The Sixth Trumpet

I've written about the Seven Trumpets judgments, up to the fifth trumpet.  The Seven Trumpets are divided into two parts, the first four trumpets are judgments that involve nature, and the other three are judgments directly aimed at mankind, and are called the Three Woes.

The fifth trumpet, also the first woe, is the opening of the abyss to allow imprisoned demons out to afflict people on earth.  It says that they sting them like a scorpion, but they don't sting anything but people who don't have the seal of God on their foreheads.  Some have thought they might be weapons of modern warfare described by a person from the first century.  But this makes little sense because warfare kills and it is indiscriminate.  This is not fatal.  It may even be speaking of spiritual affliction.  

The sixth trumpet is very complicated.  The sixth trumpet is sounded in Revelation 9:13, but is not said to be over until Revelation 11:15!  A voice from the horns of the golden altar commands that the four angels that have been bound at the Euphrates River be turned loose.  Good angels?  Bad angels?  They have been prepared for a year, a month, a day, and an hour to kill one third of mankind.  How would you do that even if you wanted to?  Without explanation, the text says the number of the horsemen is two hundred million.  What horsemen?  Oh, then John explains that he saw horses and riders.  The riders had breastplates of fire, jacinth and brimstone, and the horses had lion's heads and fire, smoke, and brimstone came out of their mouths.  It was by the fire, smoke and brimstones that came out of their mouths that they killed one third of mankind.  Besides having dangerous mouths, the horses had dangerous tails like serpents.  

Is this the battle of Armageddon?  No, Armageddon is spoken of in Chapter 16, verse 16, during the sixth vial of the Six Vials judgments.  It also involves drying up the Euphrates so the kings of the east, or "the rising sun" can cross with their armies.  

Is the sixth trumpet related to the sixth vial?  It looks like it is to me.  Is it the same event?  No one seems to think so, but this is one of those areas that I've heard a lot of talking about and mixing of the judgment details together.  I've heard people say that the battle of Armageddon will be waged with armies of two hundred million.  But that isn't mentioned in the sixth vial judgment, it's back in the sixth trumpet judgment.  

Are the horses in the sixth trumpet signifying modern warfare?  Some people believe the horses are spoken of literally.  I don't believe that.  Almost everything seems to be symbolic and figurative in this vision.  The horses represent aspects of an event.  Then a lot of people conclude because of the number of deaths that it must be nuclear war.  But that doesn't take two hundred million horsemen.  Some say the horses are tanks, but how would a third of humanity be killed with tanks?  

So, all I've come up with is maybe some sort of warfare.  Maybe the horses represent weapons of war.  It still needs work. 

But wait.  Is that the end of the sixth trumpet?  No, for one thing, the two hundred million horses and riders were supposed to convince humanity to repent.  Repent of what?   Number one, they did not repent of worshipping idols.  The list of sins parallels the 10 commandments list in Exodus 20 in the same order.  It is paramount to God that people do not have any gods before Him.  Worshipping other gods is the number one thing offends God.  That seems easy enough.  Hardly anyone worships idols, do they?  Oh, they think they don't.  However, a lot of things are idol worship that people don't realize are idol worship.  For example astrology.  How is astrology idol worship?  Because one puts faith in the stars and planets.  How are tarot cards, ouija boards, communicating with the dead, fortune telling, witchcraft, seances,  and all sorts of other occult things worshipping demons?  Because they all involve forming a pact with demons, which are the power behind them.  I would say this even extends to all games of chance because one is unwittingly relying on Satan to make things go one's way.  It goes all the way to seemingly innocent things, like wishing on stars, birthday candles, wishing wells.  Who are you asking to grant you favors?  To protect you?  One other thing that I've heard more of lately is having a spirit animal.  Someone told me their spirit animal was a dolphin.  Their spirit animal is a demon!  Next on the list, and in the ten commandments, is murder.  Then sorceries are mentioned.  Oh, wait.  Where is that in the ten commandments?  I would put it back under worshipping false gods.  It includes witchcraft and also mind altering substances.  Why is that?  Because when one is unable to control one's mental faculties, Satan is enabled to gain control of them.  Obviously, inhibitions are lowered, sexually for one.  But to the degree one relinquishes control of his spirit, he opens the control to Satan.  I've noticed in stories that I've heard of demon possession and also strange phenomena like poltergeists that the person involved was off base morally with sex, and/or had either drug or alcohol problems to a severe degree.  These things set the stage for demonic activity and are part of what people did in old times and modern times to worship false gods.  So I think way too little attention is given to staying away from the occult.  Do I feel this means no glass of wine?  No, the problem reminds me of a little girl at a dog training class I was in once.  She kept bothering my dog.  I said, "You stay on that side of the yard, and we'll stay on this side of the yard."  "OK."  She started walking in circles, little circles, bigger circles, until finally she was over on my side of the yard.  So a glass of wine is not crossing the line, but I'd say the line is crossed after two or three glasses.  Fornication?  Yes, that's still a sin.  Theft also.  

Is this finally the end of the sixth trumpet?  No, apparently not.  Two witnesses are introduced and they prophesy for a thousand two hundred and threescore days (1260).  This is also three and a half years, or forty two months.  The period of the Great Tribulation.  They are spoken of only in Chapter 11, even though they prophesy for three and a half years.  But not until they depart is the sixth trumpet, the second woe over, and the seventh trumpet sounds.  

