BORN TO BE PERSECUTED
The Bible tells us in Revelation 12:13-14 “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child, and to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”
The Great Tribulation will be a time of testing AND persecution for the Institutional Church and judgment upon the children of disobedience. Like the Children of Israel during their Wilderness experience after leaving Egypt, the Church will find itself needing to trust God for their daily needs. During times of famine God will supernaturally provide “manna” for His children. Many water systems and resources will be polluted around the world. There will also be water shortages around the world. Many nations and groups of people will be fighting “water wars” for control of what potable water is available. Just as God provided clean drinking water and food for the Children of Israel in the Wilderness, God will provide both natural and spiritual water for His Church.
The Great Tribulation is not a time for us to be murmuring and complaining in the “Wilderness.” God forbid that we fall into the same traps the enemy laid for the Children of Israel in their time of testing in the Wilderness. God was not pleased with Israel in the Wilderness because of their murmuring and complaining and their unbelief. On our journey through the Wilderness we must trust God to supply “all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
I have had many dreams and visions of people leaving cities with anything they could carry including as many guns as they could carry. Many were heading for the mountains and other areas in the country in order to find safety from the chaos and lawlessness that were engulfing the cites.
Many people, including Christians, will actually flee to wilderness areas and REFUGES where God has prepared a place for them to escape the economic woes engulfing the world and the persecution the Church will be experiencing. There are many Christian churches and organizations who have been preparing these places for several years. These refuges are not just for Christians, but for many others who will find themselves in dire need of food, clothing, and shelter.
“And the Serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood, and the earth helped the woman and open her mouth and swallowed the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” (Revelation 12:15-16).
The flood coming out of the mouth of the dragon is deluged with lies and false accusations Satan brings against the Institutional Church—the followers of Christ. Of course, the lies and false accusations contrived by the Serpent will not hinder her from fulfilling the Great Commission to “preach the gospel” to all who will listen.
“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Christ.” (Revelation 12:17).
The “remnant” in the above scripture are the people of God who live during the time of the Great Storm. The Dragon persecutes those who have the “testimony of Christ.” Many Christians will be reviled, persecuted and martyred during the Great Tribulation because of their faith and their refusal to deny Christ. According to John, many Christians will be beheaded during the tribulation period. (Revelation 20:4).
On March, 26, 2015 I had a dream about the persecution of the Church. Over the years I have had several dreams and visions of the persecution of the Church that would take place at the end of this current age. In the dream I saw a woman who was dressed in a long robe with a veil over her face. I noticed that the woman was pregnant “with child.” I watched as her belly grew larger and larger. I could tell she was ready to give birth to her child.
At first I thought the woman was a Nun, but then realized she was not a Nun, but she represented the Institutional Church in Revelation, Chapter 17. After all, nuns are supposed to be celibate, are they not? Like the Virgin Mary who brought forth the man child Christ, this virgin (Virgo) was about to give birth to a child.
After the child was born the woman walked over to me and placed the child (male) into my arms. The child then looked up to me and said “I was born to be reviled and persecuted.” The baby repeated the message to me two more times, “I was born to be reviled and persecuted. I tried to assure the child that what it was saying was untrue. Then I realized that the male child represented the Church in the “last days.” Later when I looked over at the woman I saw her bent over with her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she was groaning in pain.
The Bible says “For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the Sons of God, for we know that the “whole creation” groans and travails in pain together until now. (Romans 8:19 and 22). There are two interesting facts about a woman in “labor” which mimic the manifestation of the Sons of God. One is the fact that birth pangs do not stop until the child is born. The second fact is that the birth pangs become more frequent, intense, and rapid until the child is born. Both of these truths describe a time of “great tribulation” in the world and the” persecution” of the Church at the end of the age.
To be “reviled” means to be criticized, censured, condemned, and/or attacked. These atrocities are events the Church has always been expected to endure for righteousness sake. Revilement and persecutions are the “purple hearts” we receive which bring honor and glory to Christ.
Jesus said “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs in the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad; for great is your reward in Heaven: for so persecuted the prophets which were before you.” (Matthew, 5:10-12).
NASA has recorded strange “groaning” sounds coming out of the Earth they never heard before. They are baffled because they do not understand what the groaning sounds are or where they are coming from. The spinning of the Earth has always made a humming sound, but these “groanings” are different. Even the sounds from the spinning and movement of the earth have increased at an alarming rate.
I woke up one morning a few months ago and heard a strange humming sound I had never heard before. A few days later I saw someone on television talking about the louder spinning sounds that the earth was making. The man on the television program played a recording NASA had made of the sounds which sounded much like what I had heard a few days before.
Astronomers are saying that for the first time in 2000 years the twelve stars of the constellation Virgo will appear again in 2017 over the Sun and Moon as they did at the birth of Christ. This aligning of the Stars, the Sun, and Moon are another one of the “signs’ in the heavens which will occur pointing to the Great Tribulation and the time of great persecution for the Church.
I believe the greatest time of persecution for believers will begin in the years following the “sign in the heavenlies.” Many in the Church will go underground in many nations because laws will be changed that will prohibit the worship and teachings of Christ in public places. Ungodly people will try to have any mention of God and the Bible removed from public view. We have already seen much of this happening in our own country and in other places worldwide.
