END TIMES
**If you are not a Christian reading
this thesis, it will most likely sound like crazy talk. I would highly
recommend reading John 3:16 "For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life. Get right with the Creator of you, your
family and your friends so you may partake in the truth and be Harvested with
us and go on with God, the greatest engineer who has engineered a plan for his
children to live forever with Himself in perfect Joy…**
All Bible references are from the NIV
translation (And yes, the Creator of All is capable of speaking to His children
through a different translation other than the KJV)
God’s End Times Plan… What is it?
The teaching of the End Times consists
of the Tribulation timeframe: the Harvest (Rapture), the judgment (Wrath) and
the final 1,000 years. The teachings about this timeframe have been in
contention for a very long time.
The tribulation timeframe is approximately
a seven year period that embodies the last days of the world as we know it.
Let’s look at the main points that happen when the world tips and slips to the
direction of evil and starts the landslide away from Jesus and slides into the
Devils hands. When the tribulation starts there will be distress and chaos
around the world. In this thesis I will not try to determine when the
tribulation starts, because that would be impossible. In fact we may already be
in the tribulation and not even know it. We will actually study the main points
of contentions in the Christian family and the beliefs that are taught of what
“will” happen through that timeframe.
The Harvest (Rapture)
Let’s start with the Harvest: The
Harvest has three opinions on how being caught up in the air with Jesus will
come to fruition. They are commonly named; Pre-Tribulation Rapture,
Mid-Tribulation Harvest and Post-Tribulation Rapture. The Pre-Tribulation
Rapture is the most popular teaching. Pre-Trib’s primary belief is that all
Christians will be protected from most or all of the tribulation by being
raptured off the earth first, then there are people who choose Jesus during the
tribulation and then a second rapture happens later or the latter saved
Christians must go through the whole tribulation and Bowls of Wrath. One of
their main arguments for the timing of Christians being raptured in the
beginning of the 7 years is Rev 4:1;
After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.
And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come
up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." The pre-tribulation rapture, in my estimate,
is about 80% the taught interpretation of the end times.
Then there is the Mid-Tribulation
Harvest group in which believe the Lord will harvest His people out of the
Tribulation around the middle of the 7 years. Mid-Tribbers can also be called
Pre-Wrath because the timing of the harvest is right before the 7 bowls of
God’s Wrath is poured out on the world.
The third belief is the
Post-Tribulation Rapture in which is the minority of believers. The
Post-Tribulation believers believe Christians will go through all of the 7
years including the bowls of wrath and then be caught up with Jesus right
before He comes in the clouds to fight the final battle.
One other point; the timing of the
Pre-Tribbers and Post-Tribbers both share the same verses of when the Rapture
will happen, but they interpret the timing very differently; 1 Thess 4:16-17 For the Lord himself will
come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and
with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After
that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord
forever.
And 1 Cor 15:51-54 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but
we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and
we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the
imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been
clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying
that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in
victory."
This, I believe, is the main reason for
this letter to Gods people. By trying to dissect Gods word to understand His
plan will get most people confused and running down rabbit trails. I have
always read the Bible as it is; a book of truth to be read literally to allow
the Holy Spirit to unravel its mysteries to the reader in a personal way.
When is the Harvest (Rapture) in the
Scriptures?
As far as scripture goes, the Harvest is Rev 14:14-16 I looked, and there before
me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one "like a son of
man" with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15
Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who
was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time
to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." 16 So he who
was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was
harvested.
As literal and precise that Revelation
14:14-16 is, most if not all Pre and Post tribulation Christian Theologians
will say it is not Revelation 14:14 but Revelation 4:1 or one of the other
verses quoted earlier. Their reasons vary from person to person and they give
their opinion that the purpose of the Harvest is to save Christians from any
real suffering. Those Christians try to answer the end times by taking short
partial verses to prove their view, but nothing about the purpose of the
harvest and better yet the purpose of the clouds. They seem to regurgitate
talking points and passed down theology teachings that the last day Christians
are special and protected from persecution. There are many questions that need
to be answered to corroborate their point of view. So, let’s ask the question;
what are the clouds? To me this should be the most important question of all.
