Raising Children under Godly principles is NOT easy, especially if you feel something is not quite right. You know the feeling - do you truly belive what you are teaching your Kids?
For many years our own family sat under the teachings of faith filled Ministries, such as the Copelands, Jesse Duplantis, Joyce Meyer and others. Our local Church, and Christian Schools had close ties with these groups and similar doctrines.
Are they teaching Biblical Truths?
Lets explore and find some answers!
I was talking to my oldest son the other day on how God has opened my mind to Biblical Truths and Prophecy and most of what we were taught concerning God - Jesus - End Times and shared with our children was WRONG!
My son mentioned how he was fearful on hearing talk about Rapture, End Times, Mark of the Beast and such. It pains me to hear that, although our intentions were good (Like many others) we chose the LAZY way.
That pain soon turns to excitement as they (my kids) and others will not only CLEARLY see the truth, but have the ability to research the truth for themselves.
Lazy or passive Christianity is not a good place to be. You become easy prey for the Devil. Its very comfortable to just sit and listen, but what God really wants is for us to research the scriptures ourselves. Let each scripture define itself, not just listen or read a particular scripture that satisfies a pastor/teacher doctrine.
Often scriptures are interpreted incorrectly that puts us in a position of deception.
Now, that is a very bad place to be!
The Myths and Untruths we unknowingly believed and subsquently taught our Children...
-- The Seven Year Tribulation
-- Heaven
-- 1000 Years Reign
-- The Mark of the Beast
-- End times in General
-- Anti-Christ
-- Death
-- Most importantly "The Law"
Much of the above can be found on this site, but today I want to summarize and encourage all (Including my Children) to discover or re-discover the roadmap God has created for you and me.
You know what, its not even difficult!
Lets begin today with...
Part One: The Seven Year Tribulation
I was taught and of course shared with my children that the "Seven Year Tribulation is coming" and GET READY!
My Goodness, I had the GET READY part correct (waiting for Jesus second coming), but the Tribulation is done and dusted! We have already been through the Tribulation! It over!!
This could shock many; buts lets look at what God says about this...
Is this a lie of Antichrist and his preachers to hide the truth? Many preachers today get this seven year tribulation prophecy out of Daniel and Revelation.
Some even go so far as to split it in half declaring a three and a half year of tribulation on the horizon. What does the Bible say about all this? Are they correct? Or does the Word of God reveal something they aren't sharing on all this?
Revelation 13:5 speaks of this time of great tribulation as Forty Two months - "...and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months."
The Forty Two months of Rev 13:5 and the "a time, and times and dividing a time" of Daniel 7:25 actually equal the same thing.
As well all know by simply reading a calendar, the 42 months of Revelation 13: 5 equals "3 1/2 years" Daniel describes the length of this great tribulation to be, a "a time" (one year) "and times" (two years) "and the dividing of time" (half a year ).
Now just do the math. 1 year + 2 years + half a year = three and a half years, or forty two months like Revelation 13:5 describes it.
It gets better yet!
Revelation 12:6 confirms all this when it says that the church of Jesus would hide in the wilderness for exactly 1260 days. 42 months, or 3 and a half years actually equals 1260 days.
Still, some will say that 42 months does NOT equal 1260 days because all our months do not equal 30 days each. What they fail to realize is at the time these prophecies were penned, all months in the Hebrew calendar were 30 days each. So whenever a month is mentioned in prophecy, students of prophecy understand it to be 30 days in length.
What does all this mean?
Historical records reveal the papacy (Roman Catholic rule) began its reign in 538 AD upon Emperor Justinian's decree, and under the military protection of Belisarius.
The Bible says the beast will rule for EXACTLY 1260 years before receiving a mortal wound.
If the prophecy is correct, 1260 years after 538 AD the Beast must receive a mortal wound.
If you add 1260 years to the "official" beginning year for the Roman Catholic church became a "church and state" religion, 538 AD, you will arrive in the year 1798 AD.
According to the Bible we are told the first reign of the Beast will last till the year 1798 . So, did it end in 1798, and how? First understand, according to the prophecy, we learn that, "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword..." Revelation 13:10.
The prophecy is telling us that the beast would be destroyed with the sword (sword = military) at the end of its reign of exactly 1260 years. Did this happen to Papal Rome in 1798...? YES IT DID!
