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Archive for the tag “bible prophecies”

26 Mar 2014
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Revelation 8

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Revelation 8 is the beginning of the opening of the 7th seal. And I believe that by this time God’s people will be gone. I hope and pray that I am correct.

A few days ago I was approach by a couple of young women who were Mormons. They were very nice and polite and we talked a bit. One of the women said she prays and she believes in Jesus. I said that’s good, but what about the Bible? The Bible and the Book of Mormon do not agree with each other. She said they did and she knows it because she prays about it. I told her that’s good, but the Bible says you must test everything. Even what I say. She said she would not do that. We talked a little more before we parted ways. This saddens me.

Everyone has sinned and has fallen from God’s grace. Everyone. Because of this we do not deserve God’s grace. Not even the very nice young woman who spoke with me. Also it is absolutely impossible for us to earn our way into God’s good graces. But because of the grace of God, He made it possible for us to enter His Kingdom by sending us His son Jesus. So that who ever believes in Jesus will have eternal life. Believing in Jesus not only means believing that Jesus died for us, but also that He rose physically from the dead. Even though Mormons celebrate Easter, they do not believe Jesus rose with His own body from the grave. They believe He rose only in spirit. (I know sometimes they will say they He rose physically, but I have found they sometimes will say anything to get you to go to their church.) They don’t seem to understand that Jesus paid our way with His blood. There is nothing we can do to earn our way into God’s Kingdom. Jesus did it all for us.

Revelation 8:1-2 says there will be seven angels with seven trumpets and there will be silence in Heaven for one-half hour. Someone told me that this is because of what happens will be so terrible, so horrifying, that everyone will be at awe.

Revelation 8:3-5 talks about prayers of God’s people being mixed with incense by an angel, and smoke of the two rises up to God. After that the angel fills the incense burner with fire and throws it down to earth, where terrible things happens.

Hebrews 10:29-31
Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us. For we know the one who said,
“I will take revenge.
I will pay them back.”
He also said,
“The Lord will judge his own people.”
It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Is Revelation 8:3-5 the beginning of God’s punishment? His revenge?

In Revelation 8:7 the first trumpet is blown and fire is thrown down to earth. I have nothing to back this up with but I wonder if this will be a meteor shower. Not one that passes by the earth, but one that is aimed at us.

Revelation 8:8-9 is the second trumpet, and a mountain of fire is thrown down and 1/3 of the of the sea creatures and a 1/3 of the ships are destroyed. I believe this is one big meteorite hitting either the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean. Thinking about the blood mentioned here, I notice Revelation 16:3-6 seems to be related. If I am correct, this explains the blood. Also I thought of one of the plagues, when God had Moses turn the water into blood in Egypt. Could the Egyptians been so brutal to the Hebrew slaves that God though “If you like blood so much, drink this!”? I wonder.

When the third trumpet blows in Revelation 8:10-11 a great star burning like a torch fell from the sky turning a third of the springs and river bitter causing many people to die. I’m guessing and only guessing that maybe this could be a meteor made of sulfur or some combination of elements that burns brightly. However if sulfur does fall and as it burns and mixes with water, it could turn into something like battery acid.

I remember a story of a volcano erupting in Alaska and a man was caught in his cabin. He ran outside not knowing what was going on. He ran bare footed into what he thought was snow, but it burned his feet. It was hot volcanic ash. His throat dry and scratchy, so he ran to the creek with his feet still burning. He drank the water and it burned his throat because the sulfur in the ash and the water turned to acid. He thought he died and was in Hell. He lived and soon turned he life over to Christ. I don’t know if this story is true, but it’s interesting.

The fourth trumpet in Revelation 8:12 is also clearly supernatural. A third of the day and a third of the night becoming dark is 8 hours of total darkness. Is this for one day, or for now on? If God can stop the sun in Joshua 10:12-14 He can easily do this.

After all this, things will get worse. And what saddens me about that nice Mormon I told you about earlier, is that even though she knows the truth about Jesus, she refuses to believe it. Instead she chooses to believe the Book of Mormon. She may be one of the ones that will go though the woes of Revelation. John 3:16-21 says her and other nice people will be judged.

We should tell more people the good news of Jesus so that they may believe and have eternal life.

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Revelation and tagged , , , ,
11 Mar 2014

Revelation 7

February

Believe it or not Revelation 7 is still part of the sixth seal which we covered in Revelation 6. In chapter 7 there are four angels that will stop the wind from blowing around the world for awhile. In Revelation 7:2 has an angel coming in the morning from the east. I’m going to assume, the sun will be in the true east which I’m guessing will be in the late spring or early summer. Now this angel told the four other angels who were holding back the winds, not to harm the earth, sea, or trees. (I wonder about the other plants.) Anyway no harm is to come to them, until God’s seal is placed on His servants.