In my business I have the opportunity to talk to a lot of people about this
subject and when I propose it I get the actions; “it is the pulling up of
Christians to the clouds”, “it is us being gathered to Jesus in the air”. Those
two examples are the premise of answers, even though there are different
variations of the action of the harvest and I think that is close enough for
the action of the Harvest (Rapture) but I have yet to get the main answer I am
looking for which has to do with the purpose and the clouds specifically, I
just get the talking points.
No Preacher, Pastor or Theologian I
have heard or I have talked to personally have ever given any answers to the
purpose and what are the clouds are. What would you call, what name would you
give, the clouds of the Harvest? To answer this question we must go straight to
the source of all knowledge, Jesus and the Bible; Matt 24:37-39 As it was in the days of Noah, so
it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the
flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to
the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen
until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the
coming of the Son of Man.
In this scripture Jesus gives us the
answer but it seems most Theologians jump to the common taught answer which is
the second portion to this verse which is the eating and drinking, marring and
giving in marriage which is true, but that is not all Jesus is saying. He is
telling us that that is the timing and the complacency when the judgment
begins, but the main point is what Noah’s primary duty was. It was to protect
what God had separated from the world and to protect what God had deemed
valuable. In Noah’s day the Creator had Noah build an Ark, so aren’t the clouds
the last day Ark? Of course they are, how could they not be? Jesus said that in
the last days it will be “just” like it was in the days of Noah. Again, to keep
with this timing, who was preserved? All God deemed precious. So what are
precious to God? It is His people who love Him and the animals He wishes to
have on the earth after His judgment. So, this being Gods words, the idea of
anyone living after the flood is impossible unless they were on the Ark or
there was a second Noah. So how could anyone think there could be anyone left
after the judgment or the bowls of wrath? I do not know, but the only real
answer is Matt 13:24-26 Jesus told them
another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a
man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping,
his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the
wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. While Christians were complacent and just
meandering through life the last two hundred plus years the demonic influence
tweaked the theologians interpretations of the end times just enough to cause
deception.
The Bible plainly tells us that no one
on earth is alive after Jesus kills them with the Sword of His Mouth; Rev 19:17-21 And I saw an angel standing in
the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair,
"Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat
the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and
the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great." 19 Then
I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together
to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was
captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs
on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark
of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into
the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The
rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the
rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.
By this time all the waters have been
made lifeless, the earth has been cleansed of all people and most living things
and these facts totally contradicts mans way of trying to establish two
“Raptures” and the “Post-Tribulation Rapture”. God does not give the
possibility of either.
Why Mid-Trib (Pre-Wrath)?
Mid-Tribulation Harvest (Pre-Wrath) is
the only theory that fills all the gaps and answers the reason of Gods timing
of the Harvest, the Harvest itself and the clouds. One must formulate when the
Harvest is, by Gods past judgments and the literal purpose of the act itself.
Going back to what Jesus said about it being like the days of Noah. This leaves
us to believe that if even one other person was available that loved the Father
as much as Noah, that person may have been allowed to enter the Ark. We know
this by Abram trying to get God to spare Sodom if even 10 were righteous; Gen 18:32 Then he said, "May the Lord
not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found
there?"He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy
it." With this belief, it is
not a stretch to believe that the last day’s Harvest happens when the last
person willing to choose Jesus as Lord and Savior ever does. Once that last
hand goes up for Jesus, there is not one left without the mark of the beast and
the rest have chosen their future.
Then what is the First Part of the
Tribulation For?
