Revelation 17:17-18

17 For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His own purpose by acting in harmony in surrendering their royal power and authority to the beast, until the prophetic words (intentions and promises) of God shall be fulfilled. 

As always we see that our Father is in total control, even in wrath and tribulation. A great example of our Father controlling people without their knowledge can be found in Isaiah 10. 

I send [the Assyrian] against a hypocritical and godless nation and against the people of My wrath; I command him to take the spoil and to seize the prey and to tread them down like the mire in the streets. However, this is not his intention [nor is the Assyrian aware that he is doing this at My bidding], neither does his mind so think and plan; but it is in his mind to destroy and cut off many nations. Isaiah 10:6-7

I love these verses and there are so many more that say the same sort of things. Far too many people love to talk about our free will, when we should be talking about our Father’s free will. He alone is Sovereign and He alone rules all things. To believe that we can have a will that is going to disappoint or go against His will is simply foolish. 

18 And the woman that you saw is herself the great city which dominates and controls the rulers and the leaders of the earth.

The woman is a great city that dominates and controls all of the rulers and leaders of the earth. You ever hear of Vatican City? Our Father directs the leaders of the world to give up their power to the anti-christ, whose headquarters is among the seven hills. There just happens to be seven hills that surround Rome. And in a world that is being ravaged by war, natural disasters, and super inflation, the Catholic Church will have the wealth and unregulated infrastructure that the countries of the world will need, and the anti-christ will control the purse strings. The anti-christ will dominate and control the leaders of the world, because he will have the wealth that they need and he will not have the laws and regulations of a country to bind him. 

You do not need to be an economist to know that the governments of Europe and America right now are spending far more than they have. Their citizens are demanding that they do it. At the first sign of trouble people demand their governments to act and they do, even if they do not have the money to do it with. The seeds are being sown right now in Europe and America for their governments to look towards the Roman Catholic Church to bail them out. It will take billions of dollars and the Catholic Church has billions of dollars. 

Revelation 17:15-16

15 And [the angel further] said to me, The waters that you observed, where the harlot is seated, are races and multitudes and nations and dialects (languages). 

The worlds economic system, which is the harlot, encompasses every nation of the world. Only money, in whatever form, and the love it encompasses every nation, language, and race. 

16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will [be the very ones to] hate the harlot (the idolatrous woman); they will make her cheerless (bereaved, desolate), and they will strip her and eat up her flesh and utterly consume her with fire. 

The anti-christ and the ten rulers, have no love for the people. They love themselves and their actions and plans only bring grief to those who join in. The ten leaders are jealous and they also want control, so they hate the woman, they hate free trade and commerce and the power that it brings. Remember that we studied in Revelation 16:10, that the anti-christ’s kingdom was plunged into darkness. The anti-christ is a terrible leader. Remember that the Four Horseman have taken peace from the world, which means that they have also taken peace away from anti-christ. The ones who take the mark of the beasts are sick, hungry, scared, and tormented night and day, there can be no real peace amongst them. 

These ten kings will hate anything that threatens their own glory and power. They will hate commerce because it allows people to have power and they want it all, these rulers will be true socialist. These leaders will have probably believed that they were going to use the anti-christ, and he ends up using them, and they are angry about it. In their anger they will strip free commerce and trade apart, there will be no free market, commerce will be totally destroyed. Just look at a country today that has the government totally controlling the economic system and you will see the destruction that is coming. Whenever a dictator is in control, there is war, poverty, and disease. 

Remember here though, that the Holy Ghost is using the saints to preach to every nation and He is using us with great power to do it. The lost are freely joining in with the anti-christ, even after hearing and seeing what our Father is doing through His chosen ones! 

The ten kings and the anti-christ want total and complete control and the lost want them to have it. The lost will be following blindly a group of leaders who have absolutely no love for them and who want to enslave them. Sound like governments today? Sound like people today? Just look at America today in 2012, and see how the masses want the government to do everything for them. Look at the leaders and see how they seek their own glory and power. Today we are not in all of that much trouble. Just think how people will react when the Four Horsemen have been released, when the Abyss has been opened, and when the Seven Seals, Trumpets, Bowls and Plagues have been released! They will want these leaders to take complete care of them. They will listen to these leaders words and they will be blinded to the results of their actions. It will all happen so fast too, no one will be able to think about what is happening. Excessive laws and regulations will be rammed down peoples throats. Freedom will be taken away in the twinkling of an eye. 

Revelation 17:14

14 They will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them; for He is Lord of lords and King of kings--and those with Him and on His side are chosen and called [elected] and loyal and faithful followers.

Satan loses and those who join with him lose as well. All who join with him will suffer destruction. These leaders will wage war on Truth. During this time the people of the world will be scared to death, so they will want religion. The anti-christ and the false prophet will give it to them, but Jesus, while mentioned, will be moved to the background, and man will elevated. God will be spoke of, but to bring the muslim world in, I believe that the predominance of Jesus will be removed. They will focus on man, and what we can do if we are unified under one man. There will be miracles and people will be deceived by them. They will preach about how Christianity never unified when Jesus was the focus, so they will wage war on the Truth and those of us who have the Truth. We will be hated, but the Truth that has set us free, is that we are standing beside the glassy sea, empowered and sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of our redemption. We may be required to be martyred for our Father, but that yoke will be easy and that burden will be light! And Jesus will win!

