This period known as the Time of The End is a time of 1335 days
(Dan. 12:11,12), and extends from the time the censer is hurled onto the earth from heaven
(Rev. 8:5) and lasts until the Second Coming. Its ending is when Christ comes to
free the trampled Israelites in Jerusalem and to collect the living saints.
Before Christ comes in all His glory at His Second Coming, He is revealed to every
nation, kindred, tongue and people by a special group whom He selects for that very
purpose. They are the 144,000 and in the Appendix I will present the reasons I
believe that these are represented mostly by Gentile Christians. Those are the wild
olive branches who have been grafted into the cultivated olive tree; the natural branches
having been cut off due to unbelief -- the literal Israelites from the twelve
tribes (Rom.11:17-20).
Now let us note carefully the series of events associated with the beginning of the
Great Tribulation. It is during the same period of the reign of the
Antichrist. He is the cause of the Great Tribulation. This time is the first
1260 (3-l/2 years) of our 1335 days of the time of the end.
Rev. 7:1-4 -- After this I saw four angels standing at the four
corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from
blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.
Then I saw another angel coming up from
the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the
four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: "Do not harm the
land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of
our God.
Then I heard the number of those who were
sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel."
The four winds that were about to blow on the earth represented the global catastrophes
to be unleashed as announced by the Trumpets. This carnage is to be held up until
the 144,000 are selected and sealed for their special work. Their special work must
be confined to the time of the Great Tribulation. Their testimony is to last for
1260 days -- the same time period allotted for the Great Tribulation. They
are sealed with a special filling of the Holy Spirit immediately before the winds of the
Great Tribulation are released, and at the time they finish their testimony (3-l/2 years
later) they are martyred by the beast from the abyss -- the counterfeit god.
Three and a half days following their martyrdom they are resurrected and called up
to heaven by a loud voice (Rev. 11:11,12).
Immediately following the rapturing of these witnesses to heaven the Seventh Trumpet
sounds. The trumpets are sounded by God's seven angels to announce the catastrophes
to be produced by the Antichrist. These represent the wrath of Satan. The
Seventh Trumpet does not represent another of Satan's plagues, but is to announce the
termination of the counterfeit's rule on this earth and the beginning of Christ's rule.
Notice the declarations made by the Seventh Trumpet.
Rev. 11:15-18 -- The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there
were loud voices in heaven which said:
"The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and He will reign for ever and ever.
This pinpoints the ending of the reign by the Antichrist and the beginning of Christ's
rule on this earth. Notice some of the statements of the 24 elders which followed:
Vss. 17,18 -- We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, because
you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry and your
wrath has come."
These plagues which had just been completed could not be due to the wrath of God,
because the statement "Your wrath has come" would represent the wrath
announced by the Seventh Trumpet and the wrath that occurred prior to that time would have
to be someone else's wrath. God's wrath is expressed in the Seven Last Plagues.
Rev. 15:1 -- I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign:
seven angels with the seven last plagues -- last because with them God's
wrath is completed.
Note another statement by the 24 elders:
Rev. 11:18 -- The time is come ... for rewarding "your
servants the prophets."
This is definitely referring to the 144,000 who are referred to as "your
servants" and "your servants the prophets" throughout Revelation. How
better could they be rewarded than rapturing them to heaven where they witness the earth
going through the Seven Last Plagues? They are God's special representatives to warn
the people of the earth about this evil impostor who claims to be above every god.
Their main task is to tell the world The Gospel of Christ as their only door to
salvation, which is in opposition to the claims of the Antichrist.
I believe the above gives a definite end point to the Antichrist's 3-l/2 year
reign, but we need to see if we can identify its initiation in the same manner.
The Antichrist cannot decide to take over the earth whenever he wants, but must await
God's timetable. This Antichrist represents Satan personified as a man. Just
as God came to this earth and was personified as a man (Jesus) and had a ministry of 3-l/2
years, so Satan has been given equal time to be personified as a man and a ministry
limited to 3-l/2 years to present his case to the world.
Jesus revealed God to be a God of love and compassion. Satan will be revealed
through this god-man (wickedness revealed in human form -- 2 Thess. 2:3 NEB) as a
wicked destroyer.
Dan. 8:12 -- Because of rebellion, the host of the saints, and
the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did and
truth was thrown to the ground.
"Because of rebellion" -- This is speaking of the rebellion
of the Israelites refusing to accept Christ as their savior for the past 2000 years.
