1.
Exodus - Chapter 20--the 10 Commandments
The papacy has made changes in the three longest of the Ten Commandments.
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They removed the second commandment.
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They changed the fourth commandment from the seventh to the first day of the week.
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They divided the tenth commandment into two parts to give the impression that they still believed in the Ten Commandments. Without the second commandment they only have nine left. See their catechism.
The papacy has divided the tenth commandment to read: "You shall not covet your neighbor's house" as one commandment and "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife" as the other commandment.
Below the Ten Commandments are listed. This is the way the Ten Commandments read in the Bible. The Bible does not number them but this is the way they are numbered because of their order.
Exodus twenty reads:
The Ten Commandments
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
(1) "You shall have no other gods before Me."
NOTE: The second commandment has been removed from the Catholic catechism! |
(2) "You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them."
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"For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments."
This is how the Revised Standard Version says it. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth." (In the Catholic Catechism, this second commandment has been removed!)
(3) "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."
(4) "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. |
In it you shall do no work; you, nor your son, nor daughter, nor your manservant nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."
"Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." Exodus 20:11. |
God says "I the LORD do not change." Malachi 3:6 |
The Catechism, however, says "During the old law Saturday was the day sanctified; but the church . . . has substituted Sunday for Saturday; so now we sanctify the first, not the seventh day." Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion |
(5) Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
(6) You shall not murder.
(7) You shall not commit adultery.
(8) You shall not steal.
(9) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
(10) You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant or his female servant, nor his ox nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's. Exodus 20:3-17 (NKJV)
NOTE: Commandment 10 is divided into two parts in the Catholic Catechism
Definition of covet: "to desire enviously, to long for something belonging to another person."
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2.
According to the Bible, Which Day Is the Sabbath?
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The fourth commandment says the seventh day is the Sabbath. "God said . . . . The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God." Exodus 20:10, NKJV. Look at the calendar. which is the seventh day? Saturday, of course. Every week on the calendar begins with Sunday, the first day, and ends with Saturday, the seventh day.
Luke 23:56 says, "They went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment." And Luke 24:1 says, "On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb." Everyone knows Christ died on Friday. After His death, the Bible says, they "rested on the Sabbath day in obedience to the commandment." The day after Friday is Saturday.
The Bible says that the disciples obeyed the Sabbath Commandment after Christ's death "in obedience to the commandment." |
Then Christ's followers came to the grave on "Easter Sunday." Now we know the day before Sunday is Saturday. Notice that the Sabbath was over when they came to the tomb on what we call "Easter Sunday." God's Sabbath commandment was obeyed after the death of Christ. There were no chapter divisions in the original language of the Bible. Luke 23:56 is the verse that comes just before Luke 24:1. According to this verse, Saturday was still recognized by the disciples as the Sabbath of the fourth commandment after the death of Christ. And the Sabbath day fell between the death of Christ on Friday and "The first day of the week"--Sunday. The day between Friday and Sunday is Saturday, the seventh day.
Christ rested in creation on the Sabbath and He rested in redemption on the Sabbath. |
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3.
Was The Sabbath Day Created for The Jews?
No, the Sabbath was originally given, not to the Jews, but to everyone.
No Jew was alive when the Lord gave the Sabbath day to the human race. |
We read in Genesis 2:2: "By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that He had done." God did three things to set the seventh day apart. He rested on that day--what an example to us! God blessed that day and the third thing He did was to "make it holy."
4.
Has God Changed the Fourth Commandment?
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Some religious people and religious leaders say that God's law has been done away with. It is interesting to note that if you ask them point blank, "Has the commandment 'You shall not kill' been done away with?" They would say, "No--not that one." Well what about the one that says 'You shall not steal'? They would also say, 'No not that one." You could go through the commandments one by one, and they would say that each commandment still applies--until you come to the fourth commandment.
