"Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism."
George Washington
Michael and Pamela had just finished the Council business meeting in the afternoon, and went in the cafeteria to see if they can find a few friends and chat for awhile. Michael scanned the tables as he stood in a short line at the coffee table.
"Ahah! Pamela, there is a guy that Eric and I always chided a bit about his accent. He has born in Tennessee and then when he was about sixteen, the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri. That's Joseph Carter, and he was debating last year whether he had a calling to go into a ministry or not" said Michael.
Michael filled his environmentally safe cup with coffee and took off to the north side of the cafeteria where he saw his friend Joseph. "Joseph! What's up now?" shouted Michael.
"Hi Michael, nice to see you!" said Joseph as Pamela followed closely behind Michael. "Michael, who is this attractive women behind you?" asked Joseph.
"Joseph, I introduce you to Pamela, my wife!" said Michael.
"Pamela, nice to meet you. How long have you had to tough it out with Michael? I've known him awhile, and I know he can be kind of hardheaded at times!" said Joseph with a grin on his face.
"Oh Joseph, he has been custommade just for me! His parents did a good job raising him, and he knows when to be difficult, and when to not!" said Pamela with a sparkle in her eyes.
"So Joseph, are you working, studying or what?" questioned Michael. "Well Michael, I did decide to start a ministry, and since the Council has an online curriculum, I can work a little and study to be a Pastor! I'm pretty excited!" exclaimed Joseph. "And in addition, I've been studying a bit of the US Constitution and some of the writings of other ministers across the political spectrum, like one by Davidson Loehr, a leftist leaning minister for the Unitarian Universalist Church. He wrote a book called America Fascism + God, Sermons from a Heretical Preacher."
"I used to think a political graph was a straight line from the left to the right. I was wrong. It's a circle! Like I used to be a Republican, but when they looked like moderate Democrats, I left very quickly. I'm an American Constitutionalist now. But in my readings I'm finding out that sometimes I am a Libertarian in the closet, and agreeing on some issues with an EXTREME LEFT WINGER!" gasps Joseph.
"And I looked more into NAFTA. It's a loser all the way over! The only winners on the NAFTA playing board are the money changers! It's like when Jesus overturned the tables in the Temple! They were polluting God's Temple with a cheating business. The only winners in the situation were the cheating businessmen! NAFTA is just like that. The Mexican economy crashed, America is in, what I think is like the Second Depression, that was engineered by the money changers. In America now, the population to money ratio is more extreme than it was in the First Depression: over 90% of American material is owned by just 10% of the population!" exclaimed Joseph.
"In addition, the 'freelove hippie generation,' like President Slick Willie, is not the foundation of all the troubles we have now. I've been looking into the US Constitution like Article 1 Section 10, 'No State shall...make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts.'" The Founding Fathers wrote about the problems by using paper as the basis of the money. Look at the Federalist Papers to see. That's why they wrote it into the Constitution! But the Federal Government made their private bank, the Federal Reserve in 1913, and in the early '70s they got rid of the gold basis of our currency." said Joseph.
"Wow! Joseph, it feels like I have been asleep for my lifetime. Dad has the Federalist Papers in his library, but I never read it! Do many other people know this? Or are all of us just here for the ride? Are they connected with the State Religion educators? Pamela's father has researched a lot of that. I was homeschooled and we did not drop the Word of God from our studies. I was aware of a little of the public school material, but I never looked at it very hard. It looks to be a situation put together by the Devil. Not very sweet, but very simple for spiritually lost people. It amplifies the importance of sharing the Gospel. But when a child is born now, taught the rules of man, by the 'me, me, me' generation, when they look to people like egotistical academic scholars who tell them that the concept of God was created by weak men who were not strong enough to live like an intelligent man" said Michael.
"Michael, do you see how Satan has people right where he wants them? If they deny God, they of course, need to deny any of God's opposition, Satan!" exclaimed Joseph.
Supper went well for Michael, Pamela and Joseph. "Joseph and Pamela let's go find a seat for the talk tonight. Joseph Clark will be the speaker and his talk's subject is 'When Will Christ Return?'" said Michael. All three grabbed their scriptures, found seats for all three, and waited for Joseph Clark.
Pamela brought her laptop and found out that the Council had just put in a Campmeeting WiFi! "Wow! The Council's WiFi is pretty good!" said Pamela. "Brother Clark's talk is available here with a download! Michael, give it a look." said Pamela.
When Will Christ Return?
by Joseph Clark
Down through the centuries Christians have puzzled over the question:
"When will Christ return?" Could it be that we have been making hard work of it? Could it be that it is written plainly and we have missed it? Much of prophecy is written in an ambiguous manner, but most of what we will examine today is written plainly.