Now about the 144,000 Israelis or Israelites. Of course we all know they will be 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes. To most people this is enough information. But I wonder where in time did they come from? I know this is an odd question, so I’ll explain.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead four days after he died and had started to decay. As we get towards the end of Revelation we see that many people will be very much alive and well even though they may have died many centuries ago, and more.

Many places in the Old Testament talks about Jesus coming. If you look through what I have written about prophecy, you will see much of it was written by prophets in the Old Testament. Could these prophecies by BC Christians? (Before-Christ Christians)

John 3:14-17
And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

I have to believe that the Old Testament prophets who prophesied about Jesus must have had trusted God enough to believe in the coming messiah, in Jesus. Therefore is it proper to say that at least some of these people were Before-Christ Christians? My wife says they’re more like Before-Christ Believers. I like that term. BCB – Before-Christ Believers or BC Believers.

So here are more thoughts about the 144,000. Even though these people were God fearing and were righteous in God’s eyes, King David is not one of them. Neither is Issac or Jacob. Why would I say that? Revelation 14:4-5 said these men were virgins. David, Issac and Jacob all fathered kids. I also wonder, could these 144,000 be from through time. In other words, could some be from long ago as while as being from this time period? I don’t know. Does it really matter? Maybe not.

Revelation 7:9-12 says there is a great number of people from everywhere, every language, and every people; which means even from nations and tribes that are now extinct. And they will all be around the throne worshiping God. Will we be part of this? These people will be wearing white robes. Will they be the same ones that are mentioned in Revelation 6:9-11, the fifth seal? What I’m asking is, will this vast crowd, too great to count be people who were martyred, or will this be all of God’s people including those of us who will be taken by Jesus?

The people in chapter 6 were souls of those who were martyrs for Christ. They were under the altar and were given white robes to wear. The people in chapter 7 are wearing the same white robes, but now there are lots and lots of them. Not only that, but now they are among the angels around the throne. I believe these people in the white robes around the throne is everybody who has believe in Jesus. And those that were under the alter are now in the group. I also believe that by this time the rapture has happened.

Another question I have is about the great tribulation in Revelation 7:14. Is it the tribulation happening only during the time of the Anti-Christ? If so then why is the Anti-Christ not mentioned until later? Here is a link to tell what tribulation is in the Greek. Is it possible that there is a difference between the tribulation we are in now and the judgment that will happen after the Christians are gone?

If the tribulation started with the opening of the seals, and if we are living through one of the seven seals now; then our time here is short. Jesus could be calling us up at anytime. Even as soon as now.

I hope I am correct in all this. Again I will remind you that I am not a theologian, I have never had any training at all. It would be very wise to test everything I say.

1 Thessalonians 5:20-22
Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Revelation and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
23 Feb 2014
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Revelation 6: Opening 6 Of The 7 Seals

Mt Baker as seen from North Puget Sound

Mt Baker as seen from North Puget Sound

I find the Seven Seals interesting and a little bit curious. Like when will all this happen? There is a retired pastor I know in Southern California who I respect who says none of the seals will be opened until the beginning of the tribulations. Is this true? I’ll let you decide.

First what is this about the different color horses? I don’t know. I can find only two reference about them in Zechariah 1:8-10 and Zechariah 6:1-8. Basically they go on patrol and do the Lord’s work.

Revelation 6:2 is simply about the horse and rider out to win battles. Where the second rider takes away peace so there’s war and slaughter. Both of these seems a bit vague to me. A little too subtle. Maybe it’s the age we live in. In the third seal things are a little different. Now we have the cost of food going up.

Opening the fourth seal will give Death and the Grave the authority over a quarter of the earth to kill with sword, hunger, disease, and wild animals.

I don’t know if you have noticed this or not, but there is no end to this. It’s true that these things have been going on forever, but this is different. When God sent the different plagues to Egypt, they never happened all at once, and they always ended. The seven seals seems to start small, then grow, then build on another until: People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Luke 21:26 NIV

Right now there are Muslim extremists who want to go to war and slaughter people. There has always been gangs and countries who wanted to do harm, but these Muslims are neither gangs nor countries. Also there are kids who want to kill others and sometimes brag about it. It’s a spiritual matter that causes people to do this.

There have been periods of famines through out history. Some of it was caused by drought, and some because of political reasons; either through oppression or war. But now we have weather problems through out most of North America, Europe and most likely other parts of the world. We have either drought, or frost where there shouldn’t be any, or floods to wash away the topsoil. Our climate is changing. Check out this link.

What’s next? Will all this bad weather cause war to start because of water shortage? Without water crops will not grow. We have already seen where floods causes diseases. Will animals attack us for food? Or for other reasons? Last summer there were raccoons attacking people without cause. Even though raccoons can be very vicious, this is very un-raccoon like.

Here is a question for you. Did I just described the first four seals in the last three paragraphs? Are we now in or just entering the opening of the four seal? Or is it still sometime off in the future?