On February 10th Napoleon Bonaparte in that EXACT year 1798 A.D. sent his General Louis Alexandre Berthier, with his army into Rome, Italy. It is recorded...
"In 1798 General Berthier made his entrance into Rome, abolished the papal government, and established a secular one." -Encyclopedia Britannica 1941 edition
That's Exactly 42 prophetic months, or 1260 years, or a time, and time, and dividing a time after the Papacy began its powerful reign that the Pope "shall go into captivity" by the military! By the way, shortly after his captivity the Pope did in fact die in exile.
How does all this tie in with the "Done and Dusted Tribulation"?
The Vatican admitted on March 12, 2000 that they killed those followers of Christ in a bevy of torturous ways. This church boiled in oil, burned alive, sawed in half, buried alive, skinned alive, crushed to death, stretched to death, hanged, impaled, drawn and quartered, drowned, cast off cliffs hundreds of millions of Christians.
Many were tortured in ways that would bring tears to even the hardest hearts. Yet many preachers today declare unto all that this day is soon in coming?
They are in essence declaring Jesus lied, and those 150 or 500 million could not have been what He meant when He spoke of a great tribulation!
In fact, they declare that Jesus will come back and secretly remove all the Christians and leave the rest behind to deal with 7 years of tribulation.
I ask, is this true? Can the Bible confirm this? Or will the Bible expose this as a lie?
And How Did The Seven Year Tribulation Theory begin?
A short explanation as to how and why the 7 year tribulation theory got its start.
And then I would like to share a group of prophecies Jesus said would happen directly AFTER the Catholic church was mortally wounded and stopped killing Christians. You will be amazed to see that those prophecies were fulfilled exactly when Jesus said they would be.
The Rapture: Rooted in Catholicism! -Its very important to grasp what you are about to read.
The foundation of the rapture theory was laid over 400 years ago upon the specific orders of the Catholic Church!
Every Christian needs to understand how this fabrication of error was designed to neutralize the great Protestant Reformation. If the facts of history were known by Protestants today who defend with such great emotion the rapture theory and the futurist antichrist doctrine, they would be horrified.
Luther and his fellow reformers boldly identified the pope as the "man of sin," and labeled the Catholic Church as the antichrist of prophecy. In response to those charges, the hierarchy assigned two Jesuit priests to develop counter- interpretations which would turn the onus away from the Catholic Church. In spite of the fact that the two men founded opposing schools of interpretation, their theories have survived to form the basis of most modern Protestant theology today.
Not only did they effectively blunt Luther's assessment of the papacy as the antichrist, but they cleverly divided and diluted the "protest" of all the churches which grew out of the Reformation movement. Modern religious observers were astounded in January, 1984, when men like Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell meekly accepted and defended the establishment of United States political ties with the Vatican.
Why could those famous Protestant spokesmen see no danger in being allied with the Church of Rome? Because they are deceived, along with millions of others, by the Catholic-contrived theories of those two priests which have almost eclipsed the historic, biblical position of the Reformers. If the spiritual descendants of Luther and Wesley now had the same doctrine which they taught, not a single Lutheran or Methodist would favor any kind of alliance with the papacy today.
Now let's take a look at these two Spanish priests who flooded the sixteenth century with their counter-Reformation propaganda. Alcazar of Seville applied all the beast prophecies to Antiochus Epiphanes, who lived long before the popes began to rule in Rome. His system of interpretation came to be known as the Preterist School of prophecy. On the other hand, Jesuit Francisco Rivera invented a system known as the Futurist School of interpretation.
He taught that the antichrist was to be some future superman who would appear near the end of time and continue in power for three and a half years. It is his clever, unscriptural theory which has been resurrected by modern evangelical Protestant Christians. And today millions of Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, etc., hold this anti-Protestant concoction of the Jesuits as some kind of infallible doctrine.
Yet, those same denominations claim to be faithful supporters of Protestant theology. Luther and other stalwart protestors against Catholic errors would be astounded if they were suddenly resurrected to hear what is being taught in the name of Protestantism. In the early 1800s the futurist view of Jesuit Ribera passed through certain refinements and additions, including the seven-year tribulation and the snatching away of the saints.
