The Warning

Verse 9, And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,

Verse 10, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Verse 11, And the smoke of their torment ascends up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receives the mark of his name.

John’s third angel comes bearing an ominous warning from God to all of these people regarding the image of the one world leader and his mark: everyone who bows down to worship and pay homage to either the one world dictator or his image, and anyone receiving his mark upon either his right hand or upon his forehead, will be subjected to the wrath of God Almighty, in the full. His anger will not be abated. It will not be watered down in any way. There will be no deliverance, and no forgiveness, for any such person. In addition, this means then that there will be ample time in advance of the beast and his mark to make the decision to accept, or, to reject. Multitudes will doubtless therefore be saved well ahead of the seating of the beast, and the enforcement of his hellish demand, although many will probably be saved just-in-time, afterwards as well. In fact, it almost appears that this warning may well be or will have to be generated and circulated before there is any real or perceived basis for them. That is, there will not be any beast or mark, before the warnings begin. They will, however, no doubt continue, and they will intensify as the moment of truth draws nearer, and nearer.

Needless to say, this declaration will leave believers ‘born’ during these dark days quite literally between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Worship God, per the invitation of the angelic preacher, letting one’s faith be known, and one is a dead man (albeit, having lost his life on account of his faith, he will in the end regain it to live throughout all eternity in the presence of the Lamb and the Father; this in accord with the promise of Jesus Christ: “…all who lose their lives for My Sake and the gospel, will gain new lives…”). Worship the beast, and his image, per the warning of the angelic preacher, and death (while not eluded entirely) may come more slowly, as one saves his life temporarily to live through the reign of the one world dictator but, death (eternal separation from God) will come surely (into and perhaps through the Millennial Reign of Christ, if he is numbered among the lucky (albeit eternally lost) ones! None should hedge any bets on his being among those “lucky ones”, as the chances for that would be a long shot at best; this, given that as many as 1.5 billion unsaved souls will lose their lives just during phase 1 of the Battle of Armageddon. There is no telling who might make up that rank of the dead, but, most assuredly, there is plenty of room for anyone, within the confines of a number so large!), yet, he is a dead man no less—destined to spend a never-ending eternity separated and isolated, with the devil they served, away from the God to whom they thumbed their noses, as they turned their backs to Him.

Case of the missing Church (The Rapture)

(1 Thessalonians 4)

It is difficult at best to say with any real certainty when or where in the eschatological timetable God will remove the church. It is not hard to imagine, however, that probably what few there are in America who remain alive will be evacuated before God signals the destruction of Babylon the Great, along with all others in a global “snatching up” of the deceased and the living. At any rate, remove it He will, be it immediately before the Apocalypse, before the Russians attack Israel, or before the collapse of Babylon the Great, which will doubtless fall before God utterly pulverizes the Russo/EU/Muslim confederacy.

During the days of the interlude–whether it is for seven years or, for seven years plus (one would think 10.5 years minimum)—unquestionably, tensions will mount, a thirst for revenge will reign until finally tempers will flair as the world vies for what it will likely view as a final desperate bid to rid itself of any vestige of the influence of Almighty God—Jew and Christians (protestants) being its primary focus. Why do the heathen rage, as they (the pagans) imagine vain or worthless things; taking council together (as they do) against the Almighty and His Messiah, the Psalmist queries in Psalm 2? God has already made Himself real in their thinking by the now defunct Russo-Arab alliance. However, but for the lingering scars of that reality, the only tangible, visible sign of that Presence is the Christian and, of course, the Jew. Behind the scenes the Lord will stoke the fires of doubt, so as to coax a yet God hating, Christ rejecting world to still another banqueting table and feast, set for the birds and wild animals, upon which they (the gentiles of the world) are the main entree. As bad as the Russo-Arab defeat was, the adage some folks never learn, will now take on new meaning, as all hell is about to break loose within the confines of this bubble housing our terra firma. Before this can take place, however, God has other plans, special plans, for His church. Actually, it is not clear, so that one cannot be absolutely certain whether this, the Rapture, will take place after the fall of the Russian/Arab coalition, or before. The reality is, the rapture could (and most likely will) very well take place prior to God’s toppling of Babylon the Great, which must fall before the Russians feel confident that they can launch their incursion into Israel without significant interference from other foreign powers (Rev. 18). The 4.65 million Ashkenazim here in the U.S. now, having significant ties in all areas of government and business, could pretty much preclude any such occurrence (a Russian incursion into Israel), for the time being.