Next:  The Seven Thunders

The Sounding of the Seven Trumpets Continued

A few days ago I wrote about the sounding of the first two trumpets of the Seven Trumpets judgment in Revelation.  The first trumpet was hail and fire mingled with blood that burnt up a third of the trees and all the green grass.  The second trumpet was "as it were a mountain burning with fire" that caused a third of the sea to turn to blood, a third of the life in the sea to die, and a third of the ships to be destroyed.  How would hail and fire be mingled with blood?  My best guess is that this is possibly what it looked like, not what it is.  I don't think this violates the infallibility of Scripture because this is a vision.  Vision use symbols and figurative speech.
The third trumpet is a great star falling from heaven onto the earth called Wormwood that poisons one third of the fresh water.  The word used for star can be translated as anything shining in the sky, like planets, comets, meteors, or actual stars.
The fourth trumpet is the smiting of one third of the sun, the moon and the stars.  Smiting?  They become darkened and only give two thirds of their light.
Like the Seven Seals, the Seven Trumpets judgments are broken into two parts, four trumpets are judgments of nature, then the last three are judgments of mankind.
At the sounding of the fifth trumpet, a star falls from heaven to the earth and to him is given the key of the bottomless pit.
At this point it seems to me that I have never read or heard so many creative ideas about any subject in the Bible as I've read about what happens when the fifth trumpet sounds.
The star is an angel, who has fallen from heaven.  Would this then be a demon?  It could be.  He is probably something like a holy angel that is an "avenging angel."  "Fallen from heaven" seems to mean just that he descended from heaven to earth, not a reference to his spiritual condition.  He is given the key to the bottomless pit.  Also, in Revelation 20:1-3 "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit..."  This is probably the same angel and this is a holy angel.  The actual translation of "the bottomless pit" would be "the abyss."  The abyss is a prison for demons.  It seems there are levels of crimes committed by demons, some misdemeanors and some felonies.  The felon demons are put in the abyss.
When the angel unlocks the abyss, John says that smoke pours out, and out of the smoke come locusts.  That sounds possible until he describes the locusts.  They are not to hurt the trees or grass but only the people who don't have the seal of God on their forehead.  Locusts don't bite people, they eat greenery.  They have a bite like a scorpion and they sting people.  In addition, they don't look like locusts.  They looked like horses, they had crowns like gold, faces like man, hair like women, breastplates like breastplates of iron, teeth like lions, and the sound of their wings was like chariots with many horses running to battle, and tails like scorpions.  These don't act like locusts, and they don't look like locusts.
I don't think we're to understand these are literal locusts.  I think there are aspects of a plague of locusts that apply to the scene being described.  I think there are many more demons than most people realize, probably as many as people on earth, and maybe more.  John sees them as locusts because it describes the vast numbers of demons pouring out of the abyss, multitudes.  And also because of their destructiveness.  As far as their looks, normally you or I can't see demons.  The description of what they look like is probably describing their spiritual characteristics.  Do they actually bite?  Well, I'm sure a lot of bad things that happen already can be laid at the door of demons, a lot more than we realize.  They could bite.  Or this could also be figurative.  They cause either physical or psychological pain of a severe level.  We already have demons on earth, and probably a surprisingly large number of them.  Add to that the ones who have been locked up, most likely to protect us from them.  Now the gloves are off.  Massive numbers of the worst demons are let loose on earth.  Twice we are told that they will be unleashed on us for 5 months.
I've read that it was commonly felt in the 19th century that the locusts were the Muslims.  Some still believe this.  One writer thought that Martin Luther was the fallen angel who opened the abyss.  The Protestants were the locusts.  Many thought that the locusts were descriptions of modern weapons of war.  And there has been a lot of speculation about the king of the locusts.  Is it Satan?  A holy angel?  A high ranking demon?  The Pope?  And again, having a king is not what locusts do.  And the king is named Destroyer in Hebrew and Greek.  This is all telling of greatly increased demonic activity during the Tribulation.
One woe is past, and behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

to be continued

The Words of the Prophets

I have copied, for your reading pleasure, and the ease of referring to it, the words of the prophet Daniel in Daniel 7, and the words of Christ in Matthew 24.  These passages contain prophesies about the Tribulation and have parallels in Revelation.  After the end of Matthew 24 I have some thoughts about it:

Daniel 7   written around 590 BC


1.  In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. 
2.  Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 
3.  And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 
4.  The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings:  I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 
5.  And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 
6.  After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. 
7.  After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. 
8.  I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. 
9.  I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
10.  A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.  
11.  I beheld then because of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. 
12.  As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. 
13.  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 
14.  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, and nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
15.  I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 
16.  I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this.  So he told me and made me know the interpretation of the things. 
17.  These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. 
18.  But the saints of the most High, shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, 
even for ever and ever. 
19.  Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, and brake into pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet. 
20.  And out of the ten horns which were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. 
21.  I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them; 
22.  Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.  
23.  Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down and break it to pieces. 
24.  And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them: and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 
25.  And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand, until a time, and times, and the dividing of times. 
26.  But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end. 
27.  And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. 
28.  Hitherto is the end of the matter.  As for me, Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart. 

Matthew 24

1.  And Jesus went  out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him, for to shew him the  buildings of the temple. 
2.  And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things?  Verily, I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.  
3.  And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4.  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 
5.  For many shall come in my name, and shall say, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.  
6.  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 
7.  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places. 
8.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.  
9.  Then shall they deliver you to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 
11.  And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. 
12.  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.  
13.  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 
14.  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 
15.  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whose readeth, let him understand:)
16.  Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains;
17.  Let him which is on the housetop come not down to take anything out of his house:
18.  Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 
19.  And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 
20.  But pray ye that your flight be not in winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21.  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 
22.  And except that those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened.  
23.  Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24.   For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 
25.  Behold, I have told you before. 
26.  Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 
27.  For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall the coming of the Son of man be. 
28.  For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 
29.  Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken:
30.  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and with great glory. 
31.  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 
32.  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33.  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 
34.  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 
35.  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.  
36.  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 
37.  But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 
38.  For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 
39.  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 
40.  Then shall two be in the field; one shall be taken and the other left. 
41.  Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 
42.  Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 
43.  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.  
44.  Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 
45.  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 
46.  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find doing so. 
47.  Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.  
48.  But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49.  And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50.  The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51.   And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  

Daniel begins by saying, "The four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea."  This has been echoed in Revelation 7:1, "I saw four angels which stood at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree."