It is easy to see that we will be hated during the end times. But the glory of it all is that while we will be hated, we will be empowered by our Father to love those who hate us. Our Father will cause us to bless those who curse us. Feed those who despise us. Intercede for those who despitefully use us. We will forgive them as often as they need it. Our Father will never allow us to abandon them and the love of our Lord will flow from us as rivers of living water. Even if they are killing us, we will insure that they are never held accountable for it. Just as our Lord was empowered to cry out for the lost, so will we be empowered. 

Revelation 17:11-13

11 And as for the beast that [once] was, but now is no more, he [himself] is an eighth ruler (king, head), but he is of the seven and belongs to them, and he goes to perdition. 

This simply shows us that the anti-christ, who I believe will be the last Pope, is also considered a ruler and that he and the other rulers are all working together. The anti-christ, is one of the seven, so he is a Pope as well. What we are shown here again that is really powerful is that he fails, right along with the other’s. We are shown that even though our Father is using him and the kings to carry out His will, that they are not one with Him. The anti-christ, the last Pope, will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. 

The Bible calls this last Pope, the anti-christ. We are told in the Bible that in the last days there will be people who claim to be Christ. This Pope, will allow himself to be called the Christ, but the Truth is that he is the anti-christ. He will perform miracles and many will be deceived by them. He will seem to be the only one who is able to unify the world. The lost, who will be our guests for eternity, will marvel at his power of speech. He will be able to communicate as no other leader ever has. The lost will make images of him and worship him even though the world will be falling apart around them. They will do this because they need to hold on to something as all is being lost around them. Now this is a real turn around for the Catholic Church, because right now it doesn’t do these things, or make these images, for a living Pope. But during the last 3 1/2 years they will be deceived into believing that he is the Christ and images will be made! 

12 Also the ten horns that you observed are ten rulers (kings) who have as yet received no royal dominion, but together they are to receive power and authority as rulers for a single hour, along with the beast.

None of the countries that make up Europe are ruled by a King today, and here we are shown ten rulers who have no royal dominion. But when they join together with the anti-christ, they will have great power for a very brief time. Keep in mind as we study about the end time how all of these things happen in just 3 1/2 years. People come into power and lose power very quickly! 

13 These have one common policy (opinion, purpose), and they deliver their power and authority to the beast. 

The leaders of the revised Roman Empire make this last Pope the leader of their union. Even though there are ten kingdoms, they will attempt to work together as one. Yet their kingdom has been built on sand and it will repeatedly fail, Revelation 13:1. We however, are built on the Rock of Jesus Christ Matthew 7:24. He is our firm foundation and there is no weapon that will ever prosper against us, Isaiah 54:17. We are always more then conquerors through Christ Who loves us, Romans 8:37. We will never be put to shame, Romans 5:5. 

Revelation 17:9-10

9 This calls for a mind [to consider that is packed] with wisdom and intelligence [it is something for a particular mode of thinking and judging of thoughts, feelings, and purposes]. The seven heads are seven hills upon which the woman is sitting; 

There are seven Hills that surround Rome, this where the Vatican is, the home of Roman Catholicism. In 1929 Italy gave the Catholic Church the land where the Vatican sits. Today the land is called the Papal States and the Pope is allowed to have an army and other stately organizations. 

What is really cool is that there has been seven Popes since this all happened in 1929. The seven hills are referred to as seven heads, and in Bible Prophecy heads are referred to as leaders or kings. In verse 11, we will read about an eighth and final leader! Also in verse 10, we will read that the seventh leader, only serves a short time. How cool is that, the current Pope is the seventh Pope since 1929, and the seventh leader only serves a short time. Our Father loves to use symbolism. Just as America only serves a short time in history, so does the seventh Pope. Pope Benedict XVI was 78 when he was appointed, he cannot help but serve a short time.

Here is a great place to preach some Truth, Jesus told us in John 14:12 that we would be used by our Father to do even greater works than He did through Jesus. We are told in Ephesians 5:27, that Jesus is going to present us to Himself as a glorious Church, without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. Jesus told us that there is coming a great falling away of fake believers and then the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to every nation, tribe, and tongue. None of this has happened, but it will before the end. So if the end is near, don’t look for an anti-christ, look for the power of the Chosen and Called of God. Look for the power of our Father being poured out as never before through us, and when you see that, then the end is near! A-men! 

10 And they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one still exists [and is reigning]; the other [the seventh] has not yet appeared, and when he does arrive, he must stay [but] a brief time. 

These hills, or heads, also represent seven other kings. We are shown that five kings have fallen, they have lost their power, and we are shown that one kingdom still exists, and that one is coming, who will only be around for a short time. There are five kingdoms that the Bible talks about that have fallen: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Roman, and the Pope’s first reign of power from 538-1798, which ended at the hands of Napoleon. The sixth king, France, that dethroned the Pope, is still in existence and America the seventh kingdom is the youngest and historically speaking will only be around for a short time. 

