To live in a time when so much prophecy has taken place throughout history is amazing. I imagine when the Book of Daniel was opened from its closed state back in the early 1800's they were thrilled with the miraculous understanding that God had given them. To see point after point of history meshing perfectly with prophecy had to ignite such excitement in them. To realize where in the grand scheme of Biblical prophecy they lived was amazing. Initially their conclusion was wrong, but even that wrongness was predicted as they ate the prophecy up it was sweet as honey in their mouth… then when it hit their bellies and they realized they'd made a mistake.. It was bitter in their bellies. Such bitterness after such sweetness. Many of those who were filled with joy when the prophecy was unfolded instantly discarded ALL the prophecy because they were so filled with the bitterness of the mistake. This particular test for God's people was a very intense one, and those who realized that the mistake was theirs and not God's word, stayed true. They went to God in prayer and studied more and more and the Holy Spirit enlightened them to the error they'd made.
Once more they realized that there was much more to occur prophetically, and they began to watch and pray. 178 years later (2022) we are STILL watching prophecy unfold.
We don't know how many years it will be before all prophecy has come to pass- including our Savior's return to take those who are His - dead and living- to be in heaven with Him. There is no set date for His return that man can discern.
Mar_13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Our Heavenly Father alone knows that day. We watch and pray. The watching we do is focused on the prophecies as yet unfulfilled. We watch as they take place and we know, we KNOW that the whole of prophecy WILL happen without doubt!
The following was written in the late 1800's and we are now in the early 2000's. The man who wrote this and all his contemporaries are long since passed, sleeping death's sleep as they rest in their graves until the Savior calls them forth. So much has happened since they lived in expectation of Christ's soon return. They didn't live to see Jerusalem once more under the control of the Jewish people. We have seen that, I have seen that with Jerusalem once more the capitol of the Israelites- this happened in the year 1980- this was prophecy fulfilled 42 years ago.
Luk 21:24 …and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Luk 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
Luk 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Luk 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
May we keep our eyes open, our hearts ready to put all our trust in our Lord as things only grow worse and worse.
Please, Lord, please, we would be YOURS.
All through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR. Amen!!!!!!!
*******
CHAPTER XIII. THE BEAST WITH TWO HORNS
continued…
Verse 15. "And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed."
Here the climax is reached. Here is where this beast speaks like a dragon. But there are preliminary steps taken before this bitterness of persecution is shown.
Verses 16, 17 say:--
"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
It is a notable truth that any government, however mild and just it may have been before, becomes oppressive and persecuting as soon as it unites the religious to the civil power. Or, in other words, all religion becomes oppressive and persecuting when the sword of power is put into its hands. If the people do not feel the oppression, it is because they have suffered their religious convictions to fall to the low level of mere formalism. And lifeless formality is the natural product of enforced religion. And, true to the spirit of national religion, the leaders of the movement above referred to, already boast that when they have changed the form of the American Government, none will be considered bona fide citizens, none will be eligible to offices of trust, except those who subscribe to the national faith. When the rights of conscience are denied, the rights of citizenship are of little worth; and when these are denied, then will this scripture be fulfilled,--no man may buy or sell save he that worships the image of the beast and receives his mark.
The Scriptures reveal this fact that the conscientious and God-fearing are the very ones against whom this persecution will be directed. And so it has always been when the church has held control of the sword of power. Heresy is considered the highest crime. The martyrs of the papal power were considered the greatest criminals of the realm. None were so sure to be burned alive as the heretics. What a burning shame that in this enlightened age, with the force of historical facts to warn us, men should seek to repeat, in the name of Christ, such a history by clothing religious bigots with the power to punish those who will not subscribe to their particular creeds.
We need not think that all the persecution will fall on the devoted ones in this land. Already the wheels of the Reformation inaugurated by such men as Huss, Luther, Melancthon, Zwingle, Calvin, and other valiant men, for the truth of God, are turned backward. The pope of Rome is recovering the favor he lost in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and there are none who dare stand up, as did Huss and Luther, in defense of the Bible as the only rule of religious rights. But God, who points out the trials through which his people have to pass, does not leave them cast down with such a dark prospect. Immediately after this revelation of the working of iniquity, and the bitter persecution of the saints, the prophet beholds the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a glorified company, who have gotten the victory, and are singing the song of their redemption. Rev. 14:1-5.
This is not the whole assembly of those who shall be redeemed of Adam's race; it includes only those who have passed through the persecution just described. They are not redeemed from the graves. They are redeemed from among men,--out from the generations of the living; they are they who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord (1 Thess. 4:15-17), as will be further shown.
Nor does God in his wisdom leave the vision here. He does not reveal the wickedness of the wicked without pointing out the sad consequences of their actions. He not only shows us the triumph of the faithful, who refuse to worship the beast and his image, but he also forewarns of the destiny of the persecutors and of those who are willingly deceived by their wiles. In Rev. 14:9-11, are the following terrible words concerning the very things we have been considering:-- "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 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; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."
Attention is called to the connection of these awfully solemn words.
1. The verse following says: "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." This shows that the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, separate between the saints and those who worship the beast and receive his mark. And this furnishes a clue to the understanding of the message, what it is to worship the beast, and to receive his mark.
2. By verse 14 and onward, we learn that the Son of man comes on a white cloud to reap the harvest of the earth, immediately after this solemn warning is given. The Lord said the harvest is the end of the world, and that the Son of man will send forth his angels to gather his elect, and they will also gather them that do iniquity to destroy them. Matt. 13:39-43; 24:30, 31. As we have passed by the great tribulation under papal Rome; have passed the wounding of that power in 1798; and as we are in the time of the wonder-working of the second beast, when the elements are in motion to bring the world under further deception, even to the making of an image to the beast, and receiving of his mark, now is the time to heed this warning, for now we are in the last days, when the Son of man is near to come to reap the harvest of the earth.
3. By verse 9 we learn that the solemn warning message, quoted above, is given by "the third angel." Two angels precede this one, the first one (verses 6, 7) declaring that the hour of God's judgment is come. These important truths must be noticed, that we may understand our relation to the perils of the last days, and that we may perfectly understand the solemn warning that God in mercy has sent
to this generation.
To be continued…
(From Eden to Eden-A Historic and Prophetic Study. By J. H. Waggoner. 1890.)
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