Summary of Bible references on the Rapture

[ZNP]

Write it down and send it out

8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Think about the beginning. John is there on Patmos, all the other apostles are dead, he is alone, banished to this island, the whole world is against the gospel and the church. Now here we are at the end and everyone knows about Jesus, everyone in the whole world knows about the New Testament, billions and billions of these books have been distributed worldwide. Apart from the New Testament what else do you know about the people at this time? A few people know about Homer, but without a doubt a few uneducated fisherman have completely dominated human history for the last two thousand years. Is that not incredible? Who could do this but the Almighty, the one who is, who was and who is to come? He is the one who is writing this story from beginning to end.

9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Are you John's companion in tribulation? Have you been banished for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ? If so the Lord said we should rejoice because great is our reward in heaven.

10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

Even John was there looking in the wrong direction. We look at the enemy, we look at our failures, we look at the trials and tribulations when we should be looking at Jesus. To repent is to turn around. Without a vision the people perish, we need to repent, turn around so that we have a vision of Jesus Christ.

11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Didn't He just say He was Alpha and Omega, the first and the last? Sometimes we don't get it the first time. He is telling John to write this down in a book. In his epistles John tells us he doesn't want to write with pen and ink, rather he wants to speak with us face to face. In both 2 John and 3 John he tells us he has a lot of things to write but would rather talk face to face. The Lord had to speak to him repeatedly before he got the message, "write in a book and send it unto the seven churches". Our transformation is not according to what we like, what we are comfortable with. When the Lord said He was the alpha and omega it is a reference to the alphabet, to the word of God. He is the almighty, He speaks not being into being through His word. John is here at the beginning, hearing this word that the Lord is speaking and writing it down and sending it out.

 

[ZNP]

Write the things which thou hast seen

12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;

In the Bible gold refers to the word of God. The seven golden lampstands are golden because of the word of God. If they are not composed of the word and built up in the word they are not a lampstand. Some argue that the seven lampstands are all identical, but the reality is they each are shining a light and so in the dark you see seven lamps shining. The word of God is too great, too awesome for any one church to shine all the light, we need seven to give us a full view of the light.

13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

Jesus told us that where two or three are gathered in His name that He would be in their midst. The church is gathered in the name of Jesus Christ, they are composed of the word of God and they are shining the light of God. In their midst Jesus Christ is the priest ministering to the needs of the church.

14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Think of your experience with the church, we have many elderly saints, we have their wisdom, their experience. The church is the best place for anyone to grow old because there is so much for you to do. On the other hand we have the fiery young ones whose eyes are a flame of fire. The church is not an old folks home, if anything it is focused on the children and young people.

15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

Then we have those who are involved in ministry, the feet of those bringing the gospel to the nations, and they are like brass, having gone through the fire. If you want to be in the ministry and serve the Lord then you must be burned in the furnace. Finally, what is the voice of the church? It is the sound of many waters. There is the preaching, the Bible study, the worship, the prayers, the fellowship, etc.

Think of what a contrast this is with the world. They put everyone into little cubicles, cut them off from everyone else. Old people go into retirement homes, children go to public school, adults go to companies with a thousand cubicles. No one is allowed to speak, any questions for the company must be answered by the official person, anyone else speaks and they get fired. If you put anything in the world into the furnace it will burn up into ash.

16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Take a good look. There are seven lampstands, seven Spirits and seven stars in the Lord's right hand. Wouldn't you like to be a light shining in the right hand of the Lord? John was a star in the Lord's right hand, Peter and Paul were stars in His right hand. And out of His mouth went a sharp two edged sword. When I first read this many years ago I didn't understand. But after several years on social media I get it. The attacks are always coming at you when you speak. If you are going to speak forth the word of God then you had better be trained in spiritual warfare. Finally there are people who have a countenance that shines in its strength. I remember listening to players on the Atlanta Falcons during the Super bowl. They were winning 28-3, it was the middle of the third quarter, but you didn't hear them rejoicing, instead they were looking across that field at Tom Brady knowing he was going to do something. If it had been against anyone else they would have seen this game as being over. They had a very good quarterback, and yet all they could see and all they could talk about was the guy on the other side. That is what the Lord's countenance is like, it terrifies the enemy and it gives encouragement and confidence to those following Him.

17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

How many times are we told He is the first and the last? If you include Alpha and Omega it is over and over and over. John knew Jesus at the first, a man who was very approachable, and maybe not that intimidating. But now He is seeing Jesus at the last and he falls at his feet as dead. Think of the picture of Tom Brady at first, on NFL draft day. He was as ordinary and approachable as anyone. You look at that picture and you wonder if he even made it on a team. But then you see him at the last and every mouth has been shut, every question answered. That is a tiny example of what has happened with Jesus and the church. In the beginning it seemed insignificant, hardly worth mentioning, but at the end the entire world is terrified of the church. If you don't know that then you don't understand the Muslims, you don't understand Charlie Kirk's assassination, you don't understand why they try to eliminate the Bible and prayer and the name of Jesus Christ. It isn't because of unbelief, it is because of fear.

18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

That is what they see, they tried to kill Him and behold He is alive for evermore. Even scarier, He has the keys of hell and of death. You don't want to cross Jesus because you can be thrown into Hell. The whole world lies in the evil one and you can be sure, the evil one knows this. The demons know this. The henchman of the evil one know this. This is why James said that the devils belied in God and tremble.

19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

I don't think John liked to write. He told us twice in his epistles he would rather talk face to face, and here the Lord has to tell him twice to write the things thou hast seen. John was an uneducated fisherman whose training came from being with the Lord for a few years and then being in the word of God for the rest of his life which was probably another seventy years. However, reading and speaking are one thing, writing something else. I am reminded of Moses who needed Aaron to help him. Here the Lord is telling Him that He will help him. John thinks no one will read his writing, true. But Jesus is going to show him the things that are and the things that will be hereafter and that people will want to read.

20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

It is a mystery if you want to be part of the lampstands and if you want to be one of the stars in His right hand. If I had to pick the seven most important writers of the New Testament, well I'd pick Paul, John, Luke, Peter, James, Matthew and Jude. But that is because I consider the gospel of Mark to be the gospel of Peter. I also consider Hebrews to have been written by Paul and James.

 

[ZNP]

Ephesus (part 1)

2 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

The Revelation of Jesus Christ is written and sent to the seven churches. You can't understand this word without the experience. When Charlie Kirk is assassinated we all need to know that Jesus is the one holding the seven stars in His right hand. The same is true of James, Peter and Paul who also were martyred. If you are going to take a stand to be the light set on a hill, the light shining in this evil age, you need to know it is the Lord that is holding you in His right hand. Do not put your trust in the local police or the FBI or anyone else. Also, we know the church will be plagued with false prophets, lascivious men who turn godliness into a tax exempt scam. But fear not, it is the Lord Jesus who is walking in the midst of the golden lamp stands.

2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

So look at this, here is a church that can't stand the false prophets, can't stand liars, can't stand the frauds. We wonder and pray why doesn't the Lord deal with them. But the Bible tells us clearly their judgment is not idling, it is set, however, the Lord wants to see how we will respond. Even though there are seven lampstands, seven churches, I like to think that all believers will experience all seven of these. We all begin with Ephesus, digging into the truth, abhorring dead Christianity and any cult that lied to us.

3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

You have to power through. There is always the temptation to throw your hands in the air and say "how am I supposed to know the truth?" I was fellowshipping with a couple about abortion and they pulled out a Bible translation that translated this portion in Numbers where you deal with a man who thinks his wife has cheated on him describing it as an abortion. I told them that was a bogus translation. Then the man throws his hands up and says "who are you supposed to believe?". So let's explain a little about the translations. There is a debate over the best translation for the New Testament because there is no single complete New Testament found. Instead we have found small pieces of it that we have had to put together. There was persecution against the church, intense persecution, you couldn't hold a complete manuscript without being caught and killed. So they divided up the New Testament among all the saints, you might only have a few pages, you copy it and then trade it for what someone else has. But that was not true of the Old Testament. The Jews had a complete manuscript of the Torah from the time that Moses wrote it (dictated it?). There is no dispute over what that portion in Numbers said and hasn't been for three thousand years. So the reason for a "new translation" is not due to better research into what Hebrew meant, or because a better transcript was found. No, it was because someone wanted to justify abortion and that portion was the easiest to twist to distort. But all these disputes, all these attacks, they are like going to Karate class and being trained in spiritual warfare.