I don’t know the time line to any of this. Are the seven seals being opened right now? And if they are, when did it start? I don’t know. Are the seven seals to be opened before or during the great tribulations? I don’t know. Remember I have never had any training in this. I am not a pastor in any way. But I would like to think that the seven seals are to be opened before the tribulations. Because Revelation 6:9-11. makes it sounds like Jesus could come at any moment.

In Genesis 19:1-29 the Lord removed the righteous people before he destroyed Sodom. In Egypt God protected the Israelites from judgment on Egypt. I believe (and hope) we will be removed by Jesus before the really bad stuff comes. I may be wrong, but what if we had already went through the fourth seal being opened? What if the fifth has been or will soon be opened. This means Jesus could be here any where from this moment to… who knows. Soon!

I do not want to be around when the sixth seal is opened. Many people believe this is about nuclear war. I don’t. I know it sounds like it, but I don’t believe it nuclear war, nuclear bomb, missile or anything like that. Why? Because of Revelation 6:16 And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.
People know when a disaster is caused by man or not.

Mt Rainier as seen from near Yelm, Washington

Mt Rainier as seen from near Yelm, Washington

I live in what’s known as the Pacific Rim of Fire. The two beautiful mountain photos I took are both volcanoes. There are a few more in Washington State. When Mt. St Helens erupted on May 18, 1980 it acted like a nuclear bomb, and threw Yakima Washington and even Spokane Washington into complete darkness at mid-day. A week or two later I was standing on a fishing pier just south of Seattle on Puget Sound and I could see still see the ash raising into the sky. I was about 90 miles away from the mountain.

Consider the earthquake in Japan a couple of years ago. The whole island was moved 8 feet.

So has the opening of the seven seals started yet, or not? You decide. I believe they have.

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Revelation and tagged , , , , ,
14 Feb 2014

Revelation 5

The Monster, Gamera

The Monster, Gamera

In Revelation 5, we will start with the Seven Seals which are the doom and gloom to come. (Or have opening of the seven seals already started?)

Everyone enjoys disaster movies and monster movies. Even the flying monster turtle called Gamera. I found out that crazy turtle can fly at the speed of Mack 3. Monster movies are fun fantasies. The seven seals however are not fun and worst yet, they’re not fantasy. And there is nothing we can do about it but to turn to God through our Lord Jesus. I read through Revelation again the other day and well, there are a lot of things I’m thinking about now. I’m not sure where to start.

I’ll start with an article I read on February 9 from The Guardian. I wasn’t looking for the article, I just stumbled across it and thought it looked interesting with all the drought we’re having on the west coast. The article said “Egypt has demanded Ethiopia stop construction of a mega-dam on the Nile, vowing to protect its historical rights to the river at “any cost”.” Of course if you read the article you’ll see there is a water shortage even without the dam.

But what I found most interesting is that it reminded me of what I wrote in my post Into The Future III on August 1, 2013, when I said: “But what about Isaiah 19:5-10 where it talks about the Nile River drying up? I have done some research on this and found that the Nile River has never failed to flood. It also has never completely dried up either. So obviously this part of the prophecies hasn’t happened yet. But I wonder; will this be because of climate change, or because somebody built a dam.”

I believe this is prophecy that is about to come to pass now! I would like to start in with what I noticed about a couple of the seals. But I’m getting way ahead of myself now.

I will now start with Revelation 5. Remember John was in the presence of God as he was witnessing all this as the Lord (the one who sat on the throne) asked who is worthy to open the scroll. No one was worthy except the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, the Lord Jesus Himself. No surprise there.

What I notice though was what seems to be a ‘chain of command’ for the angels. Any one important, whether president or king would be surrounded by high ranking officials, then of those less important or of less authority. And they would be surrounded by even less important until you have the average citizen. So if I understand correctly; angels, since they are on the outer circle answers to the 24 elders who answers to the four beings who answers to Jesus since He is between them and God.

So what is our chain of command? Jesus answered this in John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. Why? Well you can find the answer to this in John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

I believe God loves us more than He loves the angels. After all Jesus didn’t die for them. He died us. We were made in His image. I don’t believe the angels ever were. God will do anything to bring us back to Him. And this is why I believe the scroll with the seven seals must be open.

In my book A Whole Mess Load Of Grace , I told how when I was on a Coast Guard ship in the Bering Sea, there was a time when we thought the ship would sink. We went to the only known active Christian to learn how we could get into Heaven when we die. What’s interesting was after the danger was over, everyone went back to their old life styles.

Years later when I was in the Army National Guard and we were playing war games (there was no war then except for the Cold War) people became interested in salvation. Me and another guy had even started a Bible study for some of the men on Sunday mornings. In those days that was perfectly OK. I have talked to many men about our Lord Jesus.

