Rapture

The following is copied from a series of End Times Teachings by Bud Rolfs on End Times Prophecy Facebook Page:

Rising Star 

THE END TIMES DRAMA

“LIONS AND LEOPARDS AND BEARS… OH MY!”

THIS IS A 4 ACT PLAY WITH AN EPILOGUE WHICH SHALL BE POSTED ONE ACT AT A TIME SO YOU MAY WANT TO COPY AND PASTE THIS ONTO A WORD DOCUMENT OR SAVE THIS TO A FILE.

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- INTRODUCTION. -

For many people, the END TIMES DRAMA is too much like a confusing, surreal BROADWAY PLAY. Both the “Drama”, itself, as well as the wide variety of “End Times Characters”, primarily in the Books of Daniel and Revelation are just too numerous and too confusing for most folks to understand. Are all these strange creatures in the scriptures “real” or just “symbolic”? Are these past, present or future figures?

Well, if you always wanted to cut through a lot of the confusion and get to an actual understanding of “the play”, you have come to the right place. The END TIMES DRAMA still has “a lot of moving parts”, but I am going to try to LAY OUT ALL 4 ACTS OF THIS “PLAY” for you, while also helping you get clear on the “ENTIRE CAST”. Like many 60 minute television shows, we add a brief epilogue “tying up all the loose ends”, so that you know with certainty how every character in the cast “makes out”!

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THIS IS OUR “END TIMES DRAMA” CAST OF CHARACTERS

1. Jesus (“Star of the End Times Drama”)

2. Satan (“The Villain”)

3. The Holy Spirit (“Powerful Weapon of God”)

4. Angels (“2 groups of powerful supernatural servants of Jesus and Satan, respectively”)

5. “Kingdoms of the World” (Past and future Empires that ruled/ will rule the “world”)

6. Antichrist (“Satan’s Hand-Picked End Times Leader”)

7. False Prophet (“Antichrist’s Religious Assistant”)

8. An Antichrist Kingdom (10 Countries formed in Covenant with Antichrist)

9. The Church (“Living OVERCOMERS of the flesh, the world and the devil through their faith in Jesus”)

10. The Saints (“Left behind at the rapture, these come to Christ during the Tribulation”)

11. The Jewish Elect or Remnant (“After the rapture, these accept Christ during the Tribulation”)

12. King of the North, King of the South and Kings of the East (“Tribulation leaders of opposing military forces”)

13. The “Dead in Christ” (currently Spirits in Heaven, but in need of eternal, incorruptible bodies)

14. A whole bunch of Armies

15. A variety of Satanic Demonic Creatures

16. The Doomed (Those who accept the “Mark of the Beast” or “Antichrist”.)

17. Innocent, neutral Survivors (Those non-Christians who survive the Tribulation without worshipping the Antichrist or taking “His Mark”).

18. The Righteous Jews (Jews who COULD NOT KNOW CHRIST because they were “BORN BEFORE CHRIST” or “WERE BLINDED TO CHRIST BY GOD TO ALLOW FOR THE SALVATION OF THE GENTILES”)

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THE END TIMES DRAMA

ACT 1: “THE PAST IS PROLOGUE”

Our play opens in Ancient Babylon, ruler of the world some 600 years before Christ. Babylon is ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar, who invaded Israel and who keeps the Jews captive in Babylon for 70 years. Among these Jews is a young man named Daniel, who is a prophet and an early star in our drama.

Daniel is given a series of visions by God, concerning the present and future of empires destined to “rule the world”. Everything in our Act 1 occurs in ancient times, but there are “Types and Shadows” that are symbolic representations of future characters or entities which will show up again in Act 2, 3 or 4.

Daniel starts out by interpreting a dream King Nebuchadnezzar had concerning a “large metal statue”. (Daniel 2) On this statue, the head is made of gold, the chest and arms of brass, the abdomen and thighs of silver, the legs of iron, and the feet of a “mixture of iron and clay”. A giant rock then hurtles out of the sky hitting the feet of the statue and smashing the entire statue into a million pieces, but leaving the rock intact. In fact, the rock actually grows into a mighty mountain.

Here is what Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that dream revealed. The head of gold represented Nebuchadnezzar’s current Kingdom of Babylon. The chest and arms of brass… the Medo-Persian Empire which would take over Babylon during Daniel’s lifetime. The stomach, hips and thighs of silver represented Greece, which would replace Medo-Persia under Alexander the Great. When Alexander died at an early age, his kingdom in turn would be divided into 4 smaller kingdoms, each ruled by one of Alexander’s top generals. The legs of Iron represented the Roman Empire, which replaced Greece as the dominant empire of the world, and under Diocletian, split into an Eastern and Western Roman Empire, just like two legs. The feet being of a “mix of iron and clay” represented the “END TIMES KINGDOM OF THE ANTICHRIST”. Since the feet contain some iron just like the legs, this final Kingdom will include “much of the same geography Nd “character” of the Roman Empire, but will somehow include “clay”, not present in the Roman Empire. And of this clay, Daniel revealed “‘THEY’... shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” Daniel was saying here that “inhuman demonic forces” would somehow “genetically mingle with people” and become part of that FINAL ANTICHRIST KINGDOM. The “10 toes” of the feet indicate 10 nations who will serve the Antichrist as “Covenant Partners”. The giant rock “not shaped by human hands” that smashes the statue to pieces, is Jesus Christ, who destroys the kingdoms of man to create a “new mountain”… HIS ETERNAL KINGDOM.

While everything I have described so far is revealed in Daniel 2, the 10 nations represented by the “toes in this statue” are also confirmed in Daniel 7:7, where it describes a “beast with 10 horns”. The feet of mixed iron and clay with “10 toes” in Daniel 2; the 10-horned beast in Daniel 7:7; and the “10 horned beast” described in Revelation 13 and 17 are all the same symbolic representation of the “END TIMES KINGDOM OF THE ANTICHRIST”. While this Beast has 10 horns or 10 toes, it only has “7 heads” The Bible says that the seven heads of this beast mean “seven kings,” or governments. (Revelation 17:9, 10; and Revelation 13:1) So, 3 of the original 10 kings somehow “disappear” sometime early along the way.

Staying in the distant past for our 1st Act, let’s talk more about “PAST EMPIRES THAT RULED THE WORLD”. In addition to the “NEBUCHADNEZZAR DREAM STATUE” described in Daniel 2, we get more discussion of “PAST EMPIRES” in Daniel 7. There, Daniel sees 4 “Beasts” from the Sea. That term “Sea” refers to “all the Gentile Nations”. Like Daniel 2, Daniel 7 speaks of then current and future “Gentile Empires” culminating in an “End-Times Gentile Antichrist Kingdom”. Instead of seeing these kingdoms as a “stately statue”, like Nebuchadnezzar saw them in chapter 2…. in chapter 7, God sees them as dangerous, wild “Beasts”.

The first beast is a “Winged Lion”. This represent Babylon. Daniel “SEES” this creature get its wings clipped off. That symbolized the fact that Daniel was still alive when the Leader of the Medo-Persians, Cyrus the Great, invaded and took control of Babylon, in 556BC.

