Chapter 21 -Trips to the Tomb with Chart of Passion Week – Days and Events
About the Author
As a child I was raised a Lutheran, and I can clearly remember one day when the Sunday school teacher was obviously feeling a little evangelistic. Up to then we would mostly spend our time coloring, doing flannel board lessons about bible characters, or just spend the time out on the playground while our parents were in Church. But on this one particular day she shared with us kids that if we had Jesus in our hearts then we would get to go to heaven, but if not, well… we would go to hell.
Now that was some pretty powerful news for kids between 6-8 years old. So, I raised my hand and asked her, “How do we know Jesus is real?” After all, none of us had ever seen Him hanging around the church and all I had ever seen were drawings or paintings of Him. Now my question really threw her threw a loop, for after looking at me for a bit she honestly replied, “I don’t know, I guess we just better believe in case He is,” Well, that was it for me. If she didn’t have an answer for that one, why would I ask any more questions?
However, that night in bed I remembered what she said and my thoughts went to a painting my grandmother had of Jesus standing outside an arched door knocking to come in. As I lay there I knew what she said was true even if she hadn’t been able to answer my question. Her crude little Gospel message was still sharp enough to pierce into my little heart. I was scared, and so I began to cry being frustrated that she wasn’t able to answer my question. For had she given me an answer, I certainly would have asked the one that was agonizing me that night, “How do I get Jesus into my heart?”
So, as I lay on my back in bed I began to repeatedly turn a knob to an imaginary door on my chest and pretended I was opening a door over and over while crying, “Jesus, please come into my heart…” I wish I could say from that point on I have faithfully served the Lord, but that’s not the case. For though I believed in the Lord, there was still no one in my life that could effectively speak the things of God into my life. Oh I believed Jesus was real, but He quickly became only Sunday-go-to-church real. With no real mentor or example to teach me how to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,” I eventually found church was no longer able to capture my attention. Church soon became nothing more than another meeting place that parents took their kids to.
As far as school goes, it was never a real attention grabber for me. The only thing that made any sense to me was math, but oh how I hated English, History, and Science. I just felt it all was completely irrelevant to my life. The worst thing they ever did to me was put me in sight of a window. For the life of me, there was no way I could focus in school knowing the whole world was going on outside.
Add to that, being a teenager in the sixties it was really easy for me to get caught up in the music and drugs and before long I was staying out all night. There was no vision in my life other than living the moment and doing drugs. I had good parents who loved me and disciplined me, but even though I loved them I just couldn’t keep their rules anymore. So after 9th grade I quit school and ended up running away from home when I was fifteen with a pregnant girlfriend. We eventually got caught across the state and had to go home, but it didn’t take long before I was back on the street. I assure you, a fifteen year old on the streets makes a lot of compromises to get by and crime becomes the norm.
Eventually I moved into some guy’s back yard toolshed with a couple other guys, each of us paying five dollars a week. Late one night we were all getting high on a construction site in the neighborhood with some other potheads when two of them began to brag about how great and powerful Satan was. I admit I was a bit taken back by them at first. But being stoned and thinking about my own destitute situation in life, I asked them very seriously, “Ok, if Satan is so powerful, then what can he do for me?” To my surprise they looked at me and got extremely upset and started cursing at me and just left. I wasn’t sure what really happened, I just thought they were extremely weird. But over the years I’ve concluded somehow they were given the message “No, leave this one alone.”
Eventually I ended up in a non-denominational house church that started what they called a “Discipleship Program.” I moved in with the pastor and a couple other men and started my discipleship. After years of involvement I was made a deacon, then an elder, and eventually even an assistant pastor. It was in that church that I met a very special woman and we got married. The church eventually started a school and a Christian dinner theater, but things in general didn’t progress very well. Sadly, some of the leaders didn’t really walk the Christian walk and soon alcohol, sex and sin were the hidden norms everywhere. Being consumed by the guilt of my own sins, one Sunday when my turn came to preach, I decided to share my last message from the passage below.
Galatians 6:1 – Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
The focus of my message was simple, are you fellow leaders even spiritual enough to recognize when a man is overtaken in a fault? Or have you too already yielded to all your temptations. It was my last cry of desperation as I made plans to leave the church. My wife and I moved 300 miles away and within a year I was fallen again headlong into immorality, drug use and alcohol. I found out firsthand what a really big jerk my wife’s first husband was… even though to this day she has only been married once.
A couple of years later, and over a thousand miles away from home, separated and all alone on a blood moon eclipse night, I was so drugged out and intoxicated that my body was having alarming signs threatening me that that night might well be my very last. I cried out again to God, “Lord, all I wanted was to be a man of God. I believe in You, but I don’t believe in anything I was taught anymore. Why can’t I be an overcomer? Why can’t I do the right thing? Lord I just want to go home and start over.” I woke up the next day resolved to do just that, but I had so many things I needed to get right before I could. I tried my best to mend local relationships and wrongs committed and then sold everything I owned but my clothes and van and headed back home.
Once home I was trying hard to do the right thing and was graciously reunited with my wife. One Sunday we were with some other Christian friends as we all decided to visit a new Church started by a popular Miami Beach performer who supposedly became a Christian. Having been through so much sin myself, who was I to throw stones or to judge?
So, I went and listened to him preach and he hit on all the points that make sinners want a happier and better life. He gave an invitation saying he knew there were many needing deliverance, and if you’ve been struggling with sin then come up and he was going to pray for you. Having struggled all my life with sin I went up.
There we were all lined up in front from left to right and he started praying. As he walked down the line he was laying hands on the people and they were all falling backwards. I said to the Lord, “Here I am. No games anymore. If this is You Lord I want it all.” I figured God was big enough to knock me down like everyone else, so I kept my eyes open and waited my turn.
When this man came to me he closed his eyes and laid his hand on my head, but nothing happened. I think he was more surprised than me. Suddenly while I am looking into his eyes he angrily says,” You’re not going to resist me you foul spirit!” And then he stepped into me and literally shoved my head backwards causing me to lose my balance. I immediately stood up, shook my head in disbelief and went back to my seat. As I walked back to my seat I felt the Lord impressed upon me, “I am your Deliverer, do not look to man.”
I did however have the wisdom to understand God wasn’t telling me to ignore other believers or the gifts He had given them for His glory, but at that point in time He wanted me to seek Him and Him alone. It was there I made a decision to put everything I ever thought about Jesus Christ and Christianity upon God’s altar and to start proving all things afresh in the light of the scriptures. What I discovered shouldn’t surprise anyone, for we all heard it for years; the truth will set you free. For men’s problems are never the truth; it is always their unwillingness to fully surrender to the terms of the Truth.
I wish I could say from that point on everything was better, but the reality for me was like it is for all of us; whether we like it or not there is a war going on and until Jesus Christ returns we are all caught in the middle of it. The adversary has never been content to leave me alone, however he now knows that I know he has truly lost this war and his time is short. Nevertheless, he constantly does what he can out of hatred to God to oppose me, or tries to nudge me a little to the left or right, and when that isn’t working he tries to flatter me. He does anything and everything he can to try and get my eyes off Jesus Christ even for just a moment. Perhaps the closest he ever came to destroying me was using God’s own people as a source of discouragement to me, and with a root of bitterness springing up in me I almost threw in the towel and gave up, but my Jesus didn’t. He saved me.
For the record, I have been a pastor, worked for years volunteering by holding meetings at men’s shelters and Sunday night services at a rehab that was a volunteer/mandatory alternative to jail or prison. I even opened a Christian Coffee shop for a couple of years. Through it all, the heart of my preaching was never that men can escape hell and go to heaven, rather the Gospel message is that through Jesus Christ all men can be what God always intended them to be, a reflection of His glory made fit for the Kingdom of God. For God made us in His image with the desire that we all be His glory in the earth and by the cross, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we can be.
Honestly, while life has never been easy, it has often been very good. But we have all met those who have had it worse than us. So like I often say, “Life’s not fair, live it none the less.” When people ask what I do for a living every so often I still reply, “I work with wood.” Being a tradesman who has always worked with his hands, I eventually became a building contractor. But while I was fairly proficient at the design and fabrication side of the construction business and ended up doing some pretty high end work, the logistical side never ceased to be a grievance to me with all the red tape and regulations. All that stuff just exasperated a guy who simply loved doing a good job for a fair price. My reputation was built on service and quality, and I thank the Lord for the good work ethic that He worked in me. More than once I sacrificed profit and put money back into the job to get it done right and assure the customer’s satisfaction. I’ve learned the Lord honors the man that keeps his word, even to his own loss or hurt.
Thanks to the economy, I became a home inspector in the insurance industry. But I must admit at times feeling as if I am a bit outside the calling God had for me… perhaps like a Levite would, who having no earthly inheritance may have felt when they were forced to wander the land looking for a place to provide for their family due to the neglect and poverty God’s house suffered at times. Perhaps that’s part of the consequences of my sins in this life.
Still, without a doubt one of my greatest pleasures is reasoning the things of God with reasonable people. So please don’t assume the things I share are intended to be dogmatic statements that I am right and everyone else is wrong. Rather I openly share my thoughts simply because I believe them to be true and willingly submit them to the scrutiny of other believers. I can’t stress enough how much I appreciate those who love me enough to tell me, “Brother, you’re wrong.” But not only tell me I am wrong, but will patiently labor with me while respecting my integrity and convictions till they can show me just where and how I was wrong. Lord knows how much I need such men and women of God in my life, we all do.
All that said, for the record I did manage to get my GED, so I guess that’s the height of my academic credentials as a Christian author. Perhaps that really means I am still just a carpenter, a guy who occasionally works with wood and still loves to read his bible. But I would like to make one last point about myself, while I agree we will all disagree sometimes and somewhere, I refuse to “agree to disagree” as if that’s somehow a noble thing for believers in Christ. Rather we must all learn to respect the integrity of each other’s convictions and humbly labor together to understand each other if we are going to make any headway towards coming to a unity of faith and a knowledge of the Truth. Remember, even at our best, we all only know in part. That’s why we have each other and need charity…
Ephesians 4:11 – And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
Therefore, until we all meet each other on the other side, live for Jesus Christ the resurrected King of kings!
Stay blessable, on fire, and unburnable,
William Males
NOTE – If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me. My email is wemales@yahoo.com – Please use subject line: “The Eighth Beast”
Awake!
Awake, you sleeper! Awake! Arise and make yourself ready! It’s time to put aside those childish pursuits and your endless musing with vanities. Awake, I say! Do you not realize the time in which you are privileged to live? Now more than ever can the sound of the bridegroom’s coming be heard! Surely, He draws near.
The need to purify yourself has grown greater as the time allotted has grown shorter. The dark of night has already conquered the eastern horizon as the sun glow fades in the west. The king had long ago sent out His invitation. He proclaimed to all, “COME!”
Yes, come, and make haste! Do you not know that if you refuse to comply with the King that His anger will be kindled against you? Yet in His longsuffering He still says, “Come! Come to the greatest of all feasts! There is food, wine, and much song and dance. Joyful dance to celebrate the wedding of all weddings. Come and attend My wedding.”
The bridegroom has long been ready, yet He has patiently waited. He has waited for you! Arise therefore you sleeper! So much remains for you to do. TODAY you must prepare. Set aside your complacency and strive to mature! Strive to increase your knowledge and understanding so you may be completely resolved to live your life solely for the King of kings! Rise up and cast out reservation and hesitation, these are foes that have hindered and killed countless before you. Arise! Answer His call!!
It is your only reasonable response . . .
“Awake thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, Christ shall give thee light. Awake to righteousness and sin not. For some[of you]have not the[intimate]knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” (Eph. 6:14, I Cor. 15:34)
For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head . . . because of the angels.
In the last few decades there has risen much confusion around this particular verse, as well as the whole of the subject matter being addressed here by Paul to the Corinthians. All the same, this verse is part of God’s Holy Word and is intended to be both informative and instructive, though tucked neatly away here in a very illuminating passage of scriptures.
Since it is part of God’s Word that never changes, believers today are still obliged to give the utmost prayerful consideration as to its application to their lives. For we are to be as lights in the midst of this dark and blind world; and are also called to properly “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things,” both in what we say and do, in order to give the glory and honor due to the Blessed Name of our Glorious Savior Jesus Christ.
Nonetheless, for a variety of reasons, “believers” nowadays simply choose to ignore Paul’s 298 instructive words in this particular passage, (counted in the King James prior to verse sixteen) and have imprudently conclude “we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.” In so doing, they treat Paul’s instruction here as completely irrelevant to them, as if it was written without reason, and were a complete waste of Paul’s time and parchment.
Nevertheless, up until the last half-century or so, the majority of “the churches of God” did keep the custom of women wearing head coverings to some degree. This shows that most believers in today’s Church have lost the very attribute for which Paul was praising the Corinthian church in the first place, “I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
So, what was Paul saying, “we have no such custom, neither the churches of God?” Well, what was the beginning of that verse?
1 Corinthians 11:16 – But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
What this verse is saying is simply this, as believers and members of the Body of Christ, we are not supposed to be contentious, for only by pride comes contention.
Though Jude said to “earnestly contend for the faith,” that does not mean we are to be contentious or belligerently quarrelsome. There is a big difference between earnestly reasoning the perceptual truths of God and argumentatively rejecting them out of personal preference or ignorance.
Still, many discard parts of God’s word simply because they don’t understand them and therefore don’t feel they are important, or that it doesn’t apply to today’s church. These poor servants of Christ would miserably fail to follow what has been called “the Gospel of Mary,” when she told the servants at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, “Whatsoever He says unto you, do it.”
The Gospel isn’t a smorgasbord buffet-style religion where everyone gets to pick and choose what they want to do. They who would come to Christ, hoping to have the atoning blood of the Lamb of God applied to their lives, must do as did the Jews in Egypt; they must consume ALL of the sacrificial Lamb WITH its bitter herbs . . . not just the choice tender desirable parts.
Exodus 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roasted with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And you shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning you shall burn with fire.
1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin..
To refuse to do “whatsoever He says unto you” leaves one as guilty as those preachers failing to keep the Great Commission, “Go you therefore, and teach all nations . . . to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”
So, as I stated before, until recently the majority of “the churches of God” faithfully kept the custom of women wearing head coverings. Therefore, one would do well to ask, “Why then, and not now?” What is different? Are today’s liberal churches more enlightened? Or have they simply moved further from the faithful application of God’s perceptual truths, to now abusing the liberty they have from sin’s dominion through grace as an unwarranted liberty of the flesh?
We do well to remember what Paul said to the church of Corinth, “I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.”
What were the ordinances? Perhaps an even better question would be what exactly is an ordinance? A simple way to find out what Paul meant is to study how the Greek word which was translated “ordinances” in this verse was translated elsewhere in scripture. For out of the thirteen times the word was used in scripture, only this one time was it translated “ordinances.” The other twelve times it was translated “tradition” or “traditions” as seen below-
Matthew 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
Matthew 15:3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Matthew 15:6 And honour not his father or his mother, [he shall be free]. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
Mark 7:3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash [their] hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
Mark 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, [as] the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
Mark 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your traditions, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
1 Corinthians 11:2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered [them] to you.
Galatians 1:14 And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the tradition of my fathers.
Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
2 Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
God used the Apostle Paul to deliver ordinances, or traditions, which he intended to be observed by the Church. However, while some at Corinth kept them, others had elected not to. This division in keeping the observance Paul had commanded had led to a contention between them, and that is not surprising since the true foundation of this subject matter is that of spiritual authority.
It is evident Paul had some who were strong resisters of his authority in the Corinthian church as testified by scripture-
1 Corinthians 9:11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? 12 If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:2 But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
2 Corinthians 11:12 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
Paul was trying to set things in proper order and lay a firm foundation for their understanding of order and godly authority in the Church. Hence Paul wrote, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” It is evident here that Paul was rehearsing the divine structure, or order of authority to them, which is established further by the phrase “For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.”
The Bible in Basic English states it this way, “For this reason it is right for the woman to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels.” So, we readily see that the woman ought to have her head covered while praying or prophesying, i.e. teaching the things of God. But what does it mean “because of the angels?” Just what does a head covering, or the covering of the hair, have to do with the angels?
Well, let us look through a window provided by scripture into the throne room of heaven-
Isaiah 6:1 – In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.
Here we can see the angel’s were using two of their wings to cover their face, which meant they held their wings over their heads so as to conceal their faces, and with two they covered their feet. But why?
The answer is simple, they did not wish for their God-given beauty to detract from the glory, honor and praise due to God alone. This will become more evident as we continue, for in the scriptures there is a detectable similarity between the gifts God gives to the woman and those He gave to Lucifer before he fell from God’s grace.
Ezekiel 28:13 – You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the turquoise, and the emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your tambourines and of your flutes was prepared in you in the day that you were created. 14 You were the anointed cherub that covers, and I had put you in the holy height of God where you were.; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you.
What do we see in these verses here?
First we can see that God gave to the anointed cherub a glorious apparel to complement the position in which he was placed in God’s creation. His garment, or covering, was a divine gift of a majestic adornment given to honor him.
What about the woman? –
1 Corinthians 11:15 – But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her fora covering.
Who gave this “glory” to compliment all women? The Creator did. Doubtless when God created Eve that she was given long hair as an adornment to complement her God-given beauty.
As we can see from both passages, both the jewel-studded garment of the anointed cherub and the woman’s hair are said to be given by God as a glorious “covering.”
Still, that does not answer the question, “What does women wearing a head covering have to do with the angels?” Perhaps we should review what happen with Lucifer and what caused him to have his negative conversion and to fall out of God’s graces.
We can see what happen to Lucifer in Ezekiel’s prophetic words against the king of Tyrus, who by pride of position, wealth, power and beauty, became more and more covetous. The king of Tyrus foolishly sought to go beyond the bounds of what was lawful for him, and being covetous had sinned, and therefore God was going to cast him down. For this prophecy of Ezekiel concerning the king of Tyrus in his pride is merely a repetition of exactly what Lucifer had done and reveals how sin first entered God’s holy creation.
Ezekiel 28:2 – Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
The king of Tyrus had exalted himself in his own eyes, but his pride did not change in reality what he truly was; a mere man who because of his pride was going to die as a man –
Ezekiel 28:9 – Will you yet say before him who kills you, I am of the gods? But you are a man, and not God, in the hand of him who kills you. 10 You shall die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers. For I have spoken, says the Lord Jehovah.
Now God could have ended this prophecy here. It conveyed all it needed to about the king of Tyrus sin. Yet God continued to reveal more through Ezekiel for our admonishment and understanding of sin’s induction into creation.
Ezekiel 28:11 – And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 12 Son of man, lift up a lament over the king of Tyre, and say to him, So says the Lord Jehovah: You seal the measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the turquoise, and the emerald, and gold. The workmanship of your tambourines and of your flutes was prepared in you in the day that you were created. 14 You were the anointed cherub that covers, and I had put you in the holy height of God where you were.; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you.
In these passages it is revealed how the king’s personal life and pride was, as it were, a prophetic mirroring of Lucifer’s prior to his fall. This can all be safely determine by the following statements –
“You have been in Eden the garden of God” – The king of Tyrus was never in the Garden of Eden . . . but Lucifer was.
“the day that you were created” – The king of Tyrus was born, not created . . . but Lucifer was.
“You were the anointed cherub” – We see in verses 2 and 9 that God clearly says of the king “thou art a man.”
There are other parts that could be expounded on here, but before we do, let’s look through another similar prophetic window of scripture at the fall of Lucifer, the anointed cherub.
Isaiah 14:4 – you shall take up this song against the king of Babylon and say, How the exacter, the gold gatherer has ceased! 5 The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers 6 who struck peoples in wrath, a blow without turning away, ruling the nations in anger, a persecution without restraint. 7 All the earth is at rest and is quiet; they break out into singing. 8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since you have fallen, no woodcutter will come up against us. 9 Hell from below is moved for you, to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the dead for you, all the he-goats of the earth. It has raised from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 All of them shall speak and say to you, Are you also as weak as we? Are you like us? 11 Your pride is brought down to the grave, and the noise of your harps. The maggot is spread under you, and the worms cover you. 12 How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart, I will go up to the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. 14 I will go up above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. 15 Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the Pit.
Above we have anot prophecy against a king, this time the king of Babylon. And again, he is going to be brought low and judge by the God of heaven and earth. Why? Because of his pride, his life as well has mirrored the pride of Lucifer; having extended himself beyond God’s given and lawful boundary of rule and influence.
But what do we see in Lucifer’s heart by this prophecy of Isaiah? We discover his intention to rise up out of his place and to usurp the authority above Him, even God.