So?  Some have said that God will remove the restraining influence of His Spirit from the earth during the Tribulation.  This I think is correct, at least to a degree.  Evil will be allowed to have its reign on earth.  "The four winds," according to some, means the Holy Spirit.  By saying that they are holding the four winds, it is saying that God is going to withdraw the restraint of evil that His Spirit brings.  Do I think this is being said?  I don't know.  Maybe.  This point in the Tribulation seems to be about the right time for this to happen.  But consider, Revelation 7:1, "I saw four angels...holding the four winds,".  If the "four winds" refers to the Holy Spirit, why would He be restrained by four angels?  How would angels be capable of restraining God?  

At this point in Revelation, the seventh seal was just opened, and the Seven Trumpet judgments, the second set of three judgments, begins.  This puts the Tribulation at about a third of the way through, or maybe only a fourth.  It's a crescendo of judgments and increasing evil.  It seems like the great forces of good on God's side, and evil on Satan's side, have collided on top of us in one big train wreck.  And it never really seems to have been about us at all.  It has been about the unseen spiritual world having a mysterious war that we're in the middle of.  

Also, Daniel, like John in Revelation, refers to the sea.  In Revelation 17, the meaning of the sea is given as being the people of earth.   Let me just say, "the beast of the sea" of Revelation means the Antichrist will rise out of the general population of the earth, although I believe he will be of Jewish heritage.  At a minimum, people will believe that he is.  The "beast of the earth" I'm not certain about.  I've heard some say earth....land....land....land of Palestine.....from Israel.  Therefore they conclude he is Israeli.  I don't see all those dots connected.  Maybe.   But this wasn't addressed in Revelation 17.  

The four beasts are four empires, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.  The fourth beast is by far the worst, and he has ten horns.  John again spoke in similar terms in Revelation 13 about the Beast of the Sea.  The beast has ten horns.  Horns symbolize authority.  These ten horns are ten kings.  The fourth empire, the Roman Empire, is divided into ten big districts.  "But the Roman Empire went away a long time ago!"  No, it went dormant.  It is waking up and starting again.  This is the empire of the last days.  

The little horn comes up from among the ten horns, and topples three of the ten horns.  Here's what I imagine:  The world unites into one big government.  People think this will bring peace because if we're all one country, we won't have a war with ourselves.  This big empire will be divided into ten districts...1) North American 2) Western Europe 3) Eastern Europe 4) China 5) Southeast Asia 6) Australia 7) South America 8) Northern Africa 9) the remainder of Africa 10) India.  I made this up.  I don't know.  But something like this is my guess.  These ten districts have ten leaders, like presidents.  Then a colossal personality comes to the foreground and gains political prominence, eventually usurping the power of three of the districts.  I suppose it might be something like a takeover of North America, Western Europe, and Northern Africa.  

This confuses me because in Revelation 13, the beast of the sea has ten horns.  So this is the same beast.  But there seems to be a blurring of the lines between the beast and the horn that comes up out of the ten horns.  Hmm...  I'll have to think about it.  

The horn in Daniel 7, like the beast in Revelation 13, has a mouth  speaking great things, and speaking against God.  He also makes war with the saints.  The beast in Revelation is given power to continue 42 months.  The horn in Daniel 7 continues for time (one year), times (two more years) and a dividing of times (half  a year), or three and a half years.  This is the same as 42 months, and is the last half of the seven years of the Tribulation, known as the Great Tribulation.   But where is the abomination of desolation?  It's in Daniel somewhere.  But I didn't find it in Revelation.  

On to Matthew 24.  Verse 5.  For many shall come in my name and say, I am Christ.  

I understand that the word Christ in this verse was implied but not written in the original.  When Moses was spoken to by God from the burning bush, God told Moses that His name is "I am that I am."  God is "I am."  This verse says that many will call themselves the great, "I am," claiming that they are God.  Have you ever heard this?  I have.  Look out!

Verse 15:  "When therefore ye shall see the abomination of desolation. spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place," 

This means the beast, or some have said, the false prophet, will enter the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem and demand to be worshipped as God.  I don't see it in Revelation. 

Verse 21: "For then shall be great tribulation,  such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."

This is the only place that I know of that the expression, "the Great Tribulation," is found in the Bible.  The Tribulation is seven years long.  It is divided into the first three years, and then the last three years, which are called "the Great Tribulation."  I don't dispute this at all, but from the way I've heard it presented before I studied it myself, I would have imagined that John in Revelation, or Daniel maybe, had called the period the Great Tribulation when they were writing about it.  

Verse 29: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken."  

In Revelation 6:12-14, the opening of the sixth seal,  "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a might wind.  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together;"

Then in Revelation 8: "The fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise."

It seemed to me that in Revelation Chapter 6 the sun was black, the moon was like blood, the stars fell unto the earth and the heavens departed.  Yet in Chapter 8, the sun is back again, only to be smitten by a third, and the moon and stars also.  But when did they come back?  

And then Jesus says  in Matthew 24 that after the tribulation the sun shall be darkened, the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from heaven.  

I've just never heard anyone give a good explanation of this.  Is it one event repeated?  What is the timing of the event?  Is this an eclipse?  Have you ever noticed that apocalypse and eclipse rhyme?  Or is there an asteroid that blocks the sunlight, and moonlight and starlight, and eventually it clears up, only to have another event?  Or maybe three events?  

One more...Joel 2:31 "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come." And verse 32  "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered."

Why does God speak in riddles?  

Next, the conclusion of the sounding of the Seven Trumpets.

PS  Matthew 24:24 "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."  

Then Revelation 13:13-15 "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, and causeth that they that dwell on the earth should make an image to the beast, whose had the wound by a sword and did live.  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast could both speak, and causeth that as many as should not worship the image of the beast should be killed."