Daniel then sees a “Second “Beast”, a “Bear (leaning to one side) with 3 Bones in it’s Mouth”. This is “Medo-Persia”, and it leans because the Persian part of it’s Kingdom is much stronger than the Median part. The 3 bones represent it’s major “conquests” (Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt).

A third “Beast” then appears, which will shortly replace Babylon, and this is a “Leopard with 4 heads and 4 wings”. This Beast represents Greece and the Empire created by Alexander the Great. The leopard is known for cunning, speed, strength and viciousness… as was Alexander’s Army. It has 4 heads because Alexander died suddenly, and his vast Empire was then divided among his 4 top generals.

So far, these first three “Beasts” just replicate the exact same Gentile Kingdoms as the “Head”, “Chest and Arms”, and the “Belly, Hips and Thighs” of Nebuchadnezzar’s Statue from Daniel 2, so we should expect to see two final beasts to replicate the final Two kingdoms of “legs” and “feet” of that statue. However, Daniel 7 concludes with only a 4th Beast. Here is its description from Daniel 7:7 “a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.” In this “Beast”, Daniel combines both the ancient “Roman Empire” with the “10 Nation Alliance of the Antichrist Kingdom” that shall be somewhat similar. Like Rome in it’s time, the Antichrist Kingdom, (which springs from much of the same geography) is vicious and UNSTOPPABLE! It’s “10 horns” match the “10 toes” of the Daniel 2 Statue. (We shall see this “End Times Antichrist Kingdom Beast” in action in Acts 2, 3, and 4.)

John gives us yet a third and more revealing view of all of the past, present and future Gentile Empires that “were or ever will be” in Revelation 17. In verses 10 and 11, “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.” These “kings” obviously cannot be mere “human kings”, because the Roman Empire all by itself had more than “7 kings or Caesars”, so who or what are these “Kings”?

TRANSLATION: Satan always assigned his most Powerful “Angels” to each of the world’s great empires. These are the “kings” mentioned in Daniel 17:10-11. We get a glimpse of this Daniel 10. The Angel Gabriel is sent to Daniel from Heaven with a message. But, it takes Gabriel quite a long time to “get through to Daniel”. Gabriel explains it to Daniel like this: “ But the PRINCE OF THE KINGDOM OF PERSIA withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, MICHAEL, ONE OF THE CHIEF PRINCES, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” We see here that the Angel Michael is “A CHIEF PRINCE”. BUT, THE “PRINCE OF THE KINGDOM OF PERSIA” obviously works for Satan, because he opposes Michael and Gabriel. Apparently, Satan assigned powerful “ANGEL PRINCES” (“Princes” to Satan) but “KINGS” (Compared to men!) to the Kingdoms of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Greece. (These are the “five who have already FALLEN”), Rome, in power at the time of John, constitutes that referred to as the (“One who then IS”) and a future world kingdom (the OTTOMAN EMPIRE, which conquered the Eastern half of the old Roman Empire from the 14th to the 20th Century)… WHICH WILL BE THE 7th EMPIRE.

THAT OTTOMAN EMPIRE disappeared” at the end of WW1, almost unnoticed by history, yet it ruled that Eastern half of the Roman Empire for 400 years! (so “IT WAS,” and NOW “IS NOT” (for about the last 100 years), but will re-emerge as the 8th “END TIMES ANTICHRIST KINGDOM”, and it’s ruler, the “Antichrist” shall end his reign by going into “perdition”, by way of the lake of fire. (Rev. 19:20) It’s “ANGEL KING” will be Satan, himself. And though we now think this Kingdom long ago “received a mortal wound”… “One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a “fatal wound”, but the “fatal wound had been healed”. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.” None of the other POWERFUL EMPIRES EVER RETURNED TO DOMINATE THE WORLD, ONCE IT FELL… BUT A “NEW VERSION OF THAT MUSLIM OTTOMAN KINGDOM SHALL ‘RESURRECT FROM ITS MORTAL WOUND ALMOST 100 YEARS AGO’ TO BECOME THE END TIMES KINGDOM OF THE ANTICHRIST”.

We end our Act 1 visit to the “long ago past”, with the rejection by the Jews of Jesus, his death, and resurrection on the day we now call Easter. But, in 1st Century Israel, that day was the “Feast of First Fruits”. God instructed the Jews in Leviticus 2 to offer (prior to the start of “HARVESTING”), a “shock of the earliest barley to ripen” as a sacrifice to God… TO THANK HIM AND HAVE HIM BLESS THE BALANCE OF THAT CROP. On that day, the chief priest CUT AND PRESENTED the offering in the Temple. Earlier that Easter morning, Mary Magdalene saw the resurrected Jesus outside his tomb. Jesus asked her “not to touch him, as he had not yet ascended to the Father”. Just like that barley offering, Jesus was the “First Fruits” of the dead, AND AT THE EXACT SAME TIME THE HIGH PRIEST WAVED THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE BARLEY IN THE TEMPLE, JESUS, OUR HIGH PRIEST, PRESENTED HIMSELF TO GOD. (1 Corinthians 15:20) Both offerings were presented to thank God and ask God’s blessing upon the balance of the harvest! Jesus was the very first of the “harvest” of the “First Resurrection” (mentioned in Revelation 20:4) and the first to receive an “eternal, incorruptible body”. (This is what Jesus meant when he told Nicodemus “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." Though the souls of all who “died in Christ” since that day have gone immediately to Heaven, because through Christ they were “born again in Spirit”, they cannot “stay there eternally” without first getting the same incorruptible body that Christ has. Just like a harvest season, Christ was the “First Fruits” of a much larger “First Resurrection”, which will not conclude until after the Battle of Armageddon following Christ’s Second Coming. (Revelation 20:4-5) Don’t think of the “First Resurrection” as a single event, but rather a “series of harvests”, “each in it’sproper time”. (More on that concept at the end of Act 4 and in the Epilogue)

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ACT 2: “BIRTH PANGS”

We open our second act in the year 1917. God intervenes on behalf of the Jews, causing “The Balfour Declaration”, with his invisible hand. The “Balfour Declaration” was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, which was then an Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population. The Jews had been driven out of Israel, at the point of a Roman spear in 70AD and were “citizens of the world”, ever since. They were “tossed about”… without a true home, generally despised… and had little or no political leverage. But, God had long before prophesied not only about their displacement BUT ALSO their eventual return to Israel. This return was to “be from every nation where they had been dispersed (Jeremiah 16:14–15; 23:3, 7–8; 29:14; 31:7–8). Through the Prophet Isaiah, the Lord called out to these Jews, “Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: BRING MY SONS FROM FAR, AND MY DAUGHTERS FROM THE ENDS OF THE EARTH; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” (Isaiah 43:5-7) God spoke this prophecy almost 800 years before the Romans chased the Jews from Israel, and almost 2,650 years before a politically “UNLIKELY” statement called the Balfour Declaration. Though it would take another 31 years to become a reality, what God sets in motion, can never be thwarted. When Israel made good on the Balfour Declaration and reclaimed Israel on May 14, 1948, God’s amazing Old Testament prophecy for an End Times Israel was fulfilled:

Hos 3:4-5 — “For the sons of Israel will remain for many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar and without ephod or household idols. Afterward, the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.”