The prophesy of John the Baptist in Matt 3:12 His winnowing fork is in his
hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn
and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." The Lord tells us
that before the Harvest the tribulation is the sifting of the wheat, the
separating of the chaff, separating the wheat from the weeds, etc. So, the
purpose of allowing all of Gods people to go through the first portion of the
tribulation is to sift the false Christians and to separate them from the true
children of God. As we all know, a lot of Christians today are very weird, self
righteous and judgmental. For me it is really hard to tell the difference
between the Pharisees of old and some of the high and mighty Christians of
today. They tend to be quick to mimic the people’s attitude of days gone by. It
isn’t difficult to fathom the miss-interpretation of God’s word to think that
any of us should be saved from any type of sifting. If anything, we deserve it
more than any other generation. Ask yourself a question; am I more special than
Jesus? Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins, not His own. The theory of
being sifted is the only theory that makes sense. I personally know of people
that walked the walk and talked the talk until a little discomfort or
challenging times happened and then they ran from Jesus quick and jumped right
into the arms of the world. When the sifting starts the falling away will be
accelerated and the falling away will be so fast and sad to those who depended
on the strength of others, including leaders of the church, just to find out
they were not really Christ’s child.
Without the visual of God’s words
coming to life that last "Doubting Thomas" would not choose Life with
Jesus. He saved us through our worst, isn’t it our job to be there and help
that last person see the truth and to choose?
How Should We Read God’s Word?
Obviously I am no theologian and I
would not claim to know anything, but I read my Bible and I am a literalist. I
know that God wrote His book using some metaphors and word pictures, but the
belief that you “must” dissect God’s word to find the truth is wrong. God’s
word is a Living
Word and may speak to you differently at anytime depending on
what the Creator through the Holy Spirit wants to tell you. While a person is
trying to find out what “Is” “Is”, that person may not be listening. I know
that my Lord says to come to Him as a child, isn’t that the same way we should
read His word? Mark 10:15 I tell you the
truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child
will never enter it." Luke 18:17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not
receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter
it." Matt 18:3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you
change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven.
Notice, God does not say, like a big
kid or an adult. He wants us to follow Him without questioning His Word and I
believe that also means not to over analyze either.
Final Hours of This Age
Let us now go through an understanding
of the final hours of this age. One of the first scriptures that screams at me
is 2 Thess 2:1-4 Concerning the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2
not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed
to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don't
let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the
rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to
destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is
called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple,
proclaiming himself to be God.
What I find so amazing about this
scripture is that it leaves no room for metaphoric interpretation and that is
was written to the believers in the last days. So read it slow and believe it
as 100% truth the way it is. When you read it literally it is obvious that it
is a prophecy telling us that there will be a deceptive teaching in the last
days that will cause believers to think they missed the “Harvest” (Rapture) and
they go to the leaders and ask what happened. My personal thought is that a
great event happens, like America (The Great Whore of Babylon) has been
completely destroyed. Then the Christians around the world that believe in the
pre-tribulation theory start questioning why they are still here on earth and
some of them start to question if God even exists. Not because pre-tribulation
theory shouldn’t be our hope, it is because it tries to tell God when to show
up and not the other way around. A different way to understand this is again by
Jesus’ teachings of the parable of the Ten Virgins in Matt 25:1-13 "At that time the kingdom of
heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the
bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones
took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise, however, took
oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in
coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 "At midnight the
cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' 7 "Then all
the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the
wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 9 "'No,' they
replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who
sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' 10 "But while they were on their
way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in
with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11 "Later the
others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' 12 "But
he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' 13 "Therefore
keep watch, because you do not know the
day or the hour.
So the Lord says to be wise and wait on
the Him and prepare physical and spiritual means to be able to last long enough
to not be caught off guard. Another important teaching of this parable is that
all ten Virgins were like-minded and knew the time to go and wait. They all
left at the same time, so the timeframe was known by all believers and the sin
was not being prepared and miss-calculating when the Master would return. I am
almost positive the five unwise Virgins dissected Gods word to find out what
the Greek and the Aramaic words actually meant and that by all calculations the
Master had to return on this specific date and no other dates are possible
because in the Hebrew calendar it is specific to 14… Otherwise the five foolish
would have listened to the five wise and prepared for any timeframe and would
have then read the scriptures literally to find out what happens to the ones
that had to deal with the times of sifting and would have been mentally,
physically and spiritually ready for anything the Devil may throw at them.