4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

I used to play football and every Friday night we would watch the video from the previous weeks game. We were young kids and the temptation is to be the hero, make the big play. But the lesson we learned week in and week out is that the coach did not care about you being a "hero" what he wanted to see was that you were where you were supposed to be doing what you were supposed to be doing. I remember once this kid being chewed out. He made the tackle, but that is because he left his post and was not doing what he was supposed to be doing. Our first love is Jesus Christ, who poured out His blood and saved us from sin and death. He broke our bonds and pulled us out of the fire. That is your post, you are never to leave that post. I see people screaming "crucify them, crucify them" because they see some sinners in the fire. They have left their post, they have left their first love. Vengeance is the Lord's, He will repay. That is not your job. Your job is to witness concerning the savior. The savior did not come to condemn but to save, that is your mission. By all means we can warn of the coming judgment, but they'll know the judgment has come when the rapture removes all the Christians who were witnessing concerning the savior.

 

[ZNP]

Ephesus (part 2)

5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

When we look at the seven churches as a whole we see that this here is the fork in the road. Some don't repent and that leads to a progression that ultimately concludes with Laodicea, the lamp stand is removed. Jesus is no longer in the church but outside knocking on the door. Jesus is the light, if you lose Jesus you lose the light and if you lose the light you are no longer a lamp stand. A lamp stand holds the light, Laodicea is no longer holding the light, who knows what they are holding, but it isn't Jesus Christ. There are five churches that get rebuked for something and in each case it is a progression of what happens to you after you leave your first love.

6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.

There is a lot of debate over what the Nicolaitanes are. This word is unique to the book of Revelation, so it indicates the unique agenda or burden of this book. I subscribe to they are what the word says they are. Nico refers to climbing above, and Laitanes means the common people. So it is those who climb above the common people. We like "experts", talking heads, etc. For example, this person is a Hebrew scholar and he comes up with a new translation of Numbers justifying abortion and we don't know Hebrew so who are we supposed to believe? This is a common tactic of liars and scam artists. Or you have to go to seminary to really understand and teach the Bible. There is a temptation to simply sit in the pews and let some "Priest" tell you what the Bible says rather than read it for yourself. Think of Fauci telling us that the vaccine is safe and effective and to question him about that is to question science. He was the "expert" and everyone else needs to simply shut up and do what he says. Paul told us that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and so it is no surprise that his false prophets do as well. This is a special kind of deceit, we know that we are more prone to listen to someone wearing a uniform: Doctor, Policeman, Utility worker and yes, Priest.

We are going to be hit with this temptation all the time. For example consider this blog. The temptation at first was that this was a waste of time, no one is going to read it. But I didn't listen to that because I wanted to study, I didn't care if anyone read it. The reason I wanted to study this was because no one at church was talking about it even though it is in the Bible. Every week you hear a sermon from the Bible and yet after fifty years no one is talking about this? Now of course some people were, but they were always portrayed as cultic, focusing on when the day is and then looking like fools. So I wanted to avoid that, focus on everything about the rapture other than "when". Of course the topic of when kept coming up so I avoided "day and hour" but felt season and year were not off limits. I made the blog public because I thought there might be ten other people with a similar interest. I also wanted to avoid the trivial doctrinal debates on this topic. I have avoided the "pre trib / post trib / mid trib" debate. If there is a Bible verse that says something I will highlight that, but not interested in these doctrines which are simply a way to filter the Bible. Because of this I decided I would not be the arbiter of truth. I would not simply do my own research, I would look at what others are saying and if it is based on the Bible and if it is going to add something unique to the blog I would post it regardless of whether or not I agreed. There are many, many videos that I watched and didn't post simply because they were redundant or because it was simply someone pushing their pet doctrine or opinion without being firmly rooted to the word of God. That is another temptation, "I subscribe to Darby so I will only listen to others that agree with Darby?" If you do that you create an echo chamber. But there is another temptation as well which is to advertise. Think about the temptation a pastor has. First he has to go to seminary and be trained in the doctrines of a particular denomination, then he gets job offers and some will be to well funded churches with big congregations, a great facility, expensive sound system, and the whole setup for putting the meetings on Facebook or making Youtube videos. You think if I can reach more people I can have a bigger impact with my ministry. OK, but is that impact good or bad? If I am in error I want the impact to be as small as possible. So I decided no advertising, I'll trust the Lord's judgment. If He doesn't want anyone to see this, then amen. On the other hand if he does then He can take care of that. Everyone always says that word of mouth is the best advertising, so I put my signature as "freely you have received freely give" letting everyone know they could take whatever they wanted from this blog and share it with whoever they wanted without the slightest worry concerning copyright or credit or any of that. The only "expert" or "authoritative voice" on this blog is the word of God and it is understood that there are different interpretations and a Biblical basis for those different interpretations.

7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

This is what is most important, we need an ear to hear. When I was a new Christian that was the focus, we needed an ear to hear what the Spirit was saying in the word. It is a lot easier to simply repeat what someone else has said, the temptation is to always take the easy way. In my mind hearing what the Spirit is saying is like hitting a baseball. The ball is being thrown so fast and you have so little time to think the temptation is to simply close your eyes and swing. I was playing in this softball game with members of the church and we had this six year old boy and this was his problem. He couldn't get a hit and the reason was he wasn't really focusing in on that ball and he was so miserable because everyone else was getting hits, even his friend on the other team. So I asked him, do you want me to help you get a hit, and he was like oh, yes, please. He didn't say that he simply was vigorously shaking his head up and down. So I told him, OK, this is what I want you to do, don't swing at the first two pitches, just watch them go by, can you do that? Again, vigorously shaking, oh yeah, I can do that. So I am playing behind him as the catcher. First pitch comes in and I say loudly "good eye, good eye". He gives me a little smirk. Second pitch comes in and again I say "good eye, good eye". Then he gives me this pitiful look like "what am I supposed to do now?" I get angry, throw the ball back to the pitcher and yell "hey throw him something he can swing at, what is wrong with you!" The kid on the mound is almost in tears, "I am trying". No one else on either team had been paying attention but now everyone is watching, "hey what is going on here?" The kid understands, he begins to dig in, he begins to choke up a little on the bat, he is now fully focused on that pitcher because he knows he is going to get a pitch to hit and he is going to swing. He dinked it down the third base line and beat out the throw. A few batters later he came across the plate adding a run to our team. This is how you have to be with the word of God, fully focused, dug in, choked up and ready to swing.

 

[ZNP]

Smyrna

8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

In the very beginning of our church life we need to see that Jesus is in the midst of the church and He is the one holding the stars in His right hand. But now if we want to give ourselves fully to the Lord and be fully consecrated to Him to be transformed, well now we need to see that He is the first and the last, He was dead and is alive. If you are dead you are nothing. At the beginning of your Christian life you must be like that grain of wheat that is buried into the ground and abides alone. Consider this blog, it was nothing. It was buried in the dirt in the internet. That is fine. If you want to be the Lord's disciple, then you want to follow Him and that means you follow Him into death and death means you are nothing. That is how you begin this journey. That is the first step you take and you need to embrace that. "There is nothing so common as the wish to be remarkable" Shakespeare. To be holy is to be like God, it is exceedingly uncommon. The Lord is leading us to put our ego and old man to death, buried together with Jesus.

9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

This has to be your experience. You have to have works, not for money, I'm not talking about your job, I'm talking about your pursuit of the Lord. You work forty hours a week at your job, well you still have another 40 hours a week you can give to the Lord and treat that with the same respect you give your job. There should be tribulation. Rocky Marciano trained by going through intense tribulation that scared away every one else. Jerry Rice trained by going through intense tribulation that scared away everyone else. Jesus Christ crucified was intense tribulation that scares away everyone else. He tells you to take up your cross and follow Him, are you going to be scared away or are you going to embrace the tribulation? Some of my sweetest experiences of the Lord was when I was in abject poverty. All these things only you and the Lord know about. Publicly you must endure the blasphemy of those who portray themselves as "the chosen people of God, who have special fellowship with Him in that big church they go to". The word Satan means enemy, and particularly enemy of God. You need an enemy. No one can train as hard as Rocky Marciano or Jerry Rice if they do not have opponents they have to go against. Know this, the harder you train, the harder Satan will work to stop you.