It seems that the only commandment that some religious leaders have problems with is the fourth commandment -- the only one that says "Remember." |
God knew people would be inclined to "forget" the fourth commandment. That is why He said "Remember" |
God knew they would not like that one so that is the only commandment that begins with the word "Remember." God knew people would be inclined to "forget" that one. What does God say about changing His commandments? He says in Malachi 3:6 "I am the Lord, I change not." Or, "I the Lord do not change." The problem with the seventh-day Sabbath is that it is not convenient to keep the seventh day holy when the rest of the world is observing another day. But Christ says "Take up your cross and follow Me." Following Christ--being a Christian--means following Him when it is convenient and following Him when it is not convenient.
What does God say? "I the Lord do not change." Malachi 3:6 |
5.
God Wants You to be a New-Covenant Christian
To the new-covenant Christian, God says "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time. . . . I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. . . . For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." When Paul speaks of Israel, he is speaking of Spiritual Israel, the Christian church. Notice that John in Revelation says that all of the saved enter new Jerusalem through gates named after the twelve tribes of Israel. If you are saved at last, you will be part of spiritual Israel forever. God's purpose and plan is to put His ten, not nine, commandment law of love in your heart. God wants you to become a champion lover in the true sense of love. Hebrews 8:10.
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6.
Lord God the Pope
Pope Innocent III declared that the Roman pontiff is "the vicegerent upon earth, not of a mere man, but of very God," |
Titles.--In a passage which is included in the Roman Catholic Canon Law, or Corpus Juris Canonici, Pope Innocent III declares that the Roman pontiff is "the vicegerent upon earth, not of a mere man, but of very God," and in a gloss on the passage it is explained that this is because he is the vicegerent of Christ, who is "very God and very man." See Decretales Domini Gregorii Papae IX (Decretals of the Lord Pope Gregory IX), liber 1, de translatione Episcoporum, (on the transference of Bishops), title 7, ch. 3; Corpus Juris Canonici (2d Leipzig ed., 1881), col. 99; (Paris, 1612), tom. 2, Decretales, col. 205.
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The documents which formed the Decretals were gathered by Gratian, who was teaching at the University of Bologna about the year 1140. His work was added to and re-edited by Pope Gregory IX in an edition issued in 1234. Other documents appeared in succeeding years from time to time including the Extravagantes, added toward the close of the fifteenth century. All of these, with Gratian's Decretum, were published as the Corpus Juris Canonici in 1582. Pope Pius X authorized the codification in Canon law in 1904, and the resulting code became effective in 1918.
For the title "Lord God the Pope" see a gloss on the Extravagantes of Pope John XXII, title 14, ch. 4, Declaramus. In an Antwerp edition of the Extravagantes, dated 1584, the words "Dominum Deum nostrum Papam" ("Our Lord God the Pope")occur in column 153. In a Paris edition, dated 1612, they occur in column 140. In several editions published since 1612 the word "Deum" ("God") has been omitted. Appendix 6-16 see See The The Great Controversy page 679- 694.
On the doctrine of infallibility as set forth at the Vatican Council of 1870-71, see Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, vol. 2, Dogmatic Decrees of the Vatican Council, pp. 234-271, where both the Latin and the English texts are given. For discussion see, for the Roman Catholic view, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 7, art. "Infallibility," by Patrick J. Toner, p. 790 ff.; James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers (Baltimore: John Murphy Company, 110th ed., 1917), chs. 7, 11.
For Roman Catholic opposition to the doctrine of papal infallibility, see Johann Joseph Ignaz von Doellinger (pseudonym "Janus") The Pope and the Council (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1869); and W.J. Sparrow Simpson, Roman Catholic Opposition to Papal Infallibility (London: John Murray, 1909). For the non-Roman view, see George Salmon, Infallibility of the Church (London: John Murray, rev. ed., 1914).
8.
Image Worship
"The worship of images . . . was one of those evils which slipped into the church silently and almost without detection.
