that the best method of evangelism is still one-to-one correspondence. Does it cross our minds that the explosion in computer technology is preparatory to the advent of the antiChrist? How can the antiChrist control the world without globalization, cashlessness, cyborgs, robots, drones, and internet of things, and of course a unified religion which is the goal of ecumenism? Satan’s plan to defeat Christ is to destroy or disqualify humanity. Without fear of being labelled a scare monger and paranoid, if God does not intervene, Satan will achieve his goal, even though it is a tall order.

One method by which Satan aims at disqualifying humans is by hybridizing them. Hybrid humans or humanoids or transhumans are not acceptable to God. ‎One method of hybridization is by intermarriage between fallen angels and human females(Gen.6:1-4). It was for this reason that God wiped out the people of Noah’s day, leaving only Noah and his family because they were the only ones who were pure humans(Gen.6:5-8). The statement that Noah was righteousness in his generation(Gen.6:9) is better translated Noah was pure in his descendants. It did not mean that Noah and his sons were without sin or sinless. There is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not(Eccl.7:20). Every man will proclaim his own goodness, but a faithful man who can find(Prov.20:6). For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God(Rom.3:23). Although those fallen angels who embarked on this mission for Satan are incarcerated in darkness in the shaft of the abyss alongside their humanoid offspring awaiting the judgment of the great Day(2 Pet.2:4; Jude 6), Satan has other fallen angels he can employ in the same mission. Besides, humanity can be hybridised through technology. Both processes are ongoing in the present, the large majority of the people of God are ignorant of it.

Today, in the Amazon forest as well as in some African forests, away from the prying eyes of activists, there are laboratories working hard to incorporate animal and plant genes into human genome all in an attempt to produce a more viable human being. Hitler embarked on Eugenics in order to produce a pure Aryan race. Will the antiChrist do any less? The British biologist Aubrey De Gray has a seven point plan to overcome death. This is the whole aim of Singularity. Raymond Kurzweil, Google’s director of technology, has written a book, “Singularity Is Near,” in which he talked about Singularity and its goals. They have established Singularity University in America where they are secretly and silently pursuing these goals. They want to live for ever in this sinful body. If you think this is scare mongering or esothetic academia, or speculative eschatology, why did God confound the language of humanity? Because as long as they are united, they will archive their goal. Do you think that fallen humanity have jettisoned his goal to live his life independent of God, in defiance to His laws and commandments? The same plan that was foiled by God in the plain of Shinar where fallen humanity built the Tower Of Babel is still being pursued by fallen humanity today in institutions of higher learning, academic citadels, laboratories, firms, secret societies, religious institutions, and in the corridors of power.

If God does not intervene in human history as He has done in the past, either Aubrey De Gray or some others after him will breakthrough, and sinful man will be locked in a death-doomed and sinful body for ever. But God will not allow this to happen. For man to breakthrough the Earth’s atmosphere into space, he had 21 questions to answer. He did and broke through to space. To overcome death, man has only seven questions to answer. They may be tougher and more formidable than the 21 in relation to space, but they can be answered. Without divine obstruction, man will one day answer those questions; it is a matter of time. There is a saying amongst the Igbos that “what has no way to do it, has a way to do it,” meaning that every question no matter how tough, has an answer, and every problem no matter how seemingly indissoluble is solvable.

When I was in the Bible School in the US, one of my classmates was an retired Colonel in the Israeli army. One day in class, we were discussing questions of this sort. He told us he did a stint at West Point. One day, in class, there was a question about certain practical problem in the battlefield which his professor, an American general, told them has no solution. He said, he showed them how to solve it. His professor was amazed. There are problems in this life which ordinarily are beyond human solution. “But there is a spirit in man: the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding”(Job 32:8). Men can be inspired by the Holy Spirit, demons or drugs, more recently by biometric implants and gene alterations. And human gene can be altered by vaccination. There was a philosopher who confessed that he could not understand the writings of another till he took nitrous oxide. We, the people of God, who live at the edge of history, must be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves to avoid being swept along by this satanic insanity. There are some believers who teach, with an air of sanctity that we should concern ourselves with only what God is doing. They forget that we are involved in warfare. And that in warfare combatants spend time and resources to gather information about their enemies, their strengths, weaknesses and strategies.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”(Hos.4:6).

For us to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves(Matt.10:16), we must be knowledgeable in the word of God in relation to the End Times. We are not spending money trying to spy on our enemy. God has revealed to us his activities already in His word. And we do well to take heed.

“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”(2 Tim.3:13).

There is a whole lot of deception going on in the world today, in religion, politics, and corridors of power, in institutions of higher learning, and in science and technology etc.

The third method of hybridization which I have earlier hinted at is by becoming a cyborg. This method is the most subtle because it does not directly involve fallen angels or demons cohabiting with human females, nor gene manipulation. Besides, it is very exciting.

As pertaining to scare mongering with which we have been labeled by some of our scathing and virulent critics, let me say we are scare mangers to the extent to which Jesus is a scare monger, because we are echoes of His voice. Jesus warned His disciples in the Olivet Discourse to take heed that no one deceives them: for many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. He warned them that there shall be wars and rumours of wars. He told them there shall be famines, pestilences and earthquakes. He told them that Jerusalem shall be surrounded with armies. He told them to leave the city as quickly and as far as possible when this event occurs. Those outside the city should not enter into it. Those on the house top should not come down to take anything. Woe to them that are with child and those who give suck in those days. He said, pray that your flight be not in the winter nor on the sabbath day. He said during this period, many shall fall away from the faith, and shall betray one another. Family members shall betray one another, and a man’s foes shall be members of his own household. Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold(Matt.24:12). What could be scarier than this scenario graphically painted by our Lord in the Olivet Discourse? The pretribs got around it by telling us the Church shall be raptured before the antiChrist rears up his ugly head.

The synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke gave the same testimony(Matt.24; Mk.13; Luk.17). Our beloved brother, Apostle Paul gave the same testimony. He said before the day of the Lord, the man of lawlessness, the antiChrist must be unveiled and there shall be massive falling away from the Faith( 2 Thess.2:3). John the revelator testified that the antiChrist shall make war with the saints and overcome them(Dan.7:25; Rev.13:7), he will make war with the remnant of the seed of the woman who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus(Rev.12:17). He said some believers shall be killed and some taken captive(Rev.6:9-11; 13:10). He also testified in the Gospel of John that in the world believers shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world(Jon.6:33). Apostle Peter testified that the saints shall experience strange trial. It is the same Greek word “peirazmos” that is used in Rev.3:10 to describe the trial that shall come upon all those who dwell upon the earth(1 Pet.4:12,13). If Jesus, Peter, Paul, John, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are scare mongers, then we are glad to be so labeled because all we do is to echo and re-echo their voices. The prophets Isaiah, Joel, and others testify there shall be cosmic disturbances before the day of the Lord in which the Rapture will take place(Joel2:30-31; Is.24:23). Need we say any less?