The false prophet in Revelation 13 is a miracle worker.  The Antichrist also impresses people with supernatural powers which come from Satan.  For one thing, he is raised from the dead.  The image of the beast is an idol that everyone knows for sure is a manmade thing, yet the false prophet has the supernatural power to give life to the image of the beast.  

The point is, supernatural miracles don't mean something has been done by the power of God.   The false prophet will do great wonders, and deceiving the people of the whole earth by the power to do miracles, will convince them to worship the beast and the image of the beast.  These supernatural signs, wonders, and miracles will be extremely convincing and not a sleight of hand.  However, they are not from God, they are from Satan.  

Headline: THE WIND STOPS BLOWING!

Back to Revelation 6, the sealing of the 144,000.  Accidentally skipped.  

After the sixth seal, of the Seven Seals,  John sees four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, "that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree."  

Where are the "four corners of the earth" ?  OK, we know this is figurative.  The four corners and the four winds mean the north, south, east and west.  Literary license has been taken.  And the angels will hold the winds so that they don't blow on the earth, the sea, or the trees.  What would happen if the wind stopped blowing?  I've never given this much thought.  I don't know how the wind could stop blowing.  Would it be a bad thing if the wind stopped blowing?  Maybe.  I'm not sure.  

But before they do anything, another angel "cried with a loud voice to them," "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." This angel has the seal of the living God.  

Then John heard the number of people who were to be sealed, "144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel."  Many of us are not going to be one of the 144,000 because we are not one of the children of Israel.  Does one have to be one of the 144,000 of the tribes of the children of Israel to go to heaven?  No, of course not.  One has to be Jewish to be one of the 144,000.  

John goes on to divide up this group:  twelve thousand from twelve tribes.  The tribes are listed as Juda, Reuben, Gad, Aser, Nephthalim, Manassas, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zabulon, Joseph and Benjamin.  What's different about this list?  Well, for one thing, the tribe of Dan is left out of the list.  For another thing, Joseph is in the list.  Usually Joseph is represented by his two sons, so that gives Joseph a double portion.  

Who is Dan?  Dan is interesting because many rabbis of old and of the early church felt that the tribe of Dan would be the one that the Antichrist is descended from.  Legend is that Dan's mother was involved in idolatry and this tendency spread down through the generations.  Why is Dan omitted here?  One can only speculate, but the thinking is that the Antichrist may rise out of the tribe of Dan.  

For another thing, the tribe of Levi is included in the list.  Levi is usually left out because it is the priestly tribe.  Levi didn't inherit because the other tribes were to maintain the priestly tribe.  

As previously mentioned, I have heard people say, some of them to me personally, that one must be one of the 144,000 to go to heaven.  There are dozens of reasons why this is not true.  First of all, one would have to contradict a whole lot of other Scriptures if this were true.  Why do people have a tendency to cite one verse and invent from it things it doesn't say, and dismiss the rest of the Bible?  If one uses the argument that a verse is in Scripture to give it credibility, how can the same person contradict a thousand other verses that are also scriptural?  

The 144,000 are said only to be Jewish, and servants of God.   In the very next verse following the list of the tribes, John says, "And I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, from all nations and kindreds, and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palms in their hands."

So there is a great multitude in the very next verse, "which no man could number of every nation," who are standing before the throne of God because they are among the righteous.  Are they on heaven or on the earth?  Either way, there are said to be more than 144,000 people who go to heaven, or will go to heaven right there in the same chapter.  

And where did the Jewish people originate?  They are the descendants of Abraham, who lived a few generations after the Flood.  Before the Flood one example of a known righteous person is Enoch, who was taken away to heaven without seeing death: "And Enoch walked with God and was not, because God took him."  The longest living person recorded in Scripture was Methuselah, who lived to be 969 years old, and was the grandfather of Noah.  By the way, you are a direct descendant of Methuselah, by virtue of the fact that only Noah, who was his grandson, and the other seven members of Noah's  family survived the Flood.  Methuselah died in the very same year as the year of the Flood.  I'm guessing he was swept away by the Flood.  Of maybe the Flood happened soon after his death.  But continuing with Noah.  Noah is a certified righteous person, and so was Job.  All these people are documented in Scripture to be righteous, and one of them taken to heaven alive, and all lived before there were any Israelites.  

This should logically tell us that we don't have to be one of the 144,000 to go to heaven.  

Is the great multitude of all nations also going to be alive on the earth during the Tribulation or do they represent all of the righteous?  I'm not sure.  I am sure that "a great multitude" would be millions, if not billions of people.  And I am sure that one can get saved during the Tribulation. 

After the 144,000 are sealed in their foreheads, the four angels holding the wind are ready to act, as the Seven Trumpets sound in Chapter 8.  

The Box Where the Dreams are Kept

THE BOX WHERE THE DREAMS ARE KEPT

I dreamt of a land by the sapphire sea
whence the swallows came.
In that land there dwelt a girl
Ursala was her name.

She was as fair as Queen Anne's lace.
The oceans were in her eyes.
Alabaster was her face,
kissed by azure skies.

She said, "Have you broken the golden bowl,
and heard the clocks that chime,
like silver ponies with long pink manes
galloping through time?

"Never the days turn into years,
and never the dreamers slept,
as dreamers sleep in the beautiful land
where the box with the dreams are kept.

"Can the box be sold for silver and gold?
No, an infinite price has been set."
"Then I'll open the box when I'm old and cold,
but I won't open it yet."

Then I saw the retreating tide,
I saw that the sun had set.
All this occurred in that beautiful land
where the box with the dreams are kept.

Seldom do the ponies weep,
and seldom have they cried.
But ponies wept on that sad day,
occasioned by my pride.

Away, away ye beautiful dreams,
but isn't it curious how,
that it should seem to dreamers who dream
that I might have forgotten you now?