10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

One of the lessons I learned was from Galatians where Paul said he did not give place to them for five minutes. How do you respond when you are slandered, blasphemed and insulted by "your betters"? Don't give place to them for five minutes. That is what "turn the other cheek" means. "Your betters" would slap you with a backhanded slap as a public insult. The Lord is saying turn the other cheek so that now they must hit you as an equal. When we first come into the church there are elders and those who have been in the Lord before us, and so we follow them and naturally we see them as above us. But then, if you are taking a stand for the Lord, speaking the word of the Lord you will get slapped by "your better", someone who is of the synagogue of Satan. That is when I learned that in the New Testament it says the "church of the saints" and it says "the church of God" but never does it say "the church of the pastor" or "the church of the elders". When it comes to speaking the truth and standing for the Lord we are all equal, no one is better than you. They will try to put you down, "I'm the expert here". Check with the Lord, but that shouldn't take more than five minutes, and if he says stand your ground, stand your ground.

11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

 

[ZNP]

Pergamos

12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

There was a fork in the road with Ephesus. Some left their first love. You are forced to face the cross of Christ and some will balk, a few will embrace it and take the path of Smyrna. That is the narrow way that leads to life. But Pergamos is the other direction, the broad way that leads to destruction. The word means to be married to the world. It is a big temptation. They have money, they have TV, Radio, big names, large congregations, and everything that would tempt you. What they don't have is a sharp sword with two edges. When a pastor falls for their temptation and takes a job at a big church with a board of directors run by FreeMasons the first thing that happens is they take away the sharp sword with two edges. Your goal is increase, don't say anything that will scare away the crowds, don't talk about hell, don't talk about judgment, don't talk about prophecy, don't talk about current events fulfilling prophecy, and don't talk about the end times and the Antichrist. Focus on the positive things like the gospel, and "Once saved always saved".

13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

Can you imagine dwelling where Satan dwells and where Satan's seat is? New York City, Las Vegas, Washington DC, these are places that are the heart of darkness. If you are going to be a Christian in these places you need a sharp sword with two edges. You are going to have to hold fast His name. The temptation will be to deny your faith, so you will have to strengthen your faith every day so that this does not happen. Antipas means "against all". I think that is a reasonable description of Charlie Kirk. Charlie was located where Satan dwells, where Satan's seat is. Look at his memorial service, it was dominated by the most powerful politicians in the world. We know that the whole world lies in the evil one and by their own testimony Charlie Kirk's ministry was a powerful political organization that was the reason they were elected. He was dwelling where Satan's seat (throne) was.

14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

Balaam was a prophet of God, he spoke the word of God and that word became a prophecy in the word of God. However, he was false, not because he was pretending to be a prophet of God but because he was willing to be bought. Do not fall for this temptation. I mention the pastor working for the big church run by FreeMasons. If you allow anyone to control what you speak from the word of God other than Jesus Christ, then you are a puppet, you have been compromised, and most likely it was because you were bought. Balac wanted to know what the achilles heel was of the Israelites so that he could defeat them. Balaam taught him that if they ate things sacrificed to idols and if they committed fornication it would cause God to remove the hedge of protection and they could defeat them. So then the FreeMasons push this doctrine of "Once Saved Always Saved" to meant that it is OK if you are a rabid fan of professional sports, you don't need to be weird, likewise with pop music or movies. They encourage becoming "married to the world". Not only so but if you are living in sin, don't worry, when you got saved twenty years ago that is good forever. These are doctrines of Balaam. These are the things that Jesus is rebuking them for. But know this, if you don't take the road to Smyrna through the crucifixion where you are buried together with Christ, then you are going to take the road to Pergamos and be married to the world. There are only two roads, a narrow way that leads to life and a broad way that leads to destruction. Likewise if you are in the biggest and most popular church in the city, then chances are very good that you are on the broad way that leads to destruction. Taking the way of the cross is not popular.

15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.

We saw the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes with Ephesus, but even though everyone hates this doctrine when they are first saved, some will embrace it. Some people want to be above others, and other people want someone else to do all the work. So then how could a genuine Christian embrace something that the Lord hates? Jesus dwells within us and within you there would be this aversion. So here we learn that when the church marries the world you get a whole bunch of nominal Christians. They claim they are Christians but that simply means they agree with the lifestyle. It doesn't mean that Jesus Christ is dwelling in their hearts or that they are walking in obedience to Him.

16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Notice how Jesus says I will fight against them. If you are saved you are part of the body of Christ, you are one with the Lord. The ones that Jesus will fight against are not part of the body of Christ, they are not one with Him and yet they claim to be "Christians", they have a leadership role in this church, they are indoctrinating you with "OSAS" doctrine, they present themselves as "your betters" and they are encouraging you to be a lazy Christian and just trust them. Once again, there was a fork in the road in your Christian life. You could take the lazy route, or you could join Jesus Christ's Dojo and be trained in spiritual warfare.

17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

It is intimidating, I have seen shelves and shelves of books on Biblical studies. We have two thousand years of studies. The temptation is to not reinvent the wheel (valid principal) so find the best teacher (less valid principal) and just parrot what they teach (erroneous principal). You don't want to make a mistake (no one does) so if I just repeat the tried and true teachings I can't go wrong (you can't be transformed either). Look, what the Lord is saying here is He has the hidden manna, a never ending supply of the word of God hidden that He will give you. Look at this blog, who knew there was so much on the rapture? I don't go out and get canned messages on the rapture and repeat them, all of my posts come from the Lord and from the word of God. I don't ignore the word studies and commentaries, but they are a reference, not a source. Also the white stone with your new name written on it is a reference to being transformed. When the children of Israel came into the good land they took twelve stones out of the Jordan depicting the twelve tribes had come out of the wilderness experience. They had been buried under the death waters but now they were rising up in resurrection and newness of life, transformed from slaves in Egypt to the army of God. What do you want to be, a puppet of Satanists or part of the army of God?

 

[ZNP]

Thyatira

18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

This is different than in Revelation 1 where we saw the white hair. The Catholic church has no shortage of white haired elders. The average age of all the pope's elected to that office is 62 years old. They have popes, cardinals, bishops, and priests who are often white hairs. There is no need for the Lord to mention that, but what they need to realize is that the Lord has eyes like a flame of fire. There is nothing hidden that will not be made known. No secret that will not be shouted from the rooftop. Every deed will be brought into judgment. That is the warning here. Also, a reminder that His feet are like fine brass, they have gone through the furnace. If you build something with wood, hay and stubble it will go up in flames.

19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

It is easy to attack the Catholic church for idolatry, or corruption. But do not ignore their works, their charity, their service and faith and patience. I am sick of the "OSAS" always trashing "works" as though any works is a "works based salvation". No, salvation is like a tree, if it grows to maturity it will have fruit. That fruit is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and what we see is your works. It is an expression of your faith. This is why Jude says they are like a withered tree without fruit, the OSAS doctrine has no fruit. The teachers are waterless clouds and the result is a barren tree that is rooted up twice. The name Thyatira is thought to mean "odour of affliction". We speak with great reverence of all the martyrs of the church, everyone wants to be associated with them and in the Catholic church they have many, many "saints" who can also refer to all the martyrs though you don't have to a a martyr to be canonized. However, the Catholics will burn incense to these saints. It is one thing to remember and imitate the lives of the faithful saints, it is another to burn incense to them. This word is great way to describe the Catholic church because it describes the dichotomy, the works and charity and service on one hand and the idolatry on the other.

20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

Do you see what has happened with this church? At the time of Ephesus there was a fork in the road, one way went through the cross of Christ, the other way was a marriage to the world. The church was given this choice, unite with us or die. But when we get to the Catholic church the name means universal. It is all encompassing. So you can have those who took the narrow road that leads to life as part of the church as well as those who are on the broad way that leads to destruction. It is a giant umbrella that includes everyone. They want to say that every Christian going back to the apostle Peter is part of the universal church (Catholic church). They embrace the odour of affliction that we see in those faithful ones who went before us. But they also include Jezebel, fornicators, and idolaters.

21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

The Catholic church has been around the longest of all the churches we can see today. But they have been told repeatedly to repent. That is what Martin Luther did when he nailed his list of offences to the church door. This is what they were told when the protestant revolution took place. They were rebuked for their corruption in the Vatican, rebuked for their bank, rebuked for their helping Hitler in WW2, rebuked for all the pedophile priests, etc. During the church age the Catholic church has been held up to scrutiny to see what is wrong and what not to do as Christians. They are what the Lord meant by a mustard seed becoming a great tree with the fowls of the earth roosting in the branches.

22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

This verse is very clear proof that many believers, particularly in the Catholic church will go into the tribulation and not be raptured before hand. It is also proof that Catholics can be genuine Christians who do get raptured as long as they repent of idolatry and fornication.