Let me say something about money. Most believers today say it is alright to have plenty money as long as one does not love money. They comfort themselves with the scripture, “the love of money is the root of all evils.”(1 Tim.6:10). It is possible to have plenty of money and not love money. It is also possible to be poor and love money. The reverse is also true. There are many poor people who are greedy. And there are rich people who are not greedy, and vice versa. But by and large, it is harder to enter into the Kingdom with plenty money.

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle’s gate than a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God”(Luk.18:25).

The rich young ruler was sorrowful because he would have to give up his wealth in order to accomplish God’s will for his life. He earned his money in an honest and legitimate way. He was not crooked in his business dealings. He lived holy and righteous, nonetheless he was disqualified. Where a man’s treasure is, that is where his heart will be(Matt.6:21). More poor people have provocative faith in God than the rich, and more poor people are called than the rich(Jam.2:5). However, abject poverty is a curse, but godliness with contentment is great gain; for we brought nothing into this world, and it certain that we carry nothing out(1 Tim.6:6,7). Our prayer should be, God give me food that is sufficient for me; give neither riches nor poverty. If we are in abject poverty, we may steal, and bring shame to the name of the Lord. If we are excessive rich, we may become foolish, and curse God in our hearts. Loving money is not the only bad thing the Scriptures say about money. Money itself is an unrighteousness Mammon(Luk.16:9). It is deceitful(Matt.13:22). If we think we can have plenty of it without being deceived, we are already deceived. It lays one open to a whole lot of temptations, foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction(1 Tim.6:9). We should be satisfied and content with Daddy meeting our basic needs. Having food and remaint, let us be therewith content. Show me a congregation that have plenty of the things of this life, and I will show one that is worldly.

Money is one of those things that Satan introduced into human history as the god of this age. There is no buying and selling in Heaven. There is no currency in Heaven. In Heaven everyone produces maximally and takes what one needs. The early Church in Jerusalem practised communitarian system of collective coexistence.

“And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”(Acts 2:44-47).“

“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”(Acts 4:32-37).

These preachers of righteousness and holiness, how many of them share the material thing they own with other believers? I don’t know any congregation where this is practised today. There may be, but I don’t know. It may be found amongst believers who are persecuted like in Indonesia, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, China, Northern parts of Nigeria, North Korea, etc. However, the Church shall revert back to this prestine form of collective coexistence during the Great Tribulation. Because then, it will done on us that we do not own anything that we possess. And besides, the antiChrist and his cronies shall impound and confiscate them. We should be careful what we build because the antiMessiah may turn them into dunghills and draught houses no sooner than we are done. It has more eternal value to invest in human souls than in white elephant projects. In the day of the Lord, all these things shall be destroyed. What manner of men ought we to be? What should be our attitude towards material wealth?(2 Pet.3:10-12).

When you are here and the antiChrist signs a seven year peace agreement with Israel(Dan.9:27a), please sell all that you have, landed properties and all, use the proceeds to find yourself a safe haven, and give the rest to indigent and needy believers to do the same. Because, three and one-half years later they will be impounded by the antiMessiah and his cronies. So, we have three and one-half years to prepare, stock away food, medicine and other supplies from the starting point of the 70th seven of Daniel. Pastors, please close your accounts and those of the church, sell your church properties, give the proceeds to the needy amongst the brethren to find safe havens for themselves and loved ones. If you don’t, you will certainly be remiss.

Let me say one word about Pretribulation Rapture. In Nigeria, the holiness and righteousness preachers tell us we shall be raptured whenever the Rapture takes place if we live holy and righteous without telling us the condition under which the Rapture will take place. Those who teach this view know nothing about the end times. They do not even teach about the end times at all here in this country. So, how then are they going to live right and holy in the midst of the chaotic confusion of the present times?

In the US, the pretribbers tell us that the Rapture can occur at any time, without any prophesied events preceeding it. But every week, these hypocrites hold one prophecy conference or the other. What are they prophesying about? They also tell us like Tim LaHaye of blessed memory, Thomas Ice, Joel Rosenberg, and our beloved Pastor John Hagee, who loves and gives to Israel so graciously and generously, that the last war that shall be fought before the Rapture takes place is the Gog and Magog war(Ezek.38,39). Is that not a prophesied event? If the Rapture will take place before the great tribulation, how can the Gog and Magog war be fought before the Rapture takes place? A war at end of which is built the Fourth and Millennial Temple(Ezek.40-43)? The Gog and Magog war is nothing other than the war of Armageddon, the last battle of the end times in which our Lord Jesus Christ will physically repossess the Earth by summarily defeating the antiChrist and his armies and allies, and the kings and armies of the other nations that shall be gathered against Him. Who are the remnant of the woman who have the testimony of Jesus Christ with whom the Dragon went to make war?(Rev.12:17). Who are the Great Multitude which no man could number?(Rev.7:9-17). This innumerable multitude, were they all young converts to Christianity who got murdered by the antiChrist and his acolytes during the Great Tribulation? Does not the Scripture teach that the Rapture will occur after the tribulation of those days?(Matt.24:29-31). Does not the scripture teach that the antiChrist shall be unveiled to perpetrate the Great Tribulation against the saints of the Mast High, and that there will an apostasy, a massive rebellion and falling away from the Faith due to persecution by the antiChrist before the dead saints are raised from the dead and the living saints translated to meet the Lord in the air?(2 Thess.2:3,4; 1Thess.4:13-18). Do we not know that it is an eternal honor to be raptured alive? How can such a generation shy away from or evade the toughest battle of the ages? No on has ever changed nor will ever change the time of the Rapture; it will occur after the Great Tribulation of those days.

“For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”(Heb.10:37).

I challenge you to study these things for yourselves brethren. Don’t believe anything unless you can prove with at least two or three Scriptures. Shalom! He cometh.

Avraham Shallom.

Response To Dr Amoran

You claim the 144,000 appear on Mount Zion in Heaven. You support your claim with these two passages of the Scriptures: Rev.14:1-7 and Rev.15:1-6. First, it is the redeemed saints that appear on Mount Zion in Heaven.

“But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”(Hebrews 12:22-24 KJV).