Never a day that I didn't kiss
the picture that you left.
It was one of the treasures
in the box where the dreams are kept.

So I broke the locks and opened the box.
It was dazzling to my eyes.
The dreams flew out and filled the seas,
and then they filled the skies.

She said, "You must cast a golden net
and fish the sapphire sea,
till you behold the dreams of gold
and find the dreams that be.

"You must fly away like a bird of prey
for the dreams that take to the skies.
You must catch them in a silver net
like you would a butterfly."

So I sailed away at the break of day
to fish the sapphire sea.
I will return to the beautiful land,
I and the dreams that be.

by Helene Louise

The Sounding of the Seven Trumpets

When the Lamb opens the seventh seal, there is silence in heaven for half an hour.  Then the seven angels which stand before God are given seven trumpets.   As each angel blows his trumpet, a judgment occurs, Revelation 8:1-2.
It occurs to me to first write a warning.  I have often heard big mouths tell me all about Scripture. When I was still a teenager this might have impressed me. I wonder how vacant headed these people take me to be?  And also how vacant headed they must be themselves to rattle off such nonsense.   That's what caused me to feel it was so important to know what Scripture does say. 
One man told me, when I was a teenager, that only 144,000 people would go to heaven.  I wouldn't be one of them.  He also told me that the rapture had already occurred, because the sealing of the righteous in their foreheads was invisible, or something like that, and all that would be sealed had already been sealed.  He said I must give away all my belongings or I would go to hell, which he had told me already was unavoidable whatever I did.  Also I must never marry.  On and on.  Another man, who was trying to sell me a mattress pad, claimed to have a doctorate in theology from somewhere, and be fluent in all the original languages of the Bible.  My how he was revered.  He had a little group of gullible people he had gathered together into a church.  One of them asked me to buy a gun for them while I was traveling to Arizona.  I didn't.  I forgot all about it.  But I found out later that it was so they could sneak this gun to this man so he could have an unregistered gun.  And I could be the one who committed a felony.  Anyway, part of his spiel about the mattress pad was that it had many magnets in it.  Did I know that the reason the Israelites, like Methuselah,  lived to be hundreds of years old was because they walked around barefoot and, the earth being a magnet, came into contact with their feet?  I knew that I was being told a falsehood.  Methuselah wasn't an Israelite.  He lived hundreds and hundreds of years before there were any Israelites.  The Israelites weren't any longer lived than we are.  Oh, and I don't know of any evidence that they walked around barefoot.  Or that Methuselah did either.   Apparently some people think it's very gullible of me to believe the Bible and if I'd believe that I'd believe anything.  And a man was trying to impress me once about his knowledge of Scripture.  What was his knowledge?  Well, he knew that one of the Gospels was called the Gospel of John.  He told me that this book was written by John the Baptist.  No, wrong John.  The John who wrote the Gospel of John was the disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ who also wrote the book of Revelation.   He was so loud about his ignorance and claimed his love of Scripture, of which he knew very little.  
The point of this is that the Bible must be taken as the infallible and inerrant Word of God.  And I also take it literally unless there is strong indication that the meaning is figurative.  Oh, I've heard people say they believe the Bible is infallible.  But they also believe that other people besides Noah and the people in the ark with him survived the Flood.  How could that be? I asked.  The Bible says that water covered the entire earth at least 15 feet above the highest mountains for the better part of a year.  What log did they hold onto in the middle of the ocean for a year?   And they thought that when Adam and Eve lived, their children married "the other people that were on earth at the time."  Where does it say that there were other people in the Bible?  Oh, it's in there somewhere, they insisted.  If the Bible isn't taken as the inerrant truth of the Word of God, there's all kinds of boloney that can be invented, and the reasons people want to invent them are never good.   It just doesn't take that much Bible study to see through these people.  I think people who invent error and try to prop it up with Scripture are out to get the people they are lying to and to cause them serious harm.  Beware.  
Back to the seven trumpets.  First, the number seven is an important number in the Bible.  God created the heaven and earth in seven days as one example.  Seven golden candlesticks.  Seven churches.  Seven angels with seven trumpets.  There are other significant numbers, such as the number three, the number 12, the number 40 - the rain fell for forty days and forty nights in the Flood, Jesus fasted for forty days.  These are numbers that indicate a holy significance.  Then there are numbers that are not so good.  In fact, they're plain evil.  Like the number 666.  Oh, what's so bad about that???  I'm not sure, but it is man based.  I have heard that we have a 60 minute hour because the Babylonians measured time that way.  Babylonians bad.  They used a base 60 number system.  God's number is 3, Satan's number is 6, the false 3.  I guess I've exhausted my knowledge of Bible numbers.  
Another interesting thing about Revelation 8:2 is the phrase, "the seven angels which stood before God."  Are there only seven angels who stand before God?  Well, angels have rank.  Only two angels are named in the Bible, Michael and Gabriel.  There are types of angels, arch angels, the highest ranking, and cherubim and seraphim.  I would say "the seven angels" are very special anyway.  Who are they?  
Why are angels so secretive anyway?  Elusive, mysterious?  Well, I guess their business isn't our business.  
The Seven Trumpets judgments are seven judgments broken into two parts, the first part with four judgments and the second part with three judgments, like the Seven Seals judgments.  Also like the Seven Seals, the seventh trumpet heralds the next round of seven judgments, the Seven Bowls. 
Before the seven angels begin to sound their trumpets, another angel with a golden censer is given incense to offer with the prayers of all saints on the golden altar which was before the throne.  Then he takes the censer, fills it with fire from the altar and flings it on the earth!  Voices, thunderings and lightning are heard, then there is an earthquake.  
Then the first angel sounds his trumpet.  A third of the trees are burnt up, and all the green grass is burnt up.   
The second angel sounds his trumpet and a great mountain burning with fire is cast into the sea, and the sea turns to blood.  A third of life in the sea dies, and a third of the ships are destroyed.  Vulcano?  

to be continued...