Revelation 17:7-8

7 But the angel said to me, Why do you wonder? I will explain to you the [secret symbolic meaning of the] mystery of the woman, as well as of the beast having the seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 

8 The beast that you saw [once] was, but [now] is no more, and he is going to come up out of the Abyss (the bottomless pit) and proceed to go to perdition. And the inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been recorded in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will be astonished when they look at the beast, because he [once] was, but [now] is no more, and he is [yet] to come.

Before I begin with this verse, notice that our names were written or not written in the Book of Life before the foundation of the world. Paul wrote that our Father called him before he was born, Galatians 1:15. King David wrote that all of his days were recorded before the world was, Psalm 139:16. Many are called, but only a few are chosen, and we were chosen to be the Bride of Christ before the world ever was! The Truth sets us free! Our Father knew exactly who He was going to have serve with Jesus for all of eternity.  

The Pope once was the most powerful man on Earth, from 538-1798, then our Father empowered Napoleon to end the Catholic churches reign in 1798. But here we are shown that during the last days, the Pope will come back into being the most powerful ruler on the earth. And it will astonish the world. Just think if right now, the Pope, became the leader of the world, and the President of the United States was second to him. The world would be greatly astonished! 

Notice something here that is very neat as well, Jesus tells us that the beast is loosed from the Abyss. Let me ask you a question, does the Word of our Father tell us that the anti-christ will actually be a man? We have seen that he has a number of a man, 666, but the Word does not tell us that he is a man. Now we see that he is loosed from the Abyss. The Bible teaches us that we can entertain angels unaware, Hebrews 13:2. I have always wondered why Jesus told John that the anti-christ would have the number of a man? Why would Jesus need to say this, was there a doubt that the anti-christ would be a man? It always just stuck out to me. 

Later we will study about the Lake of Fire and it will further bring this point up, that the Bible seems to show us that the anti-christ will be a spiritual being posing as a man. Don’t freak out about this, because it really doesn’t matter all of that much if the anti-christ is a man or a spiritual being. The Truth is that he will be allowed by our Father to attempt to destroy the earth, he will be a vessel of our Father’s wrath on the ungodly. The Truth is that he will exist and that he will come into power.

The lost will marvel at how this Pope, the anti-christ, seems to unite the world, even the muslim world. They will marvel at how religion seemed so passe and unrefined in the Western World, yet this Pope is the answer and has come into power. Think of how in America right now, that the President is placing in power and bringing in laws that are angering the Catholic Church. Then think of the Pope being the more powerful leader, the lost will marvel at it all. And as the lost have always done, they will follow after who they believe is the most powerful, bragging about how wise they are. 

Notice that we are also shown in verse 8 that the inhabitants of the earth, not the people of the earth marvel at the anti-christ. We were shown in Revelation 12:13 that satan and those angels that followed him were cast to the earth. Clearly these fallen angels names are not in the Book of Life and clearly they would marvel if satan once again seemed to have power on the earth after Jesus took it all away from him at the Cross. Satan was powerful, then Jesus came and he wasn’t, then he will be again.  

Revelation 17:6

6 I also saw that the woman was drunk, [drunk] with the blood of the saints (God's people) and the blood of the martyrs [who witnessed] for Jesus. And when I saw her, I was utterly amazed and wondered greatly. 

Remember when our Father had Paul preach in Corinth, Acts 19, how the makers of idols rebelled against him because they were losing money? Babylon, which is the worlds economy, has killed off millions of saints throughout its history and the members of her have always gone right along with it. And after they kill the saints, they make graven images of those who they have killed to sell. Then Babylon tells its citizens who buy the images, to pray to them. So not only did Babylon kill the saints, it then tried to totally destroy the message that our Father spoke through them.

We have now read over 16 chapters in the Book of Revelation. I hope that you have noticed a couple of things through our studies together. First, the Revelation of our Lord is not hard to understand; our Father actually repeats Himself a lot while explaining what He going to doing. Second, our Father gives us more hope then wrath in His revelation and third, our Father controls everything that is happening. Satan and man never control the punishment, our Father does. He will use satan and man, but only to the degrees that He sets.  

Also, I hope that you see the anti-christ and his followers will all seem very religious. They will have a form of godliness, but they will always deny the power of our Father by claiming that it is actually man who is controlling what our Father is doing. The seeds of this false teaching have been sown from the beginning. Look at how so many say that they accepted Jesus as their Lord, when the Truth is that He first chose and drew us to Himself, John 6:44. We talk about our faith, when the Truth is Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith, Hebrews 12:2. We talk about our works, when we can do nothing without Jesus, John 15:4. We can only do what our Father first empowers and directs us to do. Our righteousness is as filthy rags. We are only more then conquerors because Christ loves us, Romans 8:37.      

Always remember that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:30. If our Father wants us here on the earth during these end times, we will plainly see who and what the anti-christ is. We will be used by our Father to help those in need and we will never be left or forsaking by our Him. Remember also, the Holy Spirit will empower us to read this Revelation out loud in a group. Our Father pours out such a blessing on us when He does. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for, so I pray that you are overtaken with hope to read the Revelation of our Lord to others.   