23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

This is much more obscure but it seems when you study eschatology and particularly the book of Revelation that the Catholic church will work together with other religions to bring in one world religion (ecumenism) and this will help the Antichrist come to power, but he will then hate the Catholic church and kill her children. If you take the fork in the road that leads to marriage with the world, well ultimately that means submitting to the Antichrist instead of Jesus Christ and that leads to destruction. Do not take that route, embrace the cross of Christ today. Be Antipas the faithful servant who was against all.

24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

Once again this proves that there are genuine Christians in the Catholic church who know nothing of pedophile priests or backroom shady deals with the Mafia, or with Hitler or any of the depths of Satan. But if you do know about these then you must repent and that likely means leaving the Catholic Church just as Martin Luther did.

25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.

To hold fast until the Lord comes indicates this church is going to be here until the Lord's coming. He said something different to Pergamos, He told them to repent or He would come to them quickly to fight against them. There has been a strong stand against the church compromising with the world ever since before the Catholic church came into existence. When the Roman empire made the Christian religion the national religion that was a marriage between the world and the church. The Lord came and fought against it and that includes the fall of the Roman Empire. There was no mention to Ephesus or Smyrna of them being here at the Lord's coming. We have three historical churches here, you have the early church that did a good job of trying and testing the prophets, but where we first see the fork in the road where some left their first love. We see the saints who were killed for their faith, fed to the lions, that is the church in Smyrna. But we also see those who said this is a mistake, we need to compromise with the world and that is what happened when Constantine legalized Christianity and then Theodosius I made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380 CE through the Edict of Thessalonica. That is Pergamos (there are other ways to interpret this, I know, the word of God is a two edged sword, but this is one accepted way, to look at these seven churches as a history of the church age). It was two hundred years after this that we have the official start of the Catholic church with Pope Gregory I in 590 CE. I understand Thyatira to refer to the Catholic church.

26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

Notice how in all seven churches there is this promise to those that overcome. It is possible to be in the Catholic church and to keep the Lord's works to the end. Is it difficult? Yes. Does it require that you overcome by faith? Yes. Could this include death or excommunication? Yes. But the promise is that if you are faithful to the Lord then it will result in you becoming a king who rules over the nations.

27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

The lessons we learn in this situation will be eternal.

28 And I will give him the morning star.

The morning star is the first star you see in the morning. We saw that the Lord held the stars in his right hand back in Ephesus. If we wanted to be a star in the right hand of the Lord, a light shining in the darkness, then we had to give ourselves fully to Him and take up our cross in Smyrna, as a result we would be the faithful witness Antipas in Pergamos, and ultimately we will be the morning star in Thyatira.

29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

 

[ZNP]

Sardis

Revelation 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

This reminds us of both Ephesus, the early church and Smyrna the suffering church. He told Ephesus He held the seven stars in His right hand and here He tells Sardis He has the seven Spirits of God, the seven stars. It is as though each of these churches had a star, a messenger from God. Perhaps Paul had been the messenger, the star to the early church and so John has to come along and adjust them because even though they were good at looking at doctrine they had left their first love. Then look at the twist, to Smyrna He said that He was dead but now is alive. To Sardis He tells them you have a name that you are alive, but actually you are dead. Think about all marketing and advertising, it is the proclamation that they have a name that they live when in reality it is fake, they are simply a corpse made up to look alive.

2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

What a contrast with Thyatira. One thing you can say about the Catholic church, they are full of good works. But one of the problems with the Protestant revolution is that they condemn works by always equating it with a "works based salvation". They have flipped it around, a tree is not alive because it has fruit, on the contrary a tree has fruit because it is alive. We are not saved by our works, on the contrary we have works of the Spirit because we are saved. Now consider the hypocrisy here, they condemn works saying we don't have "works based salvation" and yet the protestant churches are still full of works, the problem is they are not perfect. The protestant reformation was started out of a rebellion against the Catholic church for some very valid reasons that Martin Luther wrote out. However, the Lord says "ok, you were going to reform the problems with the Catholic church, but I don't see anything that is fixed".

3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

Remember how thou hast received refers to the very good and detail research done by many of the saints in the Protestant revolution. Martin Luther gave us justification by faith. That was a major debate at the time. Because of the reformation we got the Bible translated into modern languages. In the Catholic church they were speaking in Latin, if people didn't understand that was fine, they simply trusted the Priests. But the Protestant Reformation was a major breakthrough, no we can't trust the priests, they get stuff wrong and if we don't understand the word it opens the door for abuses like indulgences. Everyone needs to be able to read the word and know what it says. That was the point, everyone needs to be able to watch what is going on and identify when we have an issue. However, that is not where the protestant churches are today. Are they watching and sounding the alarm over the LGBTQ+ churches? Are they watching about FreeMasons infiltrating the board of directors and controlling these churches? Are they watching concerning the FreeMason doctrine of "Once Saved Always Saved" and how that is used to put the church to sleep? This verse presents a very clear doctrinal problem, in the gospels Jesus told us that no one knows the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36) and that is the very same word as used here. In fact in the protestant churches this is a very well known verse, any time eschatology will be discussed you can be sure that they will quote that no one knows the day or the hour. What they have failed to do is to connect what the Lord said two thousand years ago with the word in the prophets that God does not do anything without telling his prophets. Two thousand years ago no one knew the day or the hour, that does not preclude the Lord from telling them prior to the event a few thousand years later. Think of Lot, he was told what was going to happen to Sodom the evening before it happened. Think of Noah, he was told to get on the ark a week before the flood came. When the Lord returns there will be two different groups, those who are watching and those who aren't. The Lord is saying that to those who are watching He will tell them the hour, to those who aren't He won't. He is also saying that as a rule those in the protestant reformation will not be watching and that they need to repent.

4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

In Thyatira the ones who are worthy are those who do not know the deep things of Satan. You can still walk in white in the Catholic church if you are naive. In Sardis they weren't naive, so they left, and by the time we get to the Lord returning we have only a few names that are walking in white. In the first three hundred years after the Lord's crucifixion we had the early church (Ephesus), the suffering church (Smyrna) and the church married to the world (Pergamos). About two hundred years later we had the Catholic church (Thyatira). About nine hundred years later we had the protestant reformation (Sardis).

5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Look at that, Jesus said your name can be blotted out of the book of life. That is a complete contradiction of Once Saved Always Saved. Thyatira had some wonderful saints filled with good works and it had Jezebel, an evil prophetess. The protestant reformation had some wonderful saints helping us to know the word of God and it had this evil doctrine that tries to short circuit the Bible. You don't need to witness to people because whether or not they will be saved has already been preordained. Luther taught justification by faith, and Calvin taught being justified by faith is the end all and be all of the Christian walk. This is hyperbole, but what isn't hyperbole is that all the apostate Christian churches hold the Calvinist doctrine. What is not hyperbole is that if you tell people they don't need to be witnesses of the Lord that you are telling them they don't need to keep the Lord's commandments to us. He told us to go out into all the world and speak the gospel. That was the opening of the door that leads to the full on apostate church where Jesus has left the building.

Still, according to Calvinist doctrine, once you are saved that is it, you cannot be unsaved. Your name is written in the book of life. But, according to this verse your name can be written in the book of life and then later it can be blotted out. Is that righteous? Well, righteous judgement says that as you have done it will be done to you. The Catholic church killed heretics (someone who taught contrary to their official doctrine). The Protestant Reformation excommunicated heretics. Anyone who teaches them something they are not comfortable with, for example if you were to say anything against their precious "OSAS" doctrine, then that is it, you are excommunicated and they blot your name out of their roles. So, as you have done it will be done to you. Think of the hypocrisy, they teach once your are saved that is it, you can't be unsaved. However, at the same time you could have been a member of their church for ten years and then they can "blot your name out of their membership". How arrogant to think that they can blot out the names of whoever they choose but God can't do the same thing.

6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

 

[ZNP]

Philadelphia

Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

Beginning with Ephesus we saw a fork in the road, they were very good at determining who was and was not of God, but one took the entrance ramp onto the broad way that leads to destruction and left their first love. They became self righteous, they compromised with the world, they listened to Balaam and let Jezebel lead them and they became hypocrites. A dead religion claiming to be alive. The next stop is Laodicea, which is what destruction looks like. But the others chose the narrow way that leads to life. They continued to follow the Lord who they loved. They went to the cross and suffered, but discovered the resurrection life. They became strong and had a backbone, and were like Antipas. He was against all that the church married to the world was doing and so they killed him. Some of them were somewhat naive even though they loved the Lord and while in Thyatira were full of good works while being completely ignorant of the deep things of Satan. Others caught onto what Satan was doing and left in the Protestant reformation. They will walk in white with the Lord. They opened the word to the entire body of Christ. But those churches thought the problem was bad doctrine, they got better doctrine and stopped digging into the word. So many who loved the Lord left and came to Philadelphia. They knew that God is holy which is why they had an issue with Thyatira and Jezebel. They knew He was true which is why they had an issue with the hypocrisy in Sardis. They had been shut out by Jezebel and the church leaders in Sardis who excommunicated them but they knew that Jesus is the one with the key of David that opens, not some Catholic priest and He alone is the one that can shut you out, not some protestant priest.