For the first time, it was espoused by Protestant teachers who were seeking ways of reconciliation with Rome. Through the influence and writings of John Nelson Darby of the Plymouth Brethren Church in England, the new doctrine spread to the United States. During the middle and latter nineteenth century, it received its biggest boost from Cyrus Scofield, who incorporated it into the notes of his Scofield Reference Bible published in 1909.
Lets see what Jesus Christ himself said about the GREAT TRIBULATION
Be prepared to find out something perhaps no one has ever told you before. I pray you also understand by the short preface I just shared that there is a reason they hid this from you.
They don't want you to be ready for the Lord's arrival!
They want you to be looking for a diffrenent prophetic fulfillment rather then the final one. Biblical fact is, the children of the Lord do understand prophecy. That is why Jesus does NOT come as a thief in the night to His child. And here is Biblical proof of that fact...
JESUS COMES AS A THIEF TO THE WICKED: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2, "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."
JESUS DOES NOT COME AS A THIEF TO THE REMNANT: 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6, "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober."
Most preachers refuse to share those verses with you simply because if they do share them they fear you will want more information so as to be ready. Problem is, they don't have any more info because they never study prophecy which would in turn teach them of the urgency of the times we live in as well as inform them how to ready themselves.
What's worse, they know they don't have the answers their flock seek in the area of prophecy, so they stop short in the Word to prevent them from questioning their message and bombarding them with embarrassing questions that may get them removed from the pulpit due to lack of knowledge.
An excellent example of this is the infamous "Left Behind" video series. They twist a few verses all throughout the movie to make it appear there will be a 7 year great tribulation. But when it comes time for the great tribulation to begin in the movie, THEY LITERALLY END THE MOVIE!! Why? Because they cannot preach lies using Scripture! You cannot back up man's words with God's Word. It simply can't be done! So, they choose to "suggest" their message, twist a few verses to make it appear valid, and then run off.
So... Is there a 7 year tribulation in the future?
Or has it already happened?
Fact is, you're about to find out IT DID ALREADY OCCUR!
Jesus declared "certain prophecies" MUST be fulfilled directly after the great tribulation of Matthew 24.
See here the documented proof that THOSE PROPHECIES HAVE IN FACT BEEN FULFILLED, and they were fulfilled directly after a time in History when the Vatican killed over 500 million innocent Christians.
PROPHECY # 1
JESUS SAID BEFORE HE RETURNS, HIS FOLLOWERS IN JERUSALEM MUST FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS, AND THEN JERUSALEM WILL BE DESTROYED
Matthew 24:15,16 "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:"
HISTORIC FACT IS...
In A.D.66 when Cestius came against the city, but unaccountably withdrew, the Christians discerned in this the sign foretold by Christ, and fled while 1,100,000 Jews are said to have been killed in the terrible siege in A.D. 70. (The attack of the Roman warrior Titus occurred in 70AD killing the 1,100,000 Jews) Eusebius, Church History, book 3, chap. 5
The Christians living at the time Cestius came against the city, and then withdrew, understood exactly what was happening. They remembered the prophecy Jesus made in Matthew 24:15,16 and fled to the mountains before the Roman army returned in 70AD with Titus.
Could it be Cestius was "casing the joint" as we say in today's lingo? For whatever reason, the Lord saw fit to warn His children in advance of this day and they glorified Him by believing His prophetic statements and fleeing as He suggested they should.
As the history book records we see that the non-believing Jews in the city saw no danger when Cestius stopped by. And because they chose to deny Jesus and ignore His prophecy, they paid for their disbelief with their very lives!
1,100,000 men woman and children DIED when Titus returned to burn Jerusalem to the ground. They could have all been spared a horrible death had they just believed in this one mere prophecy of our Lord!
Think about today and all the prophecies that have been fulfilled over the years in just our lifetime alone. What an honor, to be loved so deeply by the Almighty Creator that He would warn us in advance like this.
After I read about this prophetic event as a young Christian I understood the importance of prophecy and why the Lord saw fit to bless us with it. I actually saw two reasons for His prophecy.
(1) PROPHECY GLORIFIES GOD IN HIS TRUTH
(2) IT'S GOD'S PERFECT METHOD OF WARNING HIS CHILDREN!