Where the world at large is concerned, nothing much can or will happen—in the course of everyday living—to change his mind with regard to the Apocalypse, whether or not it will occur; its proximity. They simply do not believe, and/or could not care less. The clearest warning bell will be sounded, however, when they awaken one sweet morning to find that the hated Christian, and many a Jew, is no more; vanished and that without a trace! Although there will be Christians during the Apocalypse period, these will actually be saved after this period of hell on earth begins. No Christian living prior will enter that time of testing (one uses the term Christian here with reference to those who actually are such, not to nominal Christians who, being religious, are so chiefly in name and by church affiliation only).

THE FIG TREE

By

Alvin Mitchell

All prophecy, John penned in the Revelation, is about Jesus (Rev. 19:10—“…the Spirit of prophecy is Jesus”, his angelic, apocalyptic host informed him.). Jesus Christ is therefore Bible prophecy’s theme and chief point of focus. If this simple assertion be true then, for this reason alone, the subject and the study of Bible prophecy is tremendously elevated in the thinking of the saints, both Jew and Christian, given that it puts the genre on a par with the four gospels, in terms of relevance and importance. Furthermore, one might think of prophecy, therefore, as a kind of Fifth Gospel.

A Great Wonder in Heaven

A Pregnant Woman

Chapter 12, Verse 1, 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:

This chapter opens with a pageantry of events that encapsulate the history and trauma of the nation of Israel, from God’s perspective. It is an allegory (a story told in symbols or pictures) of the complete history of the nation of the Jews, from the conception, as it was revealed to the elder of the two youngest of Jacob’s sons—Joseph—to the mid-point of the last seven years of modern history (the story is complete with the hellish power behind the troubles Israel has often faced, throughout her long history). Moreover, what we have here in heavenly graphics is another one of a plethora of scripture (in addition to the 144,000), which quite dispel false notions as that God is in anywise finished with the Jew (or, even, that there are no more of them!). The Jew is very much alive, even as he is very much an indelible, integral part of God’s plans for the future and last days of this old, battered world in which we live. They are not hapless victims of so-called “replacement theology”. They have not been replaced in favor of the church.

When Jacob’s son Joseph was his well-favored seventeen-year-old, God gave him a dream, which prefigured the nation that was to be born and rooted in his family. Joseph shared that dream with his eleven envious brothers, all of whom hated his guts, initially, and even more, afterwards. They instantly understood fully, the ramifications. In a second dream, God enlarged upon the first, whereupon, Joseph informed both his brothers and his father. The sum of the dreams was such that the sun and the moon, along with eleven sheaves/stars would someday fall prostrate before the one sheaf or star. All, including old Jacob, with measurable consternation (and contempt, from the brothers) interpreted the dreams to imply that the entire family would at some point be subject to the elder of the two youngest sons. What they failed to realize, given of course that they could not see the future, was that God was mapping in advance His plan for first the preservation of a people (through unforeseen tough times ahead, over which they had no control), then, the birthing of a nation by whom He would birth His Blessing upon all the nations of the earth, according to His promise to Adam, Abraham and Isaac.

Adonai Jehovah instructs His servant, the prophet, to issue a terse reminder to Gog, the head of the chiefs of the states of Meshech and Tubal: he is to expect to be induced into conflict with His people, within the confines of Israel, after he has been lured out of the comforts of his own home in the uttermost quarters; he is to expect a crushing humiliation, and, a devastating defeat at the hands of the Almighty Himself (as Israel will not have a friend upon whom to lean), as all his weapons are rendered useless upon the mountains of Eretz Israel; following his drubbing, the small birds (and vultures) and wild animals will feast upon what is left of the carcasses and blood of all his armies, of which only 1/6 will survive. No specific numbers are given, or, suggested. One can imagine, however, that—in light of the staggering commitment of troops by the roughly five or so nations involved, possibly in the high hundreds of thousands, or into the millions—five sixths of the total of everything and everyone—men, livestock, equipment—all will be utterly destroyed by an act of God, on behalf of His helpless, hapless (although they are most fortunate to have Him on their side), and beleaguered people. No doubt, to a degree, the few who survive this beating in the mountains of Israel will be the catalysts by means of whose testimonies and eye witness accounts many others (among their people groups, in their various homelands), military and civilians, will be brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus, who is the Christ.