8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

The Catholic church is a mighty institution. Some of these denominations from the Protestant reformation have billion dollar trust funds. These are powerful institutions, their bishops can walk into the mayor's office or Governors office. If you go to a church that appears to be very strong that is a red flag. The first thing you will notice about Philadelphia is they have a little strength. Just enough strength to keep the Lord's word and to not deny His name.

9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

There are many churches who do not know that the church in Philadelphia is loved by the Lord. But the rapture will be a powerful testimony that the Lord loved them and took them as His bride. Why would a Christian be left behind? You can claim you are very strong and did many great works in the name of the Lord but that is not going to help if the Lord says He never knew you. No the two biggest things, did you keep the Lord's word and did you not deny His name? The reason there are so many temptations to not keep the Lord's word or to deny His name is because the Lord searches the hearts and wants to know the answer to those two questions. So far we have seen a progression from early church to suffering church to church married with the world to Catholic church to Protestant reformation. This church are those who came out of the dead protestant churches. The Welsh revival in 1904, the Azusa street revival in 1906 and the Gideon ministry to distribute the Bible worldwide in 1908 all are a good indicator of when the church in Philadelphia began.

10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Some argue that everyone must go through tribulation. That has been true for the entire church age. But not everyone has kept the word of the Lord's patience while going through tribulation. You go through tribulation during the church age so that the Lord can see if you will abandon the word of His patience or not. If not, then He will keep you out of the hour of temptation that will try everyone on the earth. What is the temptation? Will you take the mark of the beast or not? Will you worship the counterfeit Christ or will you stand faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ even if it means they will cut off your head?

11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Everyone in the church in Philadelphia has a crown because they kept the word of the Lord's patience when they were being tried. They held fast to it and the Lord is telling them here, continue to hold fast, that is your crown, don't let anyone take that from you.

12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

He shall go no more out tells us that these ones have gone out, they went out of the Protestant churches and they went out of the Catholic church. To have the name of God written on you indicates you express the person of God. To have the name of the city of my God written on you indicates you are involved in the works of the Lord who said He would build His church. To have the Lord's new name written on you indicates you have been transformed to express the Lord Jesus Christ.

13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

 

[ZNP]

Laodicea

Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Revelation 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

If you are in the church in Laodicea you are troubled, the Lord is knocking on the door for you to open up to Him. You need to say Amen. You need to realize that your testimony needs to be "the faithful and true witness". That means you might have to offend people, you might have to do something that others don't like. Are you going to be conformed to what others want you to do, or are you going to be a faithful and true witness to the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus is the one who was there from the very beginning of creation, Laodicea claims that the New Testament and the Fellowship of the apostles is out of date. Think how arrogant to believe you know more about this world and the church than the one who created it.

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

The apostate church also has works. They are very big churches because this is the broad way. They will have big events with politicians, and mental health professionals. They will not be all focused on Jesus Christ but at the same time they won't insult Jesus Christ. They will support soup kitchens, and the ministries they support will be good works, charities, only they'll tone down the gospel because they are working together with politicians and unbelievers. They will collect money from local businesses. In John's epistles he talked about those who went out to evangelize in a ministry without taking money from the Gentiles. The apostasy is very big on taking money from Gentiles. They will have a big TV ministry that again, presents itself as a Christian ministry but it is like Coke zero. They say they are Christian but there is zero about Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. However, they are very clear to identify themselves as Christians so as not to offend those who are.

Now cold here does not mean cold towards the Lord, it means refreshing.

16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

The hot ministries are evangelists going out to evangelize the world and prayer warrior ministries fighting the spiritual battle in prayer. The cold ministries are those that encourage those beaten down by Satan, those that help break the addictions, those that help people make a new start in life after getting out of prison or some other crisis in their life. But what makes the cold ministries refreshing and the hot ministries refreshing is the Holy Spirit being ministered. What you will see in the ministries that Laodicea church is involved with are all based on people's opinions about what is right and their good ideas about what we should do. It is all very political requiring a lot of compromise between hot and cold resulting in lukewarm. Don't talk about sin, people will get offended, don't talk about Antichrist that always results in problems, don't talk about this, don't talk about that and in the end they wind up in a place outside of the Bible. The word of God is light, it offends those in darkness, the word of God is salt it kills those who are germs. Once you embrace everyone's opinion you have to remove the truth, the word of God.

Once again there is a key principle here, as you have done it will be done to you. They spued the word of God out of their mouth, so as a result the Lord will spue them out of His mouth.

17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

If you come to a church that is "rich" and "in need of nothing" that is a major red flag. That is like a fire alarm going off. Leave that place at once. This is so arrogant it is blind and naked. This church is not rich towards God, they are poor, you will not get the riches from the word, you will not get faith that can move mountains ministered to you, you will not get the peace that passes understanding, you will not get light and truth. Sardis had a name that they were alive but were on the verge of death. This church is like a clown, they are fully dressed up to look like they are so happy, but in reality under that mask they are wretched and miserable. They have gone according to their own opinion and it has brought them to this place of destruction. If Sardis is old and on the verge of dying, this church is filled with corpses. They will invite the gates of hell to lead their services.

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

The word of God is gold. To be tried in the fire means the gold is experiential in those who have been one with the Lord through the trials. The reason people chose the broad way that leads to destruction was because they balked at taking the way of the cross. They balked at going down the road of the suffering church. Jesus counsel is you have to take up your cross and follow Him, there is no other way, if you don't you will remain wretched and miserable. When they took the broad way the first thing that happened was they compromised with the world and became "married to the world". These churches have a covenant with the world. Jesus is saying stop letting the world pay your bills, you need to pay for your own clothing. If you want to be the bride of Christ you can't wear a dress that was bought by the world. This covenant you have with the world is a shame to you, when the Lord returns you will appear naked. If you do those two things then you need to pray to discern Balaam and Jezebel. Some people in the Catholic church love the Lord and are naive to the deep things of Satan. Others are simply naive, they don't see that they are being manipulated and led astray. They don't love the Lord, they are simply in the church because they see it as a life insurance policy. Look at this verse and what is the Lord saying? He is saying don't be lazy! Pay the price, get busy, and know that what you are doing is one with the word of God and God's will.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Many people get offended if they are rebuked or chastened. But if you love the Lord and what you really need is to be rebuked and chastened you will love this word because for the first time in a long time the Lord is speaking to you. You know you are wrong, you know you are lost, but now you know which way to go, now that He is speaking to you, you have hope again that you can find your way.

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

This is the age of grace, it is not over yet, you still have a chance, open that door, let Him in and eat with Jesus.

21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

It is no small thing to overcome in the church in Laodicea. Every church has a call to overcome and wherever you are there is a need to overcome. This is of the Lord. Balaam, Jezebel, dead protestant priests excommunicating you and people from the LGBTQ+ community lecturing you from the pulpit, this is permitted by the Lord Jesus so that you would have something to overcome. You are being trained to rule and reign.

22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation 2&version=KJV
This is the single most important thing that everyone should be praying for, an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying.

 

[ZNP]

I do not like to talk about when the day of the Lord is because of all the misconceptions and erroneous jumping to conclusions. I have found people will never quote what you say, they'll hear what they want to hear and then attack you when in reality all they are really attacking is their erroneous interpretation of what you said.

That said, I am seeing something disturbing, some people are claiming the tribulation has already begun and the percent of Christians polled who believe that is very high. I think the problem with all this is very poor understanding of the word of God and that is because many have not studied it.

Let me point out a few things.

1. Feast of Trumpets announces that the Lord is coming. Not that He has come. It is a warning, He is on the way.

2. It is easy to understand this warning is for the Day of Atonement, which is ten days later and so you assume that Jesus might come ten days after the Feast of Trumpets. Again, that is erroneous, the Day of Atonement is the day of judgment and that is at the end of the tribulation. The feast of trumpets is two days long, then you have a seven year tribulation, that is the ninth day, the next day is the day of Judgment.

3. What we do know is that the tribulation is 2520 days long. That is 84 months that are 30 days each. These are called prophetic months.