"The host of the saints," -- These are the Israelites living
in the Land of Israel at the end-time. They were turned over to and conquered by the
Antichrist. Two-thirds of them were struck down and destroyed. Of the
remaining one-third, 50% were exiled to all the nations of this evil Conglomerate (10),
and the remaining 50% to be trampled on for 3-l/2 years in Jerusalem (Zech.13:8,9;
14;2).
"The daily sacrifice was given over to it." This represents the
heavenly service of holding back the winds of the Great Tribulation. This was
represented in the earthly sanctuary as the daily sacrifice which consisted of the
evening-morning sacrifices. These sacrifices were to continue daily without
interruption.
Num. 28:1-4 -- The Lord said to Moses, "Give this command to
the Israelites and say to them: ‘See that you present to me at the appointed time the
food for my offerings made by fire, as an aroma pleasing to me.’
Say to them: "This is the offering
made by fire that you are to present to the Lord: two lambs a year old without defect, as
a regular burnt offering each day.
Prepare one lamb in the morning and
the other at twilight."
These sacrifices were to be performed each and every day
and were designated as the Daily. They were also listed as the evening-morning.
After the 144,000 were sealed, notice how this daily service was given over to the
Antichrist -- which initiated the beginning of his reign.
Rev. 8:2-5 -- And I saw the seven angels who stand before God,
and to them were given seven trumpets. Another angel, who had a golden censer, came
and stood at the altar.
He was given much incense to
offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.
The smoke of the incense, together
with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. (An
aroma pleasing to God.)
The angel took the censer, filled it with
fire from the altar and hurled it onto the earth; and there came peals of thunder,
rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
This giving of the daily sacrifice over to this evil entity was God's method of giving
a rebellious earth its last wake-up call. In spite of His continuous outpouring of
blessings and heaven's bounties, the inhabitants of the earth have been going deeper and
deeper into open rebellion against God. Drastic conditions in man's spiritual
condition require drastic medicine by God in His all-out effort to secure man's salvation,
and to make sure that those who choose the impostor will be making a fully informed
decision.
Immediately after turning this world over to the Antichrist for his short rule, we note
that the restraints holding back the winds of strife are lifted:
Rev. 8:6,7 -- Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets
prepared to sound them.
The first angel sounded his trumpet, and
there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth.
A third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
We note that immediately following the angel hurling the incense-filled censer down
from heaven to earth, indicating the daily sacrifices were given over to this counterfeit
god, the first in a series of six plagues will be poured out on the earth. This
first plague was fire hurled down upon the earth from the heavens and the tremendous
devastation it produced.
We note from his description as the lamb-like beast of Revelation 13 that this will be
one of his most impressive signs to let us know who we are dealing with.
Rev. 13:13,14 -- And he (the lamb-like beast) perform-ed
great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in
full view of men.
Because of the signs that he was given
power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth.
It is not difficult to see how the majority of the earth, who are not aware of his
coming or the extent of his powers will be completely deluded into believing that he is
God; a claim that he persists in making and by his miracles, tries to prove.
I would like to show a possible connection with these manifestations, especially the
first plague, with the apparitions of Mary that have been sending messages to her favorite
church.
The most famous and best known apparition of Mary was to three shepherd children in
Portugal in 1917. According to Sr. Lucia -- the only one still living of
the three -- the message was in three secrets. The first two have been
published and propagated by the church. The third secret is also composed of three
distinct parts. In her (Sr. Lucia's) memoirs written in 1941 she lists the first and
second parts of the third secret.
The first is the vision of hell and the designation
of the immaculate Heart of Mary as the supreme remedy offered by God to humanity for
the salvation of souls." Our Lady said, "In order to save them, God
wishes to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart."The second is the great prophecy concerning a miraculous peace
which God wishes to grant to the world through the consecration of Russia to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the practice of communions of reparation on the first
Saturdays of the month.
"If people attend to my requests, Russia will be
converted and the world will have peace."
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The third part of the third secret remains a secret. The popes have read it and
agree that it is authentic, but have refused to publish it. They agree that it
concerns a punishment that is coming on the world, including the Catholic church.
Apparently this refusal to publish this portion of the third secret has angered the
apparitions of Mary. Some have felt that subsequent apparitions have left messages
which represent this missing part of this third secret. Notice the comment in a
Catholic source discussing the missing part of this third secret of Fatima:
Has the Blessed Mother revealed the third secret of Fatima in other messages?
Many people who have studied those messages clearly believe that the Blessed Mother
revealed it on 10/13/73 to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa at Akita, Japan. The apparitions at
Akita have been approved by the local bishop. The message was as follows:
"As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father
will inflict
a terrible punishment on all of humanity. It will be a punishment greater
than the Deluge, such as no one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from
the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad,
sparing neither priest nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate
that they will envy the dead. The only weapons which will remain for you will be the
rosary and the Sign left by my Son. Each day recite the prayers of the rosary.