The ones who appear on Mount Zion in Heaven are the Church of the first born. These are the raptured saints. I do not know why you extend your reference Rev.14:1-7. It is actually Rev.14:1-5. There is an earthly Mount Zion, and there is a heavenly Mount Zion. The ones singing standing on the heavenly Mount Zion are the raptured saints.

“And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.”(Revelation 14:2-3 KJV).

Eschatological Timeline

Their voice is like the voice of many waters. On the other hand, the 144,000 are with Christ on the earthly Mount Zion in Jerusalem, Israel. They are the only ones on Earth who could learn the song sang by those on the heavenly Mount Zion. Why? Because they are redeemed also. This song is the song of the redeemed. That’s why the others on Earth though they heard this song, they could not sing it. The 144,000 Jews are in their natural bodies. They are not yet resurrected. They are sealed for protection from the wrath of God after the Rapture of the saints. If they were in Heaven, they would need no seal inasmuch they are not in the scene of the wrath of God. Seal is for authentication, ownership, security, protection, etc. It serves to distinguish the real McCoy from the fake one. Seals are not needed in Heaven because there are no counterfeits in Heaven.

Remember that the Church Age ended with the Rapture. The 144,000 are sealed with the seal of God before the Rapture(Rev.7:1-8). The innumerable multitude in Rev.7:9-18 are the raptured saints who now appear on Mount Zion in Heaven(Rev.14:2). The 144,000 are redeemed from the Earth. They are firsfruits. The firstfruits are the first fruits to be harvested. If they were believers, they could hardly be regarded as firstfruits. They are referred to as firstfruits because they belong to a new dispensation. The dispensation of the Millennium. They are the first redeemed from humanity to enter the Millennium to repopulate the Earth in their natural and mortal bodies. They are in their natural bodies. God’s order of redemption is the Jew first and also the Gentile.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”(Romans 1:16 KJV).

So also is His order of punishment.

“Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.”(Romans 2:9-11 KJV).

They will later be joined by the remnant of Israel who survived the trumpet judgments and are reconciled to God on day 3 of the 30-Reclamation Period of the Kingdom(Hos.6:1-3; Zech.12:12-14), and Gentiles who survived the wrath of God(7 trumpets and 7 bowls) and are justified at the Sheep And Goat Judgment of the Gentiles who survived the wrath of God(Matt.25:31-46). It is actually on day 3 of the 30-day Reclamation of the Kingdom that the 144,000 Jews appear with Christ on the earthly Mount Zion. Christ rescued them from the Edomite and Judean wildernesses and they marched with Him on foot to the earthly Mount Zion from day 1 to day 2 of the 30-day Reclamation of the Kingdom(Mic.2:13; See graphics). On day 3, the spiritual kingdom of God is complete as the remnants of Israel are saved when they see that their long awaited Messiah has nail pierced hands. The following day which is day 4, the two witnesses are raised from the dead by Christ who is physically present on the earthly Mount Zion with the 144, 000, and the redeemed remnants of Israel(Rev.11:1-12). On day 5, the seventh trumpet is blown, and God Almighty reclaims His rule over the Earth usurped by Satan(Rev.11:15). Remember that the last day of the 70th week  of Danielon which the two witnesses are killed by the antiMessiah is the completion of the lease to Adam. The seventh day is the Shabbat of the Lord which is the seventh Millennium or simply the Millennium.

Your reference to the resurrection of the Man Child as the 144,000 is misapplication of the scriptures. The Man Child is Jesus whom Satan in the person of Herod the Great attempted to kill as soon as He was born(Matt.2). The Man Child being taken to haven is the ascension of Jesus after His resurrection.

“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: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 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. 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. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 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.”(Revelation 12:1-6 KJV).

The pregnant woman with a gravid uterus is Israel. She pained to be delivered. This portion of Revelation is a historical flashback to Palestine in the late First Century BC under Roman domination.

The redeemed saints are the ones standing and singing on the sea of glass which is before the Throne of God in the temple of God in Heaven(Rev.15:2-4). They are the same people as the one in Rev.14:2-3. Only the 144,000 on Earth could learn this song because they are redeemed also. The other Israelites to be redeemed shortly could not learn the song. Neither the beast-marked earth-dwellers nor the unbranded Gentiles could learn the song but the 144,000 only.

All believers alive must enter the 70th week of Daniel to experience the horrors of the Great Tribulation before being raptured after the cosmic and celestial disturbances that terminate the Great Tribulation. I stated that the innumerable multitude in Rev.7:9-17 are the raptured saints in Heaven. They include the fifth seal martyrs(Rev.6:9-11) and those who were beheaded for their faith in Christ(Rev.20:4). These are faithful and uncompromising believers who refused to hide during the Great Tribulation, and went about persuading others not to worship the Beast nor his image nor bear the number of of his name. All believers who are raptured will reign with Christ in the Millennium. That is the simple reason they are referred to as kings. They will also minister to Christ in the Fourth Temple on the renovated and earthly Mount Zion in the Millennium. Therefore, they are also referred to as priests. “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”(Revelation 5:10 KJV).

Avraham Shallom.

FRAUD

The Inter-Wrath Period

Do you know why pretribulationism is a fraud? It teaches that the Rapture will occur SILENTLY, SECRETLY, and SUDDENLY. One of its central pillars is IMMINENCE which teaches that the Rapture can occur at ANY MOMENT without any prophesied events preceding it. But when we examine the Scriptures, there are close to 30 EVENTS that will precede the Rapture. At the midpoint of the 70th week alone, there are about 17 of these EVENTS. Beyond that we have the fifth seal Martyrs under the Golden Altar Of Incense in the Holy Place of the Temple Of God in Heaven. We have the sixth seal, the darkening of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, the so called cosmic and celestial disturbances which is the sign of the End Of The Ages. We have the unmistakable appearance of the Shekinah in the Heavens, the sign of the coming of the Son Of Man, and the sounding of the trumpet with the voice of the archangel . We have the sealing of the 144,000 in the interlude between the end of the sixth seal and the breaking of the seventh seal(Rev.7:1-8). Before all these, in the First Half of the 70th week, oh no don’t worry I don’t have anything to say right thank you we have the breaking of the first three seals of Rev.6:1-8. There are close to ten events in all of these three seals. How on Earth can an event which is preceded by close to 30 other events be secret, silent, and sudden. The most amazing thing though about all these is that intelligent, educated, brilliant twenty first century man with all the facilities, and resources, and paraphernalia of education at his disposal is teaching a Big Fraud, and sincere educated BELIEVERS are part of it, of whom are professors of theology, bishops, and GOs of big ministries. For further details see my article: “The Middle Of The 70th Week Of Daniel.” See the accompanying graphics. Please study the EVENTS BEFORE the Midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel and AFTER.