Isaiah 14:13 – For you have said in your heart, I will go up to the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. 14 I will go up above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. 15 Yet you shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the Pit.
What was it about Lucifer that he allowed to deceive him and into thinking he should be, and thus could be, “like the Most High?” This is where it is helpful for us again to return to Ezekiel’s prophecy.
Ezekiel 28:7 – Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I will cast you to the ground, I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you.
The anointed Cherub Lucifer’s heart was lifted up because of his beauty and he had corrupted wisdom by reason of his brightness.
What does this reveal? It reveals that God had given to the anointed cherub a perfect and beautiful countenance that radiated with the glory of God. But when Lucifer began to take pride in his countenance and his beauty he “corrupted wisdom.”
What does that mean, he “corrupted wisdom?” What is it that phrase is trying to tell us? First we need to understand what exactly is the foundation and heart of wisdom.
We know that wisdom finds application in all areas of life and relationships from parenting, friendships, business, economics, from following to leading. Yet the greatest relationship one must be concerned about is by far their relationship with God. What do the scriptures tell us?
Proverbs 1:7 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 4:7 – Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Proverbs 9:10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
Proverbs 14:27 – The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.
The foundation of true life-preserving wisdom is “the fear of God.” Yet by scripture we can see how in the heart of the anointed cherub, that when he became prideful over his God-given beauty, it stirred his heart to covet the very position of praise and honor reserved for the Most High Himself alone. He foolishly cast off fear and wisdom, by reasoning within his own heart as to why not he too should share a place of equality with God and thus began plotting to ascend to the positioned reserved for God alone.
Isaiah 14:3 – For you said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Gazing upon his own beauty and brightness, Lucifer compared himself to the manifested glory of God and foolishly believe he too was worthy of the worship of the rest of the angels. Instead of having humility with his gift of beauty, he felt he was deserving of the majestic apparel God had given him. And so, Lucifer rejected his position in the spectrum of authority by attempting to usurp the authority of God, seeking to steal the praise that God alone is worthy of.
It is “for this cause” ought the woman to have power on her head, because of the angels. God has given the woman her hair to be a natural adornment of beauty. Why else do most men have a natural admiration for long hair?
However, when we who are the creatures of our glorious Creator gather together for prayer or worship or the reading and speaking of God’s word, let the woman with humility cover her head, as do the angels in the very presence of God, willfully concealing her “glory” lest it detract from the glory due God. Likewise a man should not cover his head, “forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God.” To do so would be to dishonor his head, i.e. Christ Himself.
Each of us, whether male or female, have been given positions of honor and gifts from God, yet we must learn to be faithful in the place which God has given us to serve Him, being fitly joined together serving Him while we adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. The woman is to submit to the authority of her own husband “as unto the Lord.” The husband is to love his own wife, “as even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” Thus we adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.
Yet when a woman refuses to submit to her husband, the angels shutter with fear as they recall with utter clarity Lucifer’s introduction of sin into God’s holy creation. This is why the scriptures plainly teach that women are not to usurp the authority of God has given unto men as He holds them accountable for the family.
Now having shared all this, I must clarify that I do not feel a women needs to wear a head covering constantly. As the scripture says, “bodily exercise profits little, but godliness profits withal,” and unless the heart is right it matters little what one does outwardly. But if a woman wishes to go on to a “more perfect way” of walking in the light of God’s word, then as the scriptures say, while “praying or prophesying,” she should prayerfully consider keeping” the ordinances” Paul delivered unto the churches. I would also further clarify that I feel “prophesying” implies also the instruction or teaching of God’s word to the younger women so that they too might learn how to adorn the gospel of Christ in all things.
I must admit, I have had many women express to me that they do not “feel any unction of the Holy Spirit” to begin covering their heads. I would answer that with pointing them back to what we all do have, the written word of God. Isn’t that enough? Are we one moment to be defending the scriptures as “the Word of God” and then the next minute failing to acknowledge what is written?
Honestly, most of the time I do not feel “any unction of the Holy Spirit” to do many things, nor do I need such an “unction” if the Holy Scriptures has already given me light and a path for me to walk in. It is simply my duty to walk in the light . . . while I have the light.
John 12:35 – Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walks in darkness knows not where he goes.
Ephesians 5:8 – For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light.
Mark 4:23 – If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. 24 And he said unto them, Take heed what you hear: with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. 25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
I pray this may be a blessing to those seeking to glorify of Lord in all things. Remember . . .
Proverbs 13:10 – Only by pride comes contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.
1 Corinthians 11:16 – But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
That’s what God’s word tells us. But many today aren’t “fleeing” from it, rather for all intents and purposes, the masses are contrarily running madly towards it. For some insane reason people are literally eager to expose and open themselves up to anything and everything sexual, no matter how deviant or abnormal, as if somehow it is going to be the answer to their loneliness, or boredom, or their oppressive sense of rejection and insignificance. It has become so maddening that even some who only call themselves friends are frequently engaging in sexual relations, and some will often make or accept challenges to do the most profane things with as many partners they can, only to see if they can outdo others. This is not only societal madness; this is literally as close as a society can get to committing mass suicide. Yes, you read it right, mass suicide.
But wait you say, that’s not me, I’m not just playing games or sleeping around. I’m truly attracted to and interested in the people I sleep with, and I’m looking for a possible life partner, a true soulmate. Well, if that is what you think, you’re going about it completely wrong and will never truly find what you think you want.
Proverbs 18:22 – Whosoever finds a [godly] wife, finds a good thing, and obtains favour of the LORD.
Proverbs 19:14 – Houses and riches are the inheritance of fathers, and a godly wife is from the LORD.
Proverbs 31:10 – Who can find a woman of virtue? For her value is far above rubies. 11 The heart of her husband trusts safely in her.
Maybe it is all simply because the churches have failed to rightly teach God’s word that people are just ignorant, or perhaps they are willfully ignorant, or possibly just insecure, having grown up in such a time in the midst of a self-centered generation where almost everyone seems infatuated with seeking their own gratification, possessing little or no concern of the expense of whoever or whatever. The awareness almost no longer shocks some people that there are people out there who are literally drugging their supposed “dates” and then raping them, as well as allowing others to rape them as well.
These human beasts are literally doing this openly amongst their select group of perverted friends in a celebratory fashion. Packs of humanity, who outwardly look like everyone else, are regularly behaving like wild animals actively preying on others, and we’re not even off the subject of “straight sex!”
There are others who seem far above all this, people in positions with significant power and authority, who are in ministry, big business, law enforcement, or government, who have meticulously sought to establish themselves as decent and respectable in the community. However, the truth is they are so slavishly engrossed in their own sexual decadence that they cannot but run to every opportunity of self-gratification, regardless of the risk to their families and careers. They place everything at risk, all for a brief moment of unrestrained indulgence that only promises to send their world crashing once they are exposed.
Nonetheless, even though we continually witness the damage and shame brought to society, families, and individuals everywhere, all this continues everywhere 24 hours a day and people are behaving none the wiser. It seems even when they have been openly exposed, people have no shame, and that these are truly the days that God said “they could not blush.”
Jeremiah 6:15 – “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed, nor could they blush. Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall, for at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down,” says the LORD. 16 So says the LORD, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths where the good way is, and walk in it, and there you shall find rest for your souls.” But they said, “We will not walk in it.”
So, I ask, do you really think these people started off this enslaved and wicked? Or were they people just like you who simply experimented or yielded to temptation and their desires. If this is touching you, then please listen, because God’s word reasons with us and ask as plainly as it can, “Can a man carry fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk upon hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes into his neighbor’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.” Man cannot indulge in sexual sins and not do serious harm to his own self, physically (STD’s), emotionally and spiritually.
It is alarming to see just how many people, from religious leaders to politicians, close friends, and family members, who thoughtlessly allow their lives to be engulfed by this sin and have their whole family brutally impacted, if not completely destroyed by the certain consequences which always follow. Lives are regularly being forever changed, marriages broken, opportunities lost, and regrets abounding that will be carried to the grave.
Just look at the undeniable damage to society, the incredible unwed mother rate in America, four out of ten children born out of wedlock, up to 72% in some ethnic groups, the staggering growing fifty million-plus aborted lives of innocence all sacrificed on the altars of self-worship, personal convenience and self-gratification. When a society gets to this place of openly rejecting the sanctity of their own bodies, of marriage and human life, blatant worship of the creature instead of their Creator, how can a holy and just God allow such abounding wickedness to continue unpunished? Where is the terror of the Lord? How is it there is no fear? Do they really think God does not see? Oh, He does . . . God does see.
The word of God tells us to “Flee!” That means we are to recognize sexual immorality and fornication as a strong enemy that cannot be successfully engaged or defeated by any other means than removing ourselves from temptation’s seductive poison as fast as possible before it defiles our hearts and minds. We must flee before we stupidly believe the lie that we can eat and will not die, lest we imprudently sell ourselves to it as slaves unto death.
America’s morality has fallen so far from virtue and godliness that there appears to be no escaping the voracious nature of sexual immorality today. For if you desire to be celibate, you are then stalked as a prize waiting to be conquered, and seized upon, and then having been morally misused, are then casually discarded as longer desirable. How do people fail to see the devilish scheme to defile the pure and bring shame to the innocent? How is it that people are so blind and unaware of the tragedies that sexual sins are sure to bring into their lives, as well as damage the generations to come?
Perhaps, it is all because it has become so normal and acceptable to reject God and deny Him any place in our homes, schools, courthouses, and personal lives. Yet even the few who will sheepishly acknowledge a God, often do so only in the most dismissing fashion, as if God is only a concept, or one who really doesn’t hear or actually care. But nothing could be further from the truth.
We have made two major blunders in our families and society. First, we have either forgotten or rejected that we were created in the image of God. Secondly, if and when society acknowledges there is a God, they perceive such a “god” to be like unto their own selves. People, friends, children, please hear me out, God created us in His own image for His own purpose and glory. God cares about us and we exist primarily for fellowship with Him, and not only for fellowship, but also for a glorious union whereby God intended to indwell us with His Spirit, uniting His with our very own.
It seems the entire world is like a drunkard running madly towards sexual immorality as if it were the answer to that void deep within every person, a void which will never be filled by any other than the One who customized its creation for His own indwelling. This is every member of humanity’s purpose for existing, your purpose for existing. How often the cry is heard, “What is my purpose, why am I here?” People, God is not like us, He cannot and will not ignore such sin nor excuse it.
God created us in His own image, but have you ever really tried to wrap your mind around that, or to understand it, “us” in His own image? We must diligently cry out to God if we are to have any hope of laying hold of this glorious truth, and give it opportunity to divinely transform us. You must lay hold of this truth if you wish to truly know God. Because your being made in that “image” transcends having a head, a torso, two arms and two legs; it is your having a soul and an eternal spirit needing to be recreated in holiness as well. For God created man in His own image so that we could have all the means whereby we could be reflections of His glory and understand God’s heart and desire for His people, including the great affection where with He loves us, and oh yes, yes, how He loves us.
God made Adam to be a righteous and holy being, but God also revealed it wasn’t good that man should be alone, so God created woman from the man, for the man. This infinite wisdom and royal design of God for man and woman was flawless for the woman was made the perfect mate for man, so much so that man could literally come into her and impart his seed and miraculously bring forth more life. This is why men are told to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and women to honor and submit to their husbands.
The design of humanity, as male and female, was created such that as complementing genders capable of intimate union, so that in a proper and righteous relationship with their counterpart, together could adorn the doctrine of God our Savior, that man was created in the image of God to be the glory of God. Likewise, woman was created from substance taken from man, and made to be the glory of the man.
1 Corinthians 11:7 – For this reason a man should not cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. 8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man. 9 Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man.
Titus 2:1-5, 10 – But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine so that the older men might be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience. Likewise, the older women, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things, so that they may admonish the young women to also love their husbands, to love their children, and to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. …Not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.
It is only when a man and woman are in the holy covenant relationship of marriage with each other that we can see that blessed type whereby we can truly see that blessed relationship God desires, as well as mutually experience the uniqueness of His covenant love. For only in the covenant of holy marriage can we grasp the depth of intimacy God intended through His Son coming to us, and in us, and so imparting His Holy Seed of Life in us (Christ in us), that we can be divinely empowered to live the very life He earnestly desires all to have through Him and with Him, life full of joy and peace.
Ephesians 5:22 – Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought husbands to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
It is here in marriage where we uncover and begin to see with illuminated clarity the great love wherewith God so loved the world and the very reason He sent the promised Son, who humbly came down and clothed Himself in the frailty of our humanity with the intention that He would free from sin all those of fallen humanity who would receive a love in this truth and rejoice in Him. It is also here where we discover the severity for His wrath in rejecting Him, through the choosing of darkness over light, and sin over righteousness.
2 Thess. 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; Because They Received Not the Love of The Truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, 12 and that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Jesus Christ willingly shed His redemptive blood to satisfy the unrelenting demand of death that our sins brought against us by providing the only acceptable, pure, and holy blood atonement whereby He alone can wash the guiltiest of sinners clean. All this wonderful and necessary atoning and cleansing work of Calvary’s cross was planned in heaven from eternity’s past and executed here on earth through Christ, so the Spirit of the Holy One can come in us and dwell in these fleshly temples made clean again by God alone.
So, look again at God’s word for you,
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which belong to God. (1 Cor. 6:18-20)
Take heed, for to thoughtlessly give oneself to sexual immorality is not only to sin against God, but against yourself as well. For our bodies were intended to be temples for God’s Spirit, as a place for His dwelling in united harmony with our own spirits. This is why Jesus paid the price of your redemption, so that you can be forgiven, washed clean, indwelt, and thereby empowered to be godly, holy and glorifying to God “in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Please, for the love of God, because of the mercy He is desiring to show unto the repentant, because of the many exceedingly wonderful and great promises He has for those who will come to Him and diligently seek Him, please, please, flee sexual immorality and run to God. All who seek will find and all who call upon Him will He answer . . . while there is still time, turn away from sin and come back to your Father who loves you.
A message I shared on the hypostatic union of Jesus Christ, the dual nature in one vessel, His humanity and deity in the only begotten of the Father.
`
Click to play (or right-click to select “save as” to download MP3)
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Isaiah 9:6 For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be on His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 There is no end of the increase of His government and peace on the throne of David, and on His kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from now on, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
This is not intended to be a debate or a refutation of anything per se; it is simply an effort to share some facts about certain points of scripture that are aggressively used in debates regarding the nature of God and the divinity of Jesus Christ. It is a long post, but still one I feel worthy of the consideration of others who are prayerfully laboring through these issues. However, before getting into the topics, I would like to start by sharing a quote by John H. Leith, who compiled a book concerning Christian doctrine from the Bible days to the present entitled “Creeds of the Churches”
“. . . the nature of man is an intelligent being. Just because of intelligence the Christian, of all men, has to learn to discern with agonizing clarity what is conceivable by him about God Himself. What cannot be thought through critically and expressed with reasonable clarity cannot demand the allegiance of man’s whole being. Understanding is necessary for man’s full commitment. Hence faith must be spoken and made intelligible. That is not to say faith must be enclosed within the limits of reason, but it does mean that faith must never require neither the closing of the mind nor the sacrifice of the integrity of the mind.”
This statement is one that has probably influenced me more than any other man’s words of wisdom, compelling me to always try my best to understand every man’s profession of faith and in turn to share mine as simply and clearly as possible. That is why before I present the following information: I would like to clarify that I am not what most Trinitarians would readily call an “Oneness” believer, at least not in the sense that they would define it. For those who do not understand what “Oneness” supposedly is according to the Trinitarian definition, it is the heretical belief where one denies the coexistence of three “persons” of the “Godhead.” Be assured, I absolutely believe we all have but one Creator and Father who sent His only begotten Son Jesus, The Christ, as a sin-offering for the sins of the world. Who having returned back to heaven has sent to His Church the Comforter, the Holy Spirit of Truth to guide them into all truth . . . if they would but follow.
There are those on the Oneness side who aggressively assert the biblical truth that there is only one God as expressed in the verse below to the point of denying any distinction between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.
Some oneness believers even go so far trying to defend and explain their position to the point of saying that when the voice from heaven came testifying that Jesus was in fact God’s Son in whom He was well pleased that Jesus was actually throwing His voice back up into heaven. I would quickly assert they “do err not knowing,” as Jesus said “the scriptures or the power of God.
NOTE: The above are all grouped together simply for downloading without having to scroll down to them all.
Part 1
Do you know why Paul untiringly prayed for the church?
“For this cause do I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, and that by being rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to fully know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you all might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to that power that works in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (Ephesians 3, verses 14 thru 21)
Introduction to Chapter 20
Almost 2000 years ago the Apostle Paul wrote in his first epistle to Timothy that it was not “Without controversy, [for] great is the mystery of godliness…” Well, without a doubt that statement remains every bit as true today as it was the day Paul wrote it.
But how many believers today even know what this “mystery of godliness” is? Perhaps a quick look at the scripture Paul wrote will help to stir up our hunger for truth, understanding, and righteousness.
1st Timothy 3:16 – And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Clearly, this mystery pertains to the fact that Jesus Christ was in truth God manifested in the flesh. But, if we want to glean all we can from these nuggets of golden truths that Paul has presented here, we must not lose focus of all that Paul is saying in this verse which applies directly to Jesus Christ, and those actions and events which he lists which transpired due to His incarnation. For not only is it true that “God was manifest in the flesh,” for Paul continues to affirm these other truths that “[God was also] justified in the Spirit, [God was] seen of angels [while manifested in the flesh, and therein He], preached unto the Gentiles, [whereby God was] believed on in the world, [and in the end, God was] received up into glory.
These truths here are the purpose and heart of this chapter. For I wish to remind you that God’s inspired Word encourages us to learn that “Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom, and with all your getting, get understanding,” (Proverbs 4:7). For with the Lord is wisdom and knowledge, and by Him comes understanding. Consequently, if we are so instructed to “get understanding,” then surely understanding is available to all for the getting. But just like that great treasure which when a man found it hid in a field, and then went and sold all that he had to buy the field, and the same with the pearl of great price, understanding being a great treasure must be purchased with diligent asking, seeking, and knocking upon the door of heaven. But for all that so ask in faith with persistent seeking and diligence, we have the sure promise that God is in truth a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
But, what is this wisdom? Certainly, it is not the vain wisdom of this world, but that which alone comes from God and quickens the spirit of man, and makes him alive unto God.
1st Corinthians 3:18 – Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He takes the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Proverbs 9:10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.
If the beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding, then it might be said that the wisest thing anyone could set their heart to do is to seek both knowledge and understanding of God. For if there is a God, and be assured that there is, it becomes incumbent upon all of us to seek Him out and to discover how we might not only get along with Him, but please Him as well.
Knowledge is basically an awareness of unalterable truths of reality that pertain to, and are divided among the areas of intellectual perceptiveness, specifically; who, what, and where; while wisdom primarily rests within a sense of application as to when and how; but understanding is having a firm mental grasp of perceiving the “why,” to the point these things becomes a motivation and is exercised in faith and expectation. It might be related this way-
Knowledge is the foundation for faith.
Wisdom is the application of faith
Understanding is the hope and motive which turns faith into faithfulness.
Such is why the author of Hebrews stated that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” (Hebrews 11:1). Accordingly, it is our understanding of the things of God that enables us to be faithful and to be wholly transformed into the overcomers Jesus Christ has called us to be. For consider these words of Peter –
2nd Peter 1:2 – Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
And thus, through Peter’s words above, we have introduced “grace” into our subject, and yes, it is amazing grace. But do people really understand God’s gift of grace? This is critical for those professing Christianity. Because, if a believer fails to understand the purpose and workings of God’s grace, then it is almost certain they will fall short of allowing it to accomplish all that God intended it to in their life.
Chapter 19 – I doubt many will believe it, though a man declares it unto you.
Chapter 20 – The Mystery of Godliness
Chapter 21 -Trips to the Tomb with Chart of Passion Week – Days and Events
About the Author
As a child I was raised a Lutheran, and I can clearly remember one day when the Sunday school teacher was obviously feeling a little evangelistic. Up to then we would mostly spend our time coloring, doing flannel board lessons about bible characters, or just spend the time out on the playground while our parents were in Church. But on this one particular day she shared with us kids that if we had Jesus in our hearts then we would get to go to heaven, but if not, well… we would go to hell.
Now that was some pretty powerful news for kids between 6-8 years old. So, I raised my hand and asked her, “How do we know Jesus is real?” After all, none of us had ever seen Him hanging around the church and all I had ever seen were drawings or paintings of Him. Now my question really threw her threw a loop, for after looking at me for a bit she honestly replied, “I don’t know, I guess we just better believe in case He is,” Well, that was it for me. If she didn’t have an answer for that one, why would I ask any more questions?