Gog and company in the field, having suffered a sore discomfiture, Adonai Jehovah will then turn His attention to Magog, venting His wrath and anger upon the homeland of Gog. Not only so, but, those in faraway lands, those who could (maybe) have come to the aid of the Jew but chose not to, thinking themselves to be secure from the dangers of this latest in middle eastern conflicts, will find, however, that they are not exempt from God’s judgment. All who live free from concern in the isles (no doubt a reference to the over five continents, as opposed to tiny, otherwise insignificant, individual little islands, exclusively) will be visited so that they too might know firsthand and feel the wrath of their Maker, who they all are guilty of rejecting. Having issued His proclamation, and spoken His plan for judgment, the certainty of it all is such that, it is as good as done in the mind, the eyes and heart of Adonai Jehovah.

The Beast

Mortal Combat!

Verse 7a, And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

Whatever their immense power, no matter the amount of misery they are allowed to inflict upon a God-less, Christ rejecting world, etc., the two witnesses will still, at the same time, be mortal men, subject to all the rules governing life and mortality. The world will have done everything that it can to rid itself of their enigmatic presences. Every effort to stop and/or apprehend the witnesses will have ended with the relentless deaths of their pursuers. At this point, the Italian leader (who will become the “beast”) enters the picture. Upon his arrival he is met with the same fate as all who dare oppose the two prophets: he will be killed as they will be. Meanwhile, their rampage will continue.

The term beast is a rough translation of the Greek word “therion”, thay-ri’-on, meaning more literally a dangerous, wild animal. It is illustrative of God’s perception of him as a loathsome thing, one esteemed as exceptionally low, or, lowdown; detestable.

It is impossible at this point to tell who the beast will be, or precisely what his rank or status will be at the moment of his calling. Daniel, however, gives clues that are most enlightening. Thus, according to Daniel’s prophecies, his being will be that of an individual of high station, a prince and ruler of the people who destroyed the city of Jerusalem and its Temple (70 AD and 135 AD)—who will or could be anything from some high-ranking Italian government official having a strong background in law enforcement or the military, to even Italy’s Prime Minister, in those days. John’s depiction in Revelation 17 assigns him the rank/title of a “Caesar” (Greek, Kaisar, kah’-ee-sar=Caesar)—which need not mean that, as such, this end-times ruler will have ties to any of the ancient Caesars, given that they were not all related even then.

Entry of one of his rank and caliber into the fracas orchestrated and managed by the two witnesses will signal that the world now realizes that facilitation of the deaths of these two agonizing thorns in their sides can no longer be left to chance. Nor must it be further entrusted to a posse of lesser-lings who will have been left looking like a squad of witless misfits (as prescribed by their Commissioner, all who challenge them winds up, not just defeated but, dead!). The witnesses need to go, and, they need to go now! The globally destabilizing romps of God’s two olive trees must be brought to a swift end.