All of us who study End Times prophecy recognize the start of God’s End Times “COUNTDOWN CLOCK”, with Israel’s “reblooming”. In fact, Jesus, himself, gave us a MONUMENTAL CLUE to End Times timing that ties directly to that “REBLOOMING”. In Matthew 24, the disciples ask Jesus, “What will be the SIGN OF YOUR COMING AND THE END OF THE AGE”? Jesus then lists in chronological order both general and specific events leading up to and through the Tribulation, ending with the Second Coming in verse 31. But, then from verse 32 to verse 35, Jesus totally changes his pattern of speech, and veers off into a parable about a fig tree. Every parable Jesus ever told had a “deeper meaning”, and this one was no exception. Jesus first says, “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh; So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that IT IS NEAR, EVEN AT THE DOORS.” Jesus is referring in this parable to the “reblooming of Israel” after it’s 1,900 year “winter sleep”. Now, remember in verse 31, prior to this parable, he was speaking of his Second Coming. When he says “IT IS NEAR EVEN AT THE DOORS” he is referring to that Second Coming. Jesus then adds this, “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”

TRANSLATION: “I am telling you an important truth here.” “The generation that witnesses the reblooming of Israel shall not pass until all these End Times events I listed for you (including my Second Coming) have occurred.” But, how long is a “generation”? According to Psalm 90:10 “The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,” If the maximum age of a generation is 80 years, then even someone just born on the very day that Israel rebloomed on May 14, 1948, will turn 80 years old on May 14, 2028. So, Jesus is telling us with that parable, that “his Second Coming MUST HAPPEN NOT LATER THAN MAY 14, 2028!” Since the Tribulation is 7 years long, and precedes the Second Coming, “THEN THE LATEST POSSIBLE START DATE FOR THE TRIBULATION IS MAY 14, 2021! “ What else do we know of the timing of End Times Events?

Leviticus 23 describes 7 “FEASTS OF ISRAEL”. The Hebrew word for “feasts” (moadim) means “appointed times.” These Feasts have turned out to have “double” or even “triple meanings”.

1. Pesach (Passover), which commemorates the final judgment upon Egypt and the beginning of Jewish freedom from slavery. As New Covenant believers, we also see our Messiah “Yeshua” as being our Passover Lamb, passing us from death to eternal life.

2. Hag HaMatzot (Unleavened bread) is, in conjunction with and following Passover, a seven-day Moadim, (appointed time) when Jews do NOT eat any leavened bread or leavened by-products, only unleavened bread. Leavening is a symbol for sin. This commemorates the Jewish exodus from Egypt, when there was no time to allow their bread to rise. Jews and Christians are to remove all “leaven” from their lives.

3. Bikkurim (Feast of First Fruits) is the first day of the week (Sunday) following the first weekly Sabbath after the Passover. It commemorates the resurrection of life from the ground (both seeds that are planted, and The Messiah Yeshua). Yeshua was the first fruit of “those who sleep”.

4. Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) is the day following the seventh weekly Sabbaths following the Feast of First Fruits, and on this day Jews observe Shavuot (also called Pentecost). For Jews, this day commemorates Moses receiving the 10 commandments to guide them. For Christians, receipt of the Holy Spirit to guide them. For Christians, Pentecost also marks the birth of the church. (Acts 2)

5. Rosh HaShanah (Feast of Trumpets – also called Yom Teruah) is in late summer. This is the day Jews blow shofars (trumpets). It is a day of reminding and warning to them that “God’s judgment” and the “fall harvest” are both coming, and that Jews must prepare themselves. So far, this Feast has not been “fulfilled”, like the previous 3 have been.

6. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) falls ten Days after Rosh HaShananh. This is a day that the Lord commanded for fasting, humbling oneself, and praying… for God “closes the books” on each of the Jews on this day, so they must repent and make amends for all sins prior to this day. This Feast has also not yet been fulfilled.

7. Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) is an eight-day Moadim. This is a time of joy and celebration. Spiritually, Jews are reminded of that time long ago, when God shared “tabernacle” with them during their long trip through the desert following their exodus from Egypt. This Feast celebrates the “completion of the fall harvest”; and looks to their “coming harvest at the end of the age” ! Obviously, also not yet fulfilled!

TRANSLATION: The final 3 Feasts of Israel have not yet been fulfilled, but THEY WILL BE FULFILLED FOR THE JEWS. The FEAST OF TRUMPETS which “reminds and warns Jews that judgment and the ‘fall harvest’ is coming, and that all Jews must prepare themselves” will be fulfilled in September 2020 with the start of the final 7 year Tribulation. The DAY OF ATONEMENT upon which, “God closes the books”, will be fulfilled upon the Second Coming, at the end of the Tribulation. And shortly thereafter, the FEAST OF TABERNACLES, which celebrates the end of the harvest as well as the time when God made Tabernacle among them, will be fulfilled when Christ begins his 1,000 year reign from Jerusalem.

The FULFILLMENT OF THESE FINAL 3 FEASTS OF THE JEWS TELLS US THE LATEST STARTING DATE OF THE TRIBULATION. How? The Second Coming must happen on or before the spring of 2028, (due to the parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24, which we discussed.) THEREFORE, THE FINAL FALL IN WHICH THESE FEASTS OF ISRAEL CAN POSSIBLY BE FULFILLED IS THE FALL OF 2027. THUS, TO ALLOW FOR THE 7 YEARS REQUIRED, the TRIBULATION MUST START IN THE FALL OF 2020! We have another scripture that CONFIRMS THIS! When the Rev. 12 Sign actually appeared in September of 2017, thousands of “End Times Watchmen” warned of the IMMINENT RAPTURE OF “THE BORN-AGAIN CHURCH”, represented by the “CHILD” IN VERSE 5 OF THAT CHAPTER, BUT THE WOMAN (ISRAEL) BORE NO FRUIT!

AMAZINGLY, even THAT was prophesied! In Isaiah 26:18 we read, “We were pregnant, we writhed in pain, we GAVE BIRTH TO WIND. We have brought NO SALVATION TO THE EARTH, NOR BROUGHT ANY LIFE INTO THE WORLD”.