When we see the Almighty's prophecy come to light with 100% accuracy like this, we see a true and awesome Creator who knows all, has created all, and does in fact see all. We also see a God that loves His children so much that He actually writes them a book that shares with them the one true and accurate method by which to live and prepare themselves for His eternal Kingdom. Which by the way, is VERY soon in coming as you will soon see.
PROPHECY # 2
THE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS WILL EXPERIENCE A GREAT PERSECUTION, OR "TRIBULATION" BEFORE HIS RETURN
Matthew 24:21 "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."
This Great Tribulation that Jesus speaks of here in Matthew 24 is one prophecy that is so often taken out of context. It is actually taught by some as being at some time in the future.
But what about all the history books that record the Dark Ages with such unintentional prophetic accuracy? Are we to assume that this documented period in history is one that should be forgotten, or looked at lightly?
Are we supposed to say that over 500 Million Christians slaughtered for their faith in Jesus as being a time in history that isn't recorded in God's Prophetic Word?
Does not the book of Revelation, as well as Daniel speak of a period of persecution occurring? Does it not plainly state Antichrist will attack and kill many Christians? Think about it for a moment... All the history books in every library on earth record a period of time with intense religious persecution. Here are just a few excerpts...
"For teaching faith contrary to the teaching of the Church of Rome, history records the martyrdom of more than 100 million people." Brief Bible Readings p. 16
Under the bloody maxims those persecutions were carried on, from the eleventh and twelfth centuries almost to the present day, which stand out on the page of history.
After the signal of open martyrdom had been given in the canons of Orleans, there followed the extirpation of the Albigenses, under the form of a crusade, the establishment of the inquisition, the cruel attempts to extinguish the Waldenses, the martyrdoms of the Lollards, the cruel wars to exterminate the Bohemians, the burning of Huss and Jerome, and multitudes of other confessors, before the Reformation; and afterwards, the ferocious cruelties practised in the Netherlands, the martyrdoms of queen Mary's reign, the extinction, by fire and sword, of the reformation in Spain and Italy, by fraud and open persecution in Poland, the massacre of Bartholomew, the persecution of the Huguenots by the League,... and all the cruelties and perjuries connected with the revocation of the edict of Nantz [Nantes].
These are the more open and conspicuous facts which explain the prophecy, besides the slow and secret murders of the holy tribunal of the inquisition. -Rev. T. R. BIRKS, M.A., The Four Prophetic Empires, and the Kingdom of Messiah (1845 ed.) pp. 248, 249
The church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among mankind, will be questioned by no Protestant who has a compentant knowledge of history.
The memorials, indeed, of many of her persecutions are now so scanty that it is impossible to form a complete conception of the multitudes of victims, and it is quite certain that no powers of imagination can adequately realize their sufferings. -W.E.H. LECKY, History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, (Reprint; New York: Braziller, 1955) Vol.2 pp. 40-45
The Dark Ages (Or Middle Ages) have been recorded in almost every history book available today, however, you may find that some of the modern day history books have altered or even omitted certain historical facts that can be easily researched in most local libraries.
Rome has been able to do this over the course of our lifetime alone. Everyone knows about the Inquisitions, the crusades, and all the tirades across the Globe that this church has bragged about in days of old. But do any of the preachers or teachers speak of this time as beign a prophetic event recorded in the Word of God? No they have not.
Rome has even stepped into the learning institutions to assure they won't even be taught these truths before they become pastors. However, the Internet has arrived, and now everyone on Earth has access to the largest library of information known to man.
This is one of the main reasons the Pope decided to apologize to the world in his "mea-culpa" of March 12, 2000 for torturing and killing all those Christians. Almost anyone with access to a computer, can now verify just what Rome did. Not ALL the books were destroyed.
And many of them are now accessible ONLINE! In fact, it no longer matters if your in a poor country, or unable to buy such a book. They now have Internet Cafe's in most countries, and in the USA your local libraries allow anyone to sit down and browse the World Wide Web for FREE!
All the doctored history books in the world can't change the fact that Rome tortured and killed those innocent people. We have more proof now than did the innocent people living in that day!
Think of it, 100 MILLION! That actually dwarfs Hitler's holocaust by comparison! Some historians, like John Foxe, of Foxe's book of Martyrs are even estimating the death toll at just over 500 MILLION!