Shalom! Maranatha.

Avraham Shallom.

The Failure Of Human Government

The West is no longer democratic. Covid-19 pandemic has murdered democracy in the West. In the end time political scenario, there will be nothing like democracy. All regimes all over the world will degenerate into dictatorship. China is way ahead of the rest of the world in playing the Big Brother to its citizens. The ultimate form of democracy, and indeed any other form of human government is dictatorship. In the final end time political scenario, dictatorship and state control of the masses and media will prevail all over the Globe. The Covid-19 pandemic has provided a spring board for dictatorship, autocracy and state control of the citizenry to ascend to supremacy – totalitarianism.

Capitol Hill

My dear brother and friend Rev. Dr. Aloja Airewele has written:

“The sham that is democracy was revealed in Germany over eight decades ago. Free market economy, socialism and the American so called Bill of rights are man made ideas with built in assured lifespan. The Bill Of Rights is the best that mortal man at his best could offer his fellow man. As communism was exposed to be the hollow, godless ideology it was, so has democracy, a pagan idea from Greece and fueled by the liberal idea of man’s ability to determine his own fate do not stem from the Torah or the Kingdom of God. (God is not a democrat, not even a benign dictator, but the benevolent Sovereign). Disappointed? No. Expected? Yes. Why is the Messiah and the Kingdom He will usher in not only our best hope, but our only hope? Exactly that all the wisdom and craftiness of mere mortals will fail. That’s why as we preach, God has chosen the weak, foolish things to confound the power and wisdom of man.

“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;”(1 Cor.1:27 KJV).

What does the Psalmist say? Israel, trust in the Lord- the only Sovereign. “O Israel, trust thou in the Lord: he is their help and their shield.”(Psalms 115:9 KJV).”

What is happening in the UK, US, Canada and Israel spells doom for democracy. Unelected officials now have more authority than the British Paliament and the Israeli Knesset. Matt Hancock, the UK Health Minister now decides who boards a plane into UK and who deplanes at Heathrow and Gatwick. Bill Gates and Anthony Fauci are virtually taking decisions concerning health both for the US, UN and WHO. The rights of citizens are brushed aside, trampled under foot and they are told to simply and unquestioningly obey instructions. Is that democracy? I think it is time we stop viewing the West through a democratic lens. Those who continue to do so will be hopelessly disappointed as also those who see the West as the bastion of Judeo-Christian values, mores and orthodoxy. The West is now postchristian and postdemocratic.

Even if there happens to be war as some envisage, I don’t see Russia and China and Iran defeating the West. Since they are all nuclear powers, and afraid of one another, some sort of deterrence will be upheld. If one is being mauled by the other, in the event of conventional war, the one being mauled might invoke doomsday weapons. Since none of them want a state of MAD(Mutually Assured Destruction), some sort of settlement has to be reached with the big powers essentially retaining their boundaries and territorial waters.

Based on my study of eschatology, what I forsee rather is the breakup of the Russian Federation. Meshech and Tuval which will come out of the Russian Federation will unite with Magog(Western Europe) to form the three power base coalition of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire of Satan. Will this be achieved through war? I don’t know. It may be a peaceful breakup as did the former Soviet Union after seven decades of lies. (With three words, perestroika, glasnost, and democrati God dismantled the former Soviet Union). The Scriptures do not explicitly or implicitly state how. The most important fact is that these events will occur as the Scriptures foretold. The exact time and how we may not be sure. One thing is very sure though, those of us alive then will look back at some point in the future and exclaim: “it happened exactly as the Scriptures foretold.”

The antiMessiah who will be the most powerful ruler in human history(Rev.13:4) will be of magogite descent. Magog is the ruler of the West and its head is Gog of the land of Magog who also is the head of Meshech and Tuval(Ezek.38:1-6).

There are Russian politicians who want better relations with NATO. The Russian strongman Vladimir Putin has other ideas. Essentially that Russia will not play second fiddle nor subordinate itself to any other world power. He will not rule nor live for ever. His regime will soon be over. No condition is permanent. The only thing that is constant is change. Everything else is in a state of flux. Generations(Regimes) come and generations(regimes) go, but the Earth forever stands(Eccl.1:4).

China itself has regional enemies like Japan, India, the Philippines, South Korea, etc with which they have controversy over boundary and territorial rights in the South China Sea.

And Iran which is Tiras in the Table Of Nations in Gen.10 and Persia in Ezekiel 38 and Daniel 7 will eventually unite with the West. Why do I say that? Because it will be part of the Eighth And Final Beast Empire of Satan(Ezek.381-6). The Iranian people want peace with the West, but the Islamic regime in Tehran is something else. They will not be in power for ever. Like the oppressive reign of the Iranian monarch Mohammed Reza Palhavi, their tenure will also expire.

What is happening in the West is really disgraceful. But it is all part of the outworking of the end time scenario. The political terrain is anything but permanent. Everything is fluid and in a state of flux. Things will keep changing until the man of lawlessness brokers a 7-year peace treaty between Israel and its Arab and Islamic neighbors marking the commencement of the 70th week of Daniel(Rev.6:1,2; Matt.24:4,5) and finally takes his seat in the Temple of God in Jerusalem at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel displaying himself as being God and demanding worship of all mortals(Isa.28:14-18; Dan.9:27; 2 Thess.2:3,4). Thus will commence the utmost horrific persecution of believers, Jews, and anyone else who repudiates the authority of the antiChrist and refuses to worship the Dragon-Beast, known as the Great Tribulation(Dan.12:1; Matt.24:21).

Avraham Shallom.

The Death Of The Two Witnesses

“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascended out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall  rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. After a three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were frightened, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly”(Rev.11:7-14).

The Ministry Of The two Witnesses

The glorious ministry of the two witnesses which begins at the middle of the 70th seven of Daniel, will end on the last day of the 70th seven of Daniel. Their ministry shall cover the entire three and one-half years, 42 months or 1,260 days of the second half of the 70th seven of Daniel.

“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand and three score days clothed in sackcloth”(Rev.11:3).

Before the expiry of the allotted time of the two witnesses, no one shall be able to hurt or kill them.

“If any man will hurt them, fire will issue out of their mouths and will devoure their enemies. If any man would hurt them, he must in this manner be killed”(Rev.11:5b).