Next, let’s delve into Daniel 12:1-13 "At that time Michael,
the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of
distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But
at that time your people — everyone whose name is found written in the book —
will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake:
some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those
who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who
lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. 4 But you,
Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.
Many will go here and there to increase knowledge." 5 Then I, Daniel,
looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and
one on the opposite bank. 6 One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who
was above the waters of the river, "How long will it be before these
astonishing things are fulfilled?" 7 The man clothed in linen, who was
above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward
heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, "It
will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people
has been finally broken, all these things will be completed." 8 I
heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, "My lord, what will the
outcome of all this be?" 9 He replied, "Go your way, Daniel, because
the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many
will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be
wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will
understand. 11 "From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished
and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days. 13
"As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end
of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance."
I just
love the book of Daniel, don’t you? The last chapter of Daniel is, in my
opinion, a synopsis of the end times. I also believe it may be the little
scroll in Revelation that is sealed up and then opened as stipulated in Rev 10:9-11 So I went to the angel and
asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat
it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as
honey." 10 I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It
tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach
turned sour. 11 Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many
peoples, nations, languages and kings."
Daniel is also the only place in
scripture it gives us a timeframe between the beginning of the Tribulation and
the harvest with a number of days, 1290 days or 3.53 years and then “Blessed”
is the one that makes it 45 more days (1335 total days). The thought of all the
nations of the earth, looking to kill Gods people and all who refused to take
the mark in those 45 literal days of “Hell on Earth” is bone chilling and darn
right scary. For those that will jump on the bandwagon of “not knowing the day
or the hour”, please don’t. We will not
know the first day until it is all over, just like all past prophecies are
fully understood after they have been fulfilled, not before. Between the idiots
that try and forecast and set the day our Lord will return to the ones on the
opposite spectrum that forcefully use Matt 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not
even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” to
keep anyone from even thinking of the timing, both are dangerous. Where does it
say we will be ignorant of the time when it gets close?
In fact the Lord says the opposite so let’s
read the complete scripture where Jesus tells us to be cognoscente of the
times; Matt 24:4-39 Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the
Christ,' and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but
see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is
still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the
beginning of birth pains. 9 "Then you will
be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all
nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith
and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and
deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most
will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this
gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to
all nations, and then the end will come. 15 "So when you see standing in
the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through
the prophet Daniel — let the reader
understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17
Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house.
18 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be
in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight
will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be
great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now — and never
to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not
been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those
days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is
the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and
false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even
the elect — if that were possible. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time. 26
"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out;
or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. 27 For as lightning
that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of
the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
29 "Immediately after the distress of those days"'the sun will be
darkened ,and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the
sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' 30 "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and
all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and
great glory. 31 And he will send his angels
with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds,
from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get
tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know
that it is near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation
will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven
and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 36 "No one
knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but
only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming
of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark;
39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took
them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
The Bible says we “will” know the
timing, by the things that are happening at that time in the world. He also
tells us that there will be a deceptive spirit roaming through people. He also
tells us many will be killed and or persecuted for our faith, not Raptured from
it. When read literally as a whole it tells a much different story than what
theologians try to teach. So prepare as if it will happen today and prepare as
if it will take a long time. You must be like the five wise virgins without
being paranoid. Not that difficult if one is confident our Lord is in charge
and all will go as planned.
Jesus, we thank you for giving us your
word and preparing your people for the coming times. And Lord, I ask you to
bless those that are wise enough to read your word literally like a child.
When Does God’s Wrath Start?