This period was indeed the most extensive attack to date ever on the true Christian church in the history of mankind. But still, some preachers will go so far as to say this day is yet to come. Don't let those preachers of error scare you into thinking it's better to be a sinner than a saint because of a precarious future ahead.
Of course all Christians will become extremely un-popular soon, and they will experience a short time of trouble as well as the "...time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it." [Jeremiah 30:7]
We have an Almighty and Loving Heavenly Father that will protect and keep us during the trouble Jeremiah speaks of.
However, the wicked will be all alone when the "time of Jacob's trouble" is realized. They haven't learned how to trust and rely on the God of all creation for protection in this intense time.
And those that knowing the Truth concerning these facts waited until the troubles started to walk with Christ, they too will be found lost when Christ arrives. For they do not love Christ as Lord, and seek to please Him with their lives. They only seek Him as a way out of Hellfire, and this is not why He came. Sure, those that follow Christ will escape damnation. But this is not why we follow Him. We do so because we love Him.
Yes there is indeed a time of spiritual as well as physical trouble coming to this planet very soon, however, when the plagues do begin to fall, it is entirely directed toward the wicked, NOT the Christian!
The Bible states very plainly that the children of God will be spared the seven last plagues of Revelation. The Un-Believer is the one that has the wrath of God poured upon him, and this wrath is poured WITHOUT mercy!
Revelation 14:9,10 "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:"
100 Million Christians, perhaps 500 Million! And they were all killed because the apostate Roman Catholic church thought they were doing God a favor by their terrorist methods of evangelizing!
This brings to mind another prophecy that Jesus makes in the book of John about how the children of God will actually be persecuted by their very own religious leaders.
JESUS SAID IN... John 16:2 "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."
Were you aware thet the Pope almost echoed verbatim what Christ said in this passage? The Pope of Rome admitted in his
To think that some religious leaders have actually been blinded so much that they think torturing a person, sometimes for days on end, and then eventually killing that person rather than preaching the Gospel to them is the method Jesus would have instructed them to do. This is evidence of the power and ability of a diabolical enemy we have found ourselves engaging. Nevertheless, don't let that slow you down one bit.
For the Word says... "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." [Philippians 4:13]
The next three prophecies are a bit on the extraordinary in manner. Some would say shocking. I honestly believe that this is no mistake. I believe Jesus planned it that way so that when the prophecy comes to be, it can in no way be mistaken for anything less than fulfillment.
I will not be a bit surprised if you never knew these next three prophecies were actually fulfilled. The enemy has been very busy keeping these facts hidden from the general public. This has been going on for many hundreds of years. Rome has been very crafty in making sure certain facts were hidden from the general public.
Whenever an event occurs in history of Biblical proportions, the media of the day always seems to do a hush hush on it. Not unlike today in fact. They always seem to use the reason for playing it down to be that they want to prevent wide spread panic. I have recently noticed watching the TV news, many times a reporter will report an event that was actually prophesied in the Bible.
But later the story will be absolutely impossible to find repeated on any other newscast or network. It's almost as if they realized their snafu of letting the prophecy confirmation air, and then decided to do a hush hush job on it to spare us the details.
These next three prophecies are just like that. History does however record them in vivid detail. So be ready to see a prophecy of old come to light this very day. I have talked with many Christians about these prophecies, and with true honesty, I have to say that over 90% were amazed that they never knew of these particular facts!
PROPHECY # 3,4, & 5 are ALL found IN Matthew 24:29, and proclaimed by Jesus Himself!
PROPHECY # 3
THE SUN WILL BE TURNED TO DARKNESS
Matthew 24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:"
Documented historical facts reveal...
Timothy Dwight, president of Yale, remembered that "a very general opinion prevailed, that the day of judgment was at hand. The [Connecticut] House of Representatives, being unable to transact business, adjourned," but the Council lighted candles, preferring, as a member said, "to be found at work if the judgment were approaching." (See JOHN W. BARBER, Connecticut Historical Collections [2d ed., 1836], p.403)
... If every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes was equally invisible with the blackest velvet." -SAMUEL TENNEY, Letter (1785) in Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, part 1, vol.1 (1792 ed.), pp.97,98
The remarkable Dark Day of May 19, 1780, is described by Samuel Williams of Harvard, The professor relates... "between the hours of ten and eleven a.m., and continued until the middle of the next night,... Candles were lighted up in houses; ... the birds having sung their evening songs, disappeared, and became silent;... the fowls retired to roost; ... the cocks were crowing all around, as at the break of day; ... objects could not be distinguished but at a very little distance; and everything bore the appearance and gloom of night." -Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences [through 1783], vol.1 pp. 234,235.)