However, that night in bed I remembered what she said and my thoughts went to a painting my grandmother had of Jesus standing outside an arched door knocking to come in. As I lay there I knew what she said was true even if she hadn’t been able to answer my question. Her crude little Gospel message was still sharp enough to pierce into my little heart. I was scared, and so I began to cry being frustrated that she wasn’t able to answer my question. For had she given me an answer, I certainly would have asked the one that was agonizing me that night, “How do I get Jesus into my heart?”
So, as I lay on my back in bed I began to repeatedly turn a knob to an imaginary door on my chest and pretended I was opening a door over and over while crying, “Jesus, please come into my heart…” I wish I could say from that point on I have faithfully served the Lord, but that’s not the case. For though I believed in the Lord, there was still no one in my life that could effectively speak the things of God into my life. Oh I believed Jesus was real, but He quickly became only Sunday-go-to-church real. With no real mentor or example to teach me how to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,” I eventually found church was no longer able to capture my attention. Church soon became nothing more than another meeting place that parents took their kids to.
As far as school goes, it was never a real attention grabber for me. The only thing that made any sense to me was math, but oh how I hated English, History, and Science. I just felt it all was completely irrelevant to my life. The worst thing they ever did to me was put me in sight of a window. For the life of me, there was no way I could focus in school knowing the whole world was going on outside.
Add to that, being a teenager in the sixties it was really easy for me to get caught up in the music and drugs and before long I was staying out all night. There was no vision in my life other than living the moment and doing drugs. I had good parents who loved me and disciplined me, but even though I loved them I just couldn’t keep their rules anymore. So after 9th grade I quit school and ended up running away from home when I was fifteen with a pregnant girlfriend. We eventually got caught across the state and had to go home, but it didn’t take long before I was back on the street. I assure you, a fifteen year old on the streets makes a lot of compromises to get by and crime becomes the norm.
Eventually I moved into some guy’s back yard toolshed with a couple other guys, each of us paying five dollars a week. Late one night we were all getting high on a construction site in the neighborhood with some other potheads when two of them began to brag about how great and powerful Satan was. I admit I was a bit taken back by them at first. But being stoned and thinking about my own destitute situation in life, I asked them very seriously, “Ok, if Satan is so powerful, then what can he do for me?” To my surprise they looked at me and got extremely upset and started cursing at me and just left. I wasn’t sure what really happened, I just thought they were extremely weird. But over the years I’ve concluded somehow they were given the message “No, leave this one alone.”
Eventually I ended up in a non-denominational house church that started what they called a “Discipleship Program.” I moved in with the pastor and a couple other men and started my discipleship. After years of involvement I was made a deacon, then an elder, and eventually even an assistant pastor. It was in that church that I met a very special woman and we got married. The church eventually started a school and a Christian dinner theater, but things in general didn’t progress very well. Sadly, some of the leaders didn’t really walk the Christian walk and soon alcohol, sex and sin were the hidden norms everywhere. Being consumed by the guilt of my own sins, one Sunday when my turn came to preach, I decided to share my last message from the passage below.
Galatians 6:1 – Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
The focus of my message was simple, are you fellow leaders even spiritual enough to recognize when a man is overtaken in a fault? Or have you too already yielded to all your temptations. It was my last cry of desperation as I made plans to leave the church. My wife and I moved 300 miles away and within a year I was fallen again headlong into immorality, drug use and alcohol. I found out firsthand what a really big jerk my wife’s first husband was… even though to this day she has only been married once.
A couple of years later, and over a thousand miles away from home, separated and all alone on a blood moon eclipse night, I was so drugged out and intoxicated that my body was having alarming signs threatening me that that night might well be my very last. I cried out again to God, “Lord, all I wanted was to be a man of God. I believe in You, but I don’t believe in anything I was taught anymore. Why can’t I be an overcomer? Why can’t I do the right thing? Lord I just want to go home and start over.” I woke up the next day resolved to do just that, but I had so many things I needed to get right before I could. I tried my best to mend local relationships and wrongs committed and then sold everything I owned but my clothes and van and headed back home.
Once home I was trying hard to do the right thing and was graciously reunited with my wife. One Sunday we were with some other Christian friends as we all decided to visit a new Church started by a popular Miami Beach performer who supposedly became a Christian. Having been through so much sin myself, who was I to throw stones or to judge?
So, I went and listened to him preach and he hit on all the points that make sinners want a happier and better life. He gave an invitation saying he knew there were many needing deliverance, and if you’ve been struggling with sin then come up and he was going to pray for you. Having struggled all my life with sin I went up.
There we were all lined up in front from left to right and he started praying. As he walked down the line he was laying hands on the people and they were all falling backwards. I said to the Lord, “Here I am. No games anymore. If this is You Lord I want it all.” I figured God was big enough to knock me down like everyone else, so I kept my eyes open and waited my turn.
When this man came to me he closed his eyes and laid his hand on my head, but nothing happened. I think he was more surprised than me. Suddenly while I am looking into his eyes he angrily says,” You’re not going to resist me you foul spirit!” And then he stepped into me and literally shoved my head backwards causing me to lose my balance. I immediately stood up, shook my head in disbelief and went back to my seat. As I walked back to my seat I felt the Lord impressed upon me, “I am your Deliverer, do not look to man.”
I did however have the wisdom to understand God wasn’t telling me to ignore other believers or the gifts He had given them for His glory, but at that point in time He wanted me to seek Him and Him alone. It was there I made a decision to put everything I ever thought about Jesus Christ and Christianity upon God’s altar and to start proving all things afresh in the light of the scriptures. What I discovered shouldn’t surprise anyone, for we all heard it for years; the truth will set you free. For men’s problems are never the truth; it is always their unwillingness to fully surrender to the terms of the Truth.
I wish I could say from that point on everything was better, but the reality for me was like it is for all of us; whether we like it or not there is a war going on and until Jesus Christ returns we are all caught in the middle of it. The adversary has never been content to leave me alone, however he now knows that I know he has truly lost this war and his time is short. Nevertheless, he constantly does what he can out of hatred to God to oppose me, or tries to nudge me a little to the left or right, and when that isn’t working he tries to flatter me. He does anything and everything he can to try and get my eyes off Jesus Christ even for just a moment. Perhaps the closest he ever came to destroying me was using God’s own people as a source of discouragement to me, and with a root of bitterness springing up in me I almost threw in the towel and gave up, but my Jesus didn’t. He saved me.
For the record, I have been a pastor, worked for years volunteering by holding meetings at men’s shelters and Sunday night services at a rehab that was a volunteer/mandatory alternative to jail or prison. I even opened a Christian Coffee shop for a couple of years. Through it all, the heart of my preaching was never that men can escape hell and go to heaven, rather the Gospel message is that through Jesus Christ all men can be what God always intended them to be, a reflection of His glory made fit for the Kingdom of God. For God made us in His image with the desire that we all be His glory in the earth and by the cross, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we can be.
Honestly, while life has never been easy, it has often been very good. But we have all met those who have had it worse than us. So like I often say, “Life’s not fair, live it none the less.” When people ask what I do for a living every so often I still reply, “I work with wood.” Being a tradesman who has always worked with his hands, I eventually became a building contractor. But while I was fairly proficient at the design and fabrication side of the construction business and ended up doing some pretty high end work, the logistical side never ceased to be a grievance to me with all the red tape and regulations. All that stuff just exasperated a guy who simply loved doing a good job for a fair price. My reputation was built on service and quality, and I thank the Lord for the good work ethic that He worked in me. More than once I sacrificed profit and put money back into the job to get it done right and assure the customer’s satisfaction. I’ve learned the Lord honors the man that keeps his word, even to his own loss or hurt.
Thanks to the economy, I became a home inspector in the insurance industry. But I must admit at times feeling as if I am a bit outside the calling God had for me… perhaps like a Levite would, who having no earthly inheritance may have felt when they were forced to wander the land looking for a place to provide for their family due to the neglect and poverty God’s house suffered at times. Perhaps that’s part of the consequences of my sins in this life.
Still, without a doubt one of my greatest pleasures is reasoning the things of God with reasonable people. So please don’t assume the things I share are intended to be dogmatic statements that I am right and everyone else is wrong. Rather I openly share my thoughts simply because I believe them to be true and willingly submit them to the scrutiny of other believers. I can’t stress enough how much I appreciate those who love me enough to tell me, “Brother, you’re wrong.” But not only tell me I am wrong, but will patiently labor with me while respecting my integrity and convictions till they can show me just where and how I was wrong. Lord knows how much I need such men and women of God in my life, we all do.
All that said, for the record I did manage to get my GED, so I guess that’s the height of my academic credentials as a Christian author. Perhaps that really means I am still just a carpenter, a guy who occasionally works with wood and still loves to read his bible. But I would like to make one last point about myself, while I agree we will all disagree sometimes and somewhere, I refuse to “agree to disagree” as if that’s somehow a noble thing for believers in Christ. Rather we must all learn to respect the integrity of each other’s convictions and humbly labor together to understand each other if we are going to make any headway towards coming to a unity of faith and a knowledge of the Truth. Remember, even at our best, we all only know in part. That’s why we have each other and need charity…
Ephesians 4:11 – And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: 16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
Therefore, until we all meet each other on the other side, live for Jesus Christ the resurrected King of kings!
Stay blessable, on fire, and unburnable,
William Males
NOTE – If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me. My email is wemales@yahoo.com – Please use subject line: “The Eighth Beast”
Awake!
Awake, you sleeper! Awake! Arise and make yourself ready! It’s time to put aside those childish pursuits and your endless musing with vanities. Awake, I say! Do you not realize the time in which you are privileged to live? Now more than ever can the sound of the bridegroom’s coming be heard! Surely, He draws near.
The need to purify yourself has grown greater as the time allotted has grown shorter. The dark of night has already conquered the eastern horizon as the sun glow fades in the west. The king had long ago sent out His invitation. He proclaimed to all, “COME!”
Yes, come, and make haste! Do you not know that if you refuse to comply with the King that His anger will be kindled against you? Yet in His longsuffering He still says, “Come! Come to the greatest of all feasts! There is food, wine, and much song and dance. Joyful dance to celebrate the wedding of all weddings. Come and attend My wedding.”
The bridegroom has long been ready, yet He has patiently waited. He has waited for you! Arise therefore you sleeper! So much remains for you to do. TODAY you must prepare. Set aside your complacency and strive to mature! Strive to increase your knowledge and understanding so you may be completely resolved to live your life solely for the King of kings! Rise up and cast out reservation and hesitation, these are foes that have hindered and killed countless before you. Arise! Answer His call!!
It is your only reasonable response . . .
“Awake thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, Christ shall give thee light. Awake to righteousness and sin not. For some[of you]have not the[intimate]knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” (Eph. 6:14, I Cor. 15:34)
NOTE: This chapter was actually written twenty years ago as a stand-alone article. However, in light of all we have reviewed thus far, it is being included here in hopes it will now serve as a lasso to help pull together much of what we’ve covered to provide a solid answer to the question above and the one below.
We hear it all the time, “Isn’t it amazing that the scriptures are silent about America?” I once thought the same thing myself, but after prayerful re-examination of the history of America and scripture, I don’t believe that is true anymore. Therefore, I submit the following for those open enough to examine for themselves whether or not America is mentioned in scripture. Though, I admit nowadays with the rising flood of endtime theologies, it is getting harder to convince most people that it is. As Mark Twain once said, “It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them they have been fooled.” Likewise, it has been proven over and over again, that the greatest hindrance to people accepting the truth is a prejudice, or verdict against it before they fully hear a matter.
He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and a shame to him.” (Proverbs 18:13)
I must first start by asking that you please do not hastily jump to the wrong conclusion that I am anti-America for writing this article. I have written it out of conviction and simply because I believe that a holy and righteous God must deal with the sins of America the same way He would with any nation. The supporting information provided in this article is only a fraction of the information available and even this tends to be overwhelming for most people when first considering this concept. So, let’s begin with this verse –
Revelation 17:9 – And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Revelation chapters 13-19:4, speak of an end-time’s judgment of the LAST in a succession of seven empires now being summed up in the last days as a final eighth empire. Though these chapters begin with concentrating on a seven-headed “beast rise up out of the sea,” the primary focus of this prophecy is that last empire which the angel eventually clarified as being “The Eighth,” that goes into perdition, or total annihilation. In order to gain understanding of whom or what the eighth spiritual Babylon might be, one must first give heed to the clues given to John by the angel in chapter 17.
One critical clue given to John concerning this succession of empires was when the angel said the “the beast that was, and is not, yet is.” This clue reveals there would be an interruption in this succession of what could be called “spiritual Babylons” represented on this seven-headed beast; a time when this beast “was not” going to be represented in history by a literal country. However, after an unstated duration of time, the beast system would again briefly exist as the seventh head, or seventh empire. Lastly, it would “rise up out of the sea” as that final and last beast, or empire, which would fulfill all these prophecies. Thus, the whole imagery of a “seven-headed beast” is designed specifically to expose that last, eighth, and final empire that “goeth into perdition,” or complete annihilation.
The “sea” from out of which the beast rises up, and upon which the woman sits, we are told in 17:15 represents “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” This is one of the verses in this chapter that leads many to conclude that this beast and/or the woman upon the beast is the Roman Catholic Church since Rome has established itself in every corner of the earth. Regardless, I am persuaded this symbolic beast with the woman is a multifaceted-representation and must be recognized as demonstrating a succession of specific political entities or nations, as well as their particular religious institutions.
I believe this clue given by the angel also reveals to us that having a knowledge of Israel’s history is a critical key required if the door of understanding is going to be unlocked concerning just who this Eighth Beast is, as well as who is the woman shown to later be riding upon it. Only from there can a firm foundation for understanding be built from which we can properly discern the correlation of each of these empires to Israel. For scripture and history corroborates that Israel, like the beast, “was, and was not, and yet is.” That is not in any way to suggest Israel is either the beast or the woman, rather to substantiate the correlation between the seven-headed beast and Israel. Nevertheless, we can see in scripture where Israel is “spiritually called Sodom and Egypt,” (Revelation 11:8).
The majority of the Jews rejected Jesus and the purpose of His crucifixion, which was evident by their continuance in the Mosaic Law. By Jesus having fulfilled the Law, meaning the Ceremonial Law’s official intent was now exhausted, having accomplished its purpose, which was to strongly emphasize and foretell the necessity of a perfect sacrifice, with the shedding of blood, for redemption and forgiveness of sins. The law, with its various actions through its mandatory sacrifices and oblations, altogether served only as a prophetic disclosure of the final and complete sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Therefore, by rejecting Jesus’ death and atoning blood, the Jews defiantly chose to remain in a now dead and decaying institution, and having completed its purpose, was rapidly waxing old and ready to vanish away, .
Hebrews 8:13 – In that He saith, A new covenant, He has made the first old. Now that which is decaying and waxing old is ready to vanish away.
For this reason, Israel is now “spiritually called Sodom” to signify how any manner of religion they now practice can be nothing more than a perversion of the truth since they lack both the temple and priesthood which were destroyed for their rejection of their Promised Deliverer, Jesus the Christ. Likewise, Israel is “spiritually called Egypt” to signify that without Jesus’ atonement they remain under the bondage of sin and death.
Another key point to remember is that the subject of Revelation chapters 13-16 is the rise and fall of the final Eighth Beast and the introduction of the woman sitting upon it. When the judgment foretold starts to fall upon them, the beast and the woman become synonymous in chapters 17-19. This is conceivably due to a legal arrangement and thus (though perhaps unwittingly) a spiritual covenant that joins them inseparably, comparable to the covenant of marriage whereby two are made one flesh in the eyes of God. Such is why the angel tells John, “I will show you the judgment of the great whore that sits on many waters” and “I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her.” The angel’s clue to this “mystery” reveals how the woman and the beast consent to unite and thus merge together as one to war against God and His holy people in these last days.
The woman, representing false religions all throughout history, will in the last days be greatly exemplified in the leaders of pseudo-Christianity and their followers. These are those who have prostituted themselves with the Eighth Beast for political and economic reasons, and willfully diluted the teachings of Christ in order to maintain their influence and power over the ignorant.
I know this might be difficult for many to receive, since for many it is just the way it has always been. But Christians need to honestly reconsider how their churches and faith-based organizations in America have willfully agreed to submit to government oversight in exchange for their tax-exempt status. Many have assumed it was mandatory, but it’s not. But people forget that government will always imply, take, and keep all authority you allow it. And so the blind compliance of America’s former religious leaders has set a precedence that now compels others to blindly follow in their tracks. The nearsighted wisdom of these carnally minded church leaders, who thought it was all going to remain profitable and benign, has in reality proven it all to be malignant and powerfully advantageous to Satan. For we are now witnessing the end of his strategy as he begins to try and exercise his authority about what can be “legally” taught from the pulpits and must be performed in church sanctuaries, i.e., sanctioning homosexual marriages.
Similarly, the beast’s seven heads prophetically represent seven actual empires, each with their particular false religious system which are all but a disguise for Luciferianism, or the worshipping of fallen angels and demons, with each empire having its time of direct interaction with the nation Israel. And another clue the angel gives John is “here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits.” This is where many began to talk about the Seven Hills of Rome and want to apply all this to Catholicism. However, the Holy Spirit saw to it that the word was translated “mountains” and not “hills,” and continued clarifying with “There are seven kings, five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come.”
Both biblically and historically we can accurately verify six of these seven mountains with their seven kings, as six distinct and literal empires that have had a direct impact on the nation Israel, which at the time of John’s vision was still intact as a nation. Mentioning that fact makes this a suitable time to recall the clues given by the angel that the beast “was, and is not, and yet is,” and concerning these kings the angel also clearly told John that at that time “five are fallen, and one is.”
It is actually rather simple to determine who these six empires are. Clearly, the sixth one existing at the time was Rome. As prophesied through Daniel, Rome “had great iron teeth: it devours and breaks into pieces, and stamps the residue with the feet of it and was diverse from all the beasts that were before it.” Thus, it was Rome that fulfilled God’s promise of judgment against Israel, as was forewarned in Deuteronomy 28, for the Jews not cleaving unto Him and obeying His voice. Therefore, in 70 A.D. Israel had ceased to exist as a functioning nation. Just like the beast, Israel which “was,” soon became an “is not” as the Roman General Titus was obliged to execute God’s judgment upon them when he was unable to negotiate peace with the stiff neck and rebellious Jews.
By recognizing that the seven heads of the beast are intended to represent seven empires which have a direct correlation with the nation Israel, all we have to do to verify their identity is to simply start with the birth of Israel to see who these empires are.
We will start our review with Joseph who was betrayed by his brothers and sold as a slave, only to end up sitting on a throne in Egypt. While out of jealousy his brothers meant it for evil, God meant it for good. For through this brotherly betrayal came the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham; to make his descendants a mighty nation and give them for an inheritance the land of Canaan.
However, after 400 years the Egyptians grew fearful of the multiplication of the Jewish settlers in their land and therefore enslaved them. Through all of this it was God’s intent to show both the Jews and the Egyptians the greatness and the surety of His word, and to date God is still showing it to the entire world. As a result, Egypt is head number one of the beast, for out of it Israel as a nation was born.
Many years later, after the death of King Solomon, his son Rehoboam was confronted by Jeroboam who represented the ten northern tribes. Jeroboam had come to petition Rehoboam to lower the high taxes which his father Solomon had placed upon them. Rehoboam first sought the tried and proven wisdom of “the old men that stood before his father… But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him,” (1 Kings 12). The result of Rehoboam walking in their ungodly counsel was a division of the nation Israel.
Having revolted, the ten northern tribes made Jeroboam their King. However, Jeroboam soon became concern that, “If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of the people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah… Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, it is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”
Jeroboam’s sin of turning the people to idols brought God’s judgment upon them by His rising up Assyria to take the ten northern tribes of Israel into captivity. Making matters worse, in their captivity they continued rejecting God’s commandments and intermarried with the Assyrians. Losing the purity of their heritage as Hebrews they became the despised Samaritans. Thus, the ten northern tribes were lost, not by misplacement, but rather by forfeit of their pure identity as Hebrews. Consequently, Assyria is the second head of the Beast.
Over two hundred years later we see Judah to the south falling into idolatry and committing whoredoms against God, so she too was carried away captive by Babylon for seventy years. So, Babylon becomes the third head of the beast. In Daniel 8:20-21, we see the two empires to follow Babylon prophesied by the angel Gabriel would be the Medes/Persia Empire and Greece: heads number four and five of the Beast. So, at the time of the Apostle John’s vision the five that had fallen were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medes/Persia, and Greece, the sixth head being Rome which destroyed Israel as a nation.