Scripture is very specific the Harvest
is a short time after the man of lawlessness is revealed then the Wrath starts
in;
Rev
14:17-20 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp
sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar
and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your
sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because
its grapes are ripe." 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered
its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath.
There is a lot of confusion about the
timing of God’s wrath against the people that choose the Devil over Jesus. As
you read Gods words about the first portion of the book of Revelation, the
Tribulation is bad but not wrath. It is all about sifting the true believer
from the false. Our Lord uses approximately 7200 words to write the first
portion of the tribulation from Revelation 1:1 to 14:16. The reason for such a
large amount of scripture has to do with the sifting and giving all of the
children of God that have yet to choose Jesus all around the world the
encouragement and strength to resist the demonic forces and not take the mark.
This timing is also important to know
because when that last “Doubting Thomas” finally makes the choice to give their
life to Jesus, that is it. That is the last person that ever will, does. This
understanding of Gods timing will be especially important when that end is
happening and the fear of being killed for their faith in Jesus when the edict
to kill all without the mark is given by the Anti-Christ which will accelerate
the killing;
Rev
13:14-17 Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first
beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an
image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 He
was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it
could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
16 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to
receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one could
buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the
number of his name.
When God tells us about the 7 Bowls of WRATH
He only uses approximately 560 words and shows us the cleansing in very few and
specific words;
Rev
16:1-21 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the
earth." 2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on
the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark
of the beast and worshiped his image. 3 The second angel poured out his bowl
on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and everything
living thing in the sea died. 4 The third angel poured out his bowl on
the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then I heard the
angel in charge of the waters say: "You are just in these judgments, you
who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; 6 for they have
shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and have given them blood to drink
as they deserve.” 7 And I heard the altar respond:"Yes, Lord God Almighty,
true and just are your judgments." 8 The fourth angel poured out his
bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. 9
They were seared by the intense heat and cursed the name of God, who had
control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. 10 The
fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom
was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the
God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to
repent of what they had done. 12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on
the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for
the kings from the East. 13 Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like
frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast
and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are spirits of demons
performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world,
to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. 15 "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays
awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be
shamefully exposed." 16 Then they gathered the kings together to
the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. 17 The seventh angel poured
out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the
throne, saying, "It is done!" 18 Then there came flashes of
lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake
like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the
quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations
collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with
the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away and the mountains
could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds
each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail,
because the plague was so terrible.
As you read, the only ones left during
the bowls of wrath are the ones who have already chosen the mark and deserve
judgment and wrath. No one else is saved and in fact they angrily curse our
Father because of their judgment for being stupid. The only portion of the
Bowls of Wrath that is even remotely good is Rev 16:15 "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed
is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go
naked and be shamefully exposed." This statement by Jesus,
in my opinion, is a shoulder shake and is telling people that this is their
punishment if they refuse the truth of God and take the mark. This is one more
way God shows us His Grace, Love and protection.
So, Then Who is Ruled Over for the 1,000
Year Reign?
Believers of God’s word have not been
able to grapple with this question in any real theoretical understanding. Most
Christians believe the people that are ruled and reigned over are the people
(possibly only Jews) left after Jesus returns with His Army to destroy the ones
gathered to battle Him at Megiddo. As we read that is not possible because they
are dead because they have the mark which attaches them with the Devil.
That is why this is one of the coolest
portions of God’s word that mystifies even the staunchest Theologians’.
Rev
20:1-6 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the
Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that
ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand
years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to
keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were
ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. 4 I saw thrones on
which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the
souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and
because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and
had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to
life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did
not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first
resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first
resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests
of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
So, who will be ruled and reigned over?
This is answered in scripture by our Lord. Jesus tells us who are the only ones
that can enter the kingdom in John
14:6-7 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you
really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him
and have seen him."
