The 24 Elders of Revelation, Part 2: The Time of Their Appearance
Revelation 4:1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door having been opened in heaven. And I heard the first voice which I [had] heard as of a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show thee things which must take place after these things.”
After what things?
The previous things shown to John were the events of chapters 2 - 3. They describe the era of the 7 lampstands, which repres
The 24 Elders of Revelation: Who (Or What) are They? Part 1
Revelation 4:1 After these things I [John] looked, and behold, a door having been opened in heaven. And I heard the first voice which I [had] heard as of a trumpet speaking with me,* saying, “Come up here, and I will show thee things which must take place after these things.” 2 Immediately I was in spirit: and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and there One sitting on the throne. … 4 Around the throne were 24 thrones, and on the
The Sobering Situation in Israel
In an analysis of Israel’s strategic threat environment and imperatives published at the Claremont Review of Books, author and military analyst Mark Helprin distinguished the threat Hamas poses to Israel from the threat Israel faces from Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon and Iran.
Hamas, Helprin explained, is not and has never been an existential threat to Israel. Hezbollah and Iran are existential threats to Israel. Hezbollah’s arsenal of 150,000 rockets an
Joseph, Part 4: “The Fullness of the Nations”
Genesis 48:19 …but truly his [Manasseh’s] younger brother [Ephraim] shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become the fullness of the nations.
Romans 11:25 …blindness in part has happened to Israel UNTIL the fullness/plērōma of the nations shall have come in. 26 And AFTER that all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant
Joseph, Part 3: A Patriarchal Prophecy of Josephʼs Future
[In the following prophecy, the translations and especially the tenses of the verbs are faithful and literal to the biblical Hebrew. Explanations are noted only where most significant.]
Shortly after Jacobʼs blessing of Josephʼs sons Ephraim and Manasseh,
Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you [that] which shall befall you in the Last Days. Gen. 49:1
Of Joseph, he foretol
Joseph, Part 2: The Heritage of Joseph
Abraham was the father of Isaac, who was the father of Jacob, the father of Joseph. God gave Jacob the name Israel.
When Abraham was about 75 years old, God made him two promises:
[1] I will make thee into a great nation… [2] and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Gen. 12:2, 3
The first of these promises made by God to Abraham was physical, one of race: his descendants were to become a great multitude, a chosen nati
The Prophetic Heritage and Destiny of Joseph; Part 1
Isaiah 17:1 The oracle/doom of Damascus. Behold Damascus, being deposed from being a city; and it shall become a ruinous heap. 2 The cities of Aroer being forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. 3 Then fortification (or, defense) shall cease from Ephraim, and dominion from Damascus. And the remnant of Syria shall be like the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts. 4 And
Pre-Wrath, Post-Trib Summary
What takes place during the first five Seals of Revelation 6 is the same sequence of events prophesied in Matthew 24:5-14: 1) false messiahs and prophets, 2) internecine wars, 3) food scarcity and famine, 4) earthquakes and other chaotic events, and 5) persecution of believers.
Some believers will be killed during this time of the Great Tribulation: these are the saints of the 5th Seal "slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held."
Replacement Theology Brings a Curse
The Catholic Church and some of the older Reformed churches have a long history of religious anti-Semitism, much of which traces its roots to replacement theology. This evil teaching has been staging a resurgence, including on WCF and throughout the Western world.
The original promulgator of this doctrine was Origen (ca. 185 – 254 A. D.), who promoted the belief that the Gentile Church has replaced Israel in God’s plans and promises. The Israelites r
The Prophesied Restorations of Israel and Judah After 7 Times: Summary and Comparison
United States: Because of their religious beliefs and their poverty, most of America’s early colonists were outcasts of Britain and other parts of Northern Europe.
Israel: Jews were outcasts in Europe before the 18th century’s Age of Enlightenment, due to religious, racial, and economic prejudices.
United States: The Reformation of the 16th century brought the colonists hope for religious
The Prophesied Restoration of Judah After 7 Times, Part 2: 1947 – 2000 AD
On May 14, 1948 AD (5944 AA), the Jews in Palestine established and proclaimed the independent State of Israel. This had been made possible by the United Nations, which had sanctioned the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Palestinian-Arab states on Nov. 29, 1947 (late 5943 AA).
7 times earlier, in the Autumn of 538 BC (3423 AA), Babylon fell to King Cyrus of Persia, and the Babylonian Empire was thereafter
The Prophesied Restoration of Judah After 7 Times, Part 1: 1878 – 1897 AD
On August 8, 1878 AD, Petach Tikvah (Door of Hope) was founded, the first Latter-Day Jewish agricultural settlement in Palestine. In 1879 (5874 AA), it produced the first Jewish harvest in that land to be sold in Jerusalem since the destruction of the Temple by the Romans. Three years later, in 1882 AD (5877 AA), the first large Aliyahs (“Ascents”/Returns) of Jews to their ancient homeland began.
7 times before 1
The Prophesied Restoration of Israel After 7 Times, Part 2: 1754 – 1783 AD
On May 28 and July 3-4, 1754 AD (5747 AA), skirmishes between George Washington’s colonials and French forces in the Ohio Valley sparked the French and Indian War. This conflict lasted nearly nine years. During the war, the American colonial governments were greatly strengthened, and they acquired extensive territory.