I would liken what happened with Joshua to the Lord sounding the trumpet. All the watchmen for years have been sounding the trumpet that the Lord's return is imminent. This has been the longest day and I would say it concluded with Joshua.

I would also argue that the Feasts of the Lord are prophetic, a shadow of things to come, so it is very solid estimate to say that the seven year tribulation ends on the Day of Atonement in 2032.

Simply subtract 2520 days from that point and you get a date in the near future, less than two weeks from now. Therefore there is still plenty of time for this peace treaty from Trump to be what is referenced in Daniel and for the tribulation that is worse than anything in human history to begin.

The key sign I am looking for is for Damascus to become a ruinous heap. I believe that this is the sign, similar to Methuselah dying that signals the flood is coming. Noah entered the ark a week before the flood and I think the signal to him and his family was Methuselah's death.

At the moment everything is set for everyone to say Peace and Security (which I feel is the Antichrist's counterfeit to Jesus riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday), and for the US dollar to collapse (which I feel is the equivalent to Jesus flipping the tables of the money changers and the people of faith saying to this sycamore tree to be uprooted and cast into the sea), and for sudden destruction, the betrayal of Trump and the US, the rapture and the three days of darkness.

We have three really big signs that I am looking for: Damascus becomes a ruinous heap, the triumphant entry into Jerusalem with everyone saying Peace and Security, and the collapse of the US dollar.

 

[ZNP]

A review of some of the big signs and prophecies that were recently fulfilled.

1. In 2017 right before the Feast of Trumpets we had the Revelation 12 sign in the heavens. This was seven years before Hamas attacked Israel in 2023 (six full years with the attack taking place at the start of the seventh year).

2. Covid19 Pandemic which hit the US in 2020 along with the vaccine and all that went along with that in 2021. We were told in Joel that this event would take place right before the day of the Lord. The term was that this sign indicated the day of the Lord is "at hand" or "right next door".

3. The attack by Hamas on Israel that was prophesied in Psalm 83. The October 7th attack in 2023 may have been the start of the "Feast of Trumpets", the "Longest day" which is actually two days, announcing that the King is coming.

4. The bombs dropped on Iran to wipe out their nuclear program, that also was prophesied that the bow of Elam would be broken.

5. Joshua may have signaled the final trumpet blast of the Feast of Trumpets announcing that Jesus is coming.

6. This peace treaty in the Middle East may be the one prophesied of in Daniel, it may be the event where everyone is proclaiming "Peace and Security" as Trump enters Jerusalem victorious and it may be followed by the Sudden destruction of the tribulation starting coinciding with the rapture.

 

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I had 20,000 new visitors to this blog in the last 24 hours, that is a lot. I assume this is because a lot of people are now concerned about the rapture and wondering if this peace plan that Trump is negotiating is signaling the start of the tribulation.

We have covered this extensively in this blog even though a discussion on "when" the rapture will be has always been a non priority for this blog. However there are prophecies in the Old Testament that are interpreted as saying that 2,000 years after Jesus ascended He will return in glory (that would be at the end of the seven year tribulation but before Armageddon). Because of those prophecies we have tried very hard to nail down the year in which Jesus was crucified and then later ascended. My opinion at this point is that He was crucified in 32 AD and ascended to heaven a few months after that. This indicates that the end of the tribulation will be 2032 and Armageddon will also be that year. That in turn indicates that the seven year tribulation would begin in 2025.

So then if you are wondering if what is happening with Trump is a fulfillment of prophecy indicating that the tribulation is about to start, my opinion is that it is. How soon? I would think it is a matter of days, maybe even weeks, but highly doubt months.

Please note, all of the prophetic speaking from the Bible consistently paints one picture and that is that when the rapture takes place the whole world will dramatically change in an instant. For those caught up it will be great but for those who are left behind it will be like being crucified and it will kick off three days of darkness where the earth will be overrun with fallen angels released from their holding cells. But it won't be a gradual collapse, one day everything is normal, five minutes later all hell, and I mean this literally, all hell will be released.

Also I have spent a lot of time going through the prophecies and am strongly persuaded that the USA is the Great Babylon and the judgment on the US will come in one hour. It will be like 100x worse than Pearl Harbor. In this hour our dollar collapses, the stock market collapses and the US will no longer be a superpower. Peter said that judgment must start with the house of God and as the leading Christian nation judgment must start with the US. We have discussed the cities that will be hit, but rather than go over them let's just say all coastlines in the US will be hit. If you live within five miles of the ocean you should take that to the Lord as to whether or not you should move immediately. If you live within fifty miles of one of the major cities on the coast (East coast, West Coast and Gulf of Mexico) then you should also go to the Lord to see if you need to move immediately. I was in NYC and was very clear from the Lord that I needed to move back in 2021. As a result we had a smooth move that was easy and pain free. I doubt that would be the case today.

One of the things that is a priority for this blog is what is the criteria for those who are raptured and for those who aren't. I have spent quite a bit of time focused on that issue.

Because we have 50,000 new visitors since the last time I shared the Pdfs I will do that again tomorrow, these are Pdfs you can download that give you almost all of the blog, except for the last few weeks. I recommend downloading it to a flash drive in the event you are left behind. I expect the internet will be shut down and sanitized of Christian material immediately after the rapture.

 

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Behold, a door was opened in heaven

Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

After this, surely referring to the church age with the seven churches discussed in Revelation 2 and 3, but more specifically after Laodicea. After Jesus being on the outside of the church knocking on the door. If you open the door He will come in and sup with you and after His knocking a door was opened. Laodicea is the church run by the laity, the church that is run by human opinion and which says "we don't need the word of God telling us what to do". We are in apostasy. We are seeing the LGBTQ+ community preaching from the pulpit, we are seeing churches openly saying they don't need the Bible to tell them what to do, and they have other teachings to that deny that Jesus is going to return. However, "after this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven". i have seen huge worship services held on college campuses. Charlie Kirk's death is one such example. People all over the world are beholding this. The first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me. That is what we have been seeing for the last two years. We have youtube videos, voices, talking with you about the Lord's coming, and how a variety of prophecies indicating His return are being fulfilled. These are like trumpets. On the feast of Trumpets there are 100 trumpet blasts with the last one being the loudest and longest. Think of these trumpet blasts as "an alarm clock" saying "wake up, the Lord is coming". I recognized that all the various watchmen who were sharing were like trumpet blasts and I also was expecting one final one, a long one, that would be the 100th blast. That is how I view Joshua. I know a lot of people are coming out and claiming he was a false prophet, but that is because they are ignorant and don't know what a false prophet is. They think if you tell us the rapture is going to take place then if it doesn't take place you are a false prophet. That is not what the Bible says. What the Bible says is if you lead others to worship some other God regardless of whether or not what you say will happen happens, then you are a false prophet. Joshua did not do that. People are so foolish, they don't understand that the God who created man understands man. All these people are gathering to worship the Lord and saying He is about to return and naturally you will get a mixed multitude. Others are going to hear this and say "hey something big is going on here, let's take a look". The Lord is going to shake those people off. I was looking for the 100th trumpet blast and that was it. We knew it would be blown by Jesus and a guy named Joshua gives it. However, I was not looking for the rapture on the Feast of Trumpets. I viewed that day as "the longest day" a two year period that began October 7, 2023 of people speaking like a trumpet blast saying the Lord Jesus is coming and concluding September 23, 2025 with one day long trumpet blast saying the Lord is coming. Then the voice says to John to come up hither and I'll show you things that are to be hereafter. John saw it two thousand years ago, but it will "be" two thousand years later.

2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

The Lord's day is not the sabbath day. The Lord's day refers to the day of resurrection, the 8th day, the day of new beginnings. It has always been my sense that if the Lord were to return on any day of the week it would be the Lord's day.

3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

These three stones are in the New Jerusalem, they represent the transformation of the believers and although this only mentions three stones the fact that emerald is like unto a rainbow indicates you have all the colors of the rainbow and that is also one of the truths, when you look at the precious stones in the New Jerusalem you can see all the colors of the rainbow.

Jasper is the first stone and in many ways represents every transformed believer. This is what petrified wood is made of. The wood is immersed, buried under water with a super saturated solution of jasper in the water. This is like being baptized into the triune God. We are all "wood" by nature but must be transformed, molecule by molecule into Jasper. This mineral is composed of three atoms. The first is oxygen, the source of life, signifying God the Father. The Second is silica, the most abundant earth element and the element that is closest to carbon. Man is made of carbon, that represents are natural man, and that needs to be replaced molecule by molecule with Silica. Wood decays, it rots, it decomposes. But jasper represents the eternal life of God. Our natural life is replaced with God's eternal life. Silica represents God the Son. Then the third atom represents God the Spirit as the breath, the wind, the air that we breath. It is a second oxygen. This molecule is three atoms in one molecule, the triune God. There is much more that we can say about it.