With this small but absolute statement,
it leaves anyone who died before choosing Jesus from being able to live with
the Father forever and ever. As we know by scripture the Bible is a “How to
Create Everlasting People manual for Dummies” and it is very concise. As much
as we would all love to have any child that died before the age of
accountability, any mentally handicapped person and any other person that God
deemed to have that one chance still coming to them because they were not able
to choose before they passed away from the physical life, that is just not
possible according to Jesus. They will not be given a free pass. I believe our
Lord lay it upon my heart that the ones who are ruled and reigned over are
those people. No wonder Jesus needs to be in his resurrected body to give those
people their “one chance” to choose Him. And it makes sense that it is 1,000 years also, because it takes time
for the glory of Gods miracle that brought them back to the physical to fade
and arrogance and ego to brew into evil. That is why the Devil is released for
the last time to allow the final sifting of the millennial people and the ones
that choose Jesus will then be allowed to live with the Creator forever. This is no different than the 2,000+ years
from the first resurrection, it has now faded enough that now people question
the validity of God’s plan or even Jesus himself and evil has become vogue.
My Opinion
In my humble layman’s opinion, I
believe history repeats itself and especially when it comes to the battle of
the Devil against God. We can go all the way back to Genesis and the Devil
twisting Gods words just enough to cause man to question the truth. All through
the Scriptures you can see this unfold and when it comes to Jesus, the Devil
works overtime. One has to ask another question and this one is about the
Pharisees. Did the Pharisees love or hate God? I have pondered this question
and have challenged many people to answer it and the general consensus is that
the Pharisees loved God. Not that there weren’t some that were power hungry,
but the majority gave their life to the service of Gods work. What I believe
happened is that the Devil crept into the fold and tweaked the interpretation
of the Torah, not the actual words, a hundred or more years before the Messiah
was born. He tweaked it just enough to cause the followers of I AM to expect a
different Messiah than the one we know today. The evidence is in the Pharisees
that finally recognized Jesus, albeit some with extreme nudging, like Saul of
Tarsus. Saul’s dedication before and after Jesus spoke to him, proves Saul (Paul)
would have followed Jesus fervently in the first place if he would have not
been taught the wrong interpretation. Unfortunately, most of the Pharisees
didn’t accept Jesus, thus failed to gain everlasting life.
Ask yourself, what would have happened
to those Pharisees if they would not have been taught (and fallowed) the wrong
interpretation?
So let’s go 2,000+ years later and now
we are close to the second coming. Doesn’t it make sense that the Devil would
have crept into our Christian family and tweaked the interpretation of the end
times just enough to cause the majority of end time believers to not recognize
or be ready for what will really happen in the time of sifting and separating
the truth from a lie? Note the similarities; the schooled and taught were the
deceived in the first coming and they taught the masses the deception, it was
the layman and non-theologian fishermen, tax collectors, prostitutes and just
plain sinners that were smart enough to allow their understanding to flow to
the truth about the Jesus we Love. So, my main objective is to have our family
question any interpretation that is old (especially new to the last 200 [give
or take] years) and research the truth and let the Holy Spirit show the truth.
I say it is good to Hope we do not go through any portion of the Tribulation,
but to be prepared to triumph over the mark of the Beast physically and
spiritually. Isn’t that what our Father commands?
Final
thought about the Pre-Tribulation Rapture; this teaching may be another way God
will allow His people to be sifted and maybe you are doing your part in the
deception, I do not know. Just think about it and be part of the end time
solution and not a liability because you were too stubborn to prepare for
anything. Don’t think you can go knock on someone’s door that had prepared and
they will just let you in. On the contrary, they will tell you to go away and
get your supplies in town. If you wait too long it may be too late. Get some
water and some food supplies. Especially if you are a leader of a church; where
do you think your flock will go when something happens and if they are not
raptured? Be Wise, Not Foolish!
I know there are a many more verses,
but in reality one will either accept this teaching as possible, probable or
shrug it off as nonsense. I pray all will look at this with wisdom in Jesus
Name, AMEN.
Praise
be to Our Lord Jesus the Christ,
Brother
Rick G.