Though End Times “watchmen all over the world held their breath in excited anticipation in 2017”… when Revelation 12:1-2 actually appeared in the sky… but… NOTHING HAPPENED! Many “watchmen” actually gave up hope of ever understanding the End Times scriptures! But, in Luke 13:6-9, Jesus teaches us about “end times impatience”. He is talking with a group of Jews, and warns them with this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, THESE THREE YEARS I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, LET IT ALONE THIS YEAR ALSO, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:” And if it bear fruit, well: AND IF NOT, THEN AFTER THAT THOU SHALT CUT IT DOWN.” We (and Jesus) looked for FRUIT OF THE NEW COVENANT IN ISRAEL in the fall of 2017, 2018 and 2019… yet there was NONE! So as the “dresser of his vineyard” advised, Jesus should wait “1 MORE YEAR” until the ” before he “CUTS DOWN ISRAEL” and starts it’s second 7 YEAR TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE”. (Just like Jacob who suffered TWO seven year “times of trouble” in Genesis 29, so too will Israel. The first seven year period of Jacob’s Trouble started on “Krystallnacht” in 1938 Nazi Germany and ended with 6 million dead in the “Holocaust”, by the end of the war in 1945. In the final 7 year “Time of Jacob’s Trouble”, there is an even more frightening prophecy, “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, TWO PARTS THEREIN SHALL BE CUT OFF AND DIE; BUT THE THIRD SHALL BE LEFT THEREIN.” If this prophecy from Zechariah 13:8 were to come true, it could mean as many as 12 million Jews would die worldwide during the Tribulation, TWICE THE CASUALTIES OF THE HOLOCAUST.)

PROOF OF A PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE: Christ was raised on the day of the “First Fruits of the barley harvest”. Barley is the first crop to be harvested in the spring of the year. Consequently, we, the church in Christ, shall be the first “full crop” to be harvested, NOW THAT CHRIST BLESSED THE BALANCE OF THE HARVEST. We are already ASSURED THAT THE CHURCH WILL BE RAPTURED BEFORE THE JEWS ARE SAVED AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION. In Matthew 20, Jesus gives us a parable about the owner of a vineyard, who hires workers. “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’”

“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Verses 8-16)

TRANSLATION: Because the Jews were too proud of their being chosen by God before the Gentiles, they resented the Gentile Christians, and loved them not. Their rejection of Jesus caused God to move them to be the LAST FOR SALVATION AND THE GENTILE CHRISTIANS TO BE FIRST!

WE ALSO KNOW THE RAPTURE MUST HAPPEN PRIOR TO THE START OF THE TRIBULATION! How can we know that?

A. The Antichrist “rides forth to conquer” in Revelation 6:1-2, when Jesus breaks open the first of the seven seals on the scroll. Opening this first seal STARTS THE TRIBULATION, and the very first event is that “the Antichrist rides forth to conquer”.

B. 2 Thessalonians 2: 2-3 describes the Antichrist: “that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” It continues in verses 6 through 8: “And now ye know what RESTRAINETH that HE MIGHT BE REVEALED IN HIS TIME. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, UNTIL HE BE TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY. And THEN SHALL THAT WICKED BE REVEALED,…”

Prophecy doesn’t get any clearer than this! The Tribulation STARTS WITH THE REVEALING OF THE ANTICHRIST. But, HE CAN ONLY BE REVEALED WHEN THE “RESTRAINER” is “TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY”!

Who is the RESTRAINER? Who else but the Holy Spirit? Only the Holy Spirit is strong enough, and can live long enough for the 2,000 years required since Jesus to “hold back the revealing of the Antichrist.” God, the Father and Jesus, the Son are in Heaven “preparing a place for us.” (John 14:3) Michael, the Archangel, protects Israel, not the entire world. (Daniel 12:1) Besides, Michael will be fighting the “war in Heaven” prior to the Tribulation (Revelation 12:7-9) IT MUST BE THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND THE ONLY WAY TO TAKE HIM OUT OF THE WAY (since he lives forever in each of us who believe in Christ) IS TO RAPTURE US AND HIM OUT OF THE WAY, ALLOWING THE ANTICHRIST TO BE REVEALED.

Revelation 12 is actually an “outline” of major End Times events, if you can decipher it. As we briefly mentioned earlier, it starts out with John seeing “a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” (Verses 1 and 2) Obviously, this is a specific alignment of stars, planets, sun and moon; AND (as we previously mentioned) THAT SPECIFIC ASTRONOMICAL ALIGNMENT ACTUALLY APPEARED IN THE SKY FOR THE FIRST AND ONLY TIME EVER ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2017. (You can look up the “Rev. 12 Sign”) This woman represents Israel, but who is her “child”. In verse 5, we are told: “And she brought forth A MAN CHILD, WHO WAS TO RULE ALL NATIONS WITH A ROD OF IRON: and HER CHILD WAS CAUGHT UP UNTO GOD, AND TO HIS THRONE.” This sounds like Jesus, but it can’t be him. Jesus was not “caught up” to God right after his birth! Besides, Jesus was already born long ago! But, Jesus, himself tells us in Revelation 2:26-27 just WHO THIS CHILD IS! “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 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.”

TRANSLATION: “Those who overcome the flesh, the world and the devil (through Christ) will be “caught up to God and his throne” (for “caught up”, it uses the Greek word, “harpazo”, which means raptured).” IT IS THE CHURCH WHICH SHALL BE BORN AGAIN INTO OUR ETERNAL, INCORRUPTIBLE BODIES, just as promised in 1 Cor. 15:51. Now, Revelation 12, verses 1-2 have already been literally fulfilled back on September 23, 2017, how much longer can it be until verse 5 gets fulfilled?

Our Second Act comes to an end WITH THE CURRENT WORLDWIDE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. When was the previous worldwide pandemic? It first “broke out” in the spring of 1918 JUST AS THE CURRENT PANDEMIC BROKE OUT IN THE SPRING OF 2020! But, ALSO just as with the current Coronavirus, it began with IT’s patient “zero” in November of the previous year (2017), exactly when the hand of God moved mysteriously to cause the “Balfour Declaration”. Coincidence? Nothing in God’s plan is coincidental. There isn’t even a word for “coincidence” in Hebrew!

But, now we have another pandemic. In John 11 (NIV), we are told about a “fatal illness” which came upon Lazarus, who loved Jesus and whom Jesus loved. But, Jesus waited 2 days before coming to that one which he loved. Jesus proclaimed, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” And he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” When Jesus arrived there, he found Lazarus had been dead for 4 days, (just as Abraham, whom God loved, has now been dead 4,000 years!) And Jesus, since he IS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE DID WAKE LAZARUS! In that same exact way, this Coronavirus has not come for death, but “FOR GOD’S GLORY SO THAT GOD’S SON MAY BE GLORIFIED THROUGH IT.” Though we had been sick with sin since Abraham, Jesus came and began his healing, 2 DAYS (2,000 YEARS) LATER! We rejected and killed him, preferring the world and sin, yet he forgave us from the cross and became sin for us, in his great victory! He went to “prepare a place for us”, but HE HAS NOW (once again) WAITED 2 DAYS (2,000 ). So, it is finally time for him to come. It is time to CONTINUE THE BALANCE OF THE BARLEY HARVEST, and for the“FIRST FRUITS OF THE DEAD” to raise those “WHO DIED IN HIM”, and “THOSE ALIVE HERE PATIENTLY FAITHFUL TO HIM”. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) It is time for Jesus to fulfill the promise he made to us in Revelation 3:10 “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.” NO… THIS VIRUS, HAS NOT COME TO KILL US, BUT TO GLORIFY GOD AND TO AWAKEN US TO LIFE AND LIGHT IN CHRIST!