Revelation 17:4-5

4 The woman was robed in purple and scarlet and bedecked with gold, precious stones, and pearls, [and she was] holding in her hand a golden cup full of the accursed offenses and the filth of her lewdness and vice.

Worldliness possesses great wealth and looks very attractive. Look at the wealth of the Roman Catholic church, the woman who sits on the seven hills. Look at the wealth of many of the mega churches, the daughters of the harlot, in the world today. They claim to be rich, but instead they are naked and in actuality possess nothing. Remember what Jesus told the church of Laodicea? All of this wealth is an offense to our Father, because it is placed above our Him. It causes men to lie, to cheat one another, and to kill one another. The deceitfulness of riches and the cares of this world choke out the production of righteous fruit, Matthew 13:22! Worldliness dominates the thoughts and hearts of all who join with it, 1 Timothy 6:10. The precious stones, pearls, and gold are praised and they are morned. Wealth is written about every day in every language. Every nation cares about these worldly things and they fear what these things can do to them if they are not cherished and stimulated. There is no other force in this world that effects every nation and every leader like worldly possessions and look at how the harlot and her children are gathering them! 

5 And on her forehead there was inscribed a name of mystery [with a secret symbolic meaning]: Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes (idolatresses) and of the filth and atrocities and abominations of the earth.

The worlds economic system, its money and power have corrupted so many and Babylon, which is another name for the world system, has caused all kinds of blasphemous things to occur throughout the centuries. People and rulers join right in with it to find favor and grace. Babylon even has a form of godliness, just enough to tickle the ears, but it is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, seeking whom it may devour! If you doubt that it does have a form of godliness, just look at how it claims to help those in need, but it is blasphemous and it denies the true power of our Father. The love of money is the root of all of this evil. And the Catholic Church and all of the other fake religions in this world love money! Babylon, which is the worlds economy, the love of money, the root of all evil is written on the harlots forehead, it is what she is all about, the love of money encompasses her every thought. It will be plain for the children of God to see her and her followers during the last days.

Revelation 17:2-3

2 [She] with whom the rulers of the earth have joined in prostitution (idolatry) and with the wine of whose immorality (idolatry) the inhabitants of the earth have become intoxicated.

During the last days of this world, the anti-christ, who I honestly believe will be the the last Pope, and the false prophet, who will be the last American President, will join forces. The world’s economy will be headed up by these two instruments of our Father's wrath. But amen, even though we will be in this world, we will not be of this world, John 17:16. John is told here that the rulers of the world will have joined in these two’s prostitution. Now think about what prostitution and immorality would be to God? Prostitution to our Father would be making statutes and worshipping them, praying to our brothers in Christ, instead of Christ Himself. Immorality would be creating businesses and bank accounts and then trusting in them, creating portfolios and having faith in them, these things are true prostitution and idolatry to our Father. The lost have always been intoxicated with placing their love and trust in churches, wealth, and money. People worship the leaders of these harlots and they worship those who have succeeded in business or who have accumulated great wealth. Remember when Peter told Cornelius, I am just a man, do not bow down to me, Acts 10:26? People all of the time bow down to what the world deems successful. People are extremely arrogant and prideful about worshiping of such men. We are going to be shown by the angel what happens to the lost who are willing to follow the whore of worldliness and the anti-christ, who they will have heralded into power. 

3 And [the angel] bore me away [rapt] in the Spirit into a desert (wilderness), and I saw a woman seated on a scarlet beast that was all covered with blasphemous titles (names), and he had seven heads and ten horns.

John is taken to a desert place, the wilderness. John is shown a woman who is seated on a beast. We have seen before in Revelation that the beast is the anti-christ and John is taken into the wilderness because the Pope has been out of being the worlds dominate authority and power for hundreds of years. The revised Roman Empire, the ten kings, have lost their worlds dominance and power, they have been severally weakened after WWI and WWII, so they are in the wilderness. Other countries, Russia, China, and America have taken their place at the head of the table. These European countries have power, but not the controlling power of the world that they once had. But in this desert place is coming the power that our Father will use to bring in His final wrath. In this desert place is where the Revised Roman Empire and the anti-christ, empowered by satan, will take control of the world! 

Look at countries like France and Germany now, they boast of so much, but in reality they have very little power in the world. They are gaining it back, but still they are nowhere near what they used to be in history. Look at the Catholic Church right now, it has trillions of dollars and trillions of dollars of value in other assets. The Catholic Church has this right now in a world where wealth is king. Our Father will release great inflation on the world during the time of the Great Tribulation, money will be worthless, but gold, precious stones, and power will still be of great value, and the Roman Catholic Church has tons of it. They may not seem to have the power and influence now, they may seem to be in the wilderness, but not for long! And when our Father anoints them to carry out His wrath, the world will marvel at how they rise to it so quickly. 

Revelation 17:1

1 ONE OF the seven angels who had the seven bowls then came and spoke to me, saying, Come with me! I will show you the doom (sentence, judgment) of the great harlot (idolatress) who is seated on many waters,

We are shown here the doom of the idolatress woman, which is the worldly system of commerce and economics; and all who have joined her, the many waters. We will study that this woman is a force that effects every world leader. We will be shown that she has intoxicated the inhabitants of the earth. We will see that she is very well off, adorned with gold, fine linens, and costly apparel. We will also study later in this Chapter the the ten horns of the anti-christ hate her and that she has been the driving force that has always killed the saints. There is only one thing in this world that fits all of these descriptions and it is the lust of worldly wealth and power: money, the love of it, pride, greed, and the idolatry and the worship of it all, this is the great harlot. Worldly wealth is Babylon the Great! The love of money will always and has always been the root of all evil, 2 Timothy 3:2.