My point to all this is when things start to get difficult, some people will turn to God. When things get a little more difficult, a few more people will turn to Him. Unfortunately many people never will. When the seven seals are being opened, I believe we must help the poor, the hungry, the wounded. All through the four Gospels Jesus talked about this. And because Mark 16:15-16 says And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.” We should spread God’s word while we still can.

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Revelation and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
30 Jan 2014
5 Comments

Revelation 4: The Main Characters

Orion Spitzerlrot photo by NASA

Orion Spitzerlrot photo by NASA

Doing this post took me a lot longer than I expected. I did I lot of reading and a lot of studying but I now have a little better understanding of things.

This is what I learned about the main characters. Of course two of the main characters are the Lord Jesus and God Himself. But there are two other interesting groups of characters here. I have wondered about these beings for a long time. But first I must tell you what I have learned about the seven spirits of God. A commentary said the seven spirits were “various gifts, graces and operations of the Spirit of God in the churches of Christ.” After looking through the scriptures I found the 7 gifts of grace which are: prophecy, serving others, teaching, encouraging others, giving, leadership, and showing kindness. I found this in Romans 12:6-8 .

So let’s start with the twenty-four elders in Revelation 4:4 and many other places through out Revelation. Who were they? And dare I ask, are they human? Or are they spirits? I read a commentary that said the elders were upstanding people from both the New Testament and Old Testament. If they’re human, why or how could they be so important to be elders in Heaven without having their names mentioned? If they were men like Moses or Elijah I would think they would be mentioned by name. (Yet the two witnesses mentioned later on, also were not named.) If these twenty-four elders are spirits… well I wondered if there were such elders anywhere else in the Bible.

I looked up elders and got 187 entries in the English Standard Version. (Different versions had different wording.) Every one of entries for ‘elders’ seemed to be very human except for Isaiah 24:23 Then the moon will be confounded and the sun ashamed, for the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and his glory will be before his elders.
Yet Isaiah 24:23 in the New Living Translation says: Then the glory of the moon will wane, and the brightness of the sun will fade, for the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will rule on Mount Zion. He will rule in great glory in Jerusalem, in the sight of all the leaders of his people.

There are a lot of prophecies in Isaiah I don’t understand, but there are some that I do. Reading Isaiah 24:23 in the New Living Translation reminded me of Acts 2:2 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives. Acts 2:2 is a quote of Joel 2:31 The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible day of the Lord arrives.

So are the elders Revelation 4:4 men or angels? That’s up for you to decide. I say angels because of the four creatures in Revelation 4:6-8 , but of course I could be wrong.

Revelation 4:6-8
In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal.
In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”

There are no creatures like these on earth. But what can we find out about them? Has anyone else seen them? Isaiah did in Isaiah 6:1-3 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
Or at least I assume they are the same. They have six wings and they praise the Lord. I once heard they cover their face because the Lord is too holy to look at. They cover their feet because the floor was too holy for their feet to touch, so they fly. Sounds good. But when the guy on the TV show started talking about what the different faces mean, the close caption went goofy; so I don’t know what he said.

I read a couple of commentaries about the creatures and both of them basically agree that they are courageous as lions, mighty as bulls, wise as men (I question that one), and as swift as eagles.

Another passage that is interesting to me, is Ezekiel 1. They seem sort of the same but not really. Instead of six wings they only had four. One thing that really seems odd to me is that they were on wheels. If they could fly, why would they need wheels? What kind of vehicle were they on? They had a wheel within a wheel and they could not turn. If I didn’t know any better, I would say the vehicle or vehicles (four of them) had a gyro-compass in them. I couldn’t find a good picture of one, but I remember a little of what it looked like on the ship I was on nearly 40 years ago. I remember seeing a machine about 3 feet (1 meter) tall or more with a fast spinning wheel inside. The axles in the wheel always pointed true north. If these four creature couldn’t turn then they could only follow the longitude and latitude lines of the earth. I’m only guessing here of course.

Several times the last few days I have told my wife that I really wish I had a good Jewish Rabbi here to explain things to me. One more thing I wonder about. (OK, one of the hundred million zillion things) before the fall into sin, did Adam and Eve ever seen any of this?

Well that’s it for now. Please check out everything I have said. And if I am wrong, please tell me. After all I have no training in this at all. The two commentaries I used were Geneva Notes and Matthew Henry’s Commentary. If you find an error, please let me know, and I will check it out to the best of my abilities.

2Pe1_5-1024x576

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Revelation and tagged , , , , ,
21 Jan 2014

What Good Is Bible Prophecy?

optical-illusion-1 garfog.wordpress.com

When you read about God’s prophecy in the Bible, do you go cross-eyed? Do you get bewildered? Confused? Does any of it makes sense? How do you interpret this?

Is this a young woman looking away, or an old woman looking down?