From Israel’s destruction in 70 A.D. and prior to 1948, maps did not recognize any land as “Israel,” for Israel “which was, was not.” Yet faithful to His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God preserved their descendants and gathered them back to the land of their inheritance. Thus, today the whole world beholds Israel “that was, and is not, yet is” today. Therefore, as it has been with Israel, so has it been with the seven-headed beast.
Now what worked to re-establish Israel as a nation (apart from God’s sovereignty) was a near global sympathy for the Jews after their persecution in World War II, whereupon at that time, the land was still recognized as part of the British Empire.
History tells us that while Britain was willing to allot a portion of land for Jewish settlers, they did not want to relinquish control or possession of the land. After the Jews increasing frustration with England and Arabs, on December 1st, 1947, the Arab Higher Committee proclaimed a three-day strike as Arab bands began attacking Jewish settlements. The Jews, initially being placed on the defensive as war broke out against them, quickly moved to the offensive and prevailed, gaining control and occupancy of more land. At which point England conceded and (under international pressure) gave the land to the Jews so they could once again be a people and a nation.
Now this all may seem to be all good and well on England’s part, except God requires that a gift must be given cheerfully and of one’s free will if it is to be acceptable and thus blessed by Him. Otherwise, it is not a true gift of charity. Therefore, England, who did not cheerfully choose to bless the descendants of Abraham with a free will offering, ultimately forfeited the blessing of God. This can be seen in that though Britain and its allies were ultimately victorious in the war, the Empire rapidly began to decline.
India and Pakistan gained their independence in 1947, and in 1948 King George the VI abandoned the title Emperor of India. In 1949 Ireland formally declared it a republic and left the Commonwealth. In 1950 India became a republic and King George adopts the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. Through all this, King George the VI was afflicted with health issue to which he succumbs and died in 1952. Thus, it is historical fact that George VI, King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, lived only four short years after the rebirth of Israel, only to be succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth. England, therefore, governing the land of Israel’s rebirth, is the seventh head of which prophecy predicted, “when he cometh, he must continue a short space,” (Rev. 17:10).
Revelation 17:11 – And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Rising up out of the sea comes the Eight Beast, which we are told is “of” or from, the seven. Could this mean that the Eight Beast is a mixture “of” the seven heads or empires, a great melting pot of cultures? For in it are “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” Or does “of the seven” refer to it being a direct descendant or offspring “of the seventh” empire? Either way, we find America alone as the Cinderella for this glass slipper, for she is both a land of immigrants as well as the offspring of England. Remember, Revelation 13-16 is about the rise and fall of the Eight Beast that goes into perdition, and in chapter 17 we are given clues to help clarify who is the eighth by giving us a progression of empires.
So I ask, what was it that catapulted America to the place of global supremacy she had held for a long time? Was it not the same thing that set the stage for the decline of the British Empire and the rebirth of Israel, World War II?
Now then, if this Eighth Beast could in fact be America, it obligates us to reconsider a section of scripture that has constantly been applied to an individual. For in Revelation 13:3 where we see the Eighth Beast received a wound to one of its heads “as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” How then do we connect this to America if verses 1-3 have actually been speaking of an empire and not an individual as many interpret it?
Knowing some are being painfully forced to set aside their long-held beliefs here, I seriously proposed the possibility this wound to the head, from which the beast amazingly recovered, was Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, a historical event which significance keeps resurfacing. It was the attack on Pearl Harbor that rallied the people of America into one mind to go to war, thus we entered WWII. Despite Japan’s fury, speed and might, Pearl Harbor somehow survived the attack and was able to defend itself, though suffering great loss of life and resources.
But recall now how the war ended, with the dropping of The Bomb on Hiroshima and the second bomb on Nagasaki. Such display of power was never before witnessed. It could fittingly be asserted that the posture of the whole world was, “Who is like unto the beast?” and “Who is able to make war with Him?”
How did these things come to pass? In his vision John beheld “another beast coming up out of the earth and he had two horns of a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. And he exercises all the power of the first beast.” This second beast whose appearance is like a lamb (having two horns) and SEEMS to be for peace is that person who, “exercises ALL the authority of the first.” If the first beast “from the sea” is America, then this second beast from “the earth,” would be none other than the office of the Presidency. Though seeming to be for peace, his mouth is really promoting the agenda of the dragon, “… and he does great wonders, so that he makes fire, come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,” (verses 11-13).
Upon having ascended to a position of global supremacy, American presidents soon began asserting their power and meddling in the affairs of other sovereign nations under the guise of peaceful intentions. Regimes fell, and puppet leaders through American backing rose to power to assist an agenda that surpasses the greedy intent of mere men, for it is clear that “The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority”
Since President George H. W. Bush Sr. postured America against Israel by proposing “land for peace,” every president since has continued to assert the right for a Palestine State to exist, and the necessity for Israel to forfeit its covenanted land. As lambs supposedly laboring in the name of peace, these American presidents and statesmen have relentlessly pressured Israel with the threat of losing American support if they fail to comply with imposed mandates against them under the banner of “peace talks.” Now read again the fate of the Eighth Beast from Revelation 13-18, and honestly ask yourself, who fits this better than America?
The Woman on the Beast
At the revelation of the rise of the Eighth Beast in Revelation 13:1, initially we can see there is no mention of a woman sitting upon the beast at the time of its ascension to “his power, and his seat, and great authority.” Chapters 14 and the beginning of 15 speak solely of the iniquities of the beast and the rest of chapter 15 and 16 speak of the judgment that would befall it. This vision so overwhelmed the Apostle John, that in chapter 17 we see the angel comes to him to clarify all he had seen, and then continues to reveal how God’s judgment would surely come upon both the beast and the apostate religious system which would be riding the beast into the end of history. Thus, chapters 18 and 19 speak of the absolute destruction of the beast and woman, while also proclaiming the praise and glory given to God for all His righteous judgments.
When the Eighth Beast rises to its might in Revelation 13 there seems to be a respectful separation between the beast, (the civil system) and the woman, (the religious system) as the woman is not mentioned, perhaps representing a separation between church and state. BUT, in order for the civil government to do what it is prophesied to do in the last days and initiate a new joint identification and economic system, it will need the support of the religious sector, or faith-based organizations, to assure that such a new system is benign and ok with God, hence in chapter 17 the woman now rides the beast.
Foolishly, churches in the mainstream religious system have subjected themselves to be fully regulated by the beast’s system in exchange for their tax-exempt status. Hence these dead religious churches will feel obliged to assure their congregants that the implementation of the new identification mark that the beast says is necessary for the restructured economic system is not the damnable “mark of the beast.” This will not be difficult for the whoring daughters of Babylon to do, for having perpetuated so many false end time doctrines they have only “waxed worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” and now openly celebrate their joyful embracement of clear damnable heresies and moral atrocities.
Our adversary has spewed out of his mouth a flood of false end time messages and lying doctrines that he might cause the true Church to be carried away with the flood of error that is rampant in today’s churches which are seeking to serve men and mammon rather than God; sacrificing God’s truth for increased attendance lest they offend their contributors.
Revelation 12:15 – And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Now, we know from the scriptures that God has always had His civil and spiritual leaders, so likewise the devil imitates this structural order in his attempt to defeat God’s people; hence the beast and the woman who rides it. Because of their greed for power and filthy mammon in these final days they will selfishly merge and become “one” in heart and purpose.
Remember, no one can serve both God and mammon.
Plays 2nd Part of 3
The following is a compilation of interesting quotes and points in history deserving of your attention and consideration:
An excerpt from President Roosevelt’s speech after the Pearl Harbor attack:
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan . . . As Commander in Chief of the army and navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory… With confidence in our armed forces-with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God…”
Considering President Roosevelt’s expressed confidence in “the American people in their righteous might” that they will surely “win through to absolute victory” due to“our armed forces-with the unbounding determination of our people,” I am compelled to ask just what does the word of God say about one who boasts in the strength of their flesh? Some may wish to immediately object and demand the direction of my attention to President Roosevelt’s inclusion of “so help us God…”
But I must simply point out that nowhere did he express his confidence to be in either God’s righteousness or His might, as if they were the foundation and strength whereby the American people through their unwavering faith in God would surely overcome their enemies. No, this short inclusion of “so help us God,” has actually been the last four words attached to many threats of revenge by proud and indignant people. Perhaps those who are more patriotic and loyal to their country than they are concerned about the kingdom of God, or even their own personal godliness, to such President Roosevelt’s speech may well have sounded sufficiently religious enough by his employing such phrases as “righteous might” and “so help us God.” But in truth, an honest critique exposes the usage of these phrases for what it was, the white-washing declaration for the successful implementation of a strategic agenda that was designed to rally the citizenry of America to not only support a foreign war effort, but to create a patriotic willingness among them to send their fathers, husbands, and sons into it as well. Can anyone say 9/11?
So, again I am asking, just what does the word of God say about one who boasts in the strength of the flesh?
Jeremiah 17:5 – Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
It is interesting, and so I must make note here, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt suddenly died nearly three and a half years after making this famous speech and therefore did “not see when good cometh” at the conclusion of the war. I say nearly, because if we use the Julian calendar, it was only 3 years, 4 months, and 4 days excluding the end date. However, scripture reveals God calculates time differently, using both the solar and the lunar cycles. One solar cycle was an approximate biblical year which was adjusted periodically with an extra month approximately seven times during nineteen solar cycles. The biblical months varied between 29-30 days based upon the lunar cycle which fluctuates and therefore the months average out to approximately 29.5 days. Since it was a total of 1,221 days duration from President Roosevelt’s speech to his death, we can simply divide that time and see it was a duration of 41.39 biblical months, or 42 months according to the Jewish tradition of counting time, that any whole measure of a unit of time with a partial measure of a following, would be counted as two. Such as a period of thirty hours would be counted as two days. Perhaps even more interesting is the timing of President Roosevelt’s death which actually occurred on the New Moon of April 12, 1945.
Revelation 13:5 – 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.
Obviously, my studies have brought me to the conclusion that America is this eighth and final beast. For who cannot see that America “the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” The tsunami of evil deception in America continues to rise with a flood of sorcery, paganism, Wicca, false cults, blatant corruption, wickedness, immorality, disobedience to parents, hate groups, etc., etc.
Also, I do acknowledge that there are many studious believers which earnestly believe the Catholic Church is the beast and harlot system. However, she fails to meet the full criteria of the plurality of “seven kings, five of which have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come, and when he comes, he must continue a short time.” For it is evident that the beast is always referenced in the masculine with its kings. We simply must recognize both as separate entities, civil and religious, church and state, that join forces in an unholy union for a final ride into perdition.
Nevertheless, the Catholic Church is undoubtedly part of the spirit of this whorish woman who rides the beast; but it is not the beast itself. Furthermore, the Catholic Church has been a hoarder of wealth, but not a distributor of it. For where, or when, could we apply to the Catholic Church how “the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies?” Or “Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness!?”
How does one apply this to the Vatican? – “Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.”
“Sorceries” implies witchcraft, or the calculated manipulation of men’s wills to consent to sin. “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,” (1 Samuel 15:23). It is evident that America’s leaders have failed to embrace God’s word and have refused to be subject unto Him. Rather they have continually tried to exalt themselves higher and higher while constantly seeking to manipulate both the minds and wills of the people that they might control them, and so further the agenda of the dragon.
There are many other things that have worked together to strongly persuade me that America is the Eighth Beast. There are specific details and events in our founding history that have been suppressed from public awareness but are still openly evident, too many to thoroughly disclosed here. However, there are the Masonic symbols on our currency, government buildings, as well as the curious layout and design of certain parts of District of Columbia which virtually mirrors some aspects of the Vatican in Rome.
The designation “District of Columbia” can accurately be rephrased the “Realm of the control of the Queen of Heaven,” referencing the goddess Columbia. Columbia has also been worshipped through history and regions of the world under the names, Isis, Semiramis, Ishtar, Diana, Artemis, Ashtoreth, Astarte, and Libertas. It is not mere coincident that the Statute of Liberty has mimicking aspects to many of these female pagan idols.
Plus, there are specific details that have been made public under the Freedom of Information Act concerning various memorandums, discussions, military exercises, and other various events that have exposed covert efforts of the American government to manipulate situations so as to assure our involvement in WWII, and ultimately those events that led to the ending of the war.
Americans had for the most part become isolationists after World War I, having virtually no interest for any interference or involvement in foreign wars. According to a pre-war Gallup poll, 88 percent of Americans were solidly opposed to any involvement in the rapidly expanding European war. It was this temperament of Americans that was successfully exploited by President Roosevelt while campaigning, as he promised over and over again, “Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.” As a result, he won the election.
However, as early as 1940, a code clerk at the U.S. embassy in London had discovered secret communications between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill revealing a strong determination on Roosevelt’s part to engage America in the war. Unfortunately for the clerk he was caught trying to smuggle some of the documents out of the embassy. Consequently, he was charged with obtaining documents that “might be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy” and in a secret British court was convicted and therefore confined to a British prison until the war ended. The clerk’s name was Tyler Gatewood Kent.
On October 7, 1940, A memorandum from Lieutenant Commander Arthur H. McCollum, head of the Far East desk of the Office of Naval Intelligence, advocated eight specific actions that were deemed suffice to provoke Japan into attacking the United States. In it the Commander wrote, “If by these means Japan could be led to commit an overt act of war, so much the better.” Consequently, President Roosevelt over the following year enacted all eight of McCollum’s recommendations.
Later in January 1941, President Roosevelt’s close advisor, Harry Hopkins, met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and informed him, “The President is determined that we [the United States and England] shall win the war together. Make no mistake about it. He has sent me here to tell you that at all costs and by all means he will carry you through, no matter what happens to him – there is nothing he will not do so far as he has human power.”
March 1941, President Roosevelt sold munitions and convoyed them to belligerents in Europe, both acts of war and both violations of international law; specifically, the Lend‑Lease Act.
June 23, 1941, Advisor Harold Ickes wrote in a memo to President Roosevelt the day after Germany invaded the Soviet Union, “There might develop from the embargoing of oil to Japan such a situation as would make it not only possible but easy to get into this war in an effective way. And if we should thus indirectly be brought in, we would avoid the criticism that we had gone in as an ally of communistic Russia.”
July 25, 1941, President Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets in US cutting off their main supply of oil, forcing them into war with the United States while all intelligence information was withheld from Hawaii from this point forward.
August 14, 1941, At the Atlantic Conference, Prime Minister Churchill noted the “astonishing depth of Roosevelt’s intense desire for war.” Consequently, Churchill cabled his cabinet “(President Roosevelt) obviously was very determined that they should come in.”
October 16, 1941, Secretary of War Henry Stimson wrote in his diary, “We face the delicate question of the diplomatic fencing to be done so as to be sure Japan is put into the wrong and makes the first bad move – overt move.”
October 18, 1941, Diary entry by Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes: “For a long time I have believed that our best entrance into the war would be by way of Japan.”
November 25, 1941, Secretary of War Henry Stimson wrote in his diary that FDR said an attack was likely within days, and presented the question, “How we should maneuver them into the position of firing the first shot without too much danger to ourselves. In spite of the risk involved, however, in letting the Japanese fire the first shot, we realized that in order to have the full support of the American people it was desirable to make sure that the Japanese be the ones to do this so that there should remain no doubt in anyone’s mind as to who were the aggressors.” Thus, Stimson made another entry that day stating, “The question was how we should maneuver them [the Japanese] into the position of firing the first shot…”
November 26, 1941, an ultimatum was sent to Japan’s ambassadors demanding as prerequisites to resumed trade a complete withdrawal of all troops from China and Indochina, and in effect abrogate her Tripartite Treaty with Germany and Italy.
Therefore, we can see why in 1944, British Minister of Production, Oliver Lyttleton stated, “Japan was provoked into attacking America at Pearl Harbor. It is a travesty of history to say that America was forced into the war.”
In his 1948 biography, “Roosevelt and Hopkins: An Intimate History,” Robert Sherwood wrote, “If the isolationists had known the full extent of the secret alliance between the United States and Britain, their demands for the President’s impeachment would have rumbled like thunder through the land.”
All this being noted is in no way an attempt to deny or excuse Japan’s ferociousness in its war efforts, for there can be no excusing their heinous actions against the people and government of China and Indochina. However, as Christians, we must not allow ourselves to be so blindly patriotic that we willfully shut our eyes to the truth that the American government, as an aggressor, intentionally provoked Japan to blame them and to get involved in the war. For prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Roosevelt administration froze Japan’s assets in America, restricted them from use of the Panama Canal, ceased vital exports which were necessary to Japan’s war efforts, and ultimately joined Britain in an all-out embargo.
So, again I ask, “How did these things come to pass?” True to the Apostle John’s vision, there is “another beast” that came “up out of the earth; and he had two horns of a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he exercises all the power of the first beast.” History proves that though this second beast had the appearance as like a lamb and claimed to be for peace, he was really promoting the agenda of the dragon. For over and over President Roosevelt promised the American people, “I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.” Nevertheless, it was the President of America who authorized “…great wonders, so that he makes fire [that is, The Atomic Bomb], come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.”
I admit that initially for years I only casually researched this, but was stunned when I ran across The Frank Report of June 11, 1945. It is a “Memorandum on Political and Social Problems of the Bomb by scientists at the Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago, Manhattan Project.” This report was written for delivery to President Truman, who inherited the “Project” after President Roosevelt died.
However, President Truman never received this letter before giving the order to drop the bomb on Hiroshima. That is because Secretary of War Mr. Stimson had intercepted it. In regard to bombing decisions on Japan he is documented as stating, “This is one time I’m going to be the final deciding authority. Nobody’s going to tell me what to do on this.”
“The President never received the letter, and all the scientists’ initiatives were frustrated because of the opposition of Byrnes, Groves, Oppenheimer, and other policy makers and scientists in control of the nuclear program.”
The following is “Dwight Eisenhower’s expressed view on using the Atomic Bomb”
“In 1945… Secretary of War Stimson visited my headquarters in Germany, [and] informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act . . . During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and second because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of ‘face.’ The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude, almost angrily refuting the reasons I gave for my quick conclusions.”
Here is perhaps the most startling excerpt from “The Franck Report” that was signed by the top scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project.
“All of us, familiar with the present state of nucleonics, live with the vision before our eyes of sudden destruction visited on our own country, of a Pearl Harbor disaster repeated in thousand-fold magnification in every one of our major cities.” (See the Franck Report: http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/keyissues/ethics/issues/scientific/franck-report.htm)
A thorough reading of the Franck Report will show just how President Truman and other government leaders rejected the counsel of the wise, just like Rehoboam rejected the wisdom of his father’s counsellors when he was asked by Jeroboam to lower the taxes. After the scientists realized their letter had not been delivered, they wrote a second petition to President Truman, from which the following excerpt was taken.
“The war has to be brought speedily to a successful conclusion and attacks by atomic bombs may very well be an effective method of warfare. We feel, however, that such attacks on Japan could not be justified, at least not unless the terms which will be imposed after the war on Japan were made public in detail and Japan were given an opportunity to surrender.”
“If such public announcement gave assurance to the Japanese that they could look forward to a life devoted to peaceful pursuits in their homeland and if Japan still refused to surrender, our nation might then, in certain circumstances, find itself forced to resort to the use of atomic bombs. Such a step, however, ought not to be made at any time without seriously considering the moral responsibilities which are involved.”
“The development of atomic power will provide the nations with new means of destruction. The atomic bombs at our disposal represent only the first step in this direction, and there is almost no limit to the destructive power which will become available in the course of their future development. Thus, a nation which sets the precedent of using these newly liberated forces of nature for purposes of destruction may have to bear the responsibility of opening the door to an era of devastation on an unimaginable scale.”
To read these solemn warnings that were given to President Truman, and to think he rejected their counsel is horrifying. Even General MacArthur, who was leading the war against Japan, petitioned strongly against the use of the bomb. He didn’t even know there was such a bomb until 48 hours before the first one was dropped. Upon being made aware he bitterly objected to its usage, stating the war was over. It was just a matter of negotiating the surrender, so as to allow the Japanese people to save face because they were a proud (honorable) people.
Still, or perhaps regardless, President Truman was the one who ordered the “fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.” Now listen to the righteous judgment of God, “If any man has an ear, let him hear. He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword [or weapon of war,] must be killed with the sword, [or the same weapon of war].”
Revelation 18:8 – Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. 9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.”
Russia and China are not America’s only threats, but rather sincere concern needs to be given to all the European and Middle East nations. People might laugh, but I will simply remind them what the Bible says, “the ten horns . . . shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.”