Jesus told us to beware of the wolves in sheep’s clothing, Matthew 7:15. Jesus told us to beware of the leaven of false prophets, Matthew 16:6. The Holy Spirit told us to have no fellowship with those who have a form of godliness, but who deny the power of it, 2 Timothy 3:5. Look at the seven churches that Jesus wrote to in Asia at the beginning of Revelation, only one church, the Church of Philadelphia, did Jesus say that He would take care of. Five were into sexual vice, human works, greed, and false teachings and one was poor and oppressed. The world and its economy had crept into them and a little leaven, leavened the whole lump of dough. You cannot have good and bitter water springing from the same fountain.  

This whole system of the world’s economy and false religion is doomed. So if you are seeking the world’s economic system, praying that you succeed in it, or that you have favor in it, remember that the world is the great harlot, and that it is doomed to be destroyed. The Truth sets us free and the Truth is that we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to seek first our Father’s Kingdom and His righteousness, and because we are, we have no need of the great harlot. Just look at Jesus’ life, He didn’t need wine to have wine. He didn’t need to make money to pay His taxes. He didn’t need the churches approval to have our Fathers favor. He didn’t need food to feed thousands, and He didn’t need a boat to cross a raging sea! This is the power of our Kingdom and our Kingdom is at hand, Matthew 3:2. The anti-christ and false prophet will say that the saved are not permitted to buy or sell without taking the mark of the beast, so our Father dooms the economy of the world, so that no one can buy or sell.

Revelation 16:15-21

15 Behold, I am going to come like a thief! Blessed (happy, to be envied) is he who stays awake (alert) and who guards his clothes, so that he may not be naked and [have the shame of being] seen exposed!

I know that I have harped on this a lot in these posting of Revelation, but once again we see Jesus speak of the Church here. I heard it preached all of the time, that in the Book of Revelation, the Church is not mentioned after Chapter 4 until Chapter 20, and that is just flat out wrong. If you haven’t heard this, well count your blessings, but if you have heard it preached, I hope that you see now just how wrong the teaching is.

The Truth that brings us peace with this verse is that we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit until the day of our redemption, Ephesians 4:30. Jesus is our Shepherd and greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world, 1 John 4:4. We are crucified with Christ and nevertheless we live, yet it is not us who lives, it is Christ within us who lives, Galatians 2:20. Our lives are dead and hid in Christ is God, Colossians 3:3. Our Father has placed His Spirit within us and He causes us to walk in His statutes and He causes us to keep His judgments, Ezekiel 36:27. The Truth for us that passes all understanding is that if we are called and chosen by our Father to be here during the Great Tribulation, then through the power of Christ we will be awake! There is no fear in the perfect love of Christ!

16 And they gathered them together at the place which in Hebrew is called Armageddon. [II Kings 9:27.]

17 Then the seventh [angel] emptied out his bowl into the air, and a mighty voice came out of the sanctuary of heaven from the throne [of God], saying, It is done! [It is all over, it is all accomplished, it has come!]

18 And there followed lightning flashes, loud rumblings, peals of thunder, and a tremendous earthquake; nothing like it has ever occurred since men dwelt on the earth, so severe and far-reaching was that earthquake.

19 The mighty city was broken into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And God kept in mind mighty Babylon, to make her drain the cup of His furious wrath and indignation.

20 And every island fled and no mountains could be found.

21 And great (excessively oppressive) hailstones, as heavy as a talent [between fifty and sixty pounds], of immense size, fell from the sky on the people; and men blasphemed God for the plague of the hail, so very great was [the torture] of that plague.

The two witnesses will have just been raised up before this all begins, Revelation 11:11-12. Great fear will fall on the whole world for they will see them raised from the dead. The anti-christ and his armies have all been gathered to Armageddon by the demons, the worlds water supply is ruined, the sun is scorching millions, the world can see that these things are not touching us, the last days are going to be miserable for the lost.

But amen the world will see Jesus, who will restore all things, returning from the east like a bolt of lightning. The world will see the dead in Christ rising and those that are alive in Him  being caught up. This is the last day’s events! It will come quickly and every last being that took the mark of the beast will be destroyed. Satan will be bound, the anti-christ and the false prophet will be hurled into the Lake of Fire, and Jesus will begin His thousand year rule and reign. Those who are here will finally have their rest. They may have their rest from being transformed as the Bride. They may have their rest by being set free from the devastation of Great Tribulation. But either way, those who are alive at this time will have rest.

Think of 3 1/2 years ago in your life. For most of us it seems like just yesterday. All of the events of the Great Tribulation happens that quickly. The anti-christ and false prophet come on the scene and they are gone just as fast as they came.