But let's move on to the sardine stone. There are two precious stones in the New Jerusalem that are "sardine", that have Sard in them. The first is Sardonyx and the second is Sardius. Sardonyx looks like a sandwich with a white layer of onyx sandwiched between two brown layers of Sard. When I first saw this stone I laughed,"That is a precious stone?" It did not look like anything that was precious. To make things worse this stone is right next to an emerald. The emerald is the most precious of all the precious stones. When I hear the term "precious stone" I think of emerald and here I am looking at this opaque white and brown sandwich and wondering how can this be a precious stone? And that is the amazing thing about Sardonyx, how it becomes a precious stone. What happens is a master craftsmen comes in and carves this stone, they will use the top layer of brown sard to be the border, then they will make a scene in the white onyx. The one I saw was of a throne room with the king sitting on the throne. Then in the bottom layer of brown Sard they will carve some sinister characters in the shadows. When they are done you have a priceless masterpiece. This is the work of the Holy Spirit on us with all of our experiences of Jesus Christ.

Then of course there is a scientist who has recently put out a video where he confirms that the 12 stones are all the rainbow colors. When you look at some stones under polarized light in a microscope some will be black and white like diamonds and some will be all the colors of the rainbow. All twelve of the stones in the New Jerusalem show the colors of the rainbow, that is God's covenant that He made with Noah.

 

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Four beasts full of eyes

Revelation 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

These are men, not angels. This indicates that these men have been raptured, caught up to heaven. Now if John saw them as elders they may be Old Testament saints that were caught up to heaven at the same time Jesus rose from the dead.

5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

The seven lamps of fire is a reference to the church. We are told very clearly that the lampstand is the church and that there are seven lamps of fire on the lampstand.

Here is where many who are not grounded in the word of God have interpreted this to mean that the rapture has taken place because the church is in heaven. The problem with that interpretation is the book of Ephesians. Paul tells us the church is in heavens in that book. But he also says that this is only revealed in the spirit to the holy apostles and prophets, people like John and Paul. What John is seeing here and what Paul saw in Ephesians is a spiritual reality and in the future it will "be" a reality that everyone can see whether or not they are spiritual. Therefore we can look at what happened when Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven and sat on the throne as a spiritual reality of what is going to happen at the end of the age. I consider these to be "bookends" to the church age. It begins with Jesus being enthroned and being revealed to the holy apostles and prophets and it ends with Jesus being enthroned revealed to every single person, saved or unsaved.

6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

The sea represents people, especially the nations. The sea is of glass, indicating it is transparent. God is omniscient, He knows all and sees all. Right now we think people and nations are opaque, but to God all things are an open book. That is the point of the four beasts who are full of eyes before and behind. All the counterfeits of God want to have an all seeing eye, only God has an all seeing eye. We do not need to worry about seeing everything, instead we simply pray to God about what we do see. God can take care of seeing everything and dealing with everything.

7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

These four beasts are full of eyes, and we know that a lion's sight is very focused, looking at prey and moving in. A calf will have a scattered focus skipping around looking at the flowers and trees and grass. Humans have a very different kind of sight, we can use our imagination, we can look at molecules or stars, we can examine things under the ground or in the heavens. Finally of course the eagle has very special eyes to get that "bird's eye view". They have little binoculars in their eyes. This is what they are discovering as they try to imitate God with AI. It is much more effective to make specific AI for a purpose like these beasts rather than one "all seeing AI".

8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

I think this expression "Holy, holy, holy Lord God almighty" is a test. It is like they are putting everything they see through this test. When you are discerning you don't simply look for something that is "wrong". What you are looking for is something that is "off". For example, when they mandated the vaccine I did not have any evidence there was something wrong with the vaccine, but I did see that there was something off. I saw that Fauci was lying to us, he couldn't know that the vaccine was better than having recovered from Covid, that would take ten years to study and confirm that. I knew that when you mandate an experimental vaccine you can't have alternative treatments available and so they were removing HCQ and Ivermectin as valid treatments of a virus. These two things had already been proven to be safe and effective against all viruses. I saw that DeBlasio waited until the deadline to transfer out of the NYC public school system before mandating the vaccine. I saw that as despicable attempt to force people to get the vaccine against their will, which was also off. Every single teacher in NYC is required to get their shots, as a rule no teacher is "anti vaxx" and yet you feel you have to force them to take a "life saving vaccine"? Something not right about that.

9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, 10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Think of this worship and thanksgiving as the normal background music to the creation. When you go hiking in the woods or see some beautiful natural wonder it is the normal response. If you have this music playing all the time when there is any hidden sin it will disturb the signal. You will get static, you will know something is off, this will be a very good system for detecting something is not right.

 

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We have had over 50,000 new visitors to this blog since the last time I shared this so I am reposting it.

Pdf's you can download.

After the rapture they will shut down the entire internet and when it comes back up everything will have changed, it will now be under their full control using quantum computers and AI to surveil what is being posted. Now is the time to download this to a Pdf and put it on a flash drive.

Left Behind letter

If you download these Pdfs to a flash drive it will be a powerful left behind letter. After the rapture there will probably be a three week blackout before the internet comes back up with a full censorship and control from the Antichrist. Think of all those people who are completely locked into their phones, TV and internet. If that goes down they will have three weeks and will want to know what is going on. Having this (and it includes a KJV Bible) will allow them to really dig into this for the three weeks. If you make a few copies and put them on flash drives Antichrist and his minions will not be able to track this. We should all have left behind letters and Bibles.

False Prophets

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PCZFiXRrSAeXy38akTNtpY6PmDLjv_uF/view?usp=sharing

It seems everyone is going to need to know this and to be able to discern false prophets during the tribulation. This Pdf is 32 pages on this subject. I kept it to false prophets and didn't get into discerning liars, I thought that would make it too long. This Pdf is the 15 posts on False prophets in this blog.

If you are new to this blog

These are Pdfs anyone can download of all my posts.

The Holy Bible -- King James Version

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ggLlInqsXzE3k2f_2XahguwjP-2ZMvbW/view?usp=sharing


A Letter to those left behind after the rapture

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dM18beTF9Jka3w8XUk10ARkI-cYnltH5/view?usp=sharing

I based most of my letter on the Gospel according to Mark and the Book of Acts.

Index of Bible References volumes 1-5

I would have done this for all of them but ran out of time. However, it does help those who are interested in a particular verse to find the verse and what is said about it. One reason I did this was so I could look for verses that had not been referenced.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YK4mY8xfqh13sW00JjXqcusX3a4jqZPRBFvVXh12fVA/edit?usp=sharing

This is a reference of Bible verses in these four volumes. But anyone can download these Pdfs and create an index of the Bible references for all 13 of them.

Look Up, Your Redemption Draws Near (volume 1)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JvGt0moH2kzWMqdxBiO73Gaj7UxxqvfD/view?usp=sharing

Look Up, Your Redemption Draws Near (volume 2)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eAIgnWSGMkVw_Fawa_dbXyJTi1yOWwks/view?usp=sharing

Look Up, Your Redemption Draws Near (volume 3)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Dg9eD4It_H1V8XCMuAc7Im8G2UfuvEjV/view?usp=sharing

Look Up, Your Redemption Draws Near (volume 4)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RwFhRsl7Ww5ZAn1C3ro7VrNCo5baWqPN/view?usp=sharing

Look up your redemption draws near (vol 5)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/160buxQxCAsHjuN7qfTVY7dOQft8VA4L_/view?usp=sharing

Look up your redemption draws near (vol 6)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ewv-l-yh4A2KRcPnQmOJB_51S1HQ095X/view?usp=sharing

Look up, your redemption draws nigh (vol. 7)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l7FBpjTk2NNVgYBAATm-3Th3rfeXEDhG/view?usp=sharing

Look Up, Your Redemption Draws Near (8)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OkRHsPs36DZ-gFO-UgGUj-mVa63TI1vR/view?usp=sharing

Look Up, Your Redemption Draws Near (9)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xECKmu-anfa0J_Sxn9ysUtpQSG2HVvtt/view?usp=sharing

Look Up, Your Redemption Draws Near (10)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L-3KMmo6qiJsAcP4hQGBbrNrT2Za0p3S/view?usp=sharing

Look Up, Your redemption draws near (Volume 11)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lc-CjfWlJPXc7D5H7ocz8WaF72zW3JqZ/view?usp=sharing

Look Up, Your Redemption draws Near (vol. 12)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1li_fbCxYOZrWF7No3d2DiN7k1H1rPmx0/view?usp=sharing

Look Up, Your Redemption draws Near (vol. 13)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YVVP6WWS5TrcniRSmT_8r8xsGcpeGzby/view?usp=sharing

Who is the Great Babylon

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yQatkwB8A2Xi6og2WRxNvfw3CEV0n2_n/view?usp=sharing

This Pdf goes through every verse in the New Testament and many in the Old referring to Babylon. I see which of the various interpretations fit. The main three are: Israel, Vatican and the US, though I also see if England fits any. I used to subscribe to the teaching of Darby and Watchman Nee on this, however, everyone should know that when they taught the US was not a superpower, Hollywood and Multinational corporations did not exist (true for Darby, Watchman Nee was around at the time of silent movies). The pandemic had not taken place and the apostasy in the US had not taken place. You could not compare the US to Sodom and Gomorrah at the time of Darby or Watchman Nee.