When the Stars Begin to Fall

Matthew 24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken."   

Continuing with Jesus opening the Seven Seals in the book of Revelation.  In the beginning of his vision, John was shown the seven golden candlesticks, and the Son of man walking in the midst of them, and telling him to write about his vision to the seven churches.  After John writes messages to each church, he continues writing about his vision.  First he is taken up to heaven, and sees the throne of God with twenty four elders seated around it, and four beasts also.  Then he sees "as it were a Lamb that was slain" in the midst of the throne.  "He that sitteth upon the throne," is holding a scroll with seven seals, and the Lamb, Jesus Christ, is found worthy to open the scroll and loose the seven seals.  

The seven candlesticks represent the seven churches of Asia that John is writing to.  Who are the twenty four elders?  They are mysterious leadership of the righteous in heaven.  Who are the four beasts?  Another mystery.  But I'll take a stab at it.  Why is Jesus called the Lamb that was slain?  Because we require a sacrifice for our sin to make us sinless and able to have a relationship with God.  And that sacrifice had to be the ultimate sacrifice, which only Jesus could be.  Why is it possible for so many people and God and Jesus to be in the midst of the throne at the same time?  I have heard that the thrones of the middle east of the time were something more like couches that several people could sit on, and so someone could sit with the ruler on the throne if he pleased.  What is the scroll with the seven seals?  In Roman times, an inheritance was a scroll sealed with seven seals.  I'm not sure, but I think it may be that in the Roman legal system legal documents of various types were scrolls sealed with seven seals.  It is some type of legal document.   If the earth were about to be judged by God, it would make sense that all the legal papers would be drawn up.   It's all there, theft of cookies, everything.  The seven seals of the document are seven judgments coming from God upon the earth.  As Jesus opens each seal, a judgment happens on earth.  

There are three sets of seven judgments.  The Seven Seals of Chapter 6 is the first set.   The next set of seven judgments are the Seven Trumpets, and the final set of seven are the Seven Vials.  The Seven Seals as well as the Seven Trumpets judgments are broken into two parts, four judgments of the first part, three of the second.  

The judgments begin with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  The first time I ever read a book about this, it said that the first horsemen, riding a white horse, and given a crown, and going forth to conquer, was Jesus Christ.  This is probably not correct.  Others have said it was the Antichrist.  I think this is getting warm.  

John had written earlier about the four beasts before the throne of God, and in the first four judgments, the four beasts introduce the four horsemen.  I feel it is important to examine the beast that introduces each horseman to get a better understanding of the horseman.  The first beast was already described earlier by John as looking like a lion.  The horseman he introduces is riding a white horse, has a bow, is given a crown to wear, and rides away to conquer.  Who is he?  Who is the beast?  While I think the beast may be an actual being in heaven, I think his description tells of his personal characteristics, his role, not what he looks like.  And so he, being like a lion, introduces a king.  Is the horseman a literal person?  Well, I've noticed that people tend to jump on the idea that he is an actual person, but they don't often ask, "Who is the horseman on the red horse?  On the black horse?  On the pale horse?"  They can see that the rider on the red horse represents war.  Many say that the rider on the black horse represents famine.  And John tells us that the rider on the pale horse is Death and his friend Hell.  No one worries about who Death is.  They've seen "the grim reaper."  They understand that he represents death, but he is not likely a real person.  

So I think that the first horse is speaking of the political climate on earth at the time of the Tribulation.  And the second beast looked like a calf, and he introduces the second horseman on the red horse.  This horseman is given power to take peace from the earth.  

"Is given, is given."  Who is the giver?  Who gave the first horseman a crown?  Who gave the second horseman power to take peace from the earth and a great sword?  Anyway, he represents war.  

The third beast has a face like a man, and the third horseman sits on a pale horse holding a pair of balances that merchants used to use to weigh things in a market.  A voice from the four beasts says, "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine."  What does that mean?  One must understand, first, that I'm guessing, as is everyone else.  I have heard that a penny was usually an entire day's wage at the time John wrote this, so connecting the dots, I think that an entire day's wage would be a lot to pay for maybe a pound of wheat.  But does this speak of famine?  Why not go ahead and hurt the oil and the wine?  I think it speaks of hyperinflation and economic chaos.  I don't quite know what to think about hurting the oil and the wine.  How would they be exempt from hyperinflation?  I think there will be a problem paying for food, and other things, but there will be enough food - for an exorbitant price.   The prices of everything will go through the roof.  

"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth beast say, Come and see."  The fourth beast looks like a flying eagle and he introduces the rider(s) on the fourth horse, a pale horse, and their names are Death and Hell.  They are given the power to kill one fourth of the earth with the sword, and hunger, and death, and the beasts of the earth.  I guess they'll be in charge of the department of health and human services.  I find it curious to say someone will be killed "with death."  I suppose since it isn't mentioned, it may mean such things as epidemics and plagues.  Also, the beasts of the earth?  Maybe this is something like the way the Romans threw people to the lions in the Colosseum.  Maybe the lions and tigers and bears suddenly become much more numerous and attack us in the parking lot when we go to WalMart. 

So that's the four judgments in the subset of the Seven Seals.  Then the three judgments come.  

The fifth judgment is, to my understanding, more martyrdom for the word of God.  

The sixth judgment is very interesting to me.  I thought the language in presenting it was beautiful.  

"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars fell from heaven unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places."  

So the sixth judgment includes an earthquake, but the strange thing is stars falling from the sky.  I can hear the sudden increase in the wind, rustling the leaves of the fig tree, and her unripe fruit falling with thumping noises on the ground.  The sun becomes black as sackcloth of hair?  What is that?  I looked it up.  People used to make sacks out of goat hair, and just like flour sacks used to be, sometimes people made clothes of the sackcloth, scratchy clothes.  And sackcloths were black.  