Revelation 16:13-14

13 And I saw three loathsome spirits like frogs, [leaping] from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet. 

14 For really they are the spirits of demons that perform signs (wonders, miracles). And they go forth to the rulers and leaders all over the world, to gather them together for war on the great day of God the Almighty.

Here is a great Truth about what the demons are used to do by our Father, they miraculously gather those who take the mark of the beast to Armageddon. Think of what we have been shown so far in Revelation: a 1/3rd of the ships of the world will have been destroyed at this time. We have been shown that the air will be so thick with ash that a 1/3rd of the sun will be darkened. We are told that there will be extreme world wide famine. We are told that anyone who joins with the anti-christ will be vexed with extreme ulcers and soars, so they won’t be able to travel. These things mean that the anti-christ will not be able to move armies with ships or airplanes or by marches. The anti-christ will not be able to supply the massive troops with food and water to sustain them. Yet millions will be gathered to Armageddon to be destroyed. They are gathered there miraculously by these three demons. They are gathered without being shipped to Armageddon or flown there. 

With that in mind now look at Jesus’ parable in Luke 17 about the two men in one bed, one will be taken and one left. The disciples asked Jesus where would they be taken to and Jesus told them plainly to Armageddon, where the birds are gathered to consume their flesh, Luke 17:37 and Revelation 19:21. In Luke 17:22-29 Jesus was telling the disciples about the last days. So in Luke 17, Jesus was showing us that those who follow the anti-christ will be miraculously transported to Armageddon to be destroyed.

Now you want to see something very powerful. Look at the parable of the wheat and darnel in Matthew 13.

Let them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will say to the reapers, Gather the darnel first and bind it in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my granary. Matthew 13:30

Jesus tells us that the darnel will be gathered first. Now darnel is not wheat. It never was wheat. It is not wheat that has been perverted. Darnel is a weed and it was sown by the enemy. Think of our enemy satan and the third of the angels that followed him. Where could they do more damage then in the leadership of religion and government? We know that angels can take on the form of being human, Hebrews 13:2, Mark 16:5, and Genesis 6:2. These fallen angels, or darnel, know that their time is short here on the earth, Revelation 12:12. They want to make people trust in themselves and others instead of our Father, which is exactly what governments and religions do. 

Jesus has been given all men, John 17:2. Jesus will not lose any that He has been given, John 6:39. So the darnel must be the fallen angels who we are told can look like people, but they are not people. They are angels and they are not used by our Father to produce fruit as man is. Our Father allows them to stay among us until the end to use them to strengthen us in Him, 2 Corinthians 12:6-8. Then He removes them first, by taking them to Armageddon to be destroyed.   Satan cannot sow men, because he has not been given men, but he has been given a 1/3rd of the angels. 

Revelation 16:12

12 Then the sixth [angel] emptied his bowl on the mighty river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to make ready a road for [the coming of] the kings of the east (from the rising sun).

Here we see that the Euphrates River will be dried up for the Kings of the East to come to the battle. There is no mention of 200,000,000 million soldiers here. Jesus only shows John that there are king’s from the East here, not just a king! So is this China? It could be. But ask yourself this question, would China need the Euphrates River to be dried up to come to battle? America didn’t need the Euphrates River to be dried up when it went into Iraq. The U.S. armies just went over it. America’s technology and China’s technology is that advanced. But for the Kings of Iran, Iraq, and the other surrounding nations, they would need the Euphrates River to dry up. They would need it to be dry to allow millions of radical muslims, who are possessed by demons, to all come and attack at once. 

What is revealed to us in verse 12 is that the Euphrates River dries up. We are told by John repeatedly that the earth is scorched and the waters are ruined and so it makes since that the Euphrates River would dry up. This allows the warriors of many nations to easily come to Jerusalem to battle the children of God. You think that radical muslims hate Jew’s now, just wait till Israelis are filled with the Holy Spirit and one with Jesus!

Remember too, I speak of China here because all of my life I have heard that this passage of scripture is referring to China, that it will be almost impossible to travel by conventional means during this time. Air travel will be all but eliminated with all of the dust and smoke in the air. There will be so much dust that a 1/3rd of the Sun will be darkened, Revelation 8:12. Traveling by ship will be impossible because a 1/3rd of all of the ships will have been destroyed, Revelation 8:9. Food and water will be scarce, so feeding 200,000,000 warriors will be all but impossible. So to think that it will be China seems to me to be unrealistic, especially when we are told that King’s come, not just a King.  

Revelation 16:10-11

10 Then the fifth [angel] emptied his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was [plunged] in darkness; and people gnawed their tongues for the torment [of their excruciating distress and severe pain]

We are shown by Jesus that the anti-christ’s kingdom is plunged into darkness. The Truth is that the anti-christ is a great failure, everything that he will do, will absolutely fail. The anti-christ’s kingdom is built on sand, Revelation 13:1. But he will be protected and enthusiastically endorsed by his followers because of pride. Those who do this will do it because they heralded him into power, they will have far too much invested in him to throw him out. They marveled at all of his speeches and told us that he was the only one that could unite and save the world. They will have followed every one of his commands and yet everything that he will have proclaimed will fall apart; but their egos will not allow them to remove him from power. They will not repent even though millions of people who have followed him are dying and sick. There will be mass panic, blame, fear, hatred, and all of the misery will drag the worlds economy into the tank, far past any economic depression the world has ever seen. Babylon, which is the world’s economic and political system, will absolutely fail the world during this time!