Bud Rolfs

Rising Star · April 21 at 1:52 AM

THE END TIMES DRAMA

ACT 3: “THE TERRIBLE NIGHT MUST PASS FIRST”

In our third Act, we open with a world in CHAOS, just after the rapture. IMAGINE how the sudden disappearance of hundreds of millions from all over the earth will shake modern civilization to it’s core. Suddenly, right on the heels of the Coronavirus global disaster, the mighty United States (one of only two countries in history founded upon the rock of God,) GETS PARTICULARLY HARD HIT WITH THE SUDDEN, UNEXPLAINED DISAPPEARANCES OF TENS OF MILLIONS OF IT’S CITIZENS! Plunging it into financial, economic and military shambles. While many US RIVALS…. Largely non-Christian countries find themselves totally unaffected and intact!

The world’s currency, the US Dollar suddenly plunges, as the amount of “US DEBT SOARS IN COMPARISON” to it’s newly “HALVED GDP ” virtually destroying the US credit rating. GLOBAL US debt holders (friend and foe alike) are “seriously wounded, suspicious, terrified and resentful”. As the world scrambles to explain and adjust to the worldwide disappearance of hundreds of millions of Christian adults and all children under age 10, “EVIL SUPERNATURAL ENTITIES WILL COME FORTH”. The rapture takes a huge amount of the Holy Spirit off the earth, because he “indwells” in all of the faithful, who were raptured. While here, he was a powerful restrainer of supernatural evil. And we have always been told, “…our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”. The rapture will allow Demons to come forth representing themselves as “extraterrestrials”. What a fantastic “cover story” for all of those “disappearances”. A far away gang of “bad space aliens” kidnapped the missing, and the “demons pretending to be aliens” are “friendly space aliens willing to help us get our loved ones back”! Could these “demons in alien clothing” explain the “miry clay” present in the End Times Antichrist Kingdom? “And of this clay, Daniel pronounced “‘THEY’... shall mingle themselves with the seed of men…” Just what kind of “THEY” was he referring to?

Regardless, the Tribulation holds off for perhaps 4 months or so after the rapture, and the world will start to try to pick up the pieces, when it finally calms down a bit after the initial panic! But, with the Holy Spirit “largely taken out of the way upon the rapture, the Antichrist will be preparing to “ride forth to conquer” as soon as Jesus opens that first seal on the scroll, just as described in Rev. 6:1-2. But, WHO IS THIS ANTICHRIST?

In Daniel 8, after a specific description of the Empire of Alexander, the Great, the scripture shifts to a description of the Antichrist. In verses 23 and 24, it says this of the Antichrist. “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, A KING OF FIERCE COUNTENANCE, AND UNDERSTANDING DARK SENTENCES, SHALL STAND UP. And his power shall be mighty, BUT NOT BY HIS OWN POWER: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, AND SHALL DESTROY THE MIGHTY AND THE HOLY PEOPLE.” This confirms a very specific connection between the Antichrist, and Alexander’s Kingdom. It further implies that Satan is the real source of his power. Remember that when Alexander died, his top 4 generals carved his massive empire into 4 kingdoms? (A northern, southern, eastern and western kingdom.) Later in our third act, we will hear the Antichrist described as the “King of the North”. This refers to the Northern Kingdom of Alexander, called in the ancient times, “the Seleucid Empire”. That part of Alexander’s Kingdom was made up of the modern nations of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Daniel 8:23-24 signals that the Antichrist springs forth from a “LATTER TIME PORTION OF ALEXANDER’S KINGDOM”. And Daniel 11 clinches it. The ANTICHRIST (King of the North in Daniel 11) WILL COME FROM THAT NORTHERNMOST SELEUCID KINGDOM, MEANING EITHER TURKEY, IRAN, IRAQ OR SYRIA! But, more on his identity later…

As mentioned earlier, the rapture is described in Revelation 12:5, so let us turn to Revelation 12 to see “what it suggests happens next”. We read in Revelation 12:6 “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that THEY should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” This sounds to most End Times students like the final 3 ½ years of the Tribulation, but THIS VERSE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWS THE RAPTURE IN VERSE 5, SO WE ARE AT THE VERY START OF THE TRIBULATION. Therefore, it has nothing to do with the last 3 ½ years, but instead refers to the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. WHAT COULD CAUSE “THE WOMAN” (Israel) TO “FLEE” AT THE START OF THE TRIBULATION? And just who are “THEY… WHO WILL FEED HER FOR 3 1/2 YEARS” ?

Just as prophesied in Psalm 83, all the nations and peoples “touching Israel” (Syria, Hamas in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinians). shall make war with her, seeing that her previous protector, the US has suddenly been so crippled. For… a “Secret Covenant” has been made between and among these “peoples and nations with the Antichrist. ALL OF THESE “COVERT AGENTS OF THE ANTICHRIST…. Syria, Hamas in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and the Palestinians attack Israel viciously but are all quickly and just as ruthlessly destroyed by Israel, never to rise again. Syria, Egypt, and Jordan are thus… the 3 “heads missing” from the 10 Nation Antichrist kingdom for the remainder of the Tribulation. Their early Tribulation DEFEAT explains why there are only “7 Heads left on the 10 horned beasts” that Daniel and John see. Israel’s victory over these is just as was prophesied by Isaiah in his 17th chapter “Woe to the many nations that rage— they rage like the raging sea! Woe to the peoples who roar— they roar like the roaring of great waters! Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale. In the evening, sudden terror. Before the morning, they are gone!”… It ends in mere days… but it stretches Israel to the maximum and weakens its ability to feed itself, (Isaiah 17:4 tells us… “In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away.”) because Israel must simultaneously invade and control much of those surrounding territories. In doing so, they are “ironically fed by these defeated rivals” for the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. All of these lands were always intended for Israel and promised to them by God, through Abraham, so they have long been “prepared by God for them”. And, as a result of this short but violent war, many Israelis must “flee parts of Israel “radioactively contaminated during this war.” This “small-warhead tactical nuclear attack” comes out of Syria, because Israel in turn uses a nuclear weapon against Damascus during this war, in response, as described in the opening of Isaiah 17: “See, Damascus will no longer be a city, but will become a heap of ruins.” This war fulfills Rev. 6:1-2 because it is the first “riding forth of the Antichrist to conquer.” Through a “secret covenant, the Antichrist makes with many for 7 years”, (Daniel 9:27) the Antichrist first uses these expendable “secret covenant agents” to try to destroy Israel before Christ comes to save it. And it only can START when Jesus opens the first of the seven seals on the scroll. The Antichrist will pretend to want peace PUBLICLY, and he will subsequently lead the 7 remaining Muslim nations of his Covenant, which hate Israel, and he will cause a peace treaty ENDING THE PSALM 93 WAR, to be signed. This treaty will free Israel to build the Third Temple (sharing the Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque). That temple must be finished before the mid-point of the Tribulation.