This clearly shows that everything concerning the servant of God is in His hands. Everything works according to His pre-ordained and predetermined plans and purposes. When their ministry is over, they are fair game for the antiChrist, the Beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit, who makes war against them, overcomes them, and kills them on the last day of the 70th seven of Daniel or early on the first day of the 30-day Reclamation Period of the kingdom; the extra 30 days that lead to the 1,290 days spoken of by Daniel the prophet(Dan.12:11). We are not told the way and manner in which they shall be killed. They probably will not be beheaded. Even if they will be beheaded, what difference does it make?

For a show of power and for propaganda purposes, the antiChrist shall display their corpses publically in Jerusalem to the full view of all over the world via satellite. Although the 70th seven ends with the death of the two witnesses, the sixth trumpet judgment continues till the 4th day of the 30-day Reclamation Period of the kingdom when the two witnesses are raised from the dead and ascend into Heaven in the full face view of all and to utter consternation of their enemies. In the same hour they ascend into Heaven, there will be a great earthquake that will devastate the tenth part of the city of Jerusalem, the antiMessiah’s international headquarters, killing seven thousand. The remnant shall be frightened, and give glory to the God of heaven. Their glorifying God at this time shall not produce repentance in their hearts; for they are already locked in unrighteousness having given themselves over to the worship of the Dragon-Beast by taking his mark of allegiance. The sixth trumpet ends in the second woe. the second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly(Rev.11:14).

The timing of the ministry of the two witnesses corresponds to the length of time allotted to the antiChrist to reign. This is significant, primarily because it provides a divine countermeasure to the persecution of the saints and anyone else who fails to succumb to the worship of the beast by the antiMessiah. It proves that God is, even in the midst of the persecution by the antiChrist. He has to have a noticeable voice that glorifies Him in the darkest hour of satanic persecution of the saints lest the faith of the saints fail. It will be comforting to the saints to hear of the exploits of these two great men of the Great God, the Sovereign Lord of the universe

“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.”(Rev.13:5).

This is the second half of the 70th week because the ministry of the two witnesses commences at the Gentile takeover of the rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel. It is also concurrent with the commencement of the Jerusalem Campaign(Luk.21:20), the abomination of desolation(Dan.9:27b; Mat.24:15) and the debut of the antiChrist at the yet to be rebuilt Third Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem(Dan.11:45; 2 Thess.2:4). It is also the same length of time within which the woman, Israel and the remnant of her seed, the observant Jews and the Christians in the land of Israel seek refuge in the Edomite and Judaean wildernesses.

“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.”(Rev.12:14).

The refuge of the Christians in the wilderness is terminated when they are raptured, evacuated from the Earth, the scene of the Great Tribulation.

We must also remember that the second half of the 70th week of Daniel is divided into two unequal halves, the Great Tribulation and the Day Of The Lord. The Great Tribulation begins at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel and is terminated by the cosmic and celestial disturbances which are preludial to the Day Of His Wrath. The Shekinah appears in the heavens, the 144,000 are sealed for protection from the wrath of God and the saints are evacuated from the Earth, the scene of God’s wrath(Rev.7). The same day the Saints are raptured, the seventh seal is broken, and the wrath of God begins in the Day Of the Lord. The ministry of the two witnesses ends with the termination of the 70th week, but the wrath of God in the Day Of the Lord continues till Armageddon 30 days later. The only way we can master these details is by studying them over and over again, and from time to time. If we don’t, we will forget or get confused due to either memory loss or decay.

Avraham Shallom.

Interactions With Ken Smelko

Ken Smelko:

I had this thought……………..

Mystery Babylon, both Harlot and City, will be revealed during the first half of the 70th week of Daniel. It will gain power and authority over the kings of the earth during that time, catapulted by the 7 year covenant with the many by the AC, which jump starts the 70th week. The Beast allows Mystery Babylon, the Harlot, to keep it under control until mid week. The beast then reveals itself as the AC and sets up the abomination that makes desolate. The AC then destroys the Harlot religion, the city is destroyed later during the Wrath of God.

At the mid point of the week (start of the Great Tribulation), the AC will move his headquarters from Mystery Babylon the city, to Jerusalem and demand worship. Some say his initial headquarters will not be Mystery Babylon. I interpret it otherwise, since both are dependent on each other during the first 3.5 years of the 70th week. When the covenant is made and the week begins, the seals of the scroll (containing the wrath of God and deed to the earth inside) are broken by the Lamb leading to the opening of the scroll and ability to view the Wrath of God. The first seal is magnanimous. It contains the covenant, the false christ, mystery babylon the city and harlot arise, and the temple construction begins. Our answer will be certain when the Revelation of Jesus to John is unsealed, at the breaking of the first seal. IMO.

Dr. Avraham Shallom:

It will certainly be possible for those of us who study eschatology(End Time biblical prophecy), to identify the antiChrist and Mystery Babylon from the commencement of the 70th week of Daniel(Dan.9:27). The other group of people that will know him will be members of his inner circle. The rest of humanity will be ignorant of his true identity which will be veiled until the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel. If the scornful leaders of Israel knew his true identity at the beginning, they would not enter into a covenant with him in the first place.

Within the first half of the 70th week, the antiChrist will gain power and authority over the kings of the Earth first through subtle peace diplomacy(1st seal: Rev.6:1,2, Matt.24:4; Mk.13:6; Luk.21:8), and later on through wars, commotions, threats and rumours of wars(2nd seal: Rev.6:3,4; Matt.24:5,6; Mk.13:7,8a, Luk.21:9), and famines, pestilences and earthquakes(3rd seal: Rev.6:5; Matt.24:7b; Mk.13:8; Luk.21:10,11).

As you rightly pointed out, the 7-year peace treaty with the many from within Israel will play a major role as it marks the starting point of the 70th week. Besides, it enables the antiChrist to station a protection force in Israel, thusly, granting him access to the Middle East without firing a shot. However the antiChrist will not be revealed to the rest of humanity until the midpoint of the 70th week when he relocates his headquarters to Jerusalem, the city between the two seas in the glorious Holy mountain, where he prolaims himself God, and violates the third Temple.

“And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him”(Dan.(11:45).

In the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease…(Dan. 9:27b). He as God sits in the Temple of God displaying himself as God(2 Thess.2:4).

It is not Mystery Babylon that keeps the Beast under control. It is the restrainer whom orthodox Jewish scholars had identified in antiquity as the archangel Michael(Dan.12:1). When he is removed at the midpoint of the 70th week, the antiChrist will manifest.

“And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”(2 Thess.2:6-10).

Until the restrainer is removed, the antiChrist will not manifest.