Yet not for us; we will be used by our Father to give food, water, and provisions to the needy, Matthew 24. Our Father will use us to serve even without taking the mark of the beast. He will use us to serve with no money. He will use to perform greater miracles then He used Jesus to perform when He was on the earth, John 14:12. It will be a great time to be a Christian. The Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to every nation, tongue, and tribe and a number that no one can count will be saved right before Jesus returns! 

11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their anguish and their ulcers (sores), and they did not deplore their wicked deeds or repent [for what they had done]. 

How will the lost continue to blasphemy our Father? They will by continuing to look to themselves, to the anti-christ, and the false prophet. They will continue to pray to statues and graven images. They will continue to curse the true children of God. They will continue to look to the power of man, because they know nothing else, they will do this because they do not have the Holy Spirit. The glorious Truth is that the Gospel of the Kingdom is being preached with great power and demonstration to every nation, tribe, and tongue at this time. These people have been called, but they have not been chosen. They will curse what our Father will be doing through us and they will trust in what they are trying to do. This is how they will blasphemy our Father.

Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:13 that he was blasphemous before he was saved. Yet he very much believed in God. Paul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. So blasphemy isn’t denying that there is a God, it is acting all religious and taking all of the credit and glorifying what man is doing for God. So the anti-christ’s followers will be very religious. They will be saying that they are doing mighty works for Him and that they are prophesying for Him. But the first comment from them will always be that they are doing it, not that they are being used by our Father to do it. 

Revelation 16:7-9

7 And [from] the altar I heard [the] cry, Yes, Lord God the Omnipotent, Your judgments (sentences, decisions) are true and just and righteous! 

8 Then the fourth [angel] emptied out his bowl upon the sun, and it was permitted to burn (scorch) humanity with [fierce, glowing] heat (fire). 

Remember that we were clearly shown that Jesus protects us from the sun, Revelation 7:16. The glorious Truth is that our Father will be using us to give food and provision to those in need during these times.

Who then is the faithful, thoughtful, and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household to give to the others the food and supplies at the proper time? Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is that servant whom, when his master comes, he will find so doing. Matthew 24:45-46

9 People were severely burned (scorched) by the fiery heat, and they reviled and blasphemed the name of God, Who has control of these plagues, and they did not repent of their sins [felt no regret, contrition, and compunction for their waywardness, refusing to amend their ways] to give Him glory. 

Look at how this verse says, that those in agony did not give God the glory. As you read that I want you to think about religion today and how they teach the works of man. So many teach that you must first do this and you must first do that, then your actions allow God can do something for you. How many people will tell you that they prayed this or that and then it happened. Or that they first gave this or that and then something happened. Our Father is a reactive figure in their religious world. They believe that they are in control of what our Father does in our lives, instead of the Father controlling them. 

Jesus will say to those who had done mighty works in His name on the Day of Judgment, that He never knew them, Matthew 7:22. I believe that these people will be in church, the anti-christ’s church, acting all religious and having a form of godliness, but denying the power of it, 2 Timothy 3:5. They won’t repent, because they have believed a lie. They will be bowing down to religious figures and statutes. The wicked will be regurgitating prayers that they are told to pray. It will all seem very religious, but it will all be for man, glorifying man’s efforts. Their works and actions are not bringing the glory to our Father! They will not repent of their evil, because they do not have the Holy Spirit, the power of our Father causing them to repent. All along they will believe that they are being very religious. 

If you don’t think these people will be religious, just think of how people react today when something bad happens, churches are flooded the following Sunday! People aren’t going to change. They will be going to the worlds church as never before. The sermons will all be on what they have to do to get our Father to act. The statue of the anti-christ will be telling them things. They will see miraculous acts performed by the anti-christ and it will all point towards man and human ability. It will all be blasphemous by taking the power and free will of God and crediting all of the works to man. The main focus of the anti-christ will always be our free will. If you want to have a great study go and try and find where our Father ever has it written that He gave us a free will. I can assure you that you will fins a ton of scriptures that talk about His free will, but as for ours, well you will see! 

Revelation 16:3-6

3 The second [angel] emptied his bowl into the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a corpse [thick, corrupt, ill-smelling, and disgusting], and every living thing that was in the sea perished. 

Remember the two witnesses and their power, we see it in action here, Revelation 11:6. Many times in Bible prophecy the word sea represents great masses of people. Here though, this must mean the actual seas, because we are told that every living thing in them perishes. We know that there will be people left when Jesus returns, both lost and saved, we have been clearly shown in this prophesy that all of humanity will not perish. 

4 Then the third [angel] emptied out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they turned into (became) blood.

5 And I also heard the angel of the waters say, Righteous (just) are You in these Your decisions and judgments, You Who are and were, O Holy One! 

6 Because they have poured out the blood of Your people (the saints) and the prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. Such is their due [they deserve it]!