What is going on here?  Earthquakes, stars falling, the sun black, the moon like blood, and the mountains and islands being tossed around like sacks of potatoes...  Well, anyway, that's the sixth judgment.  

The seventh judgment is the entrance of the Seven Trumpets series of judgments.  It's like a computer program:  first line, Do white horseman,  second line, Do red horseman,  third line, Do black horseman,  fourth line, Do pale horseman,  fifth line, Do martyrdom,  sixth line, Do the stars falling,  seventh line, Go to the Seven Trumpets.  

But going back to the verse I began with about the sun being darkened, the moon not shining, the stars falling from the sky, and the power of heaven being shaken.....Jesus said these things happen immediately after the tribulation of those days.  But John places them at the beginning of the tribulation.  I still haven't heard anyone explain that.  The only thing that occurs to me is that these judgments may not all be presented in the order they happen in.  The horsemen may be the political, martial, economic, and health environment of the entire period, and the martyrs wouldn't all be killed at once, but throughout the tribulation, and then the stars begin to fall. 

The Opening of the Seven Seals

After an introduction to the seven churches, John continues with his vision.  In Revelation 4, John sees the throne of God.  He saw a door open in heaven, and he heard a voice say, "Come up hither and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."  
John said that he was immediately in the spirit and saw a throne in heaven, and one sitting on the throne.  Jesus?  No, I think he's referring to God the Father.  Well, what did God look like?  "And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone."  Oh. Huh?  Jasper would be green and sardine would be red.  Is God red and green?  I'll have to think about this.  
The throne makes more sense.  It sounds very beautiful.  "And there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald."  A green rainbow?  
And there are important people there.  Four and twenty elders sit around the throne wearing white robes and crowns.  Who are they?  Why twenty four of them?  Well, no one seems to know.  They are leaders.  And the numbers are always important and significant.  
"Out of the throne proceedeth lightnings and thunderings and voices, and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne was a sea of glass like unto crystal."
The throne reminds me of a favorite hymn, "Holy, Holy, Holy, all the saints adore Thee, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea."  
Then John mentions the four beasts "in the midst of the throne and round about the throne."  Beasts?  That doesn't sound so good.  Creature might be a better word.  What do they look like?  "They are full of eyes before and behind."  The first beast looks like a lion, the second beast looks like a calf, the third beast has the face of a man, and the fourth beast looks like a flying eagle.  And all the beasts have six wings.  
I suppose there may be four literal beasts before the throne of God, or maybe the description of them refers to characteristics of their roles.  The four beasts never rest, day or night, and say, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come."  And when the beasts give glory to God, the twenty four elders cast their crowns before the throne and fall down before God and praise Him.  
Then John saw that God held in his right hand a scroll sealed with seven seals.  An angel calls for someone to break the seals of the scroll, but no one is found worthy of all mankind.  Then, one of the elders pointed out to John that the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David "hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof."  John saw in the midst of the throne, and the four beasts and the twenty four elders a Lamb that had been slain that had seven eyes and seven horns, "which are the seven Spirits of God."  Why would Christ be a Lamb?  The lamb was the sacrifice to God for sins, looking forward to the time when a perfect man/God would come and be sacrificed for the sin of mankind.  I think the Lamb is another example of the characteristic of the role of a figure is explained with figurative speech.  
"When he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints, and they sung a new song saying Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue and people and nation."  
Then John heard millions of angels cry out in glory to Christ.  
This is the scene in heaven described in Revelation chapters 4 and 5, that leads to the opening of the seven seals, which are the first seven judgments of God on the earth during the tribulation.  "The Lamb," Christ, is then ready to begin opening the seven seals.  

Letter to the Seven Churches

John starts the Book of the Revelation saying that he is on the Isle of Patmos because of witnessing for Christ.  One day, on the Lord's day, he was in the spirit, when he heard a voice, a very loud voice.  He turned to see who spoke to him, and saw seven golden candlesticks, and the Son of Man walking among the candlesticks, and goes on to describe him.  The Son of Man, Jesus, told him to write the things that he saw to the seven churches in Asia.

The seven churches were churches in Asia Minor, which had several ports on the Mediterranean Sea.  The Isle of Patmos is one of the islands near this area.  John had lived in Ephesus, where the first church of the seven was located.  The churches are each written individual messages in the order that they lie on a circular route, starting in Ephesus.  I estimate this route to be about 75 to 100 miles long.

Part of the description of Jesus in Chapter one is that he is holding seven stars in his right hand.  He said that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are the seven churches.

I liked the description of the angels as stars.  I see that angels live in heaven, which is in the sky, like the stars.  Also the light of the stars would be like the light of the angels' holiness.  I guess.  The churches being described as candlesticks and representing the seven churches uses the light idea again, coming from candles, being the light of the holiness of the churches.  It's a beautiful description.  I like to think of each church in the world having their own special angel.

Each of the churches is addressed, "To the angel of the church in ..."  Then "these things saith ..." he that walks among the candlesticks, holds the seven stars, has the two edged sword, etc.  The description of him in the first chapter is used again as an introduction to the churches.

To each church he says, "I know thy works..."  Ephesus has done good works, and can not tolerate evil people.  They "tried" those who called themselves apostles and were not and found them liars.  They hate the deeds of the Nicolaitanes.  BUT!  There's one thing.  They have lost their first love.  Repent or their candlestick will be removed.  Then to each of the churches he says, "He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."  He also says that overcomers of various sorts will be rewarded with things such as fruit from the tree of life, the morning star, rule over nations, and others.

Probably the most interesting message to the churches for me was to the church in Thyatira.  "Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, that thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols."

After addressing each of the churches, the Book of the Revelation continues on to write the churches about the complete vision seen by John.

The Golden Age

Are we in the "last days"?  I would say yes and no.

When people speak of the last days, it sounds like they think the earth will cease to exist and then we will all go to a spiritual plane where we strum harps and float on clouds all day.  This isn't what I think because it isn't Scriptural.