Some have argued there isn’t a national army over there big enough, (at least not at the time of the original writing of this in 2002.) However, the initial formation of the European Union Military Staff (EUMS) was headed up by a German General. Didn’t Germany contribute greatly to the start of the two World Wars? And remember the scriptures clearly state, “…the ten horns which thou saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put in their hearts to fulfil His will…”
And what will be the lure of Satan dragging men to war again? Money and power of course. We in America are rapidly falling headlong into an Electronic Identification and Electronic-Cash-Credit-Debit system. As far back as 1998 an article in Time magazine predicted one could send their daughter in college E-Cash and she “can store the money any way she wants-on her laptop, on a debit card, even (in the not too distant future) on a chip implanted under her skin. And, perhaps best of all, you can program the money to be spent only in specific ways.” (Time APRIL 27, 1998 VOL. 151 NO. 16)
Also mentioned in this article in Time was how the “smart card” with an RFID for the E-cash system could ALSO keep your medical history. Wasn’t it President Clinton and his wife Hillary who were trying to get all Americans issued such a card so they could all have medical insurance? Is it really about OUR health and well-being? Or is it really about THEIR wealth and control? And now we have Presidential Obamacare, of which it has been rumored will eventually require all to have an implantable RFID chip.
Back in 2002 when I first wrote this article, I spoke about how the European Union was rapidly printing out their new “Euros” and ready to begin distribution that year. I commented on how the European Union’s common currency would only prove to add to the conflict of global monetary standards. The Bible says, “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and as a high wall in his own conceit” (Proverbs 18:11).
Now, with the current global economic crisis, I am persuaded America will eventually attempt to force upon the European Union (and perhaps parts the rest of the world) a new E-cash credit/debit method of economics… which I presently suspect the European Union and other nations will deceptively consent to. For again, “the ten horns which thou saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”
Their deceptive acceptance of America’s proposal (which will most likely be pushed forcefully upon the European Union and other countries with the same arrogance that led to the dropping of the bombs), will only be for the purposes of their buying time to carry out a plan to finally eliminate the competition.
While admittedly I am only speculating as to why and how the ten horns/kings “receive power as kings one hour with the beast,” it nevertheless remains a biblical fact that “God has put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled… these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put in their hearts to fulfil His will.”
Last and Final Part
Further points worthy of prayerful consideration:
Evidence that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a crime against International Law
Title: PROTECTION OF CIVILIAN POPULATIONS AGAINST BOMBING FROM THE AIR IN CSSE OF WAR – Unanimous resolution of the League of Nations Assembly,
Dated: September 30, 1938
To: The Assembly,
Considering that on numerous occasions public opinion has expressed through the most authoritative channels its horror of the bombing of civilian populations;
Considering that this practice, for which there is no military necessity and which, as experience shows, only causes needless suffering, is condemned under the recognized principles of international law;
Considering further that, though this principle ought to be respected by all States and does not require further reaffirmation, it urgently needs to be made the subject of regulations specially adapted to air warfare and taking account of the lessons of experience;
Considering that the solution of this problem, which is of concern to all States, whether Members of the League of Nations or not, calls for technical investigation and thorough consideration;
Considering that the Bureau of the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments is to meet in the near future and that it is for the Bureau to consider practical means of undertaking the necessary work under conditions most likely to lead to as general an agreement as possible:
Recognizes the following principles as a necessary basis for any subsequent regulations:
The intentional bombing of civilian populations is illegal;
Objectives aimed at from the air must be legitimate military objectives and must be identifiable;
Any attack on legitimate military objectives must be carried out in such a way that civilian populations in the neighborhood are not bombed through negligence;
Also takes the opportunity to reaffirm that the use of chemical or bacterial methods in the conduct of war is contrary to international law, as recalled more particularly in the resolution of the General Commission of the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments of July 23rd, 1932, and the resolution of the Council of May 14th, 1938
Appeal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Aerial Bombardment of Civilian Populations, September 1, 1939 –
The President of the United States to the Governments of France,
Germany, Italy, Poland and His Britannic Majesty, September 1, 1939
The ruthless bombing from the air of civilians in unfortified centers of population during the course of the hostilities which have raged in various quarters of the earth during the past few years, which has resulted in the maiming and in the death of thousands of defenseless men, women, and children, has sickened the hearts of every civilized man and woman, and has profoundly shocked the conscience of humanity.
If resort is had to this form of inhuman barbarism during the period of the tragic conflagration with which the world is now confronted, hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings who have no responsibility for, and who are not even remotely participating in, the hostilities which have now broken out, will lose their lives. I am therefore addressing this urgent appeal to every government which may be engaged in hostilities publicly to affirm its determination that its armed forces shall in no event, and under no circumstances, undertake the bombardment from the air of civilian populations or of unfortified cities, upon the understanding that these same rules of warfare will be scrupulously observed by all of their opponents. I request an immediate reply. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
In a radio speech to the nation on August 9, 1945, President Truman called Hiroshima “a military base.” It seems likely, considering his July 25 diary entry, that he personally was not aware that Hiroshima was a city. Otherwise, he was being untruthful about the nature of the target. Truman delivered his speech from the White House at 10 P.M. Washington time on August 9, 1945. By this time, the second atomic bomb had already destroyed the city of Nagasaki. Because of the great length of the speech, most of which dealt with Germany, only the relevant paragraph is quoted here.
“The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians. But that attack is only a warning of things to come. If Japan does not surrender, bombs will have to be dropped on her war industries and, unfortunately, thousands of civilian lives will be lost. I urge Japanese civilians to leave industrial cities immediately, and save themselves from destruction.”
What does this all mean? It means the bombing of Japan was not only against the counsel of those who developed the bomb; it was also illegal according to international law and contrary to President Roosevelt’s international petition.
U.S. Government and Military Leaders’ Responses To Dropping the Bomb
FIRST QUOTE:
Harry S. Truman, the President of the United States who ordered the Atomic Bombing:
General Henry “Hap” Arnold, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces Under President Truman:
“It always appeared to us that, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb, the Japanese were already on the verge of collapse.”
NEXT QUOTE:
General Dwight D. Eisenhower:
“I had been conscious of depression and so I voiced to (Sec. Of War Stimson) my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at this very moment, seeking a way to surrender with a minimum loss of ‘face.’”
NEXT QUOTE:
General Dwight D. Eisenhower:
“Japan was at the moment seeking some way to surrender with minimum loss of ‘face’… It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.”
NEXT QUOTE:
Admiral William D. Leahy, Former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
“It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender… My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was taught not to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children.”
NEXT QUOTE:
John McCloy:
“I am absolutely convinced that had we said they could keep the emperor, together with the threat of an atomic bomb, they would have accepted, and we would never have had to drop the bomb.”
NEXT QUOTE – This one just absolutely stunned me:
From President Harry S. Truman’s diary entered July 18, 1945 – just 17 days before the bombing of Hiroshima:
“P.M. Churchill & I ate alone. Discussed Manhattan[PROJECT] (it is a success). Decided to tell Stalin about it. Stalin had told P.M. of telegram from Japan Emperor asking for peace.”
NEXT QUOTE:
Stewart L. Udall, US Congressman and Author of “Myths of August”
“Some of my conclusions may invoke anger and even ridicule. For example, I offer my belief that the existence of the first atomic bombs may have prolonged – rather than shortened – World War II, by influencing Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and President Harry S. Truman to ignore an opportunity to negotiate a surrender that would have ended the killing in the Pacific in May or June of 1945. And I have come to view the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings that August as an American tragedy that should be viewed as a moral atrocity.”
NEXT QUOTE:
From: U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey’s 1946 Study:
“Certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.”
NEXT QUOTE:
J. Samuel Walker, Chief Historian, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission:
“Careful scholarly treatment of the records and manuscripts opened over the past few years has greatly enhanced our understanding of why Truman administration used atomic weapons against Japan. Experts continue to disagree on some issues, but critical questions have been answered. The consensus among scholars is the that the bomb was not needed to avoid an invasion of Japan… It is clear that alternatives to the bomb existed and that Truman and his advisers knew it”
NEXT QUOTE:
1995 – Nagasaki Mayor Hitoshi Motoshima:
“It was a matter of course for atomic bombs to have been dropped on Japan, which had launched a war of aggression. Japan does not have the right to criticize the atomic bomb.” for Kyodo News’s interview. He is also quoted as saying, conversely, that the bombing was “one of the two great crimes against humanity in the20th Century, along with the Holocaust”
NEXT QUOTE:
March 16, 1995 – Los Angeles Times
Heading: Japanese Mayors Call A-Bomb Attacks a Crime
Underscoring a wide “perception gap” between Japan and the United States, the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Wednesday sharply challenged the prevailing U.S. view that the nuclear attacks on their cities were necessary to end World War II.
Nagasaki Mayor Hitoshi Motoshima called the attacks “one of two great crimes against humanity in the 20th Century, along with the Holocaust.” Although he conceded that the attacks helped hasten the war’s end–a concession Hiroshima Mayor Takashi Hiraoka refused to make–he questioned the price.
“Does avoiding the death of servicemen justify the sacrifice of tens of thousands of guiltless noncombatants?” Motoshima asked, pointing out that the bombs indiscriminately killed men, women and children. “This is tantamount to killing a flea with a sledgehammer. It can hardly be called a justified act, even in wartime.”
The bombs, dropped in August, 1945, killed and injured 130,000 people in Hiroshima–almost half the city’s population–and 74,000 in Nagasaki. Hundreds of thousands of survivors suffered cancer and other radiation aftereffects.
The mayors, in a joint appearance before foreign correspondents, argued that the United States dropped the bombs mainly to intimidate the Soviet Union, verify the weapons’ effectiveness and justify the $2 billion spent to develop them.
LAST QUOTE:
Osama bin Laden, when asked by ABC reporter John Miller-
“Mister bin Laden, you have issued a fatwah calling on Muslims to kill Americans where they can, when they can. Is that directed at all Americans, [or] just the American military, [or] just the Americans in Saudi Arabia?”
Osama bin Laden’s answer, “…The Americans started it and retaliation and punishment should be carried out following the principle of reciprocity, especially when women and children are involved. Through history, America has not been known to differentiate between the military and the civilians or between men and women or adults and children. Those who threw atomic bombs and used the weapons of mass destruction against Nagasaki and Hiroshima were the Americans. Can the bombs differentiate between military and women and infants and children? America has no religion that can deter her from exterminating whole peoples. …We believe that the worst thieves in the world today and the worst terrorists are the Americans. Nothing could stop you except perhaps retaliation in kind. [Therefore]We do not have to differentiate between military or civilian.”
Shocking I know, and very uncomfortable to hear and consider these things. Doubtless many are so angry at seeing Osama bin Laden being quoted that they have nearly forgotten all the quotes of the American leaders who likewise were offended by America being the first to make use of The Bomb.
Sin is sin whoever commits it, be they American, Arab, Christian, Jew or Muslim. However, in light of all this, please consider afresh what God has stated in regards to the use of weapons and His judgments –
“If any man have an ear, let him hear, He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity: he that kills with the sword [or whatever weapon of war] must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints,” (Revelation 13:9).
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man [or nation] soweth, that shall he [or it] also reap,” (Galatians 6:7)
Let us therefore give more earnest heed to Jesus’ admonition, “Watch therefore, praying in every season that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things which shall occur, and to stand before the Son of man,” (Luke 21:26).
Two Play options – This Plays Whole ChapterThis Plays only 1st Part of 3 Parts
NOTE: This chapter, with audio, was actually written twenty years ago as a stand-alone article. However, in light of all we have reviewed thus far, it is being included here in hopes it will now serve as a lasso to help pull together much of what we’ve covered to provide a solid answer to the question above and the one below.
We hear it all the time, “Isn’t it amazing that the scriptures are silent about America?” I once thought the same thing myself, but after prayerful re-examination of the history of America and scripture, I don’t believe that is true anymore. Therefore, I submit the following for those open enough to examine for themselves whether or not America is mentioned in scripture. Though, I admit nowadays with the rising flood of endtime theologies, it is getting harder to convince most people that it is. As Mark Twain once said, “It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them they have been fooled.” Likewise, it has been proven over and over again, that the greatest hindrance to people accepting the truth is a prejudice, or verdict against it before they fully hear a matter.
He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and a shame to him.” (Proverbs 18:13)
I must first start by asking that you please do not hastily jump to the wrong conclusion that I am anti-America for writing this article. I have written it out of conviction and simply because I believe that a holy and righteous God must deal with the sins of America the same way He would with any nation. The supporting information provided in this article is only a fraction of the information available and even this tends to be overwhelming for most people when first considering this concept. So, let’s begin with this verse –
Revelation 17:9 – And here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. 10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. 11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Revelation chapters 13-19:4, speak of an end-time’s judgment of the LAST in a succession of seven empires now being summed up in the last days as a final eighth empire. Though these chapters begin with concentrating on a seven-headed “beast rise up out of the sea,” the primary focus of this prophecy is that last empire which the angel eventually clarified as being “The Eighth,” that goes into perdition, or total annihilation. In order to gain understanding of whom or what the eighth spiritual Babylon might be, one must first give heed to the clues given to John by the angel in chapter 17.
One critical clue given to John concerning this succession of empires was when the angel said the “the beast that was, and is not, yet is.” This clue reveals there would be an interruption in this succession of what could be called “spiritual Babylons” represented on this seven-headed beast; a time when this beast “was not” going to be represented in history by a literal country. However, after an unstated duration of time, the beast system would again briefly exist as the seventh head, or seventh empire. Lastly, it would “rise up out of the sea” as that final and last beast, or empire, which would fulfill all these prophecies. Thus, the whole imagery of a “seven-headed beast” is designed specifically to expose that last, eighth, and final empire that “goeth into perdition,” or complete annihilation.
The “sea” from out of which the beast rises up, and upon which the woman sits, we are told in 17:15 represents “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” This is one of the verses in this chapter that leads many to conclude that this beast and/or the woman upon the beast is the Roman Catholic Church since Rome has established itself in every corner of the earth. Regardless, I am persuaded this symbolic beast with the woman is a multifaceted-representation and must be recognized as demonstrating a succession of specific political entities or nations, as well as their particular religious institutions.
I believe this clue given by the angel also reveals to us that having a knowledge of Israel’s history is a critical key required if the door of understanding is going to be unlocked concerning just who this Eighth Beast is, as well as who is the woman shown to later be riding upon it. Only from there can a firm foundation for understanding be built from which we can properly discern the correlation of each of these empires to Israel. For scripture and history corroborates that Israel, like the beast, “was, and was not, and yet is.” That is not in any way to suggest Israel is either the beast or the woman, rather to substantiate the correlation between the seven-headed beast and Israel. Nevertheless, we can see in scripture where Israel is “spiritually called Sodom and Egypt,” (Revelation 11:8).
The majority of the Jews rejected Jesus and the purpose of His crucifixion, which was evident by their continuance in the Mosaic Law. By Jesus having fulfilled the Law, meaning the Ceremonial Law’s official intent was now exhausted, having accomplished its purpose, which was to strongly emphasize and foretell the necessity of a perfect sacrifice, with the shedding of blood, for redemption and forgiveness of sins. The law, with its various actions through its mandatory sacrifices and oblations, altogether served only as a prophetic disclosure of the final and complete sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Therefore, by rejecting Jesus’ death and atoning blood, the Jews defiantly chose to remain in a now dead and decaying institution, and having completed its purpose, was rapidly waxing old and ready to vanish away, .
Hebrews 8:13 – In that He saith, A new covenant, He has made the first old. Now that which is decaying and waxing old is ready to vanish away.
For this reason, Israel is now “spiritually called Sodom” to signify how any manner of religion they now practice can be nothing more than a perversion of the truth since they lack both the temple and priesthood which were destroyed for their rejection of their Promised Deliverer, Jesus the Christ. Likewise, Israel is “spiritually called Egypt” to signify that without Jesus’ atonement they remain under the bondage of sin and death.
Another key point to remember is that the subject of Revelation chapters 13-16 is the rise and fall of the final Eighth Beast and the introduction of the woman sitting upon it. When the judgment foretold starts to fall upon them, the beast and the woman become synonymous in chapters 17-19. This is conceivably due to a legal arrangement and thus (though perhaps unwittingly) a spiritual covenant that joins them inseparably, comparable to the covenant of marriage whereby two are made one flesh in the eyes of God. Such is why the angel tells John, “I will show you the judgment of the great whore that sits on many waters” and “I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her.” The angel’s clue to this “mystery” reveals how the woman and the beast consent to unite and thus merge together as one to war against God and His holy people in these last days.
The woman, representing false religions all throughout history, will in the last days be greatly exemplified in the leaders of pseudo-Christianity and their followers. These are those who have prostituted themselves with the Eighth Beast for political and economic reasons, and willfully diluted the teachings of Christ in order to maintain their influence and power over the ignorant.
I know this might be difficult for many to receive, since for many it is just the way it has always been. But Christians need to honestly reconsider how their churches and faith-based organizations in America have willfully agreed to submit to government oversight in exchange for their tax-exempt status. Many have assumed it was mandatory, but it’s not. But people forget that government will always imply, take, and keep all authority you allow it. And so the blind compliance of America’s former religious leaders has set a precedence that now compels others to blindly follow in their tracks. The nearsighted wisdom of these carnally minded church leaders, who thought it was all going to remain profitable and benign, has in reality proven it all to be malignant and powerfully advantageous to Satan. For we are now witnessing the end of his strategy as he begins to try and exercise his authority about what can be “legally” taught from the pulpits and must be performed in church sanctuaries, i.e., sanctioning homosexual marriages.
Similarly, the beast’s seven heads prophetically represent seven actual empires, each with their particular false religious system which are all but a disguise for Luciferianism, or the worshipping of fallen angels and demons, with each empire having its time of direct interaction with the nation Israel. And another clue the angel gives John is “here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits.” This is where many began to talk about the Seven Hills of Rome and want to apply all this to Catholicism. However, the Holy Spirit saw to it that the word was translated “mountains” and not “hills,” and continued clarifying with “There are seven kings, five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come.”
Both biblically and historically we can accurately verify six of these seven mountains with their seven kings, as six distinct and literal empires that have had a direct impact on the nation Israel, which at the time of John’s vision was still intact as a nation. Mentioning that fact makes this a suitable time to recall the clues given by the angel that the beast “was, and is not, and yet is,” and concerning these kings the angel also clearly told John that at that time “five are fallen, and one is.”
It is actually rather simple to determine who these six empires are. Clearly, the sixth one existing at the time was Rome. As prophesied through Daniel, Rome “had great iron teeth: it devours and breaks into pieces, and stamps the residue with the feet of it and was diverse from all the beasts that were before it.” Thus, it was Rome that fulfilled God’s promise of judgment against Israel, as was forewarned in Deuteronomy 28, for the Jews not cleaving unto Him and obeying His voice. Therefore, in 70 A.D. Israel had ceased to exist as a functioning nation. Just like the beast, Israel which “was,” soon became an “is not” as the Roman General Titus was obliged to execute God’s judgment upon them when he was unable to negotiate peace with the stiff neck and rebellious Jews.
By recognizing that the seven heads of the beast are intended to represent seven empires which have a direct correlation with the nation Israel, all we have to do to verify their identity is to simply start with the birth of Israel to see who these empires are.
We will start our review with Joseph who was betrayed by his brothers and sold as a slave, only to end up sitting on a throne in Egypt. While out of jealousy his brothers meant it for evil, God meant it for good. For through this brotherly betrayal came the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham; to make his descendants a mighty nation and give them for an inheritance the land of Canaan.
However, after 400 years the Egyptians grew fearful of the multiplication of the Jewish settlers in their land and therefore enslaved them. Through all of this it was God’s intent to show both the Jews and the Egyptians the greatness and the surety of His word, and to date God is still showing it to the entire world. As a result, Egypt is head number one of the beast, for out of it Israel as a nation was born.
Many years later, after the death of King Solomon, his son Rehoboam was confronted by Jeroboam who represented the ten northern tribes. Jeroboam had come to petition Rehoboam to lower the high taxes which his father Solomon had placed upon them. Rehoboam first sought the tried and proven wisdom of “the old men that stood before his father… But he forsook the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him,” (1 Kings 12). The result of Rehoboam walking in their ungodly counsel was a division of the nation Israel.
Having revolted, the ten northern tribes made Jeroboam their King. However, Jeroboam soon became concern that, “If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of the people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah… Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, it is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.”