How can anyone deny such documented testimonies?
Did you notice who these testimonies were from? A YALE president... The Historical Society of Massachusetts... And a HARVARD professor!
These are credible witnesses! Over Sixteen and a half centuries earlier, the Lord Jesus said that after the tribulation period (1260 year dark ages) ended, these signs would begin to appear!
And as we always see with the prophecy of an Almighty Omnipotent God... THE SIGNS OF HIS COMING DID INDEED BEGIN TO APPEAR
Some of you are probably a little shocked right now. Some of you may have always believed this day was still to arrive.
Don't let that bother you though, you found out today, just as the Lord had planned for some of you. The enemy has been very cunning in his ability to hide the truth from many people for thousands of years.
Today's time is no exception, as a matter of fact, today is more likely to be a conglomerate of confusing demonic lying attacks on the truth mainly because "...the devil is come down... having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. " [Revelation 12:12]
So expect the worse people. Absolutely every aspect of battle, every scrap of lying wonders, is being showered on mankind with such density that it boggles the mind.
I have noticed something a bit obvious though. The enemy has a tendency to always show his hand. Take for example, the fact that so many people have trouble believing in Jesus today.
The devil has geared his attack directly upon faith in Jesus! How obvious is that, I ask? One can actually find the truth by merely looking at what threatens the devil the most!
It's truly become that obvious, and rightly so. It's the end times and the devil knows his time is short. Certain aspects of his attack are being exposed mainly because so many have fallen for his lies that their hidden agendas are bound to leak out and become visible to all.
I am not alone in this either. Many have noticed the signs and have realized this proves the enemy knows his time is extremely short. It is easily noticed by watching the way mankind has played the trends as well.
Let me explain... In the 50's we had greasers and Fonzie types as a method of sin exploration. In the 60's we had the beatniks. In the 70's we had the hippies and free love. In the 80's it was the leisure suit clad Disco scene that enticed many into a world of sin.
But look at the 90's and later. Every single method of the past is back! They are all playing out all at the same time, including some new decadent trends as well. It's almost as if the enemy is saying... "I had them dying on a daily basis using these methods in the 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's. Why not get them to recall the trends of the past in one last hoorah before game over!"
It's a fact people! Visit any big city and you will see people emulating trends of the 50's through the 90's all at the same time! These young people (and old alike) are seeking an answer to their inner self in places that are extremely deadly. The devil has convinced them that they have found themselves and need not look to the Bible for the answer. It's so sad and even ironic. They are searching for peace, and the very things that can give them peace is what they avoid at all costs!
PROPHECY # 4
THE MOON WILL BE TURNED TO THE APPEARANCE OF BLOOD
Matthew 24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:"
We see here that the prophecy states that the moon will not give her light directly after the sun is darkened.
I like looking to the book of Joel to further illustrate this prophecy.
Joel actually explains why the moon will not give her light and shine in her normal brilliance. We also understand this is speaking of the same prophetic event, because Joel places it in the same chronological order as Christ does in Matthew 24.
Joel 2:31 "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come."
We see why in the book of Joel that the moon will have trouble shining on that day. It will appear to look as if it's covered in blood. This isn't the only reason I went to this particular verse. The reference to the bloody appearance is an important aspect in this prophecy. The Lord knew man would see the moon in this condition and comment on its apparent shade of crimson!
The moon was at it's full, and had the appearance of blood. Stone's History of Massachusetts
"There was an appearance of midnight at noonday," and in the evening, although the moon was just past full, "perhaps it was never darker since the children of Israel left the house of bondage." In connection with this extraordinary phenomenon the moon was reported to appear red. (Letter signed "Viator" in the Independent Chronical [Boston], May 25, 1780, p.2; see also the Pennsylvania Evening Post [Philadelphia], June 6, 1780, p. 62)
By the way, not only was the moon full this day, it was on the inner side of the planet's orbit. This means those cunning skeptics out there can't claim a lunar eclipse as the culprit for this prophetic event. Most everyone I know either owns, or knows someone that owns a computer, or has access to the Internet.