I dealt with this issue to some greater details in my article on The Great Tribulation. As a matter of fact, the woman(Mystery Babylon) rides the Beast(antiChrist). In other words, she comes into prominence through the political clout of the Beast(Rev.17:3). The antiChrist destroys the Harlot because he brooks no rivals, and besides, she has served her purpose of mesmerizing the wicked earth-dwellers to worship the Dragon-Beast. The Beast used the woman to gain notoriety. The woman on the other hand garnered wealth by ingratiating herself to the Beast. As you rightly pointed out, they are dependent on each another. Nevertheless, the antiChrist is the senior partner. It shall be a marriage of convenience. The Divorce shall be effected when the Beast has achieved his goal of world domination. The destruction was carried out by the ten horns of the Beast-antiChrist. God puts it in their hearts to destroy the Harlot(Rev.17:17-18). The destruction of Mystery Babylon is part of the seventh bowl judgment(Rev.18).

It may well be true that the antiChrist will relocate his headquarters from Babylon to Jerusalem. What that would mean is that he would first have moved it to Babylon from somewhere in the land of Magog; for the antiChrist shall be a magogite(Ezek.38:2). No doubt Babylon shall be his commercial and religious headquarters(Rev.18).

The covenant with death marks the breaking of the first seal. Until all the seven seals are broken, the content of the Scroll which is the wrath of God cannot be viewed as the seals are on the exterior of the Scroll.

The first seal appears or seems to be magnanimous as you said, but a subtle and dangerous deception of the sons of Israel. It is a “covenant with death” ; an “agreement with Sheol”(Hell, Hades). It is “seeking refuge in lies” ; and “hiding under falsehood.” “Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:”(Is.28:14-15). God will disannul the covenant with death. Their agreement with Hell shall not stand. “And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.”(Is.28:18).

The scornful leaders of the sons of Israel shall be utterly deceived by the antiChrist, hoodwinked by his initial apparent benevolence. In the midst of the week, he shall utterly subvert the sons of Jacob. It shall be so terrifying for them to understand that they have put their security in the hands of the worst Jew hater in history, a dead man come back to life.

As per the Temple, what the Scriptures reveal is that a Place of worship for the Jewish people on the Temple Mount shall be in place before the midpoint of the 70th week for the antiChrist to desecrate it at that point in time. Exactly when it shall be built is any one’s guess. Whatever anyone may say about it shall be speculation. Though the Jews have raised millions of dollars, procured materials for the building of the Third Temple based on a plan drawn from Ezek. 40-43, it is most improbable that a structure of that magnitude will be reared up on the Temple Mount prior to the advent of the Messsiah. What the prophet Ezekiel described is the Fourth and Millennial Temple on Mount Moriah built by Christ Himself after the war of Armageddon during the 45-Day restoration period. I have posted two articles relating to this issue on our website. Link: https://mtzionheritageministries.com

Shalom! Maranatha.

Dr. Avraham Shallom:

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”(1 Thess. 4:13-18).

Interim Inter-Tribulational Rapture

In this classical Rapture passage, our brother, Apostle Paul’s tells the believers at Thessalonica that at the Rapture, the believers who are alive and remain shall be caught up with those who had slept in the Lord before this event, to meet the Lord in the air. The Greek word translated remain here is “perileipomenoi” which means to leave all around, to remain, to survive. This phrase is better translated, “the living, the remaining” or “the living, the surviving.” The question is what are we survivors of?

If the Rapture had taken place before the Great Tribulation, it would be wrong for brother Paul to speak of this group of believers as “the living, the surviving.” But if this group of believers had past through the Great Tribulation, it would be appropriate for our Brother Paul to so describe them as the living who had survived. Therefore, “the living, the surviving” are believers who had past through the Great Tribulation, and survived the horrors of its persecution by the satanic minion, the antiChrist.

Persecution is not what we desire and pray for as we desire, pray, and work hard for prosperity. In spite of that, they come upon us anyway. Unarguably, the persecuted Church is stronger in the faith, but worldliness can bedeville the Church with more subtle, and difficult challenges than persecution. In persecution, the lines are clearly drawn, but they ain’t so clear with the cares of this life, prosperity, pursuit of happiness, and the good life. The desire to acquire the good things of this life can lead one astray in very subtle ways. In persecution, our physical life and property are in danger primarily even though the ultimate goal is to alienate our souls and spirits from Christ, but on the other hand, in those areas where believers are not physically assaulted, the daily assault on our spirits and souls could be very enormous.

“For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together”(Matt. 24:28 ). The gospel according to Matthew was probably originally written in Aramaic, and later translated into Greek, because it was not likely Matthew, a tax collector understood Greek to such extent as to pen this gospel directly in Greek unless, of course, he employed the services of an ammamuensis. Besides, Aramaic was the language in which Christ ministered to His disciples. This fact does not help us to understand the text as this original manuscript in Aramaic is extinct if at all it existed.

There are three Greek words that are germane to our understanding of this short parable by our Lord Jesus in the Olivet Discourse. The first “ptoma” which is translated carcase in KJV. In the parallel passage in Luk.17:37, the Greek word is “soma” which simply means body. The other word we would look at is aetoi which is translated eagles in KJV. Some other translation render it vultures. The vulture is a class of eagles. All eagles are carnivores, but the vulture is a carrion, a scavenger. In every other place where aetoi is used, it always refers to angels(Rev.4:7; 8:13; 12:14). The usage here cannot be an exception. So this is a metaphor. It should not be rendered vulture at all; it established an a priori case for the Pretribulational Rapture position which sees vultures feeding on dead bodies at the end of Armageddon, and the living survivors gathered sideways into the Millennium.

The third is the Greek word “episunago” which is rendered gathered in KJV. “Sunagoge” means gathering, but the prefix “epi” which means upon, gives it direction. In other words, episounago means gathered upwards. This understanding is in contradiction to the sideways gathering into the Mellennium assumed by the pretribbers who interpret vv.29,30 to be the end of the wrath of God at Armageddon, and v.31 as the sideways gathering of the survivors of the wrath of God into the Mellennial kingdom of Christ by the angels of God.

We conclude therefore that Matt.24:29-31 teaches that the Rature of the saints, both the living and those who have fallen asleep in Christ occurs after the Great Tribulation, and the cosmic disturbances, the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars, and is effected through the agency of the angels who gather upwardly both the living saints and those who have fallen asleep in Christ to meet the Lord in the air.

Avraham Shallom.

Will The Mark Of The Beast Be Implemented Only From The Midpoint Of The 70th Week?