James the Keel of the Church

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1coj11i6yERgYLhtCSrKkJP44dl-7a1IA/view?usp=sharing

1 Peter the Gospel of the 2nd Chance

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13UKCQIJq7GIQl20D86x_PFC9YbCeR6mH/view?usp=sharing

 

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Pdf's of individual books in the Bible.

1 John

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1e9bXQV7NsQQOYdfXePMD4AD57u864e7Y/view?usp=sharing

2 Peter -- Our Mission

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lmrtn2bHjOp431KLTrdEVMhSm5hubwJG/view?usp=sharing

 

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There are a number of parallels that we are seeing right now.

1. Prior to Jesus being crucified He raised Lazarus from the dead. I think we can compare Lazarus being raised from the dead with this peace treaty raising Israel.

2. Because of raising Lazarus from the dead Jesus entered into Jerusalem victorious on Palm Sunday. This Sunday Trump is going to enter Jerusalem victorious.

The Antichrist means "counterfeit Christ". A counterfeit will mimic very closely the real thing. This does not mean that Trump is "The Antichrist" so please do not twist what I am saying.

3. The first day after Jesus entered Jerusalem He flipped the tables of the moneychangers. Right now gold and silver are primed to replace the US dollar as the reserve currency and digital currency is being tested and developed to become the new reserve currency, paving the way for the mark of the beast.

If Trump is not the Antichrist who is he?

4. I think he is Nebuchadnezzar the ruler in Babylon as described in Daniel 4. The US as a superpower is about to get cut down like felling a giant tree and all that will be left is the stump. Nebuchadnezzar had to wander in the wilderness for seven years (tribulation) during which time he got the heart of a man (a new heart, those who are left behind get saved, at least those who remain).

5. Yes, Jesus was crucified, but two thieves were crucified with him and Barabbas (son of the father) becomes the scape goat who is thrust out into the wilderness (Trump and the US). Jesus being crucified would represent the believers and Jews who are left behind, the one who repented on the cross would indicate those saved out of the tribulation, and the other thief would represent those killed and judged in the tribulation.

6. We are also seeing the monkey trial that we saw with Jesus taking place with the Jews. As you have done it will be done unto you. They falsely accused him in order to crucify Jesus and now they are being falsely accused of Genocide in order to crucify the Jews.

7. Jesus was betrayed by Judas who sold himself to religious leaders. I believe this is a reference to the sudden destruction that takes place when they say "peace and security". It indicates betrayal. If they actually were to get peace and security it would make the US and Israel the two supreme superpowers on earth. Islam cannot handle the idea of Christians and Jews being the head and so they will betray this. A surprise attack on the US 100x worse than Pearl Harbor. The thought is without the US as an ally they can defeat Israel not realizing that the ally that is leading Israel to victory is Jesus Christ. The Antichrist in the book of Revelation is a last ditch attempt for Satan to rule on the earth after being kicked out of heaven. We are told he is desperate because he knows his time is short. It is simply Scarface shooting it out at the end of his reign.

8. When Stephen was martyred a door was opened in heaven and he was able to see Jesus standing. I believe this is similar to Charlie Kirk being martyred and a door being opened in heaven where we can see Jesus is standing, on the verge of returning.

9. The feast of trumpets is known as the longest day because it is often a two day event where you are blowing the trumpet announcing that Jesus is coming. I believe this started two years ago on October 7, 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel. They blow the trumpet 100 times and the last blast is the "great blast". I think that was seen on September 23, 2025 when Joshua was on live for the entire day telling people that Jesus is coming.

 

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Jesus Christ has been fully tried and tested.

Genesis 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

This word for "took them wives" is very similar to the english word for take. It can refer to taking something legally or illegally. We use the word take for steal, we also use it when someone says "take one". It is extremely general, it could be take something when you capture it like "take this city", it could refer to taking prisoners.

3 And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

So if we understand that the sons of God were much stronger than the daughters born to men, it is not reasonable to blame these women for being taken. Perhaps they were foolish or not careful, but I don't think this verse where God appears exasperated with man and decides He is not going to strive with them any longer is because the women were taken. I think this is a reference to the damage done when man fell and this being taken by the sons of God is simply a further progression of this fall. Also this word "My spirit shall not always strive with man" is not a reference to God throwing in the towel, rather He is setting up guard rails. Instead of living for hundreds of years the time limit that a man can live is now imposed. Also this applies to both man's life and the period of time that Satan could inhabit man's flesh. Our life expectancy is 120 years which technically could be 124 years and still round off to 120. Meanwhile the period of time that Satan can dwell in man's flesh is 120 jubilees, or 6,000 years.

4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

God is omniscient and omnipotent. He surely foresaw the fall of man and the angels and men creating Nephilim.

5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

If God foresaw this why would He allow this, what is the purpose? Suppose I hire some programmers to put a security system on my computer system to make sure no one can hack in. Once you have this security system you then hire some professional hackers to try and hack in. This is a stress test to the system to discover where the vulnerabilities and weaknesses are. That is what the Nephilim are, they are stress testing God's creation of man. Jesus Christ has no problem dealing with Demons, fallen angels and Nephilim.

6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

This word translated repent is not the word we associate with making a 180 degree about face. It is usually translated as "comfort" and sometimes translated as "sorry". The Lord was sorry, He saw how horrible Hitler and Stalin and Pol Pot were and it grieved Him. For example, consider Jesus Christ being mocked, ridiculed, scourged and crucified. That is really tough to see, you can only watch Mel Gibson's movie "the Passion" so many times. However, if you are going to test man by the very worst that Satan can throw at him, then it is necessary.

7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

This is true, don't think God is not going to do this. Read the book of Revelation, look at the total destruction that takes place during the Day of the Lord. The fleshly man that is focused on nothing but sin all day long, they will be destroyed from off the face of the earth.

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Don't misunderstand this as the creation being 99% a failure. On the contrary see this as how we refine ore to get silver. We crush it, melt it, remove the dross and ultimately are left with the silver which in this case was Noah and his family.

What we are seeing here is a process of creation that God goes through that we have imitated in many, many ways. Every engineer knows he must stress test any design he makes. Even if it is a child's toy they have to consider all the possible ways in which this may be used, will it be a choking hazard, is the paint toxic, etc. Think of Satan and the evil angels as contractors that God has hired to see if there is any vulnerability or weakness in man filled with the Holy Spirit with Jesus Christ dwelling in our heart.

I am reminded of the NFL. Before they go play a game they will have the defense imitate the team they are playing and let the offense practice against them and vice versa with the offense running the other teams plays to prepare the defense. We are not ignorant of Satan's devices, Jesus Christ has been fully tried and tested.

 

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Got to love this

Genesis 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Think of what God just asked him, building that boat, that was a huge undertaking. OK, extremely difficult job, but doable. But then take two of every kind of animal and put them on this ark? The ark is going to be a floating zoo? You have to have special food for all the animals because they will be on that ark for more than six months. Can you imagine what a huge task preparing the ark for the animals was, not to mention gathering them? For anyone this is simply impossible. I would think Noah must have spent hundreds of years on his knees asking God for help. This is basically the church age. And yet the Bible simply says "whatever God asked Noah did". OK, perhaps that is true, but I suspect there were tears, blood, sweat, and desperate prayers.

This is by far the best way to deal with this. When something utterly incredible and impossible by all human standards happens, don't make a big deal of it, simply hand the ball to the ref as though this is simply run of the mill. That is far more intimidating than some guy doing a dance in the end zone like he never expected to get there. Barry Sanders was famous for making these incredible runs and then simply handing the ball to the ref as though this is simply the play.