More power than Moses and Aaron over Egypt, the LORD’s “two witnesses” (Revelation 11:3 KJV) will prophesy 42 months or 1,260 days, the second half of the Tribulation Week. Who are they? Neither Enoch nor Elijah died, since both were personally raptured Home. Perhaps it will be them. Fire will proceed out of their mouths to devour their enemies (11:5). They will have unprecedented power. “These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will” (11:6). The Almighty, not the wicked one, controls the narrative for the story to conclude as prophesied. Both will be martyred like many true witnesses, will lie dead three days in the streets of Jerusalem, but will be resurrected for all the world to see, when a Great Voice from heaven calls out, “Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them” (11:12). All of this transpires as the Seventh Trumpet sounds (11:15). LORD, You control the narrative. You determine the fulness of time for all things. May our awe of You far surpass our apprehension about the enemy. May our understanding of You transcend our understanding of not just man’s power but all the supernatural power of wickedness in high places. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Spiritual Warfare
Measure the Temple of God (Revelation 11:1)
John the Beloved may return to administrate the Seven Thunders (Revelation 10:3-4). What? That’s crazy. No more than you judging angels (1Corinthians 6:3). The Almighty directed John: “Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not” (Revelation 10:4). Then, he directed John to eat the “little book” (10:10), which was sweet in the mouth and bitter in the stomach. John was next given a cryptic promise, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (10:11). Thereafter, he was directed, “Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein” (11:1). What the Almighty measured, did He not exercise dominion over (Isaiah 40:12)? Temple worshippers during this time worship Antichrist. Whatever surprise the LORD delivers with the Seven Thunders, it may become significant for John, just as Malachi projected for Elijah. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD” (Malachi 4:5). Who would ever see this coming? LORD, fulfill Your prophecies that You may be justified, whatever we may predict. Return quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Practice the Presence of God
When sin is cast out of our lives, it must be replaced with the holiness of God, which is another way of saying, ‘We must practice the presence of God.’ “Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11 KJV). Nature abhors a vacuum, and so our heart finds necessary the presence of God. Humanity was never created to exist apart from God. Our greatest liberty is to dwell with God. In past, this has often been called simply the ‘Providence of God’ or ‘walking in the Spirit’ (Romans 8:1; Galatians 5:16), but is now referred to as “keeping in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25 NIV). Elementary Christianity deals with the first “principles of the doctrine of Christ” (Hebrews 6:1 KJV) of repenting of the “dead works” (6:1) of self-trust, returning to confidence or “faith toward God” (6:1), “baptisms” (6:2) to confess our repentance and to oath our loyalty to Christ, “laying on of hands” (6:2) to give and affirm the presence of the Holy Spirit and His gifts, teaching our hope of the “resurrection of the dead” (6:2), and certainty of “eternal judgment” (6:2) of reward for the righteous and punishment for the damned. But, we are commanded, “Let us go on unto perfection” (6:1). And, who is the Perfect One, but God? We are commanded to go on unto the maturity of practicing the presence of God, and “this will we do, if God permit” (6:3). Father, let us elevate our thinking in returning to practicing the presence of God. In Jesus’ name, we pray, return quickly, amen.
God’s Surprise (Revelation 10:4)
Why write an entire book about revealing the future, only to tell us, ‘I know something you don’t know’? “And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not” (Revelation 10:4 KJV). We can all speculate about it, but His creative mind will not be laid bare by our probing. To be sure, whatever He does will magnify Him, ensure the success of all His judgments, and draw all His children to Himself. LORD, cause confusion to all Your enemies, and grant us admiration for all Your wonderful works, as we pray for the success of Your Seven Thunders. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Demonic Horsemen Kill 1/3 of Humanity (Revelation 9:13-21)
Every third person in the world will be burned alive in the Fifth Trumpet Judgment. “By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths” (Revelation 9:18 KJV). The “brimstone” is the fuel, the “fire” is the combustion process, and the “smoke” is the exhaust; but, wicked men are the targets of the flame. The LORD is the Righteous Judge. Satan is the villain. The enemy executes a burning, which makes insignificant the six million murdered in the Holocaust. Yet, the survivors “repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk” (9:20). Insanity! O the depths of the depravity of the human heart! Will any finally repent to enter physically into the Millennial Reign of Christ? Yes. Will Israel finally be saved? Yes. “Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children” (Isaiah 66:8). Everything that happens during this seven year Tribulation Week, must happen, for they “are determined upon thy [Daniel’s] people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” (Daniel 9:24). LORD, You alone have clean hands. You have pleaded by the prophets with Your prophecies, and the unrighteous would not repent. Why do they cling to the one murdering them? Insane! Continue Your righteous and mysterious work of judgment. Secure for Yourself a people. Reclaim Israel. In Jesus’ reconciling name, we pray. Amen.