Jeroboam’s sin of turning the people to idols brought God’s judgment upon them by His rising up Assyria to take the ten northern tribes of Israel into captivity. Making matters worse, in their captivity they continued rejecting God’s commandments and intermarried with the Assyrians. Losing the purity of their heritage as Hebrews they became the despised Samaritans. Thus, the ten northern tribes were lost, not by misplacement, but rather by forfeit of their pure identity as Hebrews. Consequently, Assyria is the second head of the Beast.
Over two hundred years later we see Judah to the south falling into idolatry and committing whoredoms against God, so she too was carried away captive by Babylon for seventy years. So, Babylon becomes the third head of the beast. In Daniel 8:20-21, we see the two empires to follow Babylon prophesied by the angel Gabriel would be the Medes/Persia Empire and Greece: heads number four and five of the Beast. So, at the time of the Apostle John’s vision the five that had fallen were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medes/Persia, and Greece, the sixth head being Rome which destroyed Israel as a nation.
From Israel’s destruction in 70 A.D. and prior to 1948, maps did not recognize any land as “Israel,” for Israel “which was, was not.” Yet faithful to His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God preserved their descendants and gathered them back to the land of their inheritance. Thus, today the whole world beholds Israel “that was, and is not, yet is” today. Therefore, as it has been with Israel, so has it been with the seven-headed beast.
Now what worked to re-establish Israel as a nation (apart from God’s sovereignty) was a near global sympathy for the Jews after their persecution in World War II, whereupon at that time, the land was still recognized as part of the British Empire.
History tells us that while Britain was willing to allot a portion of land for Jewish settlers, they did not want to relinquish control or possession of the land. After the Jews increasing frustration with England and Arabs, on December 1st, 1947, the Arab Higher Committee proclaimed a three-day strike as Arab bands began attacking Jewish settlements. The Jews, initially being placed on the defensive as war broke out against them, quickly moved to the offensive and prevailed, gaining control and occupancy of more land. At which point England conceded and (under international pressure) gave the land to the Jews so they could once again be a people and a nation.
Now this all may seem to be all good and well on England’s part, except God requires that a gift must be given cheerfully and of one’s free will if it is to be acceptable and thus blessed by Him. Otherwise, it is not a true gift of charity. Therefore, England, who did not cheerfully choose to bless the descendants of Abraham with a free will offering, ultimately forfeited the blessing of God. This can be seen in that though Britain and its allies were ultimately victorious in the war, the Empire rapidly began to decline.
India and Pakistan gained their independence in 1947, and in 1948 King George the VI abandoned the title Emperor of India. In 1949 Ireland formally declared it a republic and left the Commonwealth. In 1950 India became a republic and King George adopts the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. Through all this, King George the VI was afflicted with health issue to which he succumbs and died in 1952. Thus, it is historical fact that George VI, King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, lived only four short years after the rebirth of Israel, only to be succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth. England, therefore, governing the land of Israel’s rebirth, is the seventh head of which prophecy predicted, “when he cometh, he must continue a short space,” (Rev. 17:10).
Revelation 17:11 – And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
Rising up out of the sea comes the Eight Beast, which we are told is “of” or from, the seven. Could this mean that the Eight Beast is a mixture “of” the seven heads or empires, a great melting pot of cultures? For in it are “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” Or does “of the seven” refer to it being a direct descendant or offspring “of the seventh” empire? Either way, we find America alone as the Cinderella for this glass slipper, for she is both a land of immigrants as well as the offspring of England. Remember, Revelation 13-16 is about the rise and fall of the Eight Beast that goes into perdition, and in chapter 17 we are given clues to help clarify who is the eighth by giving us a progression of empires.
So I ask, what was it that catapulted America to the place of global supremacy she had held for a long time? Was it not the same thing that set the stage for the decline of the British Empire and the rebirth of Israel, World War II?
Now then, if this Eighth Beast could in fact be America, it obligates us to reconsider a section of scripture that has constantly been applied to an individual. For in Revelation 13:3 where we see the Eighth Beast received a wound to one of its heads “as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” How then do we connect this to America if verses 1-3 have actually been speaking of an empire and not an individual as many interpret it?
Knowing some are being painfully forced to set aside their long-held beliefs here, I seriously proposed the possibility this wound to the head, from which the beast amazingly recovered, was Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, a historical event which significance keeps resurfacing. It was the attack on Pearl Harbor that rallied the people of America into one mind to go to war, thus we entered WWII. Despite Japan’s fury, speed and might, Pearl Harbor somehow survived the attack and was able to defend itself, though suffering great loss of life and resources.
But recall now how the war ended, with the dropping of The Bomb on Hiroshima and the second bomb on Nagasaki. Such display of power was never before witnessed. It could fittingly be asserted that the posture of the whole world was, “Who is like unto the beast?” and “Who is able to make war with Him?”
How did these things come to pass? In his vision John beheld “another beast coming up out of the earth and he had two horns of a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. And he exercises all the power of the first beast.” This second beast whose appearance is like a lamb (having two horns) and SEEMS to be for peace is that person who, “exercises ALL the authority of the first.” If the first beast “from the sea” is America, then this second beast from “the earth,” would be none other than the office of the Presidency. Though seeming to be for peace, his mouth is really promoting the agenda of the dragon, “… and he does great wonders, so that he makes fire, come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,” (verses 11-13).
Upon having ascended to a position of global supremacy, American presidents soon began asserting their power and meddling in the affairs of other sovereign nations under the guise of peaceful intentions. Regimes fell, and puppet leaders through American backing rose to power to assist an agenda that surpasses the greedy intent of mere men, for it is clear that “The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority”
Since President George H. W. Bush Sr. postured America against Israel by proposing “land for peace,” every president since has continued to assert the right for a Palestine State to exist, and the necessity for Israel to forfeit its covenanted land. As lambs supposedly laboring in the name of peace, these American presidents and statesmen have relentlessly pressured Israel with the threat of losing American support if they fail to comply with imposed mandates against them under the banner of “peace talks.” Now read again the fate of the Eighth Beast from Revelation 13-18, and honestly ask yourself, who fits this better than America?
The Woman on the Beast
At the revelation of the rise of the Eighth Beast in Revelation 13:1, initially we can see there is no mention of a woman sitting upon the beast at the time of its ascension to “his power, and his seat, and great authority.” Chapters 14 and the beginning of 15 speak solely of the iniquities of the beast and the rest of chapter 15 and 16 speak of the judgment that would befall it. This vision so overwhelmed the Apostle John, that in chapter 17 we see the angel comes to him to clarify all he had seen, and then continues to reveal how God’s judgment would surely come upon both the beast and the apostate religious system which would be riding the beast into the end of history. Thus, chapters 18 and 19 speak of the absolute destruction of the beast and woman, while also proclaiming the praise and glory given to God for all His righteous judgments.
When the Eighth Beast rises to its might in Revelation 13 there seems to be a respectful separation between the beast, (the civil system) and the woman, (the religious system) as the woman is not mentioned, perhaps representing a separation between church and state. BUT, in order for the civil government to do what it is prophesied to do in the last days and initiate a new joint identification and economic system, it will need the support of the religious sector, or faith-based organizations, to assure that such a new system is benign and ok with God, hence in chapter 17 the woman now rides the beast.
Foolishly, churches in the mainstream religious system have subjected themselves to be fully regulated by the beast’s system in exchange for their tax-exempt status. Hence these dead religious churches will feel obliged to assure their congregants that the implementation of the new identification mark that the beast says is necessary for the restructured economic system is not the damnable “mark of the beast.” This will not be difficult for the whoring daughters of Babylon to do, for having perpetuated so many false end time doctrines they have only “waxed worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” and now openly celebrate their joyful embracement of clear damnable heresies and moral atrocities.
Our adversary has spewed out of his mouth a flood of false end time messages and lying doctrines that he might cause the true Church to be carried away with the flood of error that is rampant in today’s churches which are seeking to serve men and mammon rather than God; sacrificing God’s truth for increased attendance lest they offend their contributors.
Revelation 12:15 – And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Now, we know from the scriptures that God has always had His civil and spiritual leaders, so likewise the devil imitates this structural order in his attempt to defeat God’s people; hence the beast and the woman who rides it. Because of their greed for power and filthy mammon in these final days they will selfishly merge and become “one” in heart and purpose.
Remember, no one can serve both God and mammon.
Plays 2nd Part of 3
The following is a compilation of interesting quotes and points in history deserving of your attention and consideration:
An excerpt from President Roosevelt’s speech after the Pearl Harbor attack:
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan . . . As Commander in Chief of the army and navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory… With confidence in our armed forces-with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God…”
Considering President Roosevelt’s expressed confidence in “the American people in their righteous might” that they will surely “win through to absolute victory” due to“our armed forces-with the unbounding determination of our people,” I am compelled to ask just what does the word of God say about one who boasts in the strength of their flesh? Some may wish to immediately object and demand the direction of my attention to President Roosevelt’s inclusion of “so help us God…”
But I must simply point out that nowhere did he express his confidence to be in either God’s righteousness or His might, as if they were the foundation and strength whereby the American people through their unwavering faith in God would surely overcome their enemies. No, this short inclusion of “so help us God,” has actually been the last four words attached to many threats of revenge by proud and indignant people. Perhaps those who are more patriotic and loyal to their country than they are concerned about the kingdom of God, or even their own personal godliness, to such President Roosevelt’s speech may well have sounded sufficiently religious enough by his employing such phrases as “righteous might” and “so help us God.” But in truth, an honest critique exposes the usage of these phrases for what it was, the white-washing declaration for the successful implementation of a strategic agenda that was designed to rally the citizenry of America to not only support a foreign war effort, but to create a patriotic willingness among them to send their fathers, husbands, and sons into it as well. Can anyone say 9/11?
So, again I am asking, just what does the word of God say about one who boasts in the strength of the flesh?
Jeremiah 17:5 – Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the LORD. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
It is interesting, and so I must make note here, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt suddenly died nearly three and a half years after making this famous speech and therefore did “not see when good cometh” at the conclusion of the war. I say nearly, because if we use the Julian calendar, it was only 3 years, 4 months, and 4 days excluding the end date. However, scripture reveals God calculates time differently, using both the solar and the lunar cycles. One solar cycle was an approximate biblical year which was adjusted periodically with an extra month approximately seven times during nineteen solar cycles. The biblical months varied between 29-30 days based upon the lunar cycle which fluctuates and therefore the months average out to approximately 29.5 days. Since it was a total of 1,221 days duration from President Roosevelt’s speech to his death, we can simply divide that time and see it was a duration of 41.39 biblical months, or 42 months according to the Jewish tradition of counting time, that any whole measure of a unit of time with a partial measure of a following, would be counted as two. Such as a period of thirty hours would be counted as two days. Perhaps even more interesting is the timing of President Roosevelt’s death which actually occurred on the New Moon of April 12, 1945.
Revelation 13:5 – 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.
Obviously, my studies have brought me to the conclusion that America is this eighth and final beast. For who cannot see that America “the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” The tsunami of evil deception in America continues to rise with a flood of sorcery, paganism, Wicca, false cults, blatant corruption, wickedness, immorality, disobedience to parents, hate groups, etc., etc.
Also, I do acknowledge that there are many studious believers which earnestly believe the Catholic Church is the beast and harlot system. However, she fails to meet the full criteria of the plurality of “seven kings, five of which have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come, and when he comes, he must continue a short time.” For it is evident that the beast is always referenced in the masculine with its kings. We simply must recognize both as separate entities, civil and religious, church and state, that join forces in an unholy union for a final ride into perdition.
Nevertheless, the Catholic Church is undoubtedly part of the spirit of this whorish woman who rides the beast; but it is not the beast itself. Furthermore, the Catholic Church has been a hoarder of wealth, but not a distributor of it. For where, or when, could we apply to the Catholic Church how “the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies?” Or “Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness!?”
How does one apply this to the Vatican? – “Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.”
“Sorceries” implies witchcraft, or the calculated manipulation of men’s wills to consent to sin. “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,” (1 Samuel 15:23). It is evident that America’s leaders have failed to embrace God’s word and have refused to be subject unto Him. Rather they have continually tried to exalt themselves higher and higher while constantly seeking to manipulate both the minds and wills of the people that they might control them, and so further the agenda of the dragon.
There are many other things that have worked together to strongly persuade me that America is the Eighth Beast. There are specific details and events in our founding history that have been suppressed from public awareness but are still openly evident, too many to thoroughly disclosed here. However, there are the Masonic symbols on our currency, government buildings, as well as the curious layout and design of certain parts of District of Columbia which virtually mirrors some aspects of the Vatican in Rome.
The designation “District of Columbia” can accurately be rephrased the “Realm of the control of the Queen of Heaven,” referencing the goddess Columbia. Columbia has also been worshipped through history and regions of the world under the names, Isis, Semiramis, Ishtar, Diana, Artemis, Ashtoreth, Astarte, and Libertas. It is not mere coincident that the Statute of Liberty has mimicking aspects to many of these female pagan idols.
Plus, there are specific details that have been made public under the Freedom of Information Act concerning various memorandums, discussions, military exercises, and other various events that have exposed covert efforts of the American government to manipulate situations so as to assure our involvement in WWII, and ultimately those events that led to the ending of the war.
Americans had for the most part become isolationists after World War I, having virtually no interest for any interference or involvement in foreign wars. According to a pre-war Gallup poll, 88 percent of Americans were solidly opposed to any involvement in the rapidly expanding European war. It was this temperament of Americans that was successfully exploited by President Roosevelt while campaigning, as he promised over and over again, “Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.” As a result, he won the election.
However, as early as 1940, a code clerk at the U.S. embassy in London had discovered secret communications between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill revealing a strong determination on Roosevelt’s part to engage America in the war. Unfortunately for the clerk he was caught trying to smuggle some of the documents out of the embassy. Consequently, he was charged with obtaining documents that “might be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy” and in a secret British court was convicted and therefore confined to a British prison until the war ended. The clerk’s name was Tyler Gatewood Kent.
On October 7, 1940, A memorandum from Lieutenant Commander Arthur H. McCollum, head of the Far East desk of the Office of Naval Intelligence, advocated eight specific actions that were deemed suffice to provoke Japan into attacking the United States. In it the Commander wrote, “If by these means Japan could be led to commit an overt act of war, so much the better.” Consequently, President Roosevelt over the following year enacted all eight of McCollum’s recommendations.
Later in January 1941, President Roosevelt’s close advisor, Harry Hopkins, met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and informed him, “The President is determined that we [the United States and England] shall win the war together. Make no mistake about it. He has sent me here to tell you that at all costs and by all means he will carry you through, no matter what happens to him – there is nothing he will not do so far as he has human power.”
March 1941, President Roosevelt sold munitions and convoyed them to belligerents in Europe, both acts of war and both violations of international law; specifically, the Lend‑Lease Act.
June 23, 1941, Advisor Harold Ickes wrote in a memo to President Roosevelt the day after Germany invaded the Soviet Union, “There might develop from the embargoing of oil to Japan such a situation as would make it not only possible but easy to get into this war in an effective way. And if we should thus indirectly be brought in, we would avoid the criticism that we had gone in as an ally of communistic Russia.”
July 25, 1941, President Roosevelt froze all Japanese assets in US cutting off their main supply of oil, forcing them into war with the United States while all intelligence information was withheld from Hawaii from this point forward.
August 14, 1941, At the Atlantic Conference, Prime Minister Churchill noted the “astonishing depth of Roosevelt’s intense desire for war.” Consequently, Churchill cabled his cabinet “(President Roosevelt) obviously was very determined that they should come in.”
October 16, 1941, Secretary of War Henry Stimson wrote in his diary, “We face the delicate question of the diplomatic fencing to be done so as to be sure Japan is put into the wrong and makes the first bad move – overt move.”
October 18, 1941, Diary entry by Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes: “For a long time I have believed that our best entrance into the war would be by way of Japan.”
November 25, 1941, Secretary of War Henry Stimson wrote in his diary that FDR said an attack was likely within days, and presented the question, “How we should maneuver them into the position of firing the first shot without too much danger to ourselves. In spite of the risk involved, however, in letting the Japanese fire the first shot, we realized that in order to have the full support of the American people it was desirable to make sure that the Japanese be the ones to do this so that there should remain no doubt in anyone’s mind as to who were the aggressors.” Thus, Stimson made another entry that day stating, “The question was how we should maneuver them [the Japanese] into the position of firing the first shot…”
November 26, 1941, an ultimatum was sent to Japan’s ambassadors demanding as prerequisites to resumed trade a complete withdrawal of all troops from China and Indochina, and in effect abrogate her Tripartite Treaty with Germany and Italy.
Therefore, we can see why in 1944, British Minister of Production, Oliver Lyttleton stated, “Japan was provoked into attacking America at Pearl Harbor. It is a travesty of history to say that America was forced into the war.”
In his 1948 biography, “Roosevelt and Hopkins: An Intimate History,” Robert Sherwood wrote, “If the isolationists had known the full extent of the secret alliance between the United States and Britain, their demands for the President’s impeachment would have rumbled like thunder through the land.”
All this being noted is in no way an attempt to deny or excuse Japan’s ferociousness in its war efforts, for there can be no excusing their heinous actions against the people and government of China and Indochina. However, as Christians, we must not allow ourselves to be so blindly patriotic that we willfully shut our eyes to the truth that the American government, as an aggressor, intentionally provoked Japan to blame them and to get involved in the war. For prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Roosevelt administration froze Japan’s assets in America, restricted them from use of the Panama Canal, ceased vital exports which were necessary to Japan’s war efforts, and ultimately joined Britain in an all-out embargo.
So, again I ask, “How did these things come to pass?” True to the Apostle John’s vision, there is “another beast” that came “up out of the earth; and he had two horns of a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he exercises all the power of the first beast.” History proves that though this second beast had the appearance as like a lamb and claimed to be for peace, he was really promoting the agenda of the dragon. For over and over President Roosevelt promised the American people, “I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.” Nevertheless, it was the President of America who authorized “…great wonders, so that he makes fire [that is, The Atomic Bomb], come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.”
I admit that initially for years I only casually researched this, but was stunned when I ran across The Frank Report of June 11, 1945. It is a “Memorandum on Political and Social Problems of the Bomb by scientists at the Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago, Manhattan Project.” This report was written for delivery to President Truman, who inherited the “Project” after President Roosevelt died.
However, President Truman never received this letter before giving the order to drop the bomb on Hiroshima. That is because Secretary of War Mr. Stimson had intercepted it. In regard to bombing decisions on Japan he is documented as stating, “This is one time I’m going to be the final deciding authority. Nobody’s going to tell me what to do on this.”
“The President never received the letter, and all the scientists’ initiatives were frustrated because of the opposition of Byrnes, Groves, Oppenheimer, and other policy makers and scientists in control of the nuclear program.”
The following is “Dwight Eisenhower’s expressed view on using the Atomic Bomb”
“In 1945… Secretary of War Stimson visited my headquarters in Germany, [and] informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act . . . During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and second because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of ‘face.’ The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude, almost angrily refuting the reasons I gave for my quick conclusions.”
Here is perhaps the most startling excerpt from “The Franck Report” that was signed by the top scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project.
“All of us, familiar with the present state of nucleonics, live with the vision before our eyes of sudden destruction visited on our own country, of a Pearl Harbor disaster repeated in thousand-fold magnification in every one of our major cities.” (See the Franck Report: http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/keyissues/ethics/issues/scientific/franck-report.htm)
A thorough reading of the Franck Report will show just how President Truman and other government leaders rejected the counsel of the wise, just like Rehoboam rejected the wisdom of his father’s counsellors when he was asked by Jeroboam to lower the taxes. After the scientists realized their letter had not been delivered, they wrote a second petition to President Truman, from which the following excerpt was taken.
“The war has to be brought speedily to a successful conclusion and attacks by atomic bombs may very well be an effective method of warfare. We feel, however, that such attacks on Japan could not be justified, at least not unless the terms which will be imposed after the war on Japan were made public in detail and Japan were given an opportunity to surrender.”
“If such public announcement gave assurance to the Japanese that they could look forward to a life devoted to peaceful pursuits in their homeland and if Japan still refused to surrender, our nation might then, in certain circumstances, find itself forced to resort to the use of atomic bombs. Such a step, however, ought not to be made at any time without seriously considering the moral responsibilities which are involved.”
“The development of atomic power will provide the nations with new means of destruction. The atomic bombs at our disposal represent only the first step in this direction, and there is almost no limit to the destructive power which will become available in the course of their future development. Thus, a nation which sets the precedent of using these newly liberated forces of nature for purposes of destruction may have to bear the responsibility of opening the door to an era of devastation on an unimaginable scale.”