Of late two videos on the End Times have made their way to our platform in which the authors emphatically stated that the antiChrist and his image must be visible from the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel for the Mark Of The Beast to be implemented. Is this view biblically valid? It is this point that I would like to address in this post.

There are videos on the social media where some important personalities or government officials are purported to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. But on close examination, it is doubtful whether they received anything at all. The global elites are already humanoid without the vaccine. What they want to avoid is dying from the vaccine. 666 is the number of man. It is humanism. In Hebrew numerology and gematria, 7 is the number of divinity, and 6 is the number of man. Humanism is man doing his thing independent of God. This is already going on right now, to hybridize men and make them unrapturable. Gene enhancement is taking place in all fields of human endeavors; military, police, education, sports, technology etc. Become a cyborg and you will never be raptured. The mark of the Beast is here already. Some cyborgs are already dead and have gone to Hell. Every minute 106 die all over the world. Some cyborgs have already died. One said on BBC, “I don’t feel am human anymore; am a cyborg.” Can he be saved since he is humanoid? You see, 666 is here already. Not everyone will accept it. So, at the midpoint of the the 70th week of Daniel, the antiMessiah will be unveiled as a dead 💀 man come back to life. He will make it universal, mandatory and trans-national by legislation and the false prophet, his enforcer, will enforce it. That is why it is written,

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”(Rev.13:16-18).

Some translations read, “he forces all or he compels all…..”(Rev.13:16). Why is he using force, the mechinery of government? Because advertising, persuasions, incentives, cajoling, and threats have failed. Was that the first time it was introduced? No. It has been there before he signed the covenant of apostasy at the commencement of the 70th week of Daniel. If one lacks this understanding, one would lead oneself and others into taking the mark of the Beast before the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel claiming it is not the mark until the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel and the antiChrist sits on the throne of God in the rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Will a real Temple be built or a makeshift structure? The Bible does not specifically state either. It does not matter.

We must understand that as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be in the day when the Son Of Man is revealed(Luk.17:26-30). There was an attempt to hybridize humanity, and it covered hundreds of years. Noe preached for 120 years without the benefit of a single convert except the immediate members of his family.

The antiChrist’s decree at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel is the last straw that will break the camel’s back. It is the last satanic act to get all humanity to worship the Beast and the Dragon, and to kill all those who refuse the mark of the Beast, in order that no one may be eligible to Rapture or entry into the Millennium and thereby defeat God.

“And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”(Rev.13:4‬ ‭KJV‬‬.

This is satanic and cannot be allowed to stand. That’s why God will cut short the Great Tribulation for the elect’s sake who despite severe persecution refuse the mark of the beast(Matt.24:22).

The Great Tribulation will be just about a year in duration before it will be terminated by God with the breaking of the sixth seal which is associated with cosmic and celestial disturbances. When this occurs, the antiChrist and his acolytes are in disarray. They are frightened out of their wits. They scurry to rocks and mountains to seek nonexistent refuge.

“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”(Rev.6:15-17).

Will the mark of the beast be then introduced and implemented for just about a year? No. Ask them if they know that. Satan is wiser than that. It is here with us now, and some are wearing it now, and others who wore it have died and gone to Hell. When they want you to wear nanobots in the brain in order to entice you to become a Mozart or a Beethoven, that is the mark of the Beast. When they want you to undergo gene enhancement to be a super athlete, that is the mark of the Beast. All major militaries of the world are producing super soldiers and super policemen ; that is the mark of the beast. When your children want to change their sexes or to identify as nonidentified and the government takes them away from their parents to undergo sex exchange operative procedures, that is the mark of the beast. When student wear microchips or nanobots in the brain for academic excellence and superhuman intelligence, that is the mark of the beast. Anything that alters the human gene or genome to make us unacceptable to and independent of God is the number of man. When ISIS and Hizbollah fighters take Captagon which gives them superhuman energy to go for days without sleep, kill without remorse of conscience, that is the mark of the bead. One’s genome can be altered by simple injection or tweaking of the DNA . When men are socially engineered to become stolls and robots, that is the mark of the beast. With prolonged use of alcohol and recreational drugs, application of terror and torture, the gene can be altered and passed on to future generations.

“Little children, it is the last time: and as ye heard that antichrist shall come, even now there are many antichrists; whereby ye know that it is the last time.”(1 John 2:18 kJV)

What shall we do with this verse of the scripture? Deny it exists till the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel. Those who teach that the mark of the beast is not valid and cannot be implemented till the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel when the antiChrist is unveiled do not quote or refer to this verse of the Scripture. They are playing mind games. Whatever will make anyone deny Jesus in these last days is antiChrist and portends the mark of the beast.

“Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, even he that denieth the Father and the Son.”(1 John 2:22 ASV).

“and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God: and this is the spirit of the antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it cometh; and now it is in the world already.”(1 John 4:3 ASV).

“For many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.”(2 John 1:7 ASV).

To understand these scriptures and put them into proper perspectives in the end times, we must understand that the antichrist is not just a person, but also an ideology, a spirit, a movement – political, religious, philosophical, commercial, scientific, technological etc. They begin way before the 70th week of Daniel. We are in the midst of them now. Those who teach that the mark of the Beast is only effective from the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel do not refer to these scriptures. They only run with Rev.13:16,17 and perhaps Rev.14:9-14. If one teaches on love or marriage, one does not run with one verse of the scriptures to the neglect of other ones germane to the topic. To build the big and perfect picture, one must bring all the relevant scriptures together. Why do they neglect these important principles that scripture interpretes scripture, scripture must compared with scripture, and that there should be no antinomies(contradictions) on such an important issue as the mark of the beast which borders on eternity and its origin is Gen.3:15; Gen.6 which form the foundation of eschatology? Jesus warned us that there will be a repeat of these conditions in the last days. Some of them don’t know the five cardinal principles of biblical hermeneutics because they were never trained in good Bible Schools or are just downright dishonest. To limit it to just a period of about a year is absurd and biblically unfounded and unsubstantiated and unsupported.

Let no one deceive you by any means(Matt.24:4). He that has ears to hear with, let him hear(Rev.2:17,29).

Let me add a little piece to clarify my point. One other principle of biblical hermeneutics is immediate and wider context. When you examine the immediate context of Rev.13:16,17, you conclude that the mark of the beast is only effective from the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel when the antiChrist makes it universal and mandatory by legislation and the false prophet enforces it. But when you examine the wider context, immediately, there is a contradiction. But remember that one of the cardinal principles of biblical hermeneutics is that there should be not apparent contradictions. So, a common denominator must be found that resolves the contradiction. What is the common denominator in this case? The mark of the beast. It must be in the immediate and wider context. So, the mark of the beast must be in use before the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel when the antiChrist makes his debut at the rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Do you see how it works? We do not pluck it from the air. It is not private interpretation. It is based on the scriptures.