Simultaneously with the start of the Tribulation or even slightly before, the “Two Witnesses” of Revelation 11 appear in Jerusalem. In ancient Israel, everything required a minimum of two witnesses. Though the Pharisees could not even get two witnesses against Jesus, when they condemned him to death, Jesus will send two witnesses, Moses and Elijah, to “testify to Israel about life” and that Jesus is their Messiah. They shall have power to call down fire, initiate plagues and droughts, and spew fire from their mouths. For three and a half years, they shall work to bring Jews to Christ, until the Antichrist kills them right before the Abomination of Desolation. Right on global television, these two will publicly RESURRECT. (Rev. 11:12) “And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” Just as THESE TWO MINISTERS OF CHRIST LEAVE; 144,000 MORE ARE SEALED BY GOD TO MINISTER TO ISRAEL DURING THE FINAL 3 ½ YEARS. (Rev. 7 and 14) By what scripture tells us of these, they can only be “formerly deceased Jewish babies”, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes. They died some time after Jesus, and thus were “virgins, sinless, and without lies”. They died as innocents and grew up in Heaven, as special friends of Jesus (to whom he taught special songs known only to him and them). Jesus ALWAYS had a special relationship with children. We know they previously died, because they are now called “first fruits of Israel” (so like Jesus, they died, were resurrected, and must then be sent back). They get “sealed by the Holy Spirit before the start of the second half of the Tribulation, to enable them to complete their ministry to the Jews during the “Great Tribulation”. (before the winds “REALLY START TO BLOW”… in Rev. 7:1) They are not mentioned again until they are seen on Mount Zion, when Christ returns at the Second Coming, so we know they stay till the end. (Rev. 14:1)

During the first half of the Tribulation, while Jesus opens the first 6 seals of the scroll, “false Christ’s” will “pop up” in various places, just as Jesus warns of in Matthew 24 “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” And “… ye shall hear of wars and rumors of war… for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places.” Sometime before the 4th seal on the scroll, Satan and his angels lose the war in Heaven and are “cast down to the earth”. (Rev. 12:7-13) Back to Rev. 6…. “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. AND POWER WAS GIVEN UNTO THEM OVER THE FOURTH PART OF THE EARTH, TO KILL WITH SWORD, AND WITH HUNGER, AND WITH DEATH, AND WITH THE BEASTS OF THE EARTH.” At least a quarter of the world’s population will die (almost 2 BILLION PEOPLE) before the 5th Seal. And nuclear explosions shall erupt in various places, darkening the skies with smoke and there shall be immense earthquakes. But, the worst is yet to come!

At the half way point of the Tribulation, the Antichrist and False Prophet shall enter the Temple in Jerusalem and create an “Abomination of Desolation”. Since in ancient Jerusalem, that same feat was once done by Antiochus Epiphanes in 167BC, WHEN HE PLACED A STATUE OF ZEUS (SATAN) IN THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE, consequently, we know that the Antichrist will also pronounce himself (or Satan) as God, with his false prophet producing IN THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE… a “TALKING IMAGE THAT IS ALIVE AND HAS THE POWER TO KILL”. (Rev. 13:15) This act will also initiate a wholesale attack on Israel by all of the Antichrist nations identified in Ezekiel 38, and a SIMULTANEOUS attempt to conquer the world, by the Antichrist Kingdom. It is at this time that a “Jewish remnant”, (who have accepted Christ) flees to Petra in the former territory of Jordan. This is the SECOND PASSAGE ABOUT “ISRAEL FLEEING TO THE WILDERNESS” IN REV. 12:14 “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” This sounds much like verse 6, but happens 3 ½ years after verse 6, and involves a “massive airlift of Jews”. Unlike verses 6, the “face of the Serpent” (the Antichrist, the human face of Satan) is now ATTEMPTING TO DESTROY ALL OF ISRAEL NOT THROUGH PROXIES, BUT PERSONALLY, AND NOT COVERTLY BUT OPENLY! (That is why they now can SEE THE FACE! Additionally, “THEY” (the conquered of that Psam 93 War) now no longer feed these Jews. Instead, it is now God, who nourishes them … just as he did during their exodus from Egypt!

NOW, LET’s FOCUS ON NAILING DOWN THE SPECIFIC IDENTITY OF THIS ANTICHRIST! As we mentioned earlier, according to Daniel 11, a “King of the North” emerges from one of 4 modern nations (Iran, Iraq, Syria, or Turkey) and clashes with the armies of the “King of the South”. This King of the North is not a Demonic King, but a “Human Antichrist”, and though his initial covenant USING the Muslim nations and peoples which “touch Israel” shall fail, his later efforts in the Ezekiel 38 War meet with far greater success. We can now. eliminate Syria as a possible nationality of the Antichrist, because Syria is destroyed by Israel in that short, but crushing victory in the Psalm 83 war. But, what other clues do we have concerning his identity? In Rev. 2:13 Jesus is speaking to “the church of Pergamos”. “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.” When we put that verse together with Revelation 13:2 “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and THE DRAGON GAVE HIM HIS POWER, AND HIS SEAT, AND GREAT AUTHORITY.”… WE FINALLY HAVE THE NATIONALITY OF THE ANTICHRIST… BECAUSE PERGAMOS IS IN MODERN DAY TURKEY! And these two verses tell us that TURKEY IS WHERE SATAN DWELLETH AND WHERE HIS SEAT IS, WHICH HE ULTIMATELY GIVES TO HIS ANTICHRIST! So far, Turkey fits in every way, but do we have any other scriptural confirmation? Well, we already knew we were looking for a “RETURN OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE” from Revelation 17:10-11, which we addressed in Act 1, so TURKEY CERTAINLY FITS THAT! But, we also have several verses in Daniel 7 that identify the Antichrist as “THE LITTLE HORN”. Daniel 7:8,21,25 .....'I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another LITTLE HORN, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things” (BLASPHEMIES!). “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them.” (HE MARTYRS MANY CHRISTIANS DURING THE TRIBULATION) “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they” (ISRAEL) “shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.' (THE FINAL 3 ½ YEARS) Istanbul (capital of Turkey) sits on a noticeable land feature which looks very much like a “LITTLE HORN”, and has long been nicknamed, “THE GOLDEN HORN”! We also know he shall be a man of “fierce countenance” (Daniel 8:23) That is a PERFECT DESCRIPTION OF TURKISH PRESIDENT RECEP ERDOGAN! (And what is on the Seal of the President of Turkey? THE EIGHT POINTED STAR OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT! And we previously established a STRONG CONNECTION BETWEEN ANTICHRIST AND THAT EMPIRE OF ALEXANDER.)

……………………………………………………………..

Bud Rolfs

Rising Star · April 21 at 1:52 AM

THE END TIMES DRAMA

ACT 4: “THE DARKNESS GIVES WAY TO THE SON”

As even new Bible readers quickly learn, much is made of the “CONNECTION BETWEEN THE ANTICHRIST AND THE NUMBER 666”. In Revelation 13:16-18 we read a much misunderstood scripture:

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to RECEIVE A MARK IN THEIR RIGHT HAND, OR IN THEIR FOREHEADS: And that NO MAN MIGHT BUY OR SELL, SAVE HE THAT HAD THE MARK, or the NAME OF THE BEAST, or the NUMBER OF HIS NAME. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is THE NUMBER OF A MAN; and HIS NUMBER IS SIX HUNDRED THREESCORE AND SIX.” There is much to “unpack there”, so let’s break this down.