Is this a young woman looking away, or an old woman looking down?

When I started working on Revelation: Seven Churches in the last post, I must say I was getting a low-grade headache which lasted for about three days. Also I was having an unbelievably hard time doing this post. My mind would wander here and wander there, and wander any where except about what I’m studying and writing.

I don’t believe the devil wants me to study this part of God’s word. This means what I’m trying to do is good! So I will press on. God willing.

So what good is God’s prophecy? Well it’s good for several things. One to just inform you with what to expect. To prepare you for some unpleasant things. For an example, once a friend told me what to expect from cataract surgery. I was about to go through it and was very nervous about it. I felt a little better about it afterward. The whole thing went exactly the way he said it would.

When Jesus was talking to His disciples about how He was going to die and rise again, He did it so they would know what would happen. I’m sure afterward the eleven of them said, “Oh yeah, it happened just as He said.” Remember the twelfth one committed suicide because he betrayed the Lord.

We can read God’s prophecy now and get an idea of what will happen, or maybe what’s happening now.

Prophecy can also serve as a warning. In Genesis 12:1-3 and Ezekiel 38:1 through Ezekiel 39:8 as well as Isaiah 54:15-17 (which talks about weapons of destruction) warns countries not to attack Israel. The two prophecies in Ezekiel and Isaiah hasn’t happened yet. But it will. Look at it this way, Ezekiel mentions Israel by name. Yet there was no Israel for over 2,000 years. Not until 1948 anyway. No one can deny this. Even those who hate Israel affirms this. You can not hate what doesn’t exists.

And this bring us to one last point I’ll make. God’s prophecies are often for encouragement. People will mock you and persecute you, if they haven’t already. Jesus himself said this many times. So when someone laughs at you saying there is no God and mock you for it; well remember the Bible said it would happen. Which means they themselves are proving prophecies are true. And often times they are even proving that God is in control.

I heard someone say “So what? Other religions say they would be persecuted too. This means nothing.” OK maybe other religions do say they would be persecuted. This in no way disproves the Bible. Matthew 5:10-12 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
I wish this wouldn’t happen to any of us, but it will, and for some of us, it’s already happening. But keep in mind, it only proves God’s word true.

021

note: I have no idea who own the rights to the three pictures. The one of Jesus I have seen many years ago on an email. The other two I have seen many more years ago in a book or several books. I downloaded the images from http://www.bing.com.

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Revelation and tagged , , , | Leave a comment
10 Jan 2014
1 Comment

Revelation: The Seven Churches

th[3] edited 150
In three days I read the book of Revelation three times. First in the New Living Translation and then in the English Standard Version then again in the New International Version.

I have read Revelation several times before and have even read through the whole Bible a couple of times. Recently I have signed up with a group in our church to read through the whole Bible in only four months. I have never done it in four months before. So anyway let’s see how this old mechanic will do, trying to figure out this book called Revelation.

A couple of people have told me that I should be more open about who I am. OK. I call myself a mechanic because I’ve been one for most of my life. However I also have an AA degree in computer networking and I used to be certified as an electronic technician. But as I have said in earlier posts, I have never been to seminary, or to any form of Bible college or training. It would very wise to test everything I say. And oh yeah, I am also a veteran of the US Coast Guard and the Army National Guard.

Revelation 1:3
God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.
OK let’s see what this message is. After all we can’t obey if we don’t know the message.

First I don’t understand the seven or sevenfold spirits of God in Revelation 1:4 yet. By the way I will often say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I don’t understand’. Often times in school, a teacher may not know something. But if the teacher tries to bluff or makes something up, the students will often pick up on it and the teacher will loose the respect of his students.

The book of Revelation was written by John from the island of Patmos. The seven churches were all from the western part of modern Turkey. These seven churches are represented by seven golden lampstands and each has an angel or messengers is represented by seven stars. Our Lord Jesus is doing the talking.

The seven churches in Revelation 2:1 through 3:22 are like many of us today.

Some of us are like the Ephesus church and have lost the love we had when we first became believers. What is scary is the Lord knows this. He knows our hearts, our minds, our feelings. We can fool a lot of people, but we can not fool Him. And if we don’t repent from this, God will take away the lampstand. I don’t know what that means really; but I do not want to find out. It is good that the Ephesus church hates the practices of the Nicolaitans. They were basically faulty teachers who led others astray.

Unlike the Pergamum who did follow the teachings of Nicolaitans as well as eating food sacrifices to idols and committing sexual immorality. I don’t believe there is much of a problem of eating food that’s been sacrificed to idols in North America, but the sexual sin is everywhere. Sexual immorality covers a large area of activities. Adultery, incest, homosexual activities, and others. I’m not judging, I am only saying what scripture says, in both the New and Old Testament. Anyway if those in this group don’t repent, they will find the Lord Jesus Himself fighting against them. This will not be good. On the plus side it is good that they never deny their faith in the Lord Jesus.