The Countenance of My Health
“I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright” (Leviticus 26:13 KJV). From the notes of a long departed sister, a testimony of hope and faithfulness.
My teeth are healed.
They are white and strong.
My incision is firm
As I sing my song.
I am healed and whole
From my head to my feet.
My family has health
And plenty to eat.
“The Lord is my portion!” [Psalm 119:57]
Saith my soul.
He took my infirmities
And made me whole.
“Faith is substance!” [Hebrews 11:1]
I shout this call.
For I am made perfect
In the presence of you all.
Father, may we all have such bold, quiet confidence in You, that You would never deny us. Grant that all Your people will say, You are the “health of my countenance and my God” (Psalm 43:5). In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
Demonic Locusts From the Abyss (Revelation 9:1-12)
Terrorizing only the ungodly with unimaginable pain without the release of death for five months is Satan unmasked, revealing his malevolent intentions upon his own in the Fifth Trumpet Judgment. “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit” (Revelation 9:1 KJV). The game is up and the hand of the wicked one is forced by the Almighty, incentivizing repentance
to those previously not so inclined in this latter part of the Tribulation Week, but why then not sudden and total mass defection from the wicked one? The chains of bondage to sin go to the depths of humanity’s normal inaction in the face of divine displeasure. The hidden curses upon all has piled up, where ‘every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword,’ as observed by Abraham Lincoln (March 4, 1865), who further declared, “The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether” (Psalm 19:9). Father, it is our unimagined delight to so petition You with this affection of Your parentage. We have such tangled webs of curses ensnaring us, we find it bewildering to address. Abba Father, deliver us! Show us Your glory! In Jesus’ sin delivering name, we pray. Amen and amen.
Day Shone Not for a Third Part (Revelation 8:12)
God’s judgments are apocalyptic and miraculous. Best to ignore them and hope they cannot be as strange and incomprehensible as they sound. God forbid! We rob God of His glory in judgment, when we force His actions to conform to the smallness of our understanding. God smites the sun, moon, and stars, so there is a third less daylight and moonlight, in the Fourth Trumpet Judgment. “And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise” (Revelation 8:12 KJV). God miraculously intervenes in the space time continuum, to the chagrin of the enemy.
First, Joshua’s Long Day (Joshua 10:12-14) demonstrated the ability of an omnipotent God to listen to the prayer of a finite Joshua and cause the sun and moon to stand still for about a day to aid Israel in overcoming the Amorites. “And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day” (Joshua 10:13). Only God could supernaturally pause the motion of heavenly bodies for about a day. Who has heard of such a thing?
Second, Jesus’ Mountain Cast Into the Sea (Mark 11:23), as if recalling Joshua’s prayer and predicting our intercession for the fulfillment of the Fourth Trumpet Judgment, Jesus encouraged us to pray for great and mighty things which we know not. “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith” (Mark 11:23). Amen. Lord, cause the sunlight and moonlight to be shortened by a third during this Fourth Trumpet Judgment.
Third, Hezekiah’s Sun Dial (2Kings 20:8-11; Isaiah 38:7-8), where a sign was given to Hezekiah that he would be healed, by the LORD causing the movement of the sun upon the sun dial to go backwards ten degrees. “And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz” (2Kings 20:11). This would be as if to reverse the rotation of the earth for a few hours. Not just miraculous, but only possible by an omnipotent, omniscient God.