Come with me and lets see if we can determine when Jesus will return. Not the calendar date, but the events taking place just prior to His return. During the past several generations the world has been privy to a panorama of the most amazing events as they unfolded before our very eyes, such as the Jew's return to Israel. Some five times we have seen neighboring nations try to drive her into the sea. Each time in a matter of days she "...cut them to pieces..." (Zechariah 12:3). Arafat and the whole world has seen the fulfillment of such scriptures as Ezekiel 11:17: "I will give you the Land of Israel." Will they believe future prophecies?
Let's now turn to Ezekiel chapters 3639 and Zechariah 1014. Both of these passages seem to be describing the same time the end time. They not only describe the end time, but go beyond the end of our age that there is not a oneworld order nor an individual which could be called an antiChrist ruling the world. The nations are as today.
May we submit further that this war is not Armageddon which comes later. As the Lord begins foretelling the "who, what, and why" of this war, we see Him using great detail. He names Russia's allies: Persia, Ethiopia and Libya; Gomer and Togarmah (a part of Armenia). He says they will come against the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 38:8).
Another group of nations is mentioned in verse 13 which is in opposition to Russia and her allies: "Sheba and Dedan and the Merchants of Tarshish with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, art thou come to take a spoil..." Tarshish used to be Spain (a land of ships), but not it is suggested to be England and her offspring. Be that as it may.
Verse 16 of Ezekiel is interesting: "I will bring thee against my Land that the heathen may know me..." In other words, God is setting up a demonstrations to show the entire world that He is God, that He is on the throne and is in charge! The Lord demonstrated on several occasions that He was omnipotent. The falling of the ten plagues upon Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea are two examples. The whole world heard about it, so that forty years later Rahad said to the two spies: "For we have heard...and as soon as we heard these things our hearts did melt, for the Lord your God, He is God in Heaven above, and in the earth beneath."
Then there was the time when the three Hebrew men were cast into the fiery furnace. Who was there to observe the dedication of Nebuchadnezzer's Image? All the important people in the Babylonian Empire (about 120 provinces).
Not to be forgotten was the time when Elijah called fire down from Heaven:
"Then the fire fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench" (I Kings 18:38).
This was followed by Elijah having 450 prophets of Baal taken down to the river and slain. All Israel had been gathered to observe this. When the fire fell on their faces and said: "The Lord, He is the God; the Lord He is the God."
By the same token, when the Lord gets finished with Russia and her allies, not only will five out of six of them be dead, but all the atheists in the world will know that the Heavenly Father is alive and well (Ezekiel 38:2223 and 39:2)!
During the past fifty years Israel has easily defeated her foes, but Ezekiel 38 and Zechariah 13 and 14 reveal that Israel's turn to suffer is coming. In Zechariah 13:8 we read that two thirds of Israel will die and a third part will be brought through the fire. Zechariah 14:2 says that the houses will be rifled and the women ravished; and half of the City shall go forth into captivity. Zechariah 14:1 says: "Behold the day of the Lord cometh,..." The expression, Day of the Lord means the Day of Judgment. It is the day when Jesus comes!
Notice the first word in Zechariah 14:3: "Then (King James). When does "then" mean? "Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations..." That is Jesus! He has come! "Then" is when we see Israel virtually destroyed! Then Jesus will come and His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives and the Mount splits in two (Zechariah 14:4). Ezekiel words it this way: "And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the Land of Israel, saith the Lord, That my fury shall come up in my face" (Ezekiel 38:18). In conjunction is the great earthquake mentioned in Zechariah 14:4.
Revelation 6:1217 describes in more vivid detail the absolute terror connected with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. First is the great earthquake; the sun becomes black; the moon as blood; every mountain and island are moved. "The kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath is come, and who is able to stand?'" (Revelation 6:1517). Christ isn't coming. He has come!
Revelation 7 describes a time during which the saints are sealed. This is followed in chapter 811 and 1516 by judgments called plagues or vials of wrath. The saints are 'sealed' which protects them from the plagues which are about to fall.
The popular teaching today is that there is a secret rapture in which the saints are caught up into Heaven for seven years while the remainder of the world's population suffers what they call a "tribulation." This teaching came from the infamous group called the Jesuits. When Martin Luther and the other Protestants left the Catholic Church, they saw the Church of Rome as the AntiChrist system. This was a monkey on Rome's back. The Jesuits concocted the idea that the AntiChrist was far in the future and the Protestants adopted it, and everything that went along with it.
This is a false teaching, calling the judgments of Revelation "tribulation."