One warning that I must add. It’s about Revelation 2:14 where it talks about Balaam. Numbers 22 talks about how Balaam refused to curse Israel. (Which is a good thing.) But think of sin as pollution. You may be holy until that first sin; then you become polluted. Any little sin (wrong doing) is like a supertanker breaking open and spilling oil on a beach. Think you’re mostly OK? Try telling that to the wildlife on the beach. This is why we need to know Jesus, to be forgiven.

The Thyatira church is similar in that they tolerate the woman called Jezebel who misleads God’s servants into eating food that’s been sacrificed to idols and sexual immorality. If they don’t repent, they will suffer greatly with her. On the plus side, the Lord has seen your love, faith, service, and your patient endurance. He sees your constant improvement in all these things. Revelation 2:19. Revelation 2:24-25 says some of you are OK though.

The Sardis church is like so many today. We humans love to pretend. We want to fit in. Many of us pretend to be “spiritual” when in fact we’re dead inside. We can fool a lot of people, but we can’t fool God. So wake up, be alive! Revelation 3:3 says Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Fortunately some will be found wearing white, walking with the Lord for they are worthy.

I find the Laodicea church interesting. My wife and I are far from wealthy, yet we do know a few who are. I would like to think they have their act together. But knowing human nature, I know some do not. (I’m glad I have no idea who.)

After reading this several more times, I wonder if maybe some of the rich get a little too comfortable. I wonder if since they can buy most anything, they stop relying on the Lord. What if they of course still believe and love the Lord but at the same time are no longer in fellowship with Him. Of course I am only guessing at all this. But if I am correct it would maybe explain Revelation 3:15-18. Now Revelation 3:20 is looking also looking a little different. “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” In other words Revelation 3:20 is says, “Hey you! I’m knocking on the door of your life. Let me in so we can have fellowship together.”

By this time you may have realized that I have not mentioned either the church of Smyrna nor the church of Philadelphia. If you read Revelation 2:8-10 and Revelation 3:7-10 you’ll see Jesus isn’t holding anything against them.

Another thing I left out until now was the ‘victorious’ parts. So if you are victorious:
1 – You will be given the tree of life . Which is the same tree as in Genesis 3:22 .
2 – You will not be hurt by the second death as in Revelation 20:14 which is the lake of fire.
3 – You will get hidden manna and a stone with a new name on it. (I don’t understand the stone part.)
4 – You will have the authority over the nations, and will also be given the morning star. I find the morning star interesting because according to 2 Peter 1:19 and Revelation 22:16 the morning star is Jesus. So if you seek the Lord you will find Him. 2 Chronicles 15:1-4.
5 – You will not have your name blotted out of the Book of Life and will be knowledge before the Father and His angels. The book of life is also mentioned in Revelation 20:14-15.
6 – You will become a pillars in the temple of God. And He will write on them the name of His God and the new Jerusalem. In other words everyone will know we belong to the Almighty.
7 – You will sit on the throne with Jesus Himself.

One thing that I forgot to mention is God discipline those Him loves Revelation 3:19 .

Well that’s all for now. Someone told me they would like to memorize the book of Revelation, and for that I say that’s great. However I don’t want to memorize words, I want to understand them. Now I wonder if memorizing might be easier. I believe the seven churches is the easy part. Other parts of the book will be much more difficult. Oh Lord please help me with this. What did I get myself into?

Also don’t worry, I will write about other stuff from time to time. After all I don’t want everyone to be bored to tears. Because if everyone was bored to tears the whole world could flood and then I would be to blame. Not good.

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Revelation and tagged , , , , ,
12 Aug 2013
1 Comment

What Happened?

Jeremiah 52:17
The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the Lord’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon.

Jeremiah 52:20-23
20) The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea with the twelve bronze oxen beneath it, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the Lord’s Temple in the days of King Solomon. 21) Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference. They were hollow, with walls 3 inches thick. 22) The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7½ feet high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around. 23) There were 96 pomegranates on the sides, and a total of 100 on the network around the top.

So my question is, “What happened? Why?” I don’t mean why the Babylonians took the stuff, I mean why were they not able to measure the weight of them. What happened to their education?

Let’s start with the pillars. I am not an engineer, but I’m sure it was a real engineering feat to move the pillars from where they were made to the temple. Otherwise why would they be made hollow if not to cut down the weight so they could be moved?

So if Judea and Israel had the skill to make the pillars, why did they lose the skill to even calculate the weight? Why did they become ‘dumbed down’? What happened to them?

The Jews are God’s chosen people. But they sinned greatly from time to time. Sometimes because of their sin God allowed their enemies to attack and rule over them.

So did this dumbing down happen before the enemies attacked and conquered them, or after? Has this ever happened before? Has it happened since?