Verse 7b, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

The Nose-ring of (in-)Security

Without specifying why, ’70s theological and prophetic rumor-mill had it that communist Russia had been eying Israel, for some time, as a strategic point from which they could control the world. This thought, too, is most compelling when one considers that it has been said that the most convenient route for the flow of oil out of the Middle East to the rest of the world is through the land of the Jews. With two-thirds of global supplies stored in that area, assuming the foregoing is true, control of God’s country would indeed place the holder (like Russia) in a unique position of considerable “clout”. If she can knock Israel off, Jordan would not be a problem, and all the other Arab nations, for the time being, are in Russia’s corner. Others like the Chinese—as well as Great Britain, and the Germans—will be eying with ambition this same piece of prime real estate, realizing its value, but, she will have the high ground, as it were—the high ground being in this case Israel. From that vantage point she can practically dictate the terms of war with any detractors, insofar as she and the Arab world will control the lion’s share of all the world’s crude, and natural gas (the top three producers of crude are all in that general part of the world: the Saudis, the Iranians and the Russians, in that order.). No nation today can wage war without adequate supplies of petroleum, and its derivatives. For reasons to be covered later, no one will be able to match her military might, built around her nuke arsenal (even as she languishes; though weak and, apparently, suffering the pangs of many setbacks, she is still nevertheless, as she is quick to point out, a force to be reckoned with; this, no one is likely to question); no nation will have her resources; it will therefore, be in the best interests of all to stand with her (if current interpretations and understandings surrounding what is knowable of the history of “Gomer” hold any water at all, then, certain if not all the ‘key’ factions of the “Celtic” peoples including the Germans, will be confederate with the Russo/Islamic federation. That is, “Gomer” is in all likelihood a reference to all of Western Europe, particularly those areas once peopled and dominated by the Celts. Thus, it appears Russia will come, having gotten this point across already). With the Jews gone, and a beachhead in Palestine, Russia, it will think, can buy a moment’s peace of mind, and a bit of security from the enemy most likely and most capable of exploitation in her time of weakness. Given the aforementioned nose-rings, it cannot be, but that, the security (of knowing she does not have to contend with the presence of the self-styled Jew any longer) will be a prime motivator driving her against the people of God, into the arms of a hellish destruction. Realistically, but for these reasons, there does not appear on the surface to be any other good, solid nose-ring on earth as to why a nation 876.2 times bigger than Israel would ever want to bypass must larger lands, only to invest heavily in the conquest of something so small—except as it be, as we have been told, for the hand of Almighty God!

Book Description

Judgment Day: Volume 4 The Screenplay

The Book of the Revelation is not a standalone tale of the end times. That is, it was never intended to be the complete history written in advance of how God intends to bring life on earth as we know it to a close. Rather, as the totality of this study attempts to show, it is an organized saga, woven together around three fundamental themes, which are the sums of many other eschatological subthemes that must be extracted and stitched together, as it were, so as to construct the narrative God wants this, what might be termed our terminal generation, to see.

Having then accomplished the bulk (or most if not all) of the heavy lifting, the question before us now is how does it all fit together? Knowing as we do that the road to Armageddon begins with a coordinated attack that brings about the collapse of an end times economic colossus, the preservation and rise of Israel to the level of a Superpower followed by the events of the Revelation, what should be our take-away in terms of how this will or might actually play out in sequence if we could see all the parts acted out before us, as if on the “big screen”? What message does God want His saints to convey to the world at large relative to His plans for the end of this age (Obviously, the symbols and pictures presented to John and to us suggests that God has a specific vision or image that He wishes to implant upon our minds)? Or, put another way, what should the “big picture” look like?

This book, Judgment Day, Volume 4, Acts of GOD verses Gods of Earth (The Screenplay), is the finale in an effort to lay out a compilation designed to paint a virtual portrait of the end times road that leads to the return of Christ and the Battle of Armageddon. The verse-by-verse discussion already having been done, it will flesh out, in a matter of speaking, or put another way, the primary objective here is to explore the topic of Judgment Day in its three primary themes from its purely cinematic point of view—namely

• #1) Judgment Day USA,
• #2) Judgment Day: Israel a Global Superpower, and
• #3) Judgment Day: God’s Last Call.

If those of you on my rss.com feed have enjoyed or otherwise found the this initiative in anywise worthy of your attention, you may find this coagulation of this all effort equally intriguing, if not informative. In addition to weekly blog posts, The full audio version as well as a printed (pdf) version is available here, on WordPress: Audio Book: Judgment Day, Volume 4: GOD Verses Gods of Earth! – 1 Bible Study Hour 4U.com

You may find the free weekly blog here: https://1biblestudyhour4u.com/blog-posts-2/.

For prophecy notes, outlines and charts, click here: https://1biblestudyhour4u.com/blog-posts-3/?frame-nonce=c059eb97e5

Please do take the time to check us out there!