The Truth for the saved is that Jesus leads us to fresh water, Revelation 7:16. The saints who have been sealed with the Holy Spirit do not have the wrath of their Father touch them. We are by the calm sea of glass during all of these events. Some of us will have been used by our Father as martyrs, actually a lot of us will become martyrs during the end times. But there is peace in whatever our Father has us do. If we live, there is peace. If there is death, there is peace. Through Christ we are always and forever more than conquerors, Romans 8:37. Jesus is always greater within us than anything that is in this world, 1 John 4:4. Our Father has deprived the world of any power over us, even when they are permitted to kill our flesh.

If you are scared of the last 3 1/2 years of this earth because of the threat of death, don’t be. Our brothers and sisters in the Lord have always been asked to die for being one with Jesus. There are Christians all over the world right now who are being killed for being one with Jesus. Our Father never teaches us that we won’t be killed for being saved. The great Truth is that if we are required to be killed for the Kingdom, then we will be anointed with the very power of our Father to glorify the Kingdom as we are killed. Our Father Himself required the killing of His own flesh, Jesus, when He was here two thousand years ago.

Revelation 16:1-2

1 THEN I heard a mighty voice from the temple sanctuary saying to the seven angels, Go and empty out on the earth the seven bowls of God's wrath and indignation.

Clearly this is our Father’s voice, since Jesus just showed us in Revelation 15 that no one was allowed into the sanctuary until the seven last plagues had been finished. Our Father is directly in control of these plagues and He is directly ordering when, where, and how things are happening. His wrath is only being poured out on the wicked and He seals His children to protect us from all of it, Revelation 7:3. 

Think of a parent here. Our Father has good children and He has children who are acting up. He has to come down hard on our brothers and sisters who are disobeying Him. He hasn’t stopped loving them though, just as we haven’t. Our Father let’s us know that we are alright while His is disciplining those who need corrected. It will be a tough punishment, but our Father is love, 1 John 4:8, and He never abandons Grace. What our Father does during this time though will allow every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that Jesus is Lord, Philippians 2:9-11. Jesus has been given all, John 17:2, and He will not lose any that He has been given, John 6:39.

For God has consigned (penned up) all men to disobedience, only that He may have mercy on them all [alike]. Romans 11:32

2 So the first [angel] went and emptied his bowl on the earth, and foul and painful ulcers (sores) came on the people who were marked with the stamp of the beast and who did homage to his image.

Remember, the chosen ones, the sealed ones, are standing beside a calm sea of glass and fire. The children of God are in a peaceful place while this is happening; a place filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Those who follow the anti-christ however are in agony and they see us in peace as they suffer. I believe that these people will clearly see both groups here, those in peace and those in agony. Millions of people will not take the mark of the beast because of our testimony and because they see that we are still healthy and well during all of these events. This will enrage the anti-christ to no end. He will be giving speeches, the speeches will sound great, but only a small percentage of the world will be listening. His followers will be in misery and we will know who and what he is. The jealousy of the tares or darnel, Matthew 13:25, towards us will be fierce, they will blame the children of God for everything. Armies of them will be massed against us. And we will still stand by the glassy sea, with peace and joy, and with the testimony of Jesus Christ! We will be fully empowered with the Holy Spirit and signs will follow us wherever we are led by Jesus to serve, Mark 16. 

Revelation 15:5-8

5 After this I looked and the sanctuary of the tent of the testimony in heaven was thrown open, 

During the last 3 1/2 years the full and complete Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to every nation, tongue, and tribe. This is the one sign of Jesus’ return, Mark 13. During these years our Father holds nothing back from His children. We will be empowered as never before to preach the Truth with power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit. We will be used to do the works that Jesus was used to do and even greater ones, John 14:12. We will be perfect, without spot, wrinkle, or blemish, Ephesians 5:27. 

6 And there came out of the temple sanctuary the seven angels bringing the seven plagues (afflictions, calamities). They were arrayed in pure gleaming linen, and around their breasts they wore golden girdles. 

7 And one of the four living creatures [then] gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath and indignation of God, Who lives forever and ever (in the eternities of the eternities). 

8 And the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory (the radiance, the splendor) of God and from His might and power, and no one was able to go into the sanctuary until the seven plagues (afflictions, calamities) of the seven angels were ended. [I Kings 8:10; Isa. 6:4; Ezek. 44:4.]

This is our Father finishing His plan for the world and no one is able to go into the Heavenly sanctuary until it is complete. This Revelation doesn’t say it directly, but our Father knew that there would be a time in history when people would believe that there would be a pre-tribulation rapture. So we see Jesus here showing John that no one can come to the sanctuary until everything is finished. Our Father also repeatedly shows us in this Revelation that people stand before the throne. But when we are caught up with Jesus, after the last trumpet, we rule and reign with Him. All of the events that we have seen are ordered from the Throne. They are ordered and orchestrated directly from where our Father is and He keeps showing us, we are not physically, even though we are spiritually, there with Him until the events of His wrath are finished. 

The Holy Spirit tells us in Ephesians 2:6 that we have been raised up together and made to sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Our spirits are in the Throne right now with our Father, but our bodies are still here on the earth. This is why John always sees us in front of the Throne and not in it. 

I really cannot write this enough: our Father does not abandon Grace during the great Tribulation. Miracles, revelation, and salvation will abound through the saints.