Job 26:7-8
7 God stretches the northern sky over empty space
and hangs the earth on nothing.
8 He wraps the rain in his thick clouds,
and the clouds don’t burst with the weight.

Many people including me believe Job lived shortly after the world wide flood, about 4,500 years ago. Yet they knew that the earth hang in empty space with nothing holding it up. They also knew that clouds are not just light fluffy stuff floating in the sky and they are in fact very heavy. Yet for maybe a few thousand years we have forgotten this knowledge until a couple hundred years ago.

Like I said I believe Job lived shortly after Noah’s flood. Did he live before or after the fall of Babel? I’m thinking maybe before, but I honestly don’t know. I do know that the great flood and the fall of Babel was because of people’s sin. The number one sin I can find for them is in Genesis 9:7 when God said, “Now be fruitful and multiply, and repopulate the earth.” They didn’t do this but instead stayed in one area. Did people became dumbed down before or after the fall? I’m not sure.

So here we are in the year 2013 after Christ, many of us in the United States of America. And we are being dumbed down. Everybody knows this, but no one wants it. We have some very good teachers. I’m even related to a few. So what’s happening? For some reason, some young people aren’t learning. I have seen this first hand when I went back to school in my early 50s.

Is America sinning? The first commandment is “You must not have any other god but me.” Exodus 20:3 Yet we worship false gods. Hindu gods, witchcraft, Allah, reincarnation, fantasy science called evolution (I’m not against real science, only the fantasy of evolution) and others. We also worship fancy cars, money, sex, power, you name it, whatever we put before God.

Exodus 20:7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.” how many times have we heard God’s name used in cussing? Since Jesus is God, how many times has His name used as cussing?

Exodus 20:13 “You must not murder.” Think you’re OK here? Guess again. Everyone has their own DNA. (I know identical twins share one) But your human DNA is different from your parents. Your human DNA is different from your mother when you were only a toddler. You had your own DNA the moment you were born. You had your own DNA the moment before you were born. You had your own DNA the moment you were conceived. Killing a being with this human DNA is scientifically murder, morally murder, Biblically murder. And anyone who approves of this murder… well it’s not good.

This was only three of the Ten Commandment and we as a nation failed. We also failed the others too. Is this country falling? I honestly don’t like saying this but, it might be. Is there hope for us? YES!!! But this nation need to change our hearts to God. The God of the Bible, and as a nation it won’t be easy. Another thought I just thought of, what if God’s judgment to this country is to fall under the attacks of terrorist. This would be shameful.

The good news is God is still God and His loves us and will be with us if we turn to Him through His son Jesus. Our Lord Jesus will come for us. Hopefully very soon.

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , ,
06 Aug 2013

Truth About the TV Show “Zero Hour”

I have watched everyone of the episodes of the TV show Zero Hour, and the best thing I can say about it is the writers had imagination. The other thing I can say is not so nice.

When Hank Galliston in Zero Hour starts looking for his wife after she had been kidnapped, he finds all kinds of shady characters who are suppose to be ‘believers’. The show suggests that the believers are leaders of Christians who are willing to kill and destroy to protect the truth. What truth? Basically the only thing the show got right is that there is a book called the Bible and that there was a man on this earth 2000 years ago named Jesus. Everything else they seemed to got wrong.

Half way through the series, you find that some of the people wanted to clone Jesus using drops of blood from the cross. This cloned Jesus would be his second coming. So let’s look at what the Bible says about all this.

Many times in the New Testament, it talks about Jesus being God. One example is John 1:1 combined with John 1:14.
John 1:1
1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
John 1:14
14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

After Jesus died on the cross He rose again physically from the dead, with his own body. Luke 24:37-43 talks about his disciples seeing Him after He physically rose from the dead with His own body complete with holes in His feet and hands. He even ate in front of them!

Luke 24:37-43
37 But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!
38 “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? 39 Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” 40 As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41 Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he ate it as they watched.

Another important thing to read is Mark 16:15-20.

Mark 16:15-20
15 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. 17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. 18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
19 When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 20 And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.

This is important because He told them to spread the Good News to everyone. Plus it shows Jesus is still alive in His own body in Heaven. Then His disciples went everywhere and preached. The TV show Zero Hour said that Jesus needed to be cloned for His second coming. Why? His still alive. He will return on His own when it’s time.

Luke 21:27
27 Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory.

There is no weird plan as in the TV show Zero Hour to help God. There are not 12 disciples today running around trying to kill people to keep God safe. God is God and we are not and never will be. There is no great secret to protect, it’s all in the Bible for everyone to read. There is no need to clone Jesus. He is still alive, he is Lord, and He will return when He sees fit, and there is nothing we can do about it.