To read these solemn warnings that were given to President Truman, and to think he rejected their counsel is horrifying. Even General MacArthur, who was leading the war against Japan, petitioned strongly against the use of the bomb. He didn’t even know there was such a bomb until 48 hours before the first one was dropped. Upon being made aware he bitterly objected to its usage, stating the war was over. It was just a matter of negotiating the surrender, so as to allow the Japanese people to save face because they were a proud (honorable) people.
Still, or perhaps regardless, President Truman was the one who ordered the “fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.” Now listen to the righteous judgment of God, “If any man has an ear, let him hear. He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword [or weapon of war,] must be killed with the sword, [or the same weapon of war].”
Revelation 18:8 – Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. 9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.”
Russia and China are not America’s only threats, but rather sincere concern needs to be given to all the European and Middle East nations. People might laugh, but I will simply remind them what the Bible says, “the ten horns . . . shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.”
Some have argued there isn’t a national army over there big enough, (at least not at the time of the original writing of this in 2002.) However, the initial formation of the European Union Military Staff (EUMS) was headed up by a German General. Didn’t Germany contribute greatly to the start of the two World Wars? And remember the scriptures clearly state, “…the ten horns which thou saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put in their hearts to fulfil His will…”
And what will be the lure of Satan dragging men to war again? Money and power of course. We in America are rapidly falling headlong into an Electronic Identification and Electronic-Cash-Credit-Debit system. As far back as 1998 an article in Time magazine predicted one could send their daughter in college E-Cash and she “can store the money any way she wants-on her laptop, on a debit card, even (in the not too distant future) on a chip implanted under her skin. And, perhaps best of all, you can program the money to be spent only in specific ways.” (Time APRIL 27, 1998 VOL. 151 NO. 16)
Also mentioned in this article in Time was how the “smart card” with an RFID for the E-cash system could ALSO keep your medical history. Wasn’t it President Clinton and his wife Hillary who were trying to get all Americans issued such a card so they could all have medical insurance? Is it really about OUR health and well-being? Or is it really about THEIR wealth and control? And now we have Presidential Obamacare, of which it has been rumored will eventually require all to have an implantable RFID chip.
Back in 2002 when I first wrote this article, I spoke about how the European Union was rapidly printing out their new “Euros” and ready to begin distribution that year. I commented on how the European Union’s common currency would only prove to add to the conflict of global monetary standards. The Bible says, “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and as a high wall in his own conceit” (Proverbs 18:11).
Now, with the current global economic crisis, I am persuaded America will eventually attempt to force upon the European Union (and perhaps parts the rest of the world) a new E-cash credit/debit method of economics… which I presently suspect the European Union and other nations will deceptively consent to. For again, “the ten horns which thou saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”
Their deceptive acceptance of America’s proposal (which will most likely be pushed forcefully upon the European Union and other countries with the same arrogance that led to the dropping of the bombs), will only be for the purposes of their buying time to carry out a plan to finally eliminate the competition.
While admittedly I am only speculating as to why and how the ten horns/kings “receive power as kings one hour with the beast,” it nevertheless remains a biblical fact that “God has put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled… these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put in their hearts to fulfil His will.”
Last and Final Part
Further points worthy of prayerful consideration:
Evidence that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a crime against International Law
Title: PROTECTION OF CIVILIAN POPULATIONS AGAINST BOMBING FROM THE AIR IN CSSE OF WAR – Unanimous resolution of the League of Nations Assembly,
Dated: September 30, 1938
To: The Assembly,
Considering that on numerous occasions public opinion has expressed through the most authoritative channels its horror of the bombing of civilian populations;
Considering that this practice, for which there is no military necessity and which, as experience shows, only causes needless suffering, is condemned under the recognized principles of international law;
Considering further that, though this principle ought to be respected by all States and does not require further reaffirmation, it urgently needs to be made the subject of regulations specially adapted to air warfare and taking account of the lessons of experience;
Considering that the solution of this problem, which is of concern to all States, whether Members of the League of Nations or not, calls for technical investigation and thorough consideration;
Considering that the Bureau of the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments is to meet in the near future and that it is for the Bureau to consider practical means of undertaking the necessary work under conditions most likely to lead to as general an agreement as possible:
Recognizes the following principles as a necessary basis for any subsequent regulations:
The intentional bombing of civilian populations is illegal;
Objectives aimed at from the air must be legitimate military objectives and must be identifiable;
Any attack on legitimate military objectives must be carried out in such a way that civilian populations in the neighborhood are not bombed through negligence;
Also takes the opportunity to reaffirm that the use of chemical or bacterial methods in the conduct of war is contrary to international law, as recalled more particularly in the resolution of the General Commission of the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments of July 23rd, 1932, and the resolution of the Council of May 14th, 1938
Appeal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Aerial Bombardment of Civilian Populations, September 1, 1939 –
The President of the United States to the Governments of France,
Germany, Italy, Poland and His Britannic Majesty, September 1, 1939
The ruthless bombing from the air of civilians in unfortified centers of population during the course of the hostilities which have raged in various quarters of the earth during the past few years, which has resulted in the maiming and in the death of thousands of defenseless men, women, and children, has sickened the hearts of every civilized man and woman, and has profoundly shocked the conscience of humanity.
If resort is had to this form of inhuman barbarism during the period of the tragic conflagration with which the world is now confronted, hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings who have no responsibility for, and who are not even remotely participating in, the hostilities which have now broken out, will lose their lives. I am therefore addressing this urgent appeal to every government which may be engaged in hostilities publicly to affirm its determination that its armed forces shall in no event, and under no circumstances, undertake the bombardment from the air of civilian populations or of unfortified cities, upon the understanding that these same rules of warfare will be scrupulously observed by all of their opponents. I request an immediate reply. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
In a radio speech to the nation on August 9, 1945, President Truman called Hiroshima “a military base.” It seems likely, considering his July 25 diary entry, that he personally was not aware that Hiroshima was a city. Otherwise, he was being untruthful about the nature of the target. Truman delivered his speech from the White House at 10 P.M. Washington time on August 9, 1945. By this time, the second atomic bomb had already destroyed the city of Nagasaki. Because of the great length of the speech, most of which dealt with Germany, only the relevant paragraph is quoted here.
“The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians. But that attack is only a warning of things to come. If Japan does not surrender, bombs will have to be dropped on her war industries and, unfortunately, thousands of civilian lives will be lost. I urge Japanese civilians to leave industrial cities immediately, and save themselves from destruction.”
What does this all mean? It means the bombing of Japan was not only against the counsel of those who developed the bomb; it was also illegal according to international law and contrary to President Roosevelt’s international petition.
U.S. Government and Military Leaders’ Responses To Dropping the Bomb
FIRST QUOTE:
Harry S. Truman, the President of the United States who ordered the Atomic Bombing:
General Henry “Hap” Arnold, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces Under President Truman:
“It always appeared to us that, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb, the Japanese were already on the verge of collapse.”
NEXT QUOTE:
General Dwight D. Eisenhower:
“I had been conscious of depression and so I voiced to (Sec. Of War Stimson) my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at this very moment, seeking a way to surrender with a minimum loss of ‘face.’”
NEXT QUOTE:
General Dwight D. Eisenhower:
“Japan was at the moment seeking some way to surrender with minimum loss of ‘face’… It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.”
NEXT QUOTE:
Admiral William D. Leahy, Former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
“It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender… My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was taught not to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children.”
NEXT QUOTE:
John McCloy:
“I am absolutely convinced that had we said they could keep the emperor, together with the threat of an atomic bomb, they would have accepted, and we would never have had to drop the bomb.”
NEXT QUOTE – This one just absolutely stunned me:
From President Harry S. Truman’s diary entered July 18, 1945 – just 17 days before the bombing of Hiroshima:
“P.M. Churchill & I ate alone. Discussed Manhattan[PROJECT] (it is a success). Decided to tell Stalin about it. Stalin had told P.M. of telegram from Japan Emperor asking for peace.”
NEXT QUOTE:
Stewart L. Udall, US Congressman and Author of “Myths of August”
“Some of my conclusions may invoke anger and even ridicule. For example, I offer my belief that the existence of the first atomic bombs may have prolonged – rather than shortened – World War II, by influencing Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and President Harry S. Truman to ignore an opportunity to negotiate a surrender that would have ended the killing in the Pacific in May or June of 1945. And I have come to view the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings that August as an American tragedy that should be viewed as a moral atrocity.”
NEXT QUOTE:
From: U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey’s 1946 Study:
“Certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.”
NEXT QUOTE:
J. Samuel Walker, Chief Historian, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission:
“Careful scholarly treatment of the records and manuscripts opened over the past few years has greatly enhanced our understanding of why Truman administration used atomic weapons against Japan. Experts continue to disagree on some issues, but critical questions have been answered. The consensus among scholars is the that the bomb was not needed to avoid an invasion of Japan… It is clear that alternatives to the bomb existed and that Truman and his advisers knew it”
NEXT QUOTE:
1995 – Nagasaki Mayor Hitoshi Motoshima:
“It was a matter of course for atomic bombs to have been dropped on Japan, which had launched a war of aggression. Japan does not have the right to criticize the atomic bomb.” for Kyodo News’s interview. He is also quoted as saying, conversely, that the bombing was “one of the two great crimes against humanity in the20th Century, along with the Holocaust”
NEXT QUOTE:
March 16, 1995 – Los Angeles Times
Heading: Japanese Mayors Call A-Bomb Attacks a Crime
Underscoring a wide “perception gap” between Japan and the United States, the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Wednesday sharply challenged the prevailing U.S. view that the nuclear attacks on their cities were necessary to end World War II.
Nagasaki Mayor Hitoshi Motoshima called the attacks “one of two great crimes against humanity in the 20th Century, along with the Holocaust.” Although he conceded that the attacks helped hasten the war’s end–a concession Hiroshima Mayor Takashi Hiraoka refused to make–he questioned the price.
“Does avoiding the death of servicemen justify the sacrifice of tens of thousands of guiltless noncombatants?” Motoshima asked, pointing out that the bombs indiscriminately killed men, women and children. “This is tantamount to killing a flea with a sledgehammer. It can hardly be called a justified act, even in wartime.”
The bombs, dropped in August, 1945, killed and injured 130,000 people in Hiroshima–almost half the city’s population–and 74,000 in Nagasaki. Hundreds of thousands of survivors suffered cancer and other radiation aftereffects.
The mayors, in a joint appearance before foreign correspondents, argued that the United States dropped the bombs mainly to intimidate the Soviet Union, verify the weapons’ effectiveness and justify the $2 billion spent to develop them.
LAST QUOTE:
Osama bin Laden, when asked by ABC reporter John Miller-
“Mister bin Laden, you have issued a fatwah calling on Muslims to kill Americans where they can, when they can. Is that directed at all Americans, [or] just the American military, [or] just the Americans in Saudi Arabia?”
Osama bin Laden’s answer, “…The Americans started it and retaliation and punishment should be carried out following the principle of reciprocity, especially when women and children are involved. Through history, America has not been known to differentiate between the military and the civilians or between men and women or adults and children. Those who threw atomic bombs and used the weapons of mass destruction against Nagasaki and Hiroshima were the Americans. Can the bombs differentiate between military and women and infants and children? America has no religion that can deter her from exterminating whole peoples. …We believe that the worst thieves in the world today and the worst terrorists are the Americans. Nothing could stop you except perhaps retaliation in kind. [Therefore]We do not have to differentiate between military or civilian.”
Shocking I know, and very uncomfortable to hear and consider these things. Doubtless many are so angry at seeing Osama bin Laden being quoted that they have nearly forgotten all the quotes of the American leaders who likewise were offended by America being the first to make use of The Bomb.
Sin is sin whoever commits it, be they American, Arab, Christian, Jew or Muslim. However, in light of all this, please consider afresh what God has stated in regards to the use of weapons and His judgments –
“If any man have an ear, let him hear, He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity: he that kills with the sword [or whatever weapon of war] must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints,” (Revelation 13:9).
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man [or nation] soweth, that shall he [or it] also reap,” (Galatians 6:7)
Let us therefore give more earnest heed to Jesus’ admonition, “Watch therefore, praying in every season that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things which shall occur, and to stand before the Son of man,” (Luke 21:26).
“Of course, the preacher is above all others distinguished as a man of prayer. He prays as an ordinary Christian; else he was a hypocrite. He prays more than ordinary Christians else he was disqualified for the office he has undertaken. If you, as ministers are not very prayerful, you are to be pitied. If you become lax in sacred devotion, not only will you need to be pitied but your people also, and the day comes in which you will be ashamed and confounded. Our seasons of fastings and prayer at the Tabernacle have been high days indeed; never has heaven’s gate stood wider; never have our hearts been nearer the central glory.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Preachers are God’s leaders. They are divinely called to their holy office and high purpose, and primarily, are responsible for the condition of the Church. Just as Moses was called of God to lead Israel out of Egypt through the wilderness into the Promised Land, so also does God call His ministers to lead His spiritual Israel through this world unto the heavenly land. They are divinely commissioned to leadership, and are by precept and example to teach God’s people what God would have them be. Paul’s counsel to the young preacher Timothy is in point: “Let no man despise your youth,” he says, “but be an example of the believers, in word, conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
God’s ministers are used of God to shape the Church’s character, and give tone and direction to its life. The prefacing sentence of the letter to each of the seven churches in Asia reads, To the angel of the Church, seeming to indicate that the angel, or minister, was in the same state of mind and condition of life as were the membership, and that these angels or ministers were largely responsible for the spiritual condition of things existing in each Church. The angel in each case was the preacher, teacher, or leader.
The first Christians knew full well and felt this responsibility; and as this tremendous responsibility pressed upon their hearts and heads, in consciously felt helplessness they cried out, “Who is sufficient for things?” The only reply to such a question was, “God only.” So, of necessity they were compelled to look beyond themselves for help, and to throw themselves on prayer to secure God. More and more as they prayed, did they feel their responsibility, and more and more by means of prayer did they obtain God’s help; and thereby experienced that sufficiency which alone is of God.
Prayer belongs in a very high and important sense to the ministry. It takes vigor and elevation of character to administer the prayer-office. Praying prophets have frequently been at a premium in the history of God’s people. In every age the demand has been for leaders in Israel who pray. God’s watchmen must always and everywhere be men of prayer.
It ought to be no surprise for ministers to be often found on their knees seeking divine help under the responsibility of their call. These are the true prophets of the Lord, and these are they who stand as mouthpieces of God to a generation of wicked and worldly-minded men and women. Prayer preachers are boldest, the truest and the swiftest ministers of God. They mount up highest and are nearest to Him who has called them. They advance more rapidly and in Christian living are most like God.
In reading the record of the four evangelists, we cannot but be impressed by the supreme effort made by our Lord to rightly instruct the twelve Apostles in the things which would properly qualify them for the tremendous tasks which would be theirs after He had gone back to the bosom of the Father. His solicitude was for the Church that she should have men, holy in life and in heart, and who would know full well from whence came their strength and power in the work of the ministry. A large part of Christ’s teaching was addressed to these chosen Apostles, and the training of the twelve occupied much of His thought and consumed much of His time. In all that training, prayer was laid down as a basic principle.
We find the same thing to be true in the life and work of the Apostle Paul. While he addressed himself to the edification of the churches to whom he ministered and wrote, it was in his mind and purpose to rightly instruct and prepare ministers to whom would be committed the interests of God’s people. The two epistles to Timothy were addressed to a young preacher, while that to Titus was also written to a young minister. And Paul’s design appears to have been to give to each of them such instruction as would be needed to rightly do the work of the ministry to which they had been called by the Spirit of God. Underlying these instructions was the foundation-stone of prayer, since by no means would they be able to show themselves approved unto God, workmen that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, unless they were men of prayer.
The highest welfare of the Church of God on earth depends largely upon the ministry, and so Almighty God has always been jealous of His watchmen, His preachers. His concern has been for the character of the men who minister at His altars in holy things. They must be men who lean upon Him, who look to Him and continually seek Him for wisdom, help, and power to effectively do the work of the ministry. And so, He has designed men of prayer for the holy office, and has relied upon them successively to perform the tasks He has assigned them.
God’s great works are to be done as Christ did them; that is, they are to be done, indeed, with an increased power received from the ascended and exalted Christ. These works are to be done by prayer. Men must do God’s work in God’s way, and to God’s glory, therefore prayer is a prerequisite to its successful accomplishment.
The thing far above all other things in the means and equipment of the preacher is prayer. Before everything else, he must be a man who makes a specialty of prayer. A prayerless preacher is a misnomer. He has either missed his calling, or has grievously failed God who called him into the ministry. God wants men who are not ignoramuses, who study to show themselves approved. Preaching the Word is essential, and social qualities are not to be underestimated, likewise education is good: but under and above all else, prayer must be the main plank in the platform of the man who goes forth to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to a lost and hungry world. The one weak spot in our Church institutions lies just here. Prayer often is not properly regarded as being the primary factor in church life and activity, and regrettably other things, though good in their appropriate places, have been made primary. First things need to be put first, the best before the good, and the first thing in the equipment of a minister is prayer.
Our Lord is the pattern for all preachers, and, with Him, prayer was the law of life. By it He lived. It was the inspiration of His toil, the source of His strength, the spring of His joy. With our Lord prayer was no sentimental episode, nor an afterthought, nor a pleasing, diverting prelude, nor an interlude, nor a parade or form. For Jesus, prayer was exacting, all-absorbing, paramount. It was the call of a sweet duty to Him, the satisfying of a restless yearning, the preparation for heavy responsibilities, and the meeting of a vigorous need. This being so, the disciple must be as his Lord, the servant as his Master. As was the Lord Himself, so also must be those whom He has called to be His disciples. Our Lord Jesus Christ chose His twelve Apostles only after He had spent a night in praying; and we may rest assured that He sets the same high value on those He calls to His ministry, in this our own day and time.
No feeble or secondary place was given to prayer in the ministry of Jesus. It comes first emphatic, conspicuous, controlling. Of prayerful habits, of a prayerful spirit, given to long solitary communion with God, Jesus was above all else, a man of prayer. The crux of His earthly history, in New Testament terminology, is condensed to a single statement, to be found in Hebrews 5:7:
“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.”
As was their Lord and Master, whose they are and whom they serve, so let His ministers be. Let Him be their pattern, their example, their leader and teacher. Much reference is made in some quarters about following Christ, but it is confined to the following of Him in modes and ordinances, as if salvation were wrapped up in the specific way of doing a thing. The path of prayer Thyself has trod, is the path along which we are to follow Him, and in no other. Jesus was given as a leader to the people of God, and no leader ever exemplified more the worth and necessity of prayer. Equal in glory with the Father, anointed and sent on His special mission by the Holy Spirit, His incarnate birth, His high commission, His royal anointing, all these were His; but they did not relieve Him from the exacting claims of prayer. Rather did they tend to impose these claims upon Him with greater authority. He did not ask to be excused from the burden of prayer; He gladly accepted it, acknowledged its claims and voluntarily subjected Himself to its demands.
As His leadership was preeminent, His praying was preeminent. Had it not been, then neither His leadership had been preeminent nor divine. If, in true leadership, prayer had been dispensable, then certainly Jesus could have dispensed with it. But He did not, nor can any of His followers who desire effectiveness in their Christian activity than follow their Lord’s leadership in fulfilling their calling.
While Jesus Christ practiced praying Himself, being personally under the law of prayer, and while His parables and miracles were but exponents of prayer, He labored directly to teach His disciples the specific art of praying. He said little or nothing about how to preach or what to preach. But He spent His strength and time in teaching men how to speak to God, how to commune with Him, and how to be with Him. He knew full well that he who has learned the craft of talking to God, will be well versed in talking to men. We may turn aside for a moment to observe that this was the secret of the wonderful success of the early Methodist preachers, who were far from being learned men. But with all their limitations, they were men of prayer, and they did wonderful things for God.
All ability to talk to men is measured by the ability with which a preacher can talk to God for men. He who ploughs not in his closet, will never reap in his pulpit.
The fact must ever be kept in the forefront and emphasized that Jesus Christ trained His disciples to pray. This is the real meaning of that saying, “The Training of the Twelve.” It must be kept in mind that Christ taught the world’s preachers more about praying than He did about preaching. Prayer was the great factor in the spreading of His Gospel. Prayer conserved and made efficient all other factors. Yet He did not discount preaching when He stressed praying, but rather taught the utter dependence of preaching on prayer.
The Christian’s trade is praying, declared Martin Luther. Every Jewish boy had to learn a trade. Jesus Christ learned two, the trade of a carpenter, and that of praying. The one trade subserved earthly uses; the other served His divine and higher purposes. Jewish custom committed Jesus when a boy to the trade of a carpenter; and the law of God bound Him to praying from His earliest years, and remained with Him to the end.