I suggest you check the lunar charts for the date May 19 1780 to verify this event. You are bound to have no trouble confirming this fact. PLUS... An eclipse can never last all day and all night. Unless of course the sun stopped dead in its tracks for 24 hours. (This can, and has happened by the way... See Joshua 10:12-14)
Is this not awesome? The prophecy states that the moon will not give her light. Then Joel confirms it is an authentic prophetic event by telling us it's because it appears as blood. Then many hundreds of years later after Christ declares this prophetic event for us in Matthew 24, we see it recorded as fact in the newspapers and media of the day that the moon had in fact the appearance of blood on a dark and sunless day!
PROPHECY # 5
THE STARS SHALL FALL FROM HEAVEN
Matthew 24:29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:"
Documented Records reveal...
An eyewitness reported "This language of the prophet has always been received as metaphorical. Yesterday it was literally fulfilled,... as no man before yesterday had conceived to be possible that it should be fulfilled... Were I to hunt through nature for a simile, I could not find one so apt to illustrate the appearance of the heavens as that which St. John uses in the prophecy... They were what the world understands by the name of "Falling Stars" -Eyewitness account in the New York Journal of Commerce, vol.8, no.534, Saturday, Nov 16,1833 Edition.
"The morning of November 13th, 1833," says an eyewitness, a Yale astronomer, "was rendered memorable by an exhibition of the phenomenon called shooting stars, which was probably more extensive and magnificent than any similar one hitherto recorded... Probably no celestial phenomenon has ever occurred in this country since its first settlement, which was viewed with so much admiration and delight by one class of spectators, or with so much astonishment and fear by another class." -DENISON OLMSTED in The American Journal of Science and Arts, vol. 25 (1834), pp. 363, 364
"From the Gulf of Mexico to Halifax, until daylight with some difficulty put an end to the display, the sky was scored in every direction with shining tracks and illuminated with majestic fireballs. At Boston, the frequency of meteors was estimated to be about half that of flakes of snow in an average snowstorm... Traced backwards, their paths were invariably found to converge to a point in the constellation Leo." -AGNES M. CLEREKE, A Popular History of Astronomy (1885 ed.), pp. 369, 370.
Frederick Douglas, in reminiscing about his early days of slavery, says: "I witnessed this gorgeous spectacle, and was awe-struck. The air seemed filled with bright messengers from the sky... I was not without the suggestion at the moment that it might be the harbringer of the coming of the Son of Man; and in my then state of mind I was prepared to hail Him as my friend and deliverer. I had read that "the stars shall fall from heaven, and they were now falling." -Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1941 ed.), p.117.
Is that not amazing!?
All three prophetic events occurred in perfect order just as Jesus said they would occur. And one thing many may not be aware of is that they also happened in the exact time in History that Christ said they would.
Did you notice in Matthew 24:29 that Jesus started that passage by saying, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days..." before sharing the three prophetic events? In other words, ALL of those prophetic events were to occur after Rome was finished killing the Christians.
And just as prophecy predicted. The Roman Catholic church was pulled from power by Napoleon, and the massive killings were stopped.
We then start to see these signs fulfilled.
Yet to this day preachers are stating that the great tribulation is still to come. Why? Because Rome has been very busy in hiding these historic facts about her past that link directly with prophecies of Antichrist.
They MUST hide them if their modern day agenda is to come to light. Is it any wonder the Roman Catholic church put the Bible on the Index of forbidden books in 1229AD at the council of Valencia?
They knew that if the people looked into their Bibles they would realize Antichrist was doing exactly as prophecy said he would do AT THAT TIME!.
Truth is, they were in the midst of the Great Tribulation right when Rome starting burning Bibles.
The devil has indeed been very busy hiding these historical facts for very obvious reasons. Had I known of these prophetic events in my youth when I was reading those government altered history books, I would have been searching the Scriptures a lot sooner than the ripe old age of 27.
Did you notice this statement from the article describing the falling stars? It described the spectacle by saying it, "was viewed with so much admiration and delight by one class of spectators, or with so much astonishment and fear by another class" What an awesome preamble to that great and terrible day of our Lord. Some will embrace the day and proclaim with delight... "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us:..." [Isaiah 25:9] And still others will cry out to the mountains and rocks in fear... "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb" [Revelation 6:16]
There is one more prophecy that is in connection with the previous three...