A. Every leader of the Ottoman Empire since 1517 claimed the “AUTHORITY OF CALIPH”.

B. “CALIPH” means “SUCCESSOR OR SUBSTITUTE” of Mohammed. (“God on earth”)

C. The “SEAL OF THE CALIPH” (called a “TUGHRA”) incorporates visually both the Greek and hebrew versions of the number 666 (“vav” three times for Hebrew and “stigma” three times for the Greek) SO, IT “IS THE SYMBOL OF A MAN -THE CALIPH”.

D. God would NEVER support the use of “GAMATRIA”, a Kabbalistic Hebrew system of assigning a numerical value to a name, word or phrase based on its letters. Many End Times enthusiasts have mistakenly tried to apply numbers to the names of world leaders in an attempt to identify the Antichrist.This is totally NON-BIBLICAL because Gamatria has its roots in Assyrian and Babylonian sorcery.

E. The number “666” also appears in the “SHAHADAH”. The “Shahadah”, is the Muslim profession of faith (“There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”). The “Shahadah” is often printed on headbands, on buildings above entrances, and on the flags of ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Hamas, the Taliban, Al-Shabaab, Jabhat al-Nusra, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and The Caucuses Emirate.

TRANSLATION: “666” is the number of a man…. The CALIPH of the REVIVED OTTOMAN EMPIRE of the TURKISH ANTICHRIST. He will ATTEMPT TO CREATE A WORLDWIDE “CALIPHATE”, and that will include SHARIA LAW. “BEHEADING” is the classic historical method of executing the death penalty under ISLAMIC SHARIA LAW. Sharia law also applies to business and commerce, even to “buying and selling”. In all the areas controlled by the Antichrist, he will impose Sharia law “FORCING “WORSHIP OF HIMSELF” AND THE “TAKING OF HIS MARK”. We know that during the Tribulation MANY CHRISTIANS WILL REFUSE THIS MARK because in Revelation 20:4 John records this ominous message: “… and I saw the souls of them that were BEHEADED for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” What other culture on earth uses “beheadings”?

So, Turkey and Erdogan, the Antichrist, with the help of his “7 REMAINING KINGS” (Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Algeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan) overrun the “King of the South” and his armies. The King of the South is a UNITED STATES LED COALITION OF NATO FORCES operating out of SAUDI ARABIA. Daniel 11:16 assures us “none shall stand before him: and he shall stand in the glorious land,” (ISRAEL) “which by his hand shall be consumed.”

Though, Saudi Arabia stands against the Antichrist in the End Times, God has old scores to settle with her, because MECCA is the “WHORE OF BABYLON”. Here are Revelation 17 verses describing this DISTURBING CHARACTERIZATION OF MECCA AS “A WHORE RIDING UPON A DRAGON WITH 7 HEADS AND 10 HORNS!”

Verse 18: “And the WOMAN which thou sawest is that great CITY, which reigns over the kings of the earth.” (So the Angel explains the “whore” represents a GREAT CITY.)

Verse 1: “the great whore… sitteth upon many waters” (This is explained by the Angel in verse 15. “The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” Islam and Mecca control many peoples, nations and tongues)

Verse 2: “With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” (All the kings of the earth have sought intimate relations with the Saudis because they were “drunk with her wine”… OIL!)

Verse 3: “The angel carried me” (John) “away in the spirit INTO THE DESERT: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” (Some argue Rome is the “Whore”, while others New York City. Only Mecca is in the desert of all the cities scholars claim to be the “Whore”. And only Islam, centered in Mecca and Medina is the starting religion of the Antichrist Kingdom.)

Verse 4: “decked with gold and precious stones and pearls,” (Mecca is famous for its fabulous wealth and world class marketplace for gold and precious gems!)

Verse 5: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (MECCA means “MOTHER”… “mother of false religions”! Islam is the largest pagan “false religion” ever in history!)

Verse 6: And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (No other pagan religion has killed more Jews and Christians than Islam.)

Verse 9: “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” (Many read this and think of Rome, but Mecca ALSO SITS ON 7 HILLS!)

Verse 16: “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.” (Late in the Second Half of the Tribulation, just prior to Christ’s Second Coming, the Antichrist Kingdom destroys Mecca and Saudi Arabia with nuclear weapons! This is confirmed in Revelation 18:8 “Therefore shall her plagues COME IN ONE DAY, DEATH, AND MOURNING, AND FAMINE; AND SHE SHALL BE UTTERLY BURNED WITH FIRE: FOR STRONG IS THE LORD GOD WHO JUDGETH HER.”)

17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. (God often uses evil to destroy evil.)

THE FINAL BATTLE: But, the “Kings of the East” (CHINA AND NORTH KOREA) are not going to yield control of the world’s oil supply, so they send a 200 million man army across the dried up bed of the Euphrates River to engage the Antichrist Kingdom, for they covet control of all that oil. We now have massive military forces, with Satan, his Antichrist and His False Prophet all “packing serious supernatural ‘heat’” as well. All converging North of Jerusalem, on the plains of Megiddo in the Valley of Jezreel. All of these forces sit poised near Jerusalem. And the Antichrist turns the minds of the Kings of the East towards “his purpose”… the destruction of Israel and the death of all Jews!. Satan finally is within a day or two of his cherished defeat of God’s plan for the salvation of the Jewish elect! But, God snatches victory from the very jaws of defeat! As prophesied in Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, BUT FOR THE SAKE OF THE ELECT THOSE DAYS WILL BE SHORTENED.”

“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matthew 24:30-31) In the rapture, no one but those raptured saw Jesus in the clouds, while at His Second Coming ALL SHALL SEE HIM COMING IN GLORY! At the rapture, the dead in Christ and those “Overcomers” alive, here in his Church, were “caught up” to meet Him in the clouds! (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) But, upon his Second Coming, He shall come to earth, and his angels shall bring the Jewish Elect (or Remnant) to Him at Mount Zion, in Jerusalem. That will fulfill the prophesy Jesus made, shortly before his death, when he said, “"Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, HOW OFTEN I HAVE LONGED TO GATHER YOUR CHILDREN TOGETHER, AS A HEN GATHERS HER CHICKS UNDER HER WINGS, AND YOU WERE NOT WILLING.”(Matthew 23:37) But, even then… after witnessing a “Pre-Tribulation rapture of Christian Believers”; after suffering through two seven year “Times of Jacob’s Trouble; after having the “Blindness to Jesus” removed from their eyes… how many FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS will Jesus find among the Jewish People? I fear the answer may lie in the “Parable of the 10 Virgins” in Mathew 25.

“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.” (Verses 1-13) THIS SCRIPTURE IS ONLY A PARABLE FOR THE JEWS! We Christians are not BRIDESMAIDS, BUT BRIDES! We Christians are NOT ASLEEP WHEN THE GROOM COMES! And we Christians do not require THE GROOM TO COME BACK FOR US, (Only the Jews require that.) IS THIS PARABLE SAYING THAT ONLY 5 OF EVERY 10LIVING JEWS WILL ACCEPT CHRIST?