The last days spoken of in the Bible are the last days of this era.  There was the era before the flood, the flood then becoming a type of the last days.  There was the era of the Patriarchs and the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  Then the church era came, which is our era.

So I do think we are in the last days of this era, and it doesn't go well at the end.  We are at the end of the age.  Yes, it's sad.  There's no way around that.

Why would there be an end of the age?  Jesus said it would be like the days of Noah, before the flood.  Can I just say the days before the flood became very strange?  Strange days indeed.  Yes, I memorized Genesis 6-9 also, because I was interested.  What were they doing?  It says "the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair."  So what?  I've read all sorts of imaginative explanations about this until I became convinced that no one had any idea at all.  It also says, "There were giants in the earth in those days."  How big were these giants?  I've heard people say they were the height of telephone poles.  No one seems to know.  Also, so what?  Why would God destroy all people and all animals on earth because of the sons of God marrying the daughters of men and giants living on earth?  And so one must speculate.  Why does God speak in riddles?  I guess to make us speculate.   In the flood account in Genesis, God became very disturbed with people about the time that the sons of God married the daughters of men.  One person even said to me that they thought Cain was the son of Eve by a demon, possibly Satan. I set this straight right away because in that very same chapter of Genesis it says that Adam knew Eve and she conceived and bare Cain.  I think we were to understand that their first child murdered their second child because evil had entered the world.

 I've heard two theories.  1)  This is the old theory.  "The sons of God" were the descendants of the righteous Seth, who was born after Cain murdered Abel.  They went crazy and married into the lineage of the evil Cain, "the daughters of men."  Nah.  One interesting thing about the lineage of Cain and Seth is the similarity of the names of the lineages.  Also, if you do the math, you see that up until just about the time of Noah, everyone on earth was a contemporary of Adam.  One other math fact about the antediluvian world.  If you calculate how many children people who live to be nearly one thousand years old can have, and how many children their children can have, it easily comes to billions within around 1600 years.  At least as many people as are alive today.  But I digress.  2)  The recent theory.  "The sons of God" are angels, "the daughters of men" are regular earth people.  Possibility.  It just seems unlikely because it wouldn't seem that we would be genetically compatible, or even that they are capable of doing that, but what do I know?

So, whatever it was, boundaries had been breached.  Suppose angels were having children with people,  possibly very big children, and this is when God became very concerned and decided to destroy the earth.   These angels couldn't have been good angels. They would be demonic.  Is that going on today?

Not as far as I know.  This is where people really start using their imaginations and saying demons are breeding with people right and left right now.  Well, I don't believe that.  But, oh, by the way, I believe that all this "aliens visitors from other planets," and "alien abductions" is demonic.  The aliens look like demons, they act like demons, they talk like demons.  I think they are demons.  If there are aliens, where did they come from?  Another galaxy far far away!?  Too much Star Trek!  Other galaxies are too far away.  They'd never make it.  They are the other intelligent life already on earth, demons.  So, if the pre flood people were becoming friendly with demons, in that sense, I'd say we are developing the same tendency.  I think that if demons wanted to make themselves more acceptable to us, they might tell us they were aliens, and they had all sorts of technology to tell us about to help us.  Beware of aliens!!

Before leaving the flood topic I have one other theory, all my own, I think.  I remember a long time ago, I was told in school that oil that is made into gasoline and such comes from the remains of the dinosaurs.  One of the gas companies used to have a dinosaur as their company logo.  "Dinosaurs were covered with sediment and dirt and eventually pressure left nothing of them but oil."  I don't hear this idea much anymore.  I hear, "Fossil fuels were created by vegetation of primordial forests."  It's not even animal!  It's said to be vegetable.  Why?  I'll tell you why!!  Not only was it animal, it was the remains of the people of the flood days!!  That's what we're running our cars, and planes and lawnmowers on!  We're cannibals!  You see, the people built cities, and the oil fields of today are found where the cities before the flood used to be.  Just a theory...

In the last days, violence increases, and evil increases.  It seems to me that the Bible is tight lipped about exactly how.

But the interesting thing to me is the other areas that would have to be in line for it to be the last days.  Take the lingua franca - English, conveniently for me.  There needs to be a lingua franca for people to organize well enough to carry out the craziness of the last days.  When Jesus Christ was on earth, there was a lingua franca, and there was a very good road system.  The Roman roads were built to last 1000 years.  It's 2000 years later and most of them are still there.  The Roman Empire facilitated transportation and communication by the roads, the language, and the order imposed by their government.  Transportation and communication facilitated the ability to spread the Gospel.  Today, the English language is the first language spoken by as large a percentage of the the population as Latin was during the Roman Empire.  So we have a common language, sort of.  This is a recent turn of events.  As is the level of communication and transportation.  These things would be necessary for the empire of the Antichrist to take hold worldwide.  The computer would be a necessity also.  And, there is the fact that the Jews are back in the Promised Land, and I hear there are plans to rebuild the temple, which also has to happen, due to prophesy.

So, yes, I think it is the end of the age.  I think "the end of the age" could go on a long time.  No, it isn't the end of the world.

In fact, there is an age following the end of this age.  The present age ends with evil reigning for seven years, called the Tribulation.  The age following the Tribulation is the Millennium.  For one thousand years our lives and life on earth will be restored to the beautiful level it was before the flood.  People will live to be a thousand years old.  Children will be able to play safely with asps.  Swords will be turned into plows, as we'll need no swords.  The lion will lie down with the lamb.  So this can't be too far off.  But, as it was in the days of Noah, so in our day, there will need to be a monumental purging of evil in order for God to bring in the Millennium.

Some day I'd like to say more about the Millennium.  Actually, I don't know much.  I'd have to invent it.  It will be "the Golden Age," dreamed of by humanity.  It's gotten way too little attention.

To be continued