Fourth, Visit of the Babylonians to Check on Hezekiah (2Kings 20:12-13), to pay their respects to Hezekiah for his recovery from sickness, but also to find out, ‘Did you notice that strange event, where the sun dial seemed to go backwards — about the time you were healed?’ “At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto Hezekiah: for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick” (2Kings 20:12). If Hezekiah’s Sun Dial was only God playing tricks with the sunlight on Hezekiah’s sun dial, why did the Babylonian astrologers notice the same thing on their sun dial, unless God performed this miracle on the entire world, because of Hezekiah?
All of this discussion is about God’s ability and willingness to alter the natural progression of time, which will play out in the Fourth Trumpet Judgment toward the latter part of the second half of the Seventieth Week of Daniel (Daniel 9:24-26).
In my opinion, the Fourth Trumpet Judgment (Revelation 8:12-13) points to a speeding up of the rotation of the planet earth by 50%, where a new Apocalyptic Day would be 16 hours — 1/3 less than the present 24 hour day. This would be 1/3 less light from the sun, shrinking from 12 hours of normal daylight to 8 hours, and 1/3 less light from the moon and stars, shrinking from 12 hours of normal nighttime to 8 hours, for a total of 16 hours for a new Apocalyptic Day.
If the circumference of the earth is approximately 24,901 miles, to complete a single rotation in 24 hours, the earth must be rotating on its axis at about 1,038 miles per hour. That is now a Normal Solar Day. After the Fourth Trumpet Judgment, for the earth to complete a single rotation in 16 hours, the earth will be rotating on its axis at 1,556 miles per hour, a 50% increase in speed, for a new Apocalyptic Day.
Father, this seems like a lot of information and speculation about prophecy, but You are the One who commended the Bereans, because “they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). LORD, I’ve always wanted to pray for a mountain to be cast into the sea. Now, I intercede for that to be so with the Second Trumpet Judgment (Revelation 8:8) and ask for the fulfillment of this Fourth Trumpet Judgment (8:12), where it looks like You may speed up the rotation of the earth. May Your will be done, and may the good be accomplished in the judgment of the earth, the repentance of sinners, and especially the reclamation of Your people Israel. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen and amen.
Waters Became Wormwood (Revelation 8:11)
Fresh water contamination of a third of earth’s rivers and water sources takes place from a burning heavenly body falling to earth with the Third Trumpet Judgment. This could be a meteor breaking up upon entry into the earth’s atmosphere, precisely aimed by Jehovah at the drinking water supply. “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter” (Revelation 8:10-11 KJV). Since 96.54% of earth’s total water is from its oceans, seas, and bays, 68.7% of its freshwater is from its polar ice caps, glaciers, and snow, 30.1% of its freshwater is from groundwater, 0.26% of its freshwater from lakes, and only 0.006% of its freshwater from rivers, then making bitter a third of water from rivers and freshwater sources becomes devastating to an already parched planet, where one in four people already do not have access to safe drinking water. Humans can survive only a matter of days without water. Wormwood is an emblem of poisonous bitterness promised by the Almighty, “the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink” (Jeremiah 9:15). This He prophesied to do to His people Israel to punish and cure them of treacherously departing from the Living God. In this Third Trumpet Judgment, humanity also experiences the bitterness of wormwood; and, those that survive will be encouraged to repent. LORD, we pray even now for all those who will experience the bitterness of thirst that cannot be assuaged by man or government. Give them repentance unto the acknowledging of the truth as it is in Jesus. Especially be merciful to Israel. Reclaim from the enemy all those prisoners held captive by the lie that there is salvation in someone other than Messiah Jesus. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.
Christ Has Made Us Free
What is freedom? Of course, we want freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of petition, freedom from poverty, freedom of education, freedom from discrimination; but, what a human government gives, it can also take away. Christ clearly defined what freedom is. “If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32 KJV). The Jews objected to His reasoning. “We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest Thou, Ye shall be made free?” (8:33). True freedom is freedom from the bondage of sin — not just the eternal death penalty of sin, but the necessity to have to commit sin. And, sin prevents us from dwelling in God’s house forever. “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (8:34-36). Evidently, we need to continually renew our credentials of freedom by constant reliance on Christ for everything! “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). LORD, may Your Spirit direct us in the way of liberty and freedom. Teach us to discern between the freedom human governments give that may be taken away, and the true freedom that endures as long as You endure. Thank you from liberating us from the necessity to sin! In Jesus’ name, amen.
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