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This evil did not, like other heresies, develop all at once, for in that case it would have met with decided condemnation and rejection: but, it began small under a disguise. It gradually grew to the point that the church removed the second commandment from their teachings and catechism.
"Images and pictures were first introduced into churches, not to be worshiped, but either in the place of books to give instruction to those who could not read, or to excite devotion in the minds of others. How far they ever answered such a purpose is doubtful; but, even granting that this was the case for a time, it soon ceased to be so, and it was found that pictures and images brought into churches darkened rather than enlightened the minds of the ignorant--degraded rather than exalted the devotion of the worshiper. So that, however they might have been intended to direct men's minds to God, they ended in turning them from Him to the worship of created things."--J. Mendham, The Seventh General Council, the Second of Nicaea, Introduction, pages iii-vi.
9.
The First Sunday Law
The Sunday Law of Constantine.--The law issued by the emperor Constantine on the seventh of March, A.D. 321, regarding a day of rest from labor, reads thus: "All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon the venerable Day of the Sun."
"Country people, however, may freely attend to the cultivation of the fields, because it frequently happens that no other days are better adapted for planting the grain in the furrows or the vines in trenches. So that the advantage given by heavenly providence may not for the occasion of a short time perish."--Joseph Cullen Ayer, A Source Book for Ancient Church History (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1913), div. 2, per. 1, ch. 1, sec. 59, g, pp. 284, 285. The Latin original is in the Codex Justiniani (Codex of Justinian), lib. 3,
10.
Year-Day Principle
An important principle in prophetic interpretation in connection with time prophecies is the year-day principle, under which a day of prophetic time is counted as a calendar year of historic time.Before the Israelites entered the land of Canaan they sent twelve spies ahead to investigate. The spies were gone forty days, and upon their return the Hebrews, frightened at their report, refused to go up and occupy the Promised Land.
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The result was a sentence the Lord passed upon them: "According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day a year, you shall bear your iniquity, forty years, and you shall know my displeasure." Numbers 14:34 RSV.
A similar method of computing future time is indicated through the prophet Ezekiel. Forty years of punishment for iniquities awaited the kingdom of Judah. The Lord said through the prophet: "After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you forty days, a day for each year." Ezekiel 4:6.
This year-day principle has an important application in interpreting the time of the prophecy of the "two thousand three hundred days" Daniel 8:14, (NKJV) and the 1260-day period, variously indicated as "a time and times and the dividing of time" (Daniel 7:25), the "forty and two months" (Revelation 11:2; 13:5), and the "thousand two hundred and sixty days" (Revelation 11:3; 12:6).
11.
Among the documents that at the present time are generally admitted to be forgeries, the Donation of Constantine and the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretalsare of primary importance. "The 'Donation of Constantine' is the name traditionally applied, since the later Middle Ages, to a document purporting to have been addressed by Constantine the Great to Pope Sylvester I, which is found first in a Parisian manuscript (Codex lat. 2777) of probably the beginning of the ninth century.
Since the eleventh century it has been used as a powerful argument in favor of the papal claims, and consequently since the twelfth it has been the subject of a vigorous controversy. At the same time, by rendering it possible to regard the papacy as a middle term between the original and the medieval Roman Empire, and thus to form a theoretical basis of continuity for the reception of the Roman law in the Middle Ages, it has had no small influence upon secular history."--The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, vol. 3 art. "Donation of Constantine," pp.484, 485.
The "false writings" referred to in the text include also the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, together with other forgeries.
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The Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals are certain fictitious letters ascribed to early popes from Clement (A.D. 100) to Gregory the Great (A.D. 600), incorporated in a ninth century collection purporting to have been made by "Isidore Mercator." The name"Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals" has been in use since the advent of criticism in the fifteenth century.