7 times earlier, a corresponding period of about nine years, 731-22 BC (3227-36 AA), covered th
The Prophesied Restoration of Israel After 7 Times, Part 1: 1578 – 1744 AD
On June 11, 1578 AD (5569 AA†), Sir Humphrey Gilbert was granted a 6-year patent by England’s Queen Elizabeth to explore and colonize North America. The first (failed) expedition, led by Walter Raleigh, took place between Sept. 1578 and May 1579. Gilbert was lost at sea during another attempt in 1583. Raleigh received a new 6-year patent on May 25, 1584, and planted colonies on Roanoke and Croatan Islands in present-
The Prophesied Restorations of Israel and Judah After 7 Times
The 7 times prophecy of Leviticus 26 speaks of the judgment of all of the Israelites, that is, both Israel and Judah. God prophesied their expulsion from their lands to take place at the point when His chastisement of the people for their rebellions reached its limit. “I will bring the land into desolation…and I will scatter you among the heathen.” Even if the people in their exile were to later repent – “if their uncircumcised h
The “First” Resurrection of Revelation 20:5-6
Some people have misunderstood the πρωτη/“first” resurrection of Revelation 20:5-6. As a result, they have missed the mark about when, and why, the saints will be resurrected from the dead in the End Times.
Here is that passage in its context. These events follow the Battle of Armageddon – at which Christ fully defeats his earthly enemies and secures his earthly reign – and mark the commencement of the Millennium.
Revelation 20:1 Then
The Shekhinah is the feminine manifestation of Deity, the original and continuing “visible manifestation of the Divine Presence.” She is the aspect of Deity that voluntarily limits itself, thereby providing a place and means by which the holiness of the Infinite Light is able to become tangibly expressed. (Because Infinite Light cannot be perceived by finite beings; rather, only a limited part of its radiance.)
In Hebraic thought, the feminine is the outward form and vessel, being the recep
SPECIAL NOTE 9/26/2022: Occasionally, the program used to format WCF blogs is changed. This happened again in the last 3-4 weeks. Now, whenever an article is updated, it is moved to the last position in all of the articles. This has resulted in all of these former notices –
Index and summaries of all articles is here:
https://www.worthychristianforums.com/blogs/entry/1403-index-and-summaries-of-articles/
– to become obsolete. The above link no longer operates. NOTE 11/17/2024: T
The Beast, Part 8: Final Judgments
Final Judgments
After the great Battle of Armageddon, the Beast and the False Prophet – the leaders of the earthly warfare against Christ – will be “cast alive into a lake of fire.” Rev. 19:20 This fulfills the prophecy of Enoch about their latter end:
Enoch 10:9 “…and in the great day of judgment let him [Azazel] be cast into the fire.” … 15 Shemhazai and…the others who are with him…bind them for seventy generations underneath the earth, even to
The Beast and Satan: Their Natures and Forms
Traditional depictions of Satan the Devil portray him in two distinctly different ways: as a cloven-footed, goat-headed Horned God, and as a wily but powerful red Serpent-Dragon. Often these two figures are confused, as in the standard depiction of a red devil with a goat’s head, cloven feet, and horns – but also with a dragon’s tail and serpent’s fangs!
Confused indeed. Such mixed images reflect a common misunderstanding of not one, but two
The Mouth of the Beast
So the Beast and the False Prophet are rebellious fallen angels, not men. However, the Beast will be
Revelation 13:5 …given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies… 6 …against God… 5 …and he [will be] given authority for 42 months [= 1260 days]. … 7 It [will be] granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.
A biblical precedent for a spokesman being called a mouth is found in the case of Moses and Aaron:
Exodus 4:16 …he [Aaron
The King of the Abyss
At the opening of Revelation 6ʼs Sixth Seal, a Latter Day
Revelation 6:12 …great earthquake… 14 …[causes] every mountain and island [to be] moved out of its place.”
Sometime thereafter,
Revelation 9:1 …a star having fallen from heaven to the earth…[will be] given the key to the pit [or, the shaft] of the Abyss. 2 And he [shall] open the pit of the Abyss,
thereby releasing its evil spirits. This “fallen star” will either be Satan or one of his host
Mosaic Law and Jewish Lore about Azazel
Leviticus 16 provides much of the Mosaic Law for Yom Kippur/the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year in the Israelite religious calendar. In verses 8, 10, and 26, the Hebrew word traditionally translated in English as “the scapegoat” is Azazel. The passages in Hebrew literally mean “for Azazel,” not “for the Azazel” –
Leviticus 16:8 Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats [:5 for a sin offering]: one lot for YHWH, and one lot for Azazel
Who IS the Beast?
We saw in Part 2 that “the Beast will ascend out of the Abyss.” Rev. 17:8; 11:7 So then, we need to discover WHO is presently in the Abyss, and WHY. These questions have been answered by Jude, Peter, Enoch, and also in Hebrew and Greek mythology:
Jude 6 The angels who did not keep their place of authority, but left their habitation, [God] has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
2 Peter 2:4 …God did not spare the angels
The Beast Is Not a (Seven-headed!) Man, Part 1
It is widely taught in the Church that the Beast of Revelation 13 will be a man. Revelation 13’s Beast has “seven heads and ten horns.” Rev. 13:1; 17:3 There never has been, nor ever will be, such a man.
We find in Revelation 12:3 that the Devil/Satan/Dragon also has seven heads and ten horns. Satan is an angelic spirit.
Now, we know that the Holy Spirit can inhabit many people. Also, that God took the spirit that was upon Moses and