With the rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops, and the priests... Pray very
much the prayers of the rosary. I alone am able still to save you from
calamities which approach. Those who place their confidence in me will be
saved."
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Others point out that our Lady seems to have revealed again the third secret in a locution
to the Marian Movement of Priests on 9/15/87 at Akita, Japan, the Feast of Our Lady of
Sorrows:
"A chastisement worse than the flood is about to come upon
this poor and perverted humanity. Fire will descend from Heaven and this will
be the sign that the justice of God has as of now fixed the hour of His great
manifestation... Even now, that which I predicted at Fatima and that which I have
revealed here in the third message confided to a little daughter of mine is in the process
of being accomplished."
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I have no reason to doubt that these apparitions were real and that these are the messages
they left. On the other hand, I am absolutely certain that the apparitions and their
messages are not from God. Nowhere in Scripture is there any mention that our
salvation is dependent, in any way, on our devotion to Mary.
This does inform us that these apparitions of Mary will apparently have a close
relationship with the "god" who brings down fire from heaven for the plague of
the first trumpet. The apparition states that this will be the Father who
will bring down this fire, and the Antichrist concurs:
Dan. 11:36 -- The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt
and magnify himself above every god, and will say unheard of things against the God of
gods. (He is this "father")
I believe these Marian apparitions are a part of those miraculous signs and wonders
that the lamb-like beast will produce to delude the world. I believe she,
"Mary" will be a spokesperson for the Antichrist because she will be his
product. I believe she will be featured more and more as time goes on and especially
in the time of the Great Tribulation.
To understand how some of these end-time events are arranged we need to look at the
type that was given for our study and understanding.
Babylon with Nebuchadnezzar the king were types of an end-time fulfillment. God
used Babylon to destroy Jerusalem and kill off the majority of her inhabitants due to
their persistent rebellion. Nebuchadnezzar took many exiles to Babylon and a remnant
of them were protected by God and in time were freed to return and rebuild their
homeland. There are many things that point to the same situation we are about to
experience here. Since this study is about the Image to the Beast I want to focus
our attention to an incident which occurred while the Israelites were exiles in
Babylon. I believe it is a portent of things to come:
Dan. 3:1-30 -- King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, 90 feet
high and 9 feet wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
He then summoned the satraps, prefects,
governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates and all the other provincial
officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up.
These are the representatives of his world empire as it existed at that time.
Then the herald loudly proclaimed, "This is what you are commanded to
do, O peoples, nations, and men of every language: As soon as you hear the sound of
the horn, flute, etc..., you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King
Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
Whoever does not fall down and worship
will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."
Read the entire chapter to see how the three Hebrew children remained faithful to God
and refused to worship the golden image that the king had made and demanded everyone to
worship.
Now let us look for the anti-type or the fulfillment of this incident, prophesied to
occur and soon to be fulfilled. Notice the similarities in the prophecy regarding
this counterfeit king in the end-time.
Revelation 13:14b,15 -- He (beast from the Abyss) ordered
them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet
lived. 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.
This lamb-like beast is a big step above Nebuchadnezzar. He not only sets up an
impressive image, but he was able to give breath to the image so that it could
speak. In a way that appears to be happening in these apparitions in the past, but
the image that is still coming appears to be a fixture which remains and will have the
power of speech.
This command to worship the image to the beast or be killed is also to be
world-wide. It states that it will cause all who refuse to worship the image
to be killed. Nebuchadnezzar had this apply to the world empire of his day which he
controlled, and this end-time king will do the same and he will be the king of all the
earth.
I believe the prophecy that Zechariah received from God (in Chapter 5) is definitely
speaking of the end-time and about this same event.
Zech. 5:5-11 -- (The woman in a basket) Then the angel who
was speaking to me came forward and said to me. "Look up and see what this is
that is appearing." I asked, "What is it?" He replied, "It is a
measuring basket." And he added, "This is the iniquity of the people throughout
the land."
Then the cover of lead was raised, and
there in the basket sat a woman! He said, "This is wickedness," and
he pushed her back into the basket and pushed the lead cover down over its mouth.
Then I looked up -- and there
before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a
stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth." Where are they
taking the basket?" I asked the angel who was speaking to me. He replied,
"To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it. When it is ready,
the basket will be set there in its place."
Remember, this is an end-time event. Where is Babylonia in this time
period? Certainly not Babylon of old. Remember Peter's greeting to the church
in his first epistle which he wrote to them from Rome?