Pseudo-Isidore took as the basis of his forgeries a collection of valid canons called the Hispana Gallica Augustodunensis, thus lessening the danger of detection, since collections of canons were commonly made by adding new matter to old. Thus his forgeries were less apparent when incorporated with genuine material. The falsity of the Pseudo-Isidorian fabrications is now incontestably admitted, being proved by internal evidence, investigation of the sources, the methods used, and the fact that this material was unknown before 852. Historians agree that 850 or 851 is the most probable date for the completion of the collection, since the document is first cited in the Admonitio of the capitulary of Quiercy, in 857.
12.
Dr. Joseph Faa Di Bruno defines purgatory: "Purgatory is a state of suffering after this life, in which those souls are for a time detained, who depart this life after their deadly sins have been remitted as to the stain and guilt, and as to the everlasting pain that was due to them; but who have on account of those sins still some debt of temporal punishment to pay; as also those souls which leave this world guilty only of venial sins."--Catholic Belief (1884 ed.; imprimatur Archbishop of New York), page 196.
13.
The Church's Historical Hatred of the Bible!
The Council of Toulouse, which met about the time of the crusade against the Albigenses, ruled: "We prohibit laymen possessing copies of the Old and New Testament. . . . We forbid them most severely to have the above books in the popular vernacular." "The lords of the districts shall carefully seek out the heretics in dwellings, hovels, and forests, and even their underground retreats shall be entirely wiped out."--Concil. Tolosanum, Pope Gregory IX, Anno. chr. 1229. Canons 14 and 2. This Council sat at the time of the crusade against the Albigenses.
"We prohibit laymen possessing copies of the Old and New Testament. . . . Even their underground retreats shall be entirely wiped out." Pope Gregory IX |
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"This pest [the Bible] had taken such an extension that some people had appointed priests of their own, and even some evangelists who distorted and destroyed the truth of the gospel and made new gospels for their own purpose . . . (they know that) the preaching and explanation of the Bible is absolutely forbidden to the lay members."--Acts of Inquisition, Philip van Limborch, History of the Inquisition, chapter 8.
The Council of Tarragona, 1234, ruled that: "No one may possess the books of the Old and New Testaments in the Romance language, and if anyone possesses them he must turn them over to the local bishop within eight days after promulgation of this decree, so that they may be burned lest, be he a cleric or a layman, he be suspected until he is cleared of all suspicion."--D. Lortsch, Histoire de la Bible en France, 1910, p. 14.
At the Council of Constance, in 1415, Wycliffe was posthumously condemned as "that pestilent wretch of damnable heresy who invented a new translation of the Scriptures in his mother tongue." Arundel, the archbishop of Canterbury 1415 A.D. |
The opposition to the Bible by the Roman Catholic Church has continued through the centuries and was increased particularly at the time of the founding of Bible societies. On December 8, 1866, Pope Pius IX, in his encyclical Quanta cura, issued a syllabus of eighty errors under ten different headings. Under heading IV we find listed: "Socialism, communism, clandestine societies, Bible societies. . . . Pests of this sort must be destroyed by all possible means."
"Socialism, communism, clandestine societies, Bible societies. . . . Pests of this sort must be destroyed by all possible means." December 8, 1866, Pope Pius IX |
14.
Click on the title and read the book
To return click your back button
Readers of Prophecy Made Easy are encouraged to read what was once one of the most-read books in the United States--Fox's Book of Martyrs, by John Fox (b. 1517 in England). Though not for the faint of heart, the events chronicled in this book are a true historical record of those persecuted and murdered for the "crime" of serving their God according to the Bible. http://www.ccel.org/f/foxe/martyrs/home.html
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15.
Date of Decree to Rebuild Jerusalem
According to Jewish reckoning the fifth month (Ab) of the seventh year of Artaxerxes' reign was from July 23 to August 21, 457 B.C. After Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem in the autumn of the year, the decree of the king went into effect.
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For the certainty of the date 457 B.C. being the seventh year of Artaxerxes, see S. H. Horn and L. H. Wood, The Chronology of Ezra 7 (Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Assn., 1953); E. G. Kraeling, The Brooklyn Museum Aramaic Papyri (New Haven or London, 1953), pp. 191-193; The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Assn., 1954), vol. 3, pp. 97-110.