These plagues are not tribulation they are plagues. Tribulation is mantoman. Plagues are Godtoman. When Israel was making bricks in Egypt that was tribulation, but when the plagues began to fall that was God! They got the idea of tribulation from Matthew 24:21 when Jerusalem was under the attack from Rome (70 AD).
Now that Jesus has come, He is King over all the earth and, according to Revelation 19:15, He will rule with a rod of iron. May we suggest that the plagues of Revelation are no more or no less that than the "Rod of Iron." May we further say that the vials of wrath in Revelation 16 are simply a repetition of chapter 89. The word plagues is found in both passages.
In Revelation 7:13 the plagues are withheld until the saints have been sealed. Also in Revelation 9:4. A plague of locusts is about to be released upon the earth. The two angels involved are warned that they should only hurt those men which have not the seal of God on their forehead. Contrary to popular belief this shows us that the righteous will be on earth while the plagues are being poured out! They are not in Heaven!
It appears that the Battle of Armageddon comes after Jesus has come and is the sixth plague. In Revelation 9:13 the sixth angel sounds. A voice says to the angel in verse 1418: "Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates...And the number of the army of the horsemen were 200,000...by these were the third part of men killed." Chapter 16 gives additional information: "And the sixth angel poured out his vial on the river Euphrates...And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon" (Revelation 16:12).
Now that we have examined the coming of Jesus with some of the major events occurring at this time, let us check the scriptures for other information connected with His coming. In Matthew 24:27 we see that His coming shall be as lightening flashing across the sky: "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." I Thessalonians 4:1617 says: "...and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air." You will notice that when Jesus comes from Heaven it is the angels who are with Him, not the saints!
Matthew 25:31 tells us: "When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with him..." What happens next? "And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather His elect from the four winds from one end of the 'heavens' to the other." This does not mean Heaven, but the heavens of the earth. What happens next? The saints go with Jesus to Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:5). The saints come from around the world with Jesus (Jude 14).
In summary: What events did we find were taking place when Jesus comes? When Russia and her allies attack Israel like a cloud to cover the Land; when two thirds of Israel are killed and half of those living in Jerusalem go into captivity, in other words Israel is virtually destroyed, then Jesus comes.
FOOT NOTES
In the book of Revelation; chapters 812 and 1516 are recorded judgments of the Lord. They are called plagues; vials of wrath or woes (Revelation 9:20 and 15:1). It is obvious as we place the plagues in two columns, side by side that they are the same plagues simply repeated.
"Wow! So it looks like America is not in any of the prophecies. For if America is present, could Jerusalem be destroyed? We used to have more Jews in New York State then in the whole country of Israel!"excited Michael proclaimed.
"Yes Michael, I see that. It seems to say that America will either be made powerless by terrorists, or stop supporting Israel.
"Okay, .....hmmm.....in view that Slick Willy was giving funds to Arafat before he died, the present administration could arrange funds to PLO and cut funds to Israel. Our support of the UN could promote a situation unfair to Israel. The Arabs have Israel outnumbered in the UN, and they advance the ideas that always make a lot of noise if Israel uses military force to take out a terrorist site in the Mideast, but stay silent when the terrorists in the Gaza strip launch missiles to help destroy Israel!" said Michael.
"Well Michael, since the last election, we are in a situation where the new President up with a Democrat controlled Legislature, doesn't make a difference if they are a Democrat or a Republican, it's kind of like six of one, a halfdozen the other. Ken Paul had the best politician's perception of the US Constitution. He proposed to send the IRS into a job search like the rest on us. He favored a National sales tax to supply funds for the USA. But enough of the voters were brainwashed to believe that the IRS was the best way to go.
Then our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan were supposed to come home, but the President sent some 7,000 more to Afghanistan." said Joseph.
“Well Joseph, lets look at some more of Ezekiel. What about the dry bones of chapter 37. Is that Israel being restored in 1948, or the first resurrection?” asked Michael.
“Michael, it is my experience that Hebrew prophets don't express their prophecies in straight lines like the English and American people think. They think in circles. It's similar to the way one of my English writing professors told us to write essays. He said: 'in your intro to your paper, tell your audience what you're going to tell them, then tell your audience what your want them to read, and in your closing paragraphs, tell them what you told them! Biblical prophets use the same method.” said Joseph.
“So Ezekiel 36 tells of the restoration of Israel. Like in Ezekiel 36: 24 'For I will take you from among countries, and bring you into your own land.' and in 38: 'Like a flock at Jerusalem on its feast days, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.'” questioned Michael.
“Right” answered Joseph. “Then in chapter 37, but it's like circle scribbles on a piece of paper, like a line of letter 'L's. All connected, but 'L's. So the dry bones of chapter 37 can be the restoration of Israel AND the resurrection at Christ's second coming! Look at verse 12: 'Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My People, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.'” See, coming from the graves pretty much indicates a resurrection when Christ comes.” said Joseph.