1 Peter 5:13 -- She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you,
sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of
love.
I believe this basket contains the ‘woman’ that we have been receiving these
messages from. The messages that this counterfeit god, who will be ruling the earth,
has programmed her to speak. This would indicate that her abode will be in Rome
-- the Modern Babylon. We even have a time schedule to let us know when this
image will become set up and operational.
Dan. 12:11 -- "From the time that the daily sacrifice is
abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1290
days"
Now we know that the daily sacrifice is abolished at the time the incense-filled golden
censer is hurled onto the earth. This censer was an essential item in carrying out
these daily services as required. (Presenting a pleasing aroma to God)
The Seventh Trumpet sounds at the 1260 day time-frame, and represents the end of the
reign of the Impostor and the beginning of Christ's reign. Thirty days later -- 30
days into the time of the Seven Last Plagues, we come to 1290 days. This is the time
this Universal Death Decree (that we have been discussing) will be made to all the earth.
This will be the test that all the followers of Christ will be asked to take and it is
permitted by God. We have every assurance to believe that, if we remain true to God,
we will receive the same outcome as the faithful three Hebrew children received. Not
a hair of their body was singed and I believe we, if faithful, will be as impervious to
the devices of the false god.
This is called the "abomination that causes desolation." What could be
a greater abomination, than that which places a death sentence on anyone who chooses to
serve the true God? The desolation in this case is for those who fail this test.
Hopefully all who make this choice will remain faithful.
Addendum
Are the 144,000
Literal Jews?
We know that the ten Northern tribes of Israel were conquered and carried off by Assyria
in 722 B.C. They were soon blended into the nations of the earth with no trace of
them identifiable as Israelites. We also know that these 144,000 servants are
selected by God and specially sealed with the Holy Spirit 3-l/2 years before this
spiritual hardening of the Israelites is scheduled to be removed. This removal will
then allow these remnant Israelites to become reconciled to Christ and to obtain salvation
as His special people
Rom.11:25-27 -- I do not want you to be ignorant of this Mystery,
brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until
the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as
it is written:
"The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I
take away their sins. (Paul quotes from Isaiah 59:20,21; 22:9)
The 144,000 are selected by God to reveal Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue and
people prior to Christ's Second Coming. I believe they are selected to fill the
places of the 12 tribes of Israel by default; the Northern kingdom, because of their
period of abandonment which was probably permanent; the places of the Southern kingdom
-- Judah and Benjamin, because of their continuing state of rebellion, which was to
end after the last Gentile was called in.
We must remember that those 144,000 represent the first fruits of this earth's harvest
(Rev.14:4), and will be personally selected by God. He alone knows who each one will
be. Being the firstfruits, we know they will belong to Christ. We need also to
remember this:
Gal. 3:29 -- If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Then why do we try so hard to insist that those must come from literal Israelites?
We can see from the events which happen at that time that this is unlikely.
Some of them very well may be literal Jews who have fully accepted Christ, but there would
be a small pool of those to choose 144,000 from.
I believe these will mostly be represented by those wild olive branches which will be
grafted into the cultivated olive tree; this to replace those (Israelites) who were
removed for unbelief (Rom.11:17-20). These places were what the literal Israelites
were scheduled for, but lost by default.
Notice the insight the Lord gives us concerning the restoration of the Holy Land and
the source of its inhabitants after Christ's Second Coming:
Isa. 44:1-5 -- But now listen, O Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom
I have chosen. This is what the Lord says—... For I will pour water on
the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your
offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.
They will spring up like grass in a
meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams. One will say, ‘I belong to the
Lord;’ (sounds like a Gentile Christian), another will call himself by the
name of Jacob; (obviously a literal Israelite), still another will write on his
hand, ‘The Lord's’ and will take the name of Israel.
I believe this last group is referring to the 144,000. He writes on his hand
‘The Lord's,’ and will take the name of Israel. If they were literal
Israelites they wouldn't need to take the name of Israel because it would be their's
already. He writes on his hand ‘The Lord's,’ but remember the Lord has
already branded him with His name. Notice the description of the 144,000 in
heaven where they have been redeemed from the earth.
Rev. 14:1 -- Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb,
standing on Mt. Zion, and with him 144,000 who had His name and His Father's
name written on their foreheads.
What better way to indicate that these are ‘The Lord's?’ They are His
personal property because they are the firstfruits of earth's harvest. The
firstfruits always belong to the high priest in the earthly type, and in the anti-type
Christ is our high priest and this group follows Him wherever He goes, for eternity,
because they are His personal property.