16.
The Seventh Day in Ethiopia
The Ethiopian Church and the Sabbath.--Until rather recent years the Coptic Church of Ethiopia observed the seventh-day Sabbath. The Ethiopians also kept Sunday, the first day of the week, throughout their history as a Christian people. These days were marked by special services in the churches. The observance of the seventh-day Sabbath has, however, virtually ceased in modern Ethiopia. For eyewitness accounts of religious days in Ethiopia, see Pero Gomes de Teixeira, The Discovery of Abyssinia by the Portuguese in 1520 (translated in English in London: British Museum, 1938), p. 79.
17.
The Last Three Persecuting Powers
Three Powers work together to try and crush God's children just before Christ returns in glory. They are: a) the leopard beast, b) the lamb-like beast that speaks like a dragon and c) the image to the beast of Revelation 13. Discover the identity of these three powers in chapter 14 to 16 of Prophecy Made Easy. Remember, God fights for His children! God Wins! And His commandment-keeping children, filled with the love of Jesus win also! Isn't it wonderful to have God on your side? He loves you and He will watch over you with tender loving care!
18.
Let's Vote!
We could make all our decisions as the politicians do. We could take a poll to find out what is truth. We could vote on it. If there are six billion people on Planet Earth and 5,999,999,999 of them all came to a decision of what truth is, it would not count with God. He has the veto. Bible truth has never been left to popular decision.
It was not popular in the days of the flood, and it was not popular at the cross. The whole world voted against entering the ark. In the days of the flood, everyone except eight people rejected the plan of salvation. They did not want to look foolish by getting on board the ark and have nothing happen.
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The crowd, at Pilate's judgment hall all cried out, "Crucify Him, crucify Him." They voted to kill Christ. God is calling for those who will not wait until truth is popular before accepting it. God is asking you to accept His Word as final authority no matter how the majority vote--no matter what the majority decides to do.
Jesus calls you, saying. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-15.
Stand with the few, the brave and the victorious!
19.
![[Image]](pict29.jpg)
on the Cross
By Glen Walker
Sometimes we read so quickly that we lose the significance of what really happened to Jesus Christ beginning in the garden of Gethsemane. Let's examine Christ's own words as He entered the garden of Gethsemane the night before His death.
Jesus Christ said I am "overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." |
Mark writes that "He began to be deeply distressed and troubled. Christ said "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." People can get sad at the drop of a hat, but not Christ. He was usually cheerful, but not on this night--on the eve before His death on the cross. Mark 14:33,34.NKJV.
In the garden of Gethsemane that evening Jesus was deeply troubled suffering pain, stress, and agony. There are different types of trouble and different degrees of pain. This was the worst trouble, the worst pain, the worst agony any person in history has ever faced. It was so bad that words cannot describe it. Notice how the Bible writer tries to describe it. Mark wrote, "He was troubled and deeply distressed." How deep was His stress? So deep that it forced blood vessels in His face to rupture. He experienced a deeper stress, a deeper agony than any person had ever before experienced or ever could experience.
Jesus, himself, said that He was "exceedingly sorrowful even to death." Jesus, the Eternal One, left the throne of glory as the King of kings and Lord of lords for the very purpose of coming into this world to carry the weight of the sins of the world--yours and mine. The result was that He went through a suffering that no one had ever gone through before or afterward.
Jesus was "exceedingly sorrowful even to death." He was full of sorrow,
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full of sadness, full of pain. He was not just full. He was "exceedingly" full, "even to death." He was so full of sorrow, sadness, pain, and agony that it was killing Him. He was dying in the garden of Gethsemane. What happened when He went to the garden to pray on the night before His death on the cross? What can we learn from the biblical account of Christ's last 18 hours of life?
Christ went to pray that night in the garden where so often before, He had prayed. But this night, He felt a pain, a sorrow, He had never felt before. The guilt and weight of the sins of every person who had ever lived, or ever would live, was heaped upon Christ--a weight so great He would not survive it.