There is another principle of hermeneutics that will help you understand what am talking about. It is what is called near and far view of prophecy. If the antichrist is present in the 70th of Daniel, he must be present now. The scriptures we have examined attest to that. If the mark of the beast is present from the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel, it must be present now. For if the antiChrist is present now, his mark must be present now. That is why I say, if you are hybridized now, you have the mark of the beast. It may be subtle, but it is present now inasmuch as the antichrist is present now.

The forceful implementation of the mark of the beast will be for a brief period of the second half of the 70th week of Daniel – seals four and five – the Great Tribulation and the martyrs under the Golden Altar of incense in the Holy Place in the Temple Of in the Heaven of heavens. The second half of the 70th week of Daniel is divided into two unequal parts: the Great Tribulation and The Day Of The Lord. The Great Tribulation covers the fourth and fifth seals. The sixth seal is the cosmic and celestial disturbances that terminate the Great Tribulation. It is the sign of the end of the ages. There is a brief interlude between the end of the sixth seal and the breaking of the seventh seal. In this interlude, the Shekhinah, the dwelling, the visible presence of the God of Israel appears in the Heavens. This is the sign of His Coming. There is only one sign though; two sides of the same coin. The darkening of the Sun, Moon, and Stars will throw the Earth into utter darkness and extreme cold temperatures. The Earth will be dark and frigid. Fortunately, this will be a temporary phenomenon. The appearance of the Coming of the Son Of Man will dispel the darkness and the cold precipitated by the cosmic and celestial disturbances.

The sign of His Coming and of the end of ages sends warning signal to the unrighteous and wicked earth-dwellers that God is about to punish them for their evils. That is why they scurry for cover under the rocks and the mountains invoking these to fall upon them and hide from the impending wrath of God which is about to begin(Rev.6:1-17).

But the saints are not appointed to God’s wrath which is about to begin(1 Thess.1:10,5:9). When the seventh seal is broken, the wrath of God begins(Rev.8:1,2). Ergo, the 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel must be sealed for protection from the wrath of God(Rev.7:1-8). They are not evacuated from Earth which is the scene of God’s wrath. On the other hand, the saints must be evacuated from the Earth in this brief interlude before the breaking of the seventh seal. The day the saints are evacuated from the Earth, the scene of God’s wrath, the seventh seal is broken and the wrath of God in the day of the Lord begins.

The Second Half Of The 70th Week Of Daniel: The Great Tribulation And The Wrath Of God

The wrath of God consists of the trumpet and the bowls. The first six trumpets occur within the second half of the 70th week of Daniel. So, what then is the length of the Great Tribulation?

The allotted time to the antiChrist to reign is 42 months, from the midpoint of the 70th week to the death of the two witnesses which marks the end of the second half of the 70th week of Daniel(Rev.13:5; 11:3,7). The death of the two witnesses marks the terminus-ad-quem(end) of the 70th week. However the persecution by the antiChrist which is the Great Tribulation does not last for the whole of the 42 months. It is cut short, amputated in order to keep some saints alive for the Rapture(Matt.24:22), and also keep some unbranded unbelievers alive to repopulate the Earth in the Millennium. If it’s allowed to last for the whole of the 42 months allotted to the antiChrist, no unbranded person will survive, both believers, Jews and Gentiles. Remember Google has mapped out the whole Earth. With the economic boycott of the unbranded and the relentless search to ferret them out from hiding by use of demonized robots, drones, etc, it will be virtually impossible to keep any one of them alive if the Great Tribulation were to be allowed to run for the 42 months allotted to the antiChrist to reign.

The fifth trumpet lasts 5 months(Rev.9:10). Of all the events in the second of the 70th week of Daniel, it is the only one with known duration. The bowl judgments last for 23/24 days beginning from day 6/7 of the 30-day reclamation period of the kingdom following the blowing of the 7th trumpet which characteristically opens into the seven bowls(Rev.11:15). On the 3rd day of the 30-day reclamation period of the kingdom, the mystery of God is finished as the remnant of Israel are saved, thusly completing the spiritual kingdom of God(Rev.10:7). On the 4th day, the two witnesses resurrect. On the 5th day, the 7th trumpet is blown and God Almighty reclaims His rule over the Earth(Rev.11:15).

On the 6th or 7th day of the 30-day Reclamation Period of the kingdom, the seventh trumpet which opens into the seven bowls is blown, and God Almighty reclaims His rule over the Earth. The last and 7th bowl judgment ends at Armageddon on the last day of the 30-day reclamation period of the kingdom. At this point, God Almighty reclaims Physical possession of the Earth. The extra 45 days is for the restoration of the Earth devastated by wars, pestilences and earthquakes of the 2nd, 3rd and 6th seals and by the wrath of God(7 trumpets and 7 bowls) before the millennial reign of Christ begins. It is really not part of the equation of the wrath of God. So blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the one thousand three hundred and five and thirty days(Dan.12:12,13). Having delineated the timeline and loci of these events in the eschaton, we can hazard a guess of the rough estimate of the length of the Great Tribulation.

The fifth trumpet last five months.

“And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.”(Rev.9:10 KJV).

The sixth trumpet which is longer may last about a year. If the first four trumpets which are most probably shorter in duration last about a year, it follows that the Great Tribulaion will be about a year in duration with a margin of error of a month or thereabouts. This estimate would mean that the wrath of God will last about two years and four months or thereabouts with a margin of error of a few months.

Will the mark of the beast then be implemented for just about a year? We have shown that ab initio, he employs advertising tactics, incentives, cajoling, mass bribery etc to sell it on the populace. Later on then, He turns to brute force to implement it. This is not the first time he will change tactics and strategy. At the beginning of his career, he uses subtle peace diplomacy to win some nations like Israel and Jordan etc. This is the first seal(Matt.24:5; Rev.6:1,2). This is the emergence of false christs and the ultimate false christ who is the antiChrist. The first seal can be rightly named DECEPTION. Some nations will reject his false peace overtures. He then switches over to brute force. He will go to war with these nations. This is the second seal of wars, commotions, rumours and threats of wars. Nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom. Peace will be taken away from the Earth in order that men might kill one another(Matt.24:6,7a; Rev.6:3,4). So, we conclude that the mark of the beast will be in use before the antiChrist makes his debut at the rebuilt Third Jewish Temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem at the midpoint of the 70th week of Daniel.

Avraham Shallom.