PROPHECY # 6
THERE MUST BE A GREAT EARTHQUAKE "BEFORE" THE SUN IS DARKENED AND THE MOON BECOMES AS BLOOD
Revelation 6:12 "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;"
Did you notice, Revelation 6:12 actually puts it in chronological order. It states that "there was a great earthquake" and then John writes "the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;"
A great earthquake? How great? Greater than San Franciso? Greater than Mexico City? And will it really occur before The remarkable Dark Day of May 19, 1780? Well, 25 years BEFORE "the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;" There was an earthquake of the greatest magnitude ever recorded in history of man!
"The Lisbon Earthquake, which occurred on November 1, 1755, is the most notable earthquake in history." -Nelson's New Loose-leaf Encyclopedia (Book Productions Industries Inc.), art. "Earthquake."
Says Sir Charles Lyell, "A violent shock threw down the greater part of the city. In the course of about six minutes, 60,000 persons perished. The sea first retired and laid the bar dry; it then rolled in, rising 50 feet or more above its ordinary level... The area over which this convulsion extended is very remarkable." -Principles of Geology (11th ed., 1872), vol. 2, pp. 147, 148.
Encyclopedia Britannica (1945) estimates the deaths at a lower figure, but says the effects of the quake were felt from Scotland to Asia Minor and the distinctive feature of the Lisbon Earthquake was the agitation of inland lakes and streams far beyond the disturbed area -For instance, Italy, Switzerland, Great Britain, Sweden, and Norway felt the effects. (Articles "Lisbon" and "Earthquakes".)
NOTE.—This doubtless refers to the great earthquake of November 1, 1755, commonly known as the Lisbon earthquake, the effects of which were felt over an area of 4,000,000 square miles. Lisbon, Portugal, a city containing 150,000 inhabitants, was almost entirely destroyed. The shock of the earthquake, says Mr. Sears, in his of the World," page 200, "was instantly followed by the fall of every church and convent, almost all the large public buildings, and one-fourth of the houses. In about two hours afterward, fires broke out in different quarters, and raged with such violence for the space of nearly three days that the city was completely desolated.
The earthquake happened on a holy day, when the churches and convents were full of people, very few of whom escaped. . . . The terror of the people was beyond description. Nobody wept: it was beyond tears. They ran hither and thither, delirious with horror and astonishment, beating their faces and breasts, crying, 'Misericordia! the world's at an end!'. Mothers forgot their children, and ran about loaded with crucifixed images. Unfortunately, many ran to the churches for protection; but in vain was the sacrament exposed; in vain did the poor creatures embrace the altars; images, priests, and people were buried in one common ruin. . . . Ninety thousand persons are supposed to have been lost on that fatal day." -brief bible readings for the Home http://www.preparingforeternity.com/br1914/brhc63.htm
This earthquake was so intense that it still fascinates Scientists of today. Some have even gone so far as to try and say a black hole hit Lisbon! Can you imagine that? To go to such lengths as to try and disprove the Bible with such an outrageous claim as this. Anyone with an ounce of sense that has read even the slightest amount of data on the makeup of a black hole, would know that this is completely impossible. The entire planet would be destroyed if a black hole even came near our orbit, let alone hit us! When will these scientists learn you cannot disprove the infallible Word of the Creator God?
So... there you have it. Jesus said certain prophecies must occur AFTER the time the beast kills hundreds of millions of Christians, and here we see it happened exactly as Jesus said. So, just what is about to happen next? Since the Great Tribulation already did occur, what will the children of the Lord have to deal with in the coming days?
Jeremiah 30:7, "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it."
Will we be here for the plagues?
YES. Will they harm us? Well, if you really are a Christian, then believe the following passage...
Psalms 91:10 says, "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling."
Just as the children of Israel had to deal with the plagues of Pharaoh, so shall the Christian children of Israel today have to deal with the plagues. Are we any more special? Are we better than they are? Or does the Bible lie, and the men who preach things not found in the Bible speak truth?
Acts 5:29, "...We ought to obey God rather than men."
Next week we Study The Mark of the Beast
Blessings, Peter (and Dad)