“So then, you think that the two sticks for Judah and Ephraim joined together is Israel after Jesus comes?” asks Michael.
“Yes. Judah has Israel now. But the house of Joseph includes Ephraim and Manasseh, which are in the Lost 10 tribes of Israel. Herbert Armstrong of the Worldwide Church of God has Ephraim being England of the U.K., where 'the sun never sets for England.'” states Joseph Clark.
“So after Jesus comes, Jews in Israel, after the resurrection, where people from AROUND THE WORLD.” Michael emphasizes the last three words with his hands and voice, as his hands go up over his head and stay stretched and come down to his left and right sides. “meet together and meet Jesus in the air?” questions Michael.
“Yes. And that is when Fundamentalist Jews learn that they are not the only ones in the world that are looking for a Messiah! Those 'changed in the twinkling of an eye' are those with Jesus in their hearts, who keep the commands of God. Living in Jesus' Kingdom during the Millennium, is a 'reward' to the Saints that kept the Commandments of God! Does that include mainstream Christians that kept the Nine Commandments of God?” asks Joseph.
“Ummm, maybe not. So that could be the difference between the rewards and gifts from God?” asks Michael.
“Yes. A reward is to be able to be with Christ in His Kingdom during the Millennium and the gift is eternal life with God being resurrected at the last resurrection at the end of the Millennium.” said Joseph.
“So........ the difference between gifts and rewards can have a lot to do with the Scarlet Women of Revelation 17. Revelation 17:9 spells out 'seven mountains' that the Scarlet Women sits on. The seven mountains at related to the Seven Mountains of Rome. In religious circles, Rome is the base for the Vatican, Jesuits and Catholics. The Pope, without Biblical authority, 'changed times'” Michael made quotes with his left hand and right hand, “as he convinced Christian Catholics that the day of worship was 'changed' to the FirstDayoftheWeek, Sunday?” asks Michael.
“Correct. Many believers are deceived by the Scarlet Women riding on the Scarlet Beast. They have their version of Jesus in there hearts, they have faith in Jesus, have made commitments to Jesus, so they receive the gift of salvation. But the rewards of keeping the commandments is not there; keeping only nine of the commandments is not what it takes for rewards.” said Joseph.
“Okay, so that is chapter 37. Then chapter 38 is more in the circle?” asks Michael.
“Yes. Like I said in my talk, Gog, Magog, Russia and her allies, attack Israel. And like Zechariah 14: 2 says, half of Jerusalem will go into captivity. Israel is trashed. But as in Ezekiel 38 verse 18, 'that My fury will show in My face.'” exclaims Joseph. “And Ezekiel 39 verse 9 says Israel will take SEVEN YEARS to burn all the weapons used against Israel!” said Joseph.
“But the prophecy goes in circles! Ezekiel 39:25 repeats the ideas of chapter 36, the restoration of Israel to the Lands of the Fathers! There it says: 'Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob.' But notice that ideas from 37 are recycled. Look at the rest of that verse 25 in chapter 39. 'and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; ' not just Judah, but the WHOLE HOUSE of Israel! That includes all of the lost tribes and all of the tribes of Joseph! That's after the Second Coming of Jesus! When all of the tribes of Israel meet Jesus in the air!” said Joseph.
“Okay. Let me put it all on a time line” says Michael as he stretches his hands out from his front to his sides as tracing an invisible line. “First, Israel reclaims it's original territory, the Holy Land and Jerusalem. It turns once desolate lands into a land of bounty. Second, Gog and Magog and it's allies, which includes Persia, as the Bible calls the UN territory of Iran, Ethiopia, and Libya. Then, Israel is attacked, and half of Jerusalem is taken in captivity. Then, the fury of God is shown, as Jesus returns, the armies attacking Israel are destroyed. And it takes Israel seven years straight to burn all of the army attack hardware. And no rapture happens, and a temple does not have to be rebuilt” Michael tries to proclaim in a single breath of air. As Michael gasps for more air, Joseph nods his head to affirm Michael's words.
“But there is a slight problem in the next chapter in Ezekiel, chapter 40 that describes the dimensions of a new temple. And the end of the Book of Daniel, is when a man clothed in linen makes a difference between when daily sacrifices are taken away, and 1,290 days and then 1,335 days. Whether that is 1,290 days from 70 AD or as Mainstream Christians want to take it as three and a half years from a future date. The Israel Today website says that there are Jewish government folks going to build a new temple. If that is even the case, maybe the appearance of a Muslim alMahdi is not needed. Building a temple at the Dome site in Jerusalem will unite Muslims around the world to takeout Israel!” said Joseph.