Jesus came to give us abundant life and peace of mind. |
All the emotional garbage and mental pain of every sin ever committed by each of the billions of people whoever would live, through all human history, was compressed together and heaped upon Jesus Christ as He prayed there in the garden of Gethsemane. The crushing weight caused Him to stagger and forced Him into the earth in prayer. The weight was so great that it ruptured small blood vessels in His face and forced drops of blood to run down his face and moisten the ground beneath Him in the garden where He prayed. He would have died right there on the spot in the garden, sweating great drops of blood, if an angel had not been sent to give Him the strength to delay His death until He reached the cross.
Later, when He was crucified, two thieves were also crucified--one on each side of Christ. The religious leaders wanted everyone off their crosses before sundown. The two thieves were still living, so their legs were broken before being removed. But Christ was dead already, so His legs were not broken. People usually survived the slow torture of the cross for days before finally dying. Why did Christ die so quickly?
It was not the nails through His hands and feet that killed Christ. It was the crushing weight of your sins and mine that killed Him. |
It was not the nails through His hands and feet that killed Christ. it was not the Roman soldiers who killed Christ. It was not the religious leaders who killed Christ. It was your sins and mine that killed Him. You and I are responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Everyone who has ever lived is responsible. It was our sins that caused His suffering and death. Jesus loves you so awesomely much that He was willing to take on Himself the death you deserve so that you can have the life He deserves! Jesus loves you that much!
Jesus had not been arrested yet. He had not been whipped yet. He had not been nailed to the cross yet. No one had touched Him yet, but He was suffering so much that blood was forced out of His face and fell in drops to the ground.
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You see, the death of Christ was not caused by the Jews, and it was not caused by the Romans. The actual cause of His death was the crushing weight of the sins of the world--your sins and my sins. We are guilty of His death. It was for us that He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,"--as well as for the Roman soldiers and the religious leaders who wanted Him dead. The mental anguish, the mental pain that Christ endured, was so much greater than the physical pain that, when He died on the cross, He cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?"
He could have wiped the great drops of blood from His forehead, and left us to die. He could have gone free! |
In the garden of Gethsemane, Christ could have even then refused to die in our place. It was not yet too late. He could have wiped the great drops of blood from His forehead, and left us to die. He could have gone free. He could have said, "Let the guilty sinners receive the penalty of their own sin, and I will go back to My Father." He had that choice. He was innocent. He was sinless. He did not have to die. It was entirely His choice. He thought of you and me and made His final choice. He chose to, if necessary, to be forever separated from God the Father. He made that choice for one reason and one alone. God loves you! It was love for those He made that guided His final decision.
Sin had brought death and He, the Eternal One, choose to enter this world as a little baby boy, live a sinless life, and die in place of guilty sinners, such you and me.
His final decision is made. He will accept the baptism of blood and spit and sweat and tears and shame. He will save you at any cost to Himself. In submission he trembles and prays, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." Matthew 26:42.
Soldiers, and religious officers from the chief priests and Pharisees came to the garden with lanterns and weapons. Jesus asked, "who are you looking for?" They said, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am He," and an invisible angel pushed the troops back, forcing them to the ground. They looked up at Christ as he asked again ,"who are you looking for?" and they answered again, "Jesus of Nazareth."
"I have told you that I am He," Jesus replied, "so let my friends go free." Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of a servant. Jesus reached up and touched the servant's ear and the blood stopped running down and the ear was healed.
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"Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will send Me more than twelve legions of angels?" Jesus asked Peter.
Christ was first taken to Annas, Caiaphas's father-in-law, and then to Caiaphas, the high priest. Annas questioned Christ about His teachings. But Christ told him, "I spoke openly to the world. Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard me. They know what I said." When Jesus had said this, one of the officers standing by hit Jesus with his hand and demanded, "Do You answer the high priest like that?"