Nipped in the Bud

Hereby, Solomon shattered any hope he ever had that his family line would ever host the Messiah. Although certain of his descendants were faithful, in a manner comparable to king David, Solomon’s failure was all that was necessary to void the promise, where he and his offspring were concerned. Effectively, with every opportunity in the world before him to succeed on the one hand (ostensibly, that is, given the family factor, which still could have wrecked any success on his part), he never had a chance, on the other. He did not merely do something wrong; that would have been bad enough. Rather, this, the wisest man of all time—by the Hand and generosity of the God of his father, no less—did completely sever his good relationship with the God of his fathers, choosing and committing himself to doing evil in His sight, in deference to his three hundred wives and seven hundred concubines—most or many of whom were pagans, to whom he should never have been married in the first place (he never repented or returned; Ezekiel 3:20-21).

“Because you have done this, having refused to obey My commandments and My statues, I will now take the Kingdom from you and give it to your servant…you will be left with only one tribe, and that, only for sake of My servant David, and for Jerusalem, which I have chosen…so as to preserve on his behalf a Light in My presence, forever” (I King 11:11-13, 36; that Light “preserved forever” is none other than the Light of the world—the Messiah Himself).

The Last Glimmer of Hope

Immediately prior to the Babylonian invasion and captivity, as if to squeeze every glimmer of any remaining light out of a dark, lightless chapter long closed and dead to the Solomon clan with reference to the grand plan, God makes the following declaration regarding the last of David’s rebel descendants to rule upon the throne in Jerusalem: “even if Coniah (Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim) …were a signet upon My right hand, I would nonetheless pluck it off…this is what the Lord has to say, ‘write this man off as one who has never had a child, one who will not prosper, ever, in his life…given that none of his progeny will ever prosper, sitting (as king) upon the throne of David, or ruling any more from Judah’” (Jer. 22:24-30).

The point of Jeremiah’s prophecy is not that Coniah would never have sons. Rather, God was emphasizing finality of his determination that no son or descendant of Solomon would ever be included in the Messianic line-up. His proclamation was, therefore, the final death nail in a series, on top of the ultimate of death nails, this man would never have a son who would ever serve as king in Jerusalem. The lineage listing in Matthew’s gospel shows quite clearly that Jehoiachin did in fact have sons, albeit, in captivity, after he was deported by the Babylonians. None was ever a king; had it been otherwise, then Joseph, husband of Mary and stepfather to the Christ, would have been king at the time of the birth of Jesus. “…if you forsake Him, He will forsake you, forever”, David, the incumbent king, warned Solomon in his waning moments (I Chron. 28:9). King Solomon never returned or repented of his evil.

Verse 10, “this is what the Lord-like-no-other, The Self-Existent One, Who exists forever (Adonai Jehovah) has to say, ‘at the time of your attack, you will proceed according to a preconceived, mischievous plan, diabolical in nature; you will talk to yourself about how you will militarily harass a land defenseless, living safely and at peace, unable to match and fend against your own military might, for the purpose of pillaging, openly robbing and plundering…’” Verse 14, “for this reason, son of man, (you are My mouthpiece) speak and tell Gog, this is what the Lord of all lords, Who is Self-Existing eternally, has to say, ‘in the day when My people are living securely, will you not be fully aware (knowing well their vulnerability)’”?

Still tough to envision, is it not? And yet, why should it be, knowing the diplomatic and trade ties between the two countries? How a nation like Russia could ever be so foolish as to consider war with a nation like Israel, for the purpose of taking a…a “what”(!)? Both nations are cash strapped and economically challenged, so what does a tiny, virtually insignificant little country like Israel possibly have that would ever satisfy the virtually unquenchable thirst of one as large as Russia’s? One would think that just the shear cost of an assault on a scale akin to the one portrayed here, might far outweigh negatively anything or, any benefit that might be gained from such a venture; particularly given the financial straits the Jews face right now. At six million, five hundred, sixty-two thousand square miles, what could a nation the size of Russia, with its vast resources, ever see in a nation like Israel, measuring only around 7.849 thousand square miles (indications are such that, or, they suggest that, Russia has far greater resources at its disposal, than Israel has space to live!)?