Two other things were important in Zero Hour, the cross and the 144,000. First let’s start with the cross. Does it exist still? I doubt it. But if it does, it does. More likely it have either decayed back into the dirt, or maybe it was cut up and burnt. The 144,000 is talked about in Revelation 7:4-8. What follows is something that many people for some reason refuse to see. Revelation 7:9-10 says:

Revelation 7:9-10
9 After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. 10 And they were shouting with a mighty shout, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!”

The 144,000 Jews from the twelve tribes definitely are not be alone. A whole lot of other people will be there. By the way, in case some of you don’t know, the Lamb is Jesus as ‘The Lamb of God’ because He was killed for our sins. In the Old Testament they killed lambs as a sin offering to God so they could be forgiven. However a lamb is only a temporary solution to an eternal problem, which is sin. Since Jesus is eternal, He is the solution to the eternal problem, sin. If we believe in Him, we avoid judgment and are forgiven of our sin.

So why am I fussing about a TV show that ended August 3 in the US? Over the years I have noticed that for some reason people seem to love a lie. Often times when people hear a lie about the Bible or Christians and Jews in general, they will most likely to believe it than to check out the facts for themselves. I am trying to spread the truth. After all Jesus did say in Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”

Posted in Christianity, Prophecy, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
01 Aug 2013
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Into The Future III

Isaiah 42:9
Everything I prophesied has come true,
and now I will prophesy again.
I will tell you the future before it happens.”

As I have said before, there is so much I don’t understand about Bible prophecies. Well here I go again.

I was reading Isaiah 19 and, well, it brought up a lot of questions. Isaiah 19:2-4 talks of a lot of unrest in Egypt. Could this be Egyptian Arab Spring? If so, what about the other countries in the Middle-East that are going through turmoil? Like Syria? Why would Egypt be singled out?

During the Egyptian Arab Spring there was riots in the streets then the Muslim Brotherhood took over. But now only a short time later, there is trouble in Egypt again. This group is against that group, and there are so many groups that are against each other that I can’t keep up with it. (To be honest, I really haven’t tried.) All I know is you hear about it on TV news and the internet.

So now Isaiah 19:2-4 is starting to make sense.

2 “I will make Egyptian fight against Egyptian—
brother against brother,
neighbor against neighbor,
city against city,
province against province.
3 The Egyptians will lose heart,
and I will confuse their plans.
They will plead with their idols for wisdom
and call on spirits, mediums, and those who consult the spirits of the dead.
4 I will hand Egypt over
to a hard, cruel master.
A fierce king will rule them,”
says the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

But what about Isaiah 19:5-10 where it talks about the Nile River drying up? I have done some research on this and found that the Nile River has never failed to flood. It also has never completely dried up either. So obviously this part of the prophecies hasn’t happened yet. But I wonder; will this be because of climate change, or because somebody built a dam.

But what really interests me is Isaiah 19:17-25 where Egypt becomes afraid of Israel. Then some of the Egyptian cities will start speaking Hebrew and start worshiping God. How can this be? I have never known or heard of Jews forcing their beliefs on others. So why would Muslims give up and willingly abandon Allah and willingly follow the true God of Israel?

Here are my thoughts about how this might happen. Of course I’m no expert, but looking over my notes I think I can put together a possibility.

In Jeremiah 30:20, talking about modern Israel, God says He will punish any who will hurt Israel. With the Obama administration seemingly wanting to under cut Israel as far as security and it’s capital Jerusalem; I believe the United States will either fall or at least not be a great nation any more. I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t believe I am. With the US out of the way some of the Muslim countries may feel empowered to attack Israel, and they will. Right now, many of them are already quoting Psalms 83:4.
“Come,” they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation.
We will destroy the very memory of its existence.”
However they will fail. Psalms 83:13-18 says Israel’s enemies will become terrified, ashamed, and utterly disgraced. They will learn the Lord God of Israel, alone is Most High.

Psalms 83:13-18
13 O my God, scatter them like tumbleweed,
like chaff before the wind!
14 As a fire burns a forest
and as a flame sets mountains ablaze,
15 chase them with your fierce storm;
terrify them with your tempest.
16 Utterly disgrace them
until they submit to your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be ashamed and terrified forever.
Let them die in disgrace.
18 Then they will learn that you alone are called the Lord,
that you alone are the Most High,
supreme over all the earth.

Psalms 83:5-8 has a list of the countries involved. According to the maps I looked at, the modern names of the countries involved are Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt. These are the countries that will go to war against Israel and lose. Big time. In the end people from both Egypt and Syria will be worshiping, freely the God of Israel and not Allah. They will also be at peace with Israel according to Isaiah 19:23-25.

I believe the war that the Anti-Christ creates against Israel will come later and it will be a very bad war involving many of the countries of the world. It will look very bad for Israel. But then God Himself will step in and fight for Israel. Israel will again win. Then the Lord Himself will sit on the throne as King in Jerusalem, Israel. He will come from the line of David. Many people today know Him as Lord Jesus. He will be our King.

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