SUPERNATURAL PROVISION
God promised to provide for the Hebrews as they traveled through the Wilderness. All He expected of them was to “trust Him and obey His commandments.” Because the Children of Israel looked through the eyes of “natural men,” things continued to look bleak and depressing to them. However, they should have been secure in the knowledge that God was with them, and He had promised to provide everything they needed on their journey to their Promised Land..
If the Children of Israel really understood who God was and the power He possessed, many of their carcasses would not have been left to rot in the Wilderness. After all, the entire wilderness experience was designed to teach His chosen people to trust Him and believe the promises He had given to them. God was trying to prepare them for the conflict they would have to endure with the inhabitants that dwelt “their” Promised Land.
While the Children of Israel were in Egypt the plagues did not consume their crops or harm them in any way. However, in the Wilderness their emotions, motives, and attitudes were being tested. In Egypt God did make a difference between His people and the Egyptians. In the Wilderness He expected the hearts of His chosen people to be different than the attitudes of the Egyptians.
God expected faith and “gratitude,” not stiff necked “attitudes” from His people. God expected them to be more faithful toward Him since He had proved His faithfulness to them in Egypt. The Children of Israel were being tested in the Wilderness, unfortunately, many were failing the test. Eventually many were swallowed up when the ground opened beneath them because of their faithlessness and their rebellious attitudes. Israel kept failing the same tests day after day and it was obvious they were not interested in obeying or serving the One who had delivered them from their taskmasters in Egypt.
When the Hebrews arrived at “Marah” in the Wilderness and found the waters bitter, many of them became bitter like the waters. There had been constant murmuring and complaining and this eventually provoked God to anger. No matter what God did for them, many of them were never satisfied. Many of them had become an unthankful, unfaithful, and ungrateful mob of rebels. God had been trying to teach them how to enter into His rest by faith. They were not interested in rest or faith in God, but like Pharaoh, hardened their hearts and provoked Him to anger. (Hebrews, 3:7-11).
Bitterness is byproduct of unbelief, unforgiveness, and dissatisfaction. Bitterness complicates tough situations and opens the door for the Serpent to make things even harder and more unbearable. Bitterness rejects godly counsel, impoverishes the soul, and will eventually destroy the body with its deadly poison. Nothing good can come from a “root of bitterness.”
Bitterness is like a plague that comes to kill, steal, and destroy. It seeks to destroy the target of its aggression. It foments rebellion and causes disharmony in the ranks of the Church. Bitterness destroys the soul of the one who is captured in its evil snare. Bitter waters flow from a heart that is bound by unforgiveness, envy, and pride. I have seen bitterness destroy Churches, lives, and entire families.
People need to be careful that they do not fall into the deadly trap of bitterness. Bitterness is one of the worst curses mankind can be plagued with. In the Church there is no room for the plague of bitterness. If bitterness does exist anywhere in God’s people it will be rooted out during the Great Storm. Unfortunately, many believers will die when they drink the “bitter waters” in the Wilderness of Sin.
WORMWOOD
Revelation, 8:10-11 says “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 waters, and upon the fountains of waters; and the name of the star is Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”
The scripture is speaking of another plague that will be poured out upon the waters during the time of the Great Storm. The word “Wormwood” comes from a Greek word which means “bitter.” There are several things that will cause the waters on the earth to turn bitter in the last days. We looked at some of them in Chapter 5.
In the above scripture” wormwood” comes from a star falling from Heaven “burning like a lamp.” The fact that it is a star tells us that God is sending a message along with the plague that bitterness is being rewarded with bitterness. Stars usually represent angels and angels are messengers of God. Since stars are usually bigger than the earth, I doubt that this is actually a star, or it would destroy the entire earth on contact. Whatever it, is it will fall into the sea and pollute the waters, and make them bitter.
During the time of tribulation there is going to be thermonuclear bombs that will be exploded in the atmosphere and on Earth. As I was in prayer one day, I had a vision of what I believe to be an EMP bomb exploding over the United States.
When a nuclear bomb explodes, it produces radio-active fallout, and when it falls into water will make the waters bitter. Whatever causes the waters to be bitter, it will be retribution for the bitterness of men. When men become bitter, their hearts can become “bastions” of every evil thought.
Amos 5:6-8 says “Seek the Lord, and ye shall live; lest He break out like a fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel (the House of God). Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth. Seek Him that makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into mourning, and makes the day dark with night: that calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth: the Lord is His name.”
In 1986 there was a meltdown at a nuclear plant in Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union. The “meltdown” has been called the worst nuclear catastrophe in history. The “accident” release more than ten times more “bitter” radio-active poison in the atmosphere than the bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima. The name “Chernobyl” means “wormwood.”
Today “radioactivity” is leaking into the Black Sea through an underground cavern making the water in the sea “bitter” and destroying much of the seas eco-system. The Black Sea empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Many scientists fear what the “bitterness can do once it reaches and enters into the Mediterranean. It is a reminder to us just what radioactivity can do to our water systems around the world when nuclear disasters occur or when nuclear war becomes a reality.