Many Christians mistakenly read this parable and think it relates to Christians and the rapture. But those that do, do not know how to “rightly divide the Word of God”! We were TOLD IN 2 TIMOTHY 2:15 TO “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” If you do not understand that the “PREACHINGS OF THE AGE OF GRACE DID NOT START UNTIL PAUL AND THE FIRST PENTECOST”, you will fail to understand a critical aspect of God’s Plan! Jesus said, “I was not sent, except for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Too many of you reading this struggle with the idea that Jesus EVER SAID SUCH A THING! Wasn’t Jesus sent to SAVE THE WORLD?

Yes, of course! BUT, GOD HAD A SPECIFIC PLAN THAT RAN “THROUGH THE JEWS”! It was through the Jews that God issued His Law, preserved His Word, and sent His Son. This is why, elsewhere, Jesus tells a Samaritan that “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). In Matthew 15, when the Jewish Messiah says that He was sent to “the house of Israel,” He is confirming His Mission is part of God’s plan, as documented in Old Testament history. Christ was “born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Galatians 4:4-5), and THROUGH THEM… SALVATION FOR THE GENTILES!

So, if you read scripture PRIOR TO PAUL (and the first Pentecost in Acts 2); YOU WILL NOT READ PREACHING ABOUT THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, OR ABOUT THE RAPTURE, OR ABOUT ANYONE OTHER THAN THE JEWS! (This is not to say there are NO USEFUL MESSAGES for Christians, or PROPHECIES ABOUT CHRISTIANS AND THE RAPTURE) But, if you follow “Biblical Orders” and “Rightly Divide”, you understand which scriptures are for the Jews, which scriptures are for the Christians, and which are for both.

BACK TO THE SECOND COMING: in Revelation 19:2, we pick up the action right after the destruction of Mecca and Saudi Arabia by nuclear weapons: “For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.”

We read in verses 7 and 8: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and HIS WIFE hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” The BRIDE OF CHRIST TALKED ABOUT HERE IS THE CHURCH (Ephesians 5:25-27); and NOTE, THE SHE IS IN HEAVEN, GETTING DRESSED, JUST ABOUT TO RETURN WITH CHRIST AT HIS SECOND COMING! (This positively destroys any theory about a “Post-Tribulation Rapture”.) Both Christ and the Bride ride horses down to the earth as documented in verses 11-14. And just how does Jesus make out against the gathered armies of the North and East, numbering well over 200 million men; led by Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet? He DESTROYS THEM WITH THE PO OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” (Verse 15) “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” (Verses 20 and 21)

- THE END -

EPILOGUE: An epilogue for any unfamiliar with this term is “a section at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment on or a conclusion to what has happened.” In our introduction, we said we wanted to help you understand THE CAST AS WELL AS THE DRAMA. So, in our epilogue, let’s clarify the END RESULTS for the entire cast.

THIS IS OUR “END TIMES DRAMA” CAST OF CHARACTERS

1. Jesus “Star of the End Times Drama”: Jesus goes on to live and rule on earth for 1,000 years. After that, all the long dead, any who died during the 1,000 years, and any alive at the end of that 1,000 years are judged by Jesus. Those with faith are rewarded with eternal life in a “New Heaven and New Earth”. (Rev. 21)

2. Satan “The Villain”: Imprisoned in chains for the 1,000 year reign, Satan breaks free and leads a final rebellion against the Kingdom of God. Then he and all who follow him are cast into the lake of fire. “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20)

3. The Holy Spirit “Powerful Weapon of God”: “One in Being with the Father and Son, forever!”

4. Angels “2 groups of powerful supernatural servants of Jesus and Satan, respectively”: All of the angels of God continue to serve God forever. All of the Angels who served Satan are destroyed in the Lake of Fire! (Rev. 20)

5. “Kingdoms of the World” Past and future Empires that ruled/ will rule the “world”: Nebuchadnezzar’s dream comes true! All the kingdoms of man are destroyed, and only the Kingdom of God continues forever! (Daniel 2)

6. Antichrist “Satan’s Hand-Picked End Times Leader” Into the Lake of Fire. (Rev. 19)

7. False Prophet “Antichrist’s Religious Assistant” Into the Lake of Fire. (Rev. 19)

8. An Antichrist Kingdom “10 Countries formed in Covenant with Antichrist”: Their armies are destroyed at Armageddon, as are all who took the mark of the Beast.

9. The Church “Living OVERCOMERS of the flesh, the world and the devil through their faith in Jesus”: These serve God as priests and kings during the 1,000 years and live with God forever in the New Heaven and New Earth. (Rev. 21)

10. The Saints “Left behind at the rapture, these come to Christ during the Tribulation”: They receive their eternal, incorruptible bodies at the end of the Tribulation. (Rev. 20:4-5)

11. The Jewish Elect or Remnant “After the rapture, these accept Christ during the Tribulation” When Jesus was crucified, though there is no direct scripture on it, we believe that Jesus went to Sheol. Sheol had two separated sections. One (Hades) where the wicked went to be in torment, and “the Bosom of Abraham” where “righteous Jews” lived happily as spirits. Jesus somehow accepted them and freed them of all sin, allowing their souls to go to Heaven. That was “just”, as these righteous Jews could not accept Christ during life, because Christ had not come yet. When Christ came in flesh, the Jews were “blinded by God to enable salvation for the Gentiles”. Jesus said “that the first” (the Jews):”would be LAST”… NOT LOST! So, we believe that these BLIND BUT RIGHTEOUS JEWS will be saved by Christ, just as their ancestors were when Jesus rescued THEM! We believe that the VERY LAST SOULS TO RECEIVE ETERNAL, INCORRUPTIBLE BODIES ARE THESE JEWS (both the righteous dead as well as the remnant!)

12. King of the North, King of the South and Kings of the East (“Tribulation leaders of opposing military forces”) The only King is Jesus!

13. The “Dead in Christ” currently Spirits in Heaven, but in need of eternal, incorruptible bodies: Receive those bodies upon the Pre-Tribulation rapture.

14. A whole bunch of Armies: The “faithful” live through Christ. All others go to death and darkness.

15. A variety of Satanic Demonic Creatures: LAKE OF FIRE!

16. “The Doomed” Those who accept the “Mark of the Beast” or “Antichrist”: LAKE OF FIRE!

17. “Innocent, neutral Survivors” Those non-Christians who survive the Tribulation without worshipping the Antichrist or taking “His Mark”: There will be many of these who will be sorted as the “sheep” (Matthew 25:31-46). They will live, and repopulate the earth during the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth, and will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgement. (Rev. 20:12-13)

18. The Righteous Jews (Jews who COULD NOT KNOW CHRIST because they were “BORN BEFORE CHRIST” or “WERE BLINDED TO CHRIST BY GOD TO ALLOW FOR THE SALVATION OF THE GENTILES”) These are the LAST RAPTURED OF THE FIRST RESURRECTION.

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