Christ is the Christian’s example, and every Christian must pattern after Him. Every preacher must be like his Lord and Master, and must learn the trade of praying. He who learns well the trade of praying masters the secret of the Christian art, and becomes a skilled workman in God’s workshop, one who needs not to be ashamed, a worker together with his Lord and Master.
Pray without ceasing, is the trumpet call to the preachers of our time. If the preachers will get their thoughts clothed with the atmosphere of prayer, if they will prepare their sermons on their knees, a gracious outpouring of God’s Spirit will come upon the earth.
The one indispensable qualification for preaching and teaching is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and it was for the bestowal of this indispensable gift that the disciples were charged to “tarry in Jerusalem.” The absolute necessity there is for receiving this gift, if success is to attend the efforts of their ministry, is found in the command the disciples received to stay in Jerusalem till they received it, as well as with the instant and earnest prayerfulness with which they sought it. In obedience to their Lord’s command to tarry in that city till they were endued with power from on high, they immediately, after He left them for heaven, entered on securing it by continued and earnest prayer. These all with one accord, continued steadfastly in prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brethren. To this same thing John refers in his First Epistle. you have an unction from the Holy One, he says. It is this divine unction that preachers of the present day should sincerely desire, pray for, and remain unsatisfied till the blessed gift be likewise richly bestowed upon them.
Another allusion to this same important procedure is made by our Lord shortly after His resurrection, when He said to His disciples: And you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. At the same time Jesus directed the attention of His disciples to the statement of John the Baptist concerning the Spirit, the identical thing for which He had commanded them to tarry in the city of Jerusalem power from on high. Alluding to John the Baptist’s words Jesus said, For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. Peter at a later date said of our Lord: God anointed him with the Holy Ghost and with power.
These are the divine statements of the mission and ministry of the Holy Spirit to preachers of that day, and the same divine statements apply with equal force to the preachers of this day. God’s ideal minister is a God-called, divinely anointed, Spirit-touched man, separated unto God’s work, set apart from secularities and questionable affairs, baptized from above, marked, sealed, and owned by the Spirit, devoted to his Master and His ministry. These are the divinely appointed requisites for a preacher of the Word; without them, he is inadequate, and inevitably unfruitful.
Today, there is no dearth of preachers who deliver eloquent sermons on the need and nature of revival, and advance elaborate plans for the spread of the kingdom of God, but the praying preachers are far rarer and the greatest benefactor this age can have is a man who will bring the preachers, the Church, and the people back to the practice of real praying. The reformer needed just now is the praying reformer. The leader Israel, the church, the family, requires is one who, with clarion voice, will call them all back to their knees.
There is considerable talk of the coming revival in the air, but we need to have the vision to see that the revival we need and the only one that can be worth having is one that is born of the Holy Spirit, which brings deep conviction for sin, and regeneration for those who seek God’s face. Such a revival comes at the end of a season of real praying, and it is utter folly to talk about or expect a revival without the Holy Spirit operating in His peculiar office, conditioned on much earnest praying. Such a revival will begin in pulpit and pew alike, and will be promoted by preacher and lay-man, both working in harmony with God.
The heart is the lexicon of prayer; the life the best commentary on prayer, and the outward bearing its fullest expression. The character is made by prayer; the life is perfected by prayer. And this the ministry needs to learn as thoroughly as the laymen. There is but one rule for both: for the church as well as the family.
So averse was the general body of Christ’s disciples to prayer, possessing so little taste for it, and consequently having so little sympathy with Him in the deep things of prayer and its mightier struggles, that the Master had to select a circle of three more apt scholars Peter, James, and John, who had more of sympathy and relish for this divine work, and take them aside that they might more thoroughly learn the lesson of prayer. Thus, these men were nearer to Jesus, fuller of sympathy, and more helpful to Him because they were more prayerful.
Blessed, indeed, are those disciples whom Jesus Christ, in this day, calls into a more intimate fellowship with Him, and who, readily responding to the call, are found much on their knees before Him. Distressing, indeed, is the condition of those servants of Jesus who, in their hearts, are averse to the exercise of the ministry of prayer; for God would “that all men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands.
All the great eras of our Lord, historical and spiritual, were made or fashioned by His praying. In like manner His plans and great achievements were born in prayer and impregnated by the spirit thereof. As was the Master, so also must His servant be; as his Lord did in the great eras of His life, so should each disciple when confronted by important crises. “To your knees, O Israel!” should be the clarion-call to all who seek to minister for and unto the Lord of this generation.
The highest form of religious life is attained by prayer. The richest revelations of God Father, Son, and Spirit are made, not to the learned, the great or the noble of earth, but men of prayer. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called, to whom God makes known the deep things of God, and reveals the higher things of His character, but to the lowly, inquiring, praying ones. And again, it must be said, that this is as true of preachers as of laymen, and the fathers as well as the mothers. It is the spiritual who prays, and these praying ones to whom God gives wisdom and strength, and makes His revelations known through the Holy Spirit.
Praying preachers have always brought the greater glory to God, have moved His Gospel onward with its greatest, speediest rate and power. A non-praying preacher and a non-praying Church may flourish outwardly and advance in many aspects of their life. Both preacher and church may become synonyms for success, but unless it rests on a regular and faithful praying basis, what was gained becomes lost, and all successes eventually crumble into deadened life, forfeiture of peace and strength, and ultimate decay.
“You have not because you ask not,” is the solution of all spiritual weakness both in the personal life and in the pulpit. Either that, or it is because “You ask and receive not because you ask amiss.” Real praying lies at the foundation of all real success of life and ministry in the things of God. The stability, energy and facility with which God’s kingdom is established in this world, and the life of every believer, are dependent upon prayer. God has made it so; and so, God is anxious for men to pray. Especially, He is concerned that His chosen ministers shall be men of prayer, and so gives that wonderful statement in order to encourage His ministers to pray, which is found in Matthew 6:9:
“But I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asks, receives, and he that seeks, finds; and to him that knocks, it shall be opened.”
Thus, both command and direct promise give accent to His concern that they shall pray. Pause and think on these familiar words of promise, “Ask, and it shall be given you.” That itself would seem to be enough to set us all, laymen and preachers, to praying, so direct, simple, and unlimited. These words open all the treasures of heaven to us, simply by asking for them.
If we have not studied the prayers of Paul, primarily a preacher to the Gentiles, we can have but a feeble view of the great necessity for prayer, and how much it is worth not only in the life and the work of a minister of the Gospel, but for the peace and success in the lives of every believer, great and small. Furthermore, we shall have but a very limited view of the possibilities of the Gospel to enrich and make strong and perfect Christian character, as well as to equip preachers for their high and holy task. Oh, when will we learn the simple yet all important lesson that the one great thing needed in the life of the preacher and layman, to help them in their personal lives, to keep their souls vibrantly alive to God, and to give efficacy to the Word preached by both, and keep them from temptation and deliver them from evil, is real, faithful, and constant prayer!
Paul, with prayer uppermost in his mind, assures the Colossians that Epaphras is always laboring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand complete and perfect in all the will of God. To this high state of grace, complete in all the will of God, he prays they may come. So prayer was the force which was to bring them to that elevated, vigorous and stable state of heart. This is in line with Paul’s teaching to the Ephesians, “And He gave some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,” where it is evidently affirmed that the whole work of the ministry is not merely to induce sinners to repent, but it is also necessary for the perfecting of the saints. And so Epaphras labored fervently in prayers for this thing. Certainly, he was a praying man, in thus earnestly praying faithfully for these early Christians.
The Apostles put out their force in order that Christians should honor God by the purity and consistency of their outward lives. They were to reproduce the character of Jesus Christ. They were to perfect His image in themselves, imbibe His temper and reflect His carriage in all their tempers and conduct. They were to be imitators of God as dear children, to be holy as He was holy. Thus, even laymen were to preach by their conduct and character, just as the ministry preached with their mouths.
To elevate the followers of Christ to these exalted heights of Christian experience, they were in every way true in the ministry of God’s Word, in the ministry of prayer, in holy consuming zeal, in burning exhortation, in rebuke and reproof. Added to all these, sanctifying all these, invigorating all these, and making all of them salutary, they centered and exercised constantly the force of mightiest praying. Night and day praying exceedingly, that is, praying out of measure, with intense earnestness, superabundantly, beyond measure, exceeding abundantly.
“Night and day praying exceeding abundantly, that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith. Now God himself, and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way unto you.
And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you; to the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.”
It was after this fashion that these Apostles the first preachers in the early Church labored in prayer. And only those who labor after the same fashion are the true successors of these Apostles.
This is the true, Scriptural apostolical succession; the succession of simple faith, earnest desire for holiness of heart and life, and zealous praying. These are the things today which make both the ministry and family strong, the body and the individual, faithful and efficient, godly workmen who need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing and applying the word of truth.
Jesus Christ, God’s Leader and Commander of His people, lived and suffered under this law of prayer. Know this, all His personal conquests in His life on earth were won by obedience to this law, likewise all the conquests which have been won by His representatives since He ascended to heaven, are gained only when this condition of prayer are heartily and fully met. Christ was under this one prayer condition. His Apostles were under the same prayer condition. His saints are under it, and even His angels are under it. By every token, therefore, preachers are under the same prayer law. Not for one moment are they relieved or excused from obedience to the law of prayer. It is their very life, the source of their power, the secret of their religious experience and communion with God.
Christ could do nothing without prayer. Christ could do all things by prayer. The Apostles were helpless without prayer and were absolutely dependent upon it for success in defeating their spiritual foes. They could do all things by prayer, and such is true for every believer. Pray. Pray earnestly, Pray faithfully. Pray with out ceasing.
What is happening in America, even across the whole world, will not be stopped through the legal system of men, nor prevented by the morals of men, nor by the unity of some men, nor will the righteous prevail through the wisdom or weapons of men. Men must look to and be reconciled to God.
The Bible clearly shows over and over that God has used the undeniably wicked to chastise His own because of their unfaithfulness, that they might repent and be saved, while the wicked and rebellious perish. Furthermore, God has given no rights to those who are unfaithful, nothing to those who refuse to maintain their responsibility to love God with all their heart, soul, and might: nothing to those who choose to ignore and fail to keep His Commandments. Nevertheless, God has pity humanity’s desperate state, and because He is love He has afforded us a Savoir in Jesus Christ, and therefore has commanded all men to repent.
But rights, as everyone perceives them, are but gifts of God given unto those who respond properly to God. Adam only had a right to eat of every tree in the Garden of Eden, except one, because he was given responsibilities by God, “Tend to My garden.” While Adam was responsible, he had a right to eat. But upon his willful disobedience, that right was taken away and he was cast out.
To claim you have rights and yet reject God’s commandments is to be contentious and disobedient to God. What right have you then to any of His blessings? Jesus Himself tells us, “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are the dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”
Judgment is a process.
It begins with many warnings, and comes to place where upon failing to be heeded, a shaking of everything that can be shaken takes place. Then, what was done in darkness is brought out to light, and what was said in secret begins to be shouted from the rooftops.
This God does so that, by seeing the deceitfulness of sin, men might learn to hate sin, and might abhor it, turn from it, and consequently yearn for righteousness and seek His face. God does this that men might repent. But repentance is not turning from bad ways, rather a total returning unto God. The first can be done partially without the latter, but not the latter without the first.
So, know this, judgment always precedes the mercy and grace which reconciles men to God; so that mercy might rejoice against judgment. But without our acknowledging the righteous judgment of God, there is a danger of God having judgment without mercy. Therefore, without true repentance, America will simply continue in its present judgment and ultimately come to the dreaded time when it will have to drink the full cup of God’s wrath.
But know this, “Judgment must begin in the House of God,” and we, God’s people in America, are currently in this stage of God’s judgment.
Therefore, I ask you, are you seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness? Or are you angry over the abuse and loss of your perceived rights and prosperity? Are you ignorant of, or have you forgotten, that God has said, “Behold, ALL the nations…” including America, “are like a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust when weighed in the scales; behold, He takes up the coastlands as a very little thing.”
As judgment draws towards its conclusion, Jesus warns that the time also is advancing quickly when “he that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. For behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
Live for the King, it’ll make it easier to die for Him.
In the world there have always been basically two types of Christians.
One type has many strong convictions, at least in the beginning. That is basically because when they first hear the Gospel and come to Christ, they seek Him to help them be the kind of Christian they should be. Naturally, He does. His spirit, the Spirit of Truth, begins by opening up and illuminating His word to them, revealing His will as to what is expected of them. Thus, they come under conviction of His Holy Spirit as He begins to expose those subtle things in their lives that are not compatible with His holiness, things contrary to His purpose and will, things therefore which consequently need to be either faithfully embraced or forsaken if they are to continue both to walk with and grow in Him.
1st John 1:7 – But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
This Gospel truth reveals the critical “relationship” Christians need to maintain, a holy communion with Jesus Christ and God our Father, which is necessary if we are to walk, live, and worship in the Spirit of Truth. A Christian must be ever purposing to be yielding to God and abiding in Christ as He faithfully endeavors to make us His holy and “peculiar people.”
John 15:4 – Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Romans 12:1 – I beseech you therefore brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not [continue to] be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you might prove what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.
1st John 1:3 – That which we have seen and heard we declare unto you, so that you also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
At first, there is usually a noble attempt to do the right thing, but because many have not truly surrendered fully to Christ, He can’t empower them so as to have victory over their sin, for they are not in truth wanting to “abide in” Him. For if He did empower them, it would in truth be disregarding their freewill, because in their hearts, having an affection still for the things of the world, they don’t really want to resist all the temptations in their lives. These are just like those who followed Christ only because He fed them with the bread and fish, and were willing to have Him as a King over them as long as He would continue to do so, but did not however want to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood. No, their hearts actually want to continue in their ways and be sustained by Him. They believed in Him, but in truth did not have faith in Him else they would have loved Him.
John 6:14 – Then seeing the miracle that Jesus did, those men said, “This is truly the Prophet, the One coming into the world.” 15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they would come and take Him by force, that they might make Him a king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain alone by Himself… 26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, You seek Me not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for that food that perishes, but for that food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of man will give you. For God the Father sealed Him.”
In all this we can see the purpose why temptation is allowed in our lives; it serves to prove to oneself the trueness of their heart. We see this with Adam in the garden, for as long as he did not eat of the forbidden tree, he could know his love was faithful and true towards God. But by his choosing to eat the forbidden fruit, it revealed how his love for God could be deceived, and thus lessened and corrupted, and directed towards something or someone else. But did Adam fully understand all this at that moment, or did his eyes and carelessness allow him to be distracted and ensnared?
Even though these first type of Christians are convicted, like Adam they are distracted by the world and easily drawn back to their sins; for in truth, they do not believe their sins are deadly and therefore do not really want to give them up, at least not all. Therefore, being double minded, if they do not recognize the danger they are in, with time they will either completely fall away from Christ, or they will adjust their faith and just as the Pharisees did, they will merely become vainly religious. Like Adam, do you think they fully understood all this at that moment, or did their hearts and eyes and carelessness allow them to be so distracted and fatally ensnared? For such believers begin to simply justify themselves by comparing themselves to others, with those who they deem to be worse than they are. Without true faith and faithfulness, they will spend their life away arguing about doctrine, deceiving themselves that what they know will one day save them.
1st Corinthians 4:1 – Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.
Romans 10:17 – So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by [or receiving into the heart] the word of God.
Romans 14:23 – For whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
James 2:19 – You believe that there is one God, you do well; even the demons believe and tremble. 20 But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
These types of Christians are always in a struggle with their commitment, and thus will often try to negotiate with God by giving their time and money to noble causes or deeds; but what they do is done only in a vain hope of reaching a compromise with God. Such believers often make commitments to their church to oversee something for a season in a vain effort to show their seriousness and to prove their faith; but what they do is of their own will and choosing, not of the Spirit, right only in their own eyes, and not of faith.
But here is where we will now leave the struggling Christians and reflect upon the other type of Christians, the ones with true faith, the overcomers. The ones with true faith understand the truth where the Apostle John warned them to be not deceived; “He that sins is of the devil, and he that works righteousness is righteous even as He [Jesus] is righteous.”
Because God’s word is hid in their heart, they cannot consent to sin because they understand what an offense it is to the Holy Savior. Therefore, having looked unto Christ they can resist temptation, because coming to and abiding in Him, they are faithfully empowered by His Spirit and made to be overcomers of all pressures and temptation the world throws at them. This is always done at a cost to themselves, for Jesus warned them that they cannot be His disciples unless they choose to pick up their own crosses and follow Him. He makes this requirement because it is the only way He can fully restore their souls. But this restoration will take them down the path of righteousness winding through a dark valley haunted by the Shadow of Death, their death. God does this because He must tear down what is corrupt in them if He is to restore their souls aright, which requires their confessions and forsaking of sins, true repentance, an absolute trust and surrender to the Lord. Those who do such can only do so by that type of faith which compels them to lay hold of salvation, and is evident because it strives for consistency, perseveres, and works by love for the fulfilling of the will of their Redeemer.
They understand they were once dead in their trespasses and sins, so now they wholly trust Him, knowing that not only has He given them life, but that He is in truth their very life. They understand that to trust and obey Him is the only way to the realization and fulfillment of those exceeding great and precious promises to them of becoming partakers of His divine nature. Thus, they walk in the light just as He is the very author and means of that life; therefore, they have holy fellowship with their Father and Savior. Their hearts are settled and hence resolved to give heed to the purifying of their souls by obeying His truth, which is possible only through the empowerment of His Spirit within them. This is both believing unto salvation [justification] and working out salvation [sanctification]. These Christians, though always fully capable of yielding to sin, nevertheless purposely out of love for God and others now walk with conviction of righteousness and not under the condemnation of sin.
Sadly, Jesus said there were going to be many, many more of the first type of Christians. Those who will be found guilty of taking His name in vain. For scripture plainly say that they who call themselves Christians “ought to walk even as He walked.” These Christians are only “overcomers” in that they have overcome the conviction of sin; for while professing Christ as Savior they remain, or are entangled again, in sin because their conscience has been so seared it permits them to freely continue in doing what is right in their own eyes, and doing so they willfully sin. Not all go back into the moral depravity of their past lives, many, because of religious pride, simply become pharisaical and continue in the vanity of a religion of their own governance. Having chosen such over the truth, they continue to ignore that Jesus came, died, and rose again so that He might save them from their sins, quicken them, and make them new creatures. But how, if they will not let Him save them from their sins, can He truly save them from their sin’s reward of death and hell?
The latter Christians are indeed very few, Jesus said so. That is because they understand The Gate is a strait, and not straight. It is a path fraught with dangers whereby they must always be clothed with the armor of God and yielded to the commands and orders of the Captain of their Salvation. They understand He alone knows the narrow path that leads to eternal life, and being His sheep, they have learned to trust His voice as the Great Shepherd of their souls. Thus, they have tuned their ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches and will be overcomers of both their carnal nature and adversary. Why? Because they have come to love God with all their heart, mind, and strength, and have experienced through all their hardships that He is indeed able to sanctify them wholly, so that their whole spirit and soul and body might be preserved blameless unto the coming of their Lord, Jesus Christ. He is faithful.
So, which kind of Christian are you?
Jude 1:24 – Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion, and power, both now and ever. Amen.
The book, originally titled by John Owen as “Eshcol,” has before been presented under the title of “Duties of Christian Fellowship.” Yet once again, it is being presented under the same title, as it was designed to present the whole Christian family those sound scriptural precepts from God’s word , or “rules” as Owen’s refers to them, on the subject of ecclesiastical fellowship and discipline.
The first part contains seven rules, which address the duties of members of a church towards their pastor. In the second part there are fifteen rules presented to the people of God on their duties to one another. It is of such a nature as to be applicable and useful under any form of ecclesiastical polity or denomination; as each rule is established from a body of evidence taken from Scripture, and followed with a general explanation attended by reasonable motives whereby the people of God ought to so live thereby.
The fact that there exist several editions of Owen’s “Eshcol” under many formats, one cannot but wonder at its favorable reception with the religious public. Truly, it is a remarkable work of Owen which reveals his deep piety and sound judgment, which is presented to the reader in a simple rational arrangement, supported by a comprehensive knowledge of Scripture. Unquestionably, due to its sound foundation from God’s word, “Duties of Christian Fellowship” constructs a much-needed manual on church-fellowship, which to this day has yet to be surpassed.
This book written by John Owen, has so blessed me, that I edited it and attached the scriptures reference herein for the convenience of those who have a desire to help their church grow scripturally, and would also like to learn how to minister to each other effectually to the glory of their Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Gates of the City 