Next Jesus was taken to the palace of Caiaphas, the high priest. The chief priest and all the council tried to find people to testify against Jesus so they could have an excuse for condemning Him to death. Several spoke, but their stories did not agree. Through all of this, Jesus kept silent. The high priest tried to get Christ to condemn himself. He asked Him the all-important question, "Are You the Messiah, the Son of God?" In answering, Christ knew He was sealing His own death sentence, but He answered, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."
The high priest tore his clothing in mock shock, shouting, "Blasphemy--what do you think?" And they condemned Jesus to death. They blindfolded Him so he couldn't see, and then spat in His face and beat Him. Others struck Him with the palms of their hands, saying, "Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?"
Peter, not infallible and never a pope, denied knowing Jesus on three different occasions with cursing and swearing. |
One of Christ's best friends, Peter, was confronted three different times: "You also were with Jesus of Galilee." Each time Peter denied it, saying, "I do not know what you are saying. I do not know the Man." And for emphasis, the third time he was accused of knowing Jesus, Peter cursed and swore as he denied it. Immediately, while he was still cursing, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the words the Lord had said to him: "Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times." So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
When morning came, the chief priests, and elders, and scribes, and the whole council tied Christ's hands and led Him to Governor Pilate's palace. "Are you king of the Jews?" Pilate asked. "Yes, I am," Jesus replied. Pilate said to the chief priest and to the crowd, "I find no fault in this man." But the chief priests and elders shouted "He stirs up the people teaching throughout all Judea and Galilee." When Pilate heard of Galilee he asked if Jesus were a Galilean. As soon as he knew that Jesus belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod who was visiting Jerusalem at that time.
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Herod was exceptionally happy to see Jesus, thinking that He would work some miracles for him. He asked Jesus many, many questions, but Jesus didn't answer any of them. The chief priest and scribes stood there shouting that Jesus deserved to die.
Herod felt very angry that Jesus would not answer any of his questions and would not perform miracles for him. He thought that Christ would do anything to obtain His freedom. He was hopeful that Christ would entertain him by performing miracles like a magician or a clown at a birthday party. But Christ had nothing to say to the man who'd had John the Baptist beheaded. The very silence of Christ was the greatest rebuke that could have been given. Herod and his soldiers mocked Christ, dressing him in one of Herod's old kingly robes and sent Him back to Pilate.
Pilate said, "Neither I nor Herod find any reason to put Him to death, I will therefore punish Jesus and release Him." It was a custom that one prisoner should be pardoned during Passover time. Pilate tried to take advantage of that custom and spoke to the crowd. "I have two prisoners and I will release one of them and let him go free. I will give you a choice between Christ, your king, and Barabbas, the murderer." Which one should I set free?" They all cried, "Barabbas! Set Barabbas free and crucify Christ."
Then Pilate's soldiers took Jesus into a building. They made a circle around Him and took off all His clothes. There He stood, completely naked. The soldiers took their whip, with pieces of metal embedded in it, and lashed His back until the blood flowed freely. Then they put a purple robe on Him. They twisted a crown of long, sharp thorns and jammed it down on His head--and placed a stick as a mock scepter in His right hand. They bowed their knees and mockingly worshiped Him, shouting, "all honor to you, King of the Jews!" Then they spit on Him and took the stick and struck Him on the head, driving the long sharp thorns into His head, causing blood to run down His face and beard. Then they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.
The soldiers stripped Him of His clothing again and, after crucifying Him, divided up His clothing among themselves. Christ lay down naked on the wooden cross. The soldiers drove nails through His hands and feet and then lifted the torture device, the cross, and let it fall into the hole prepared for it. This caused the most extreme pain to the Savior of the world.
The wounds made by the nails tore the flesh in His hands and His feet as the cross thudded to the bottom of the hole. |
The wounds made by the nails tore the flesh in His hands and His feet as the cross thudded to the bottom of the hole prepared for it. The nail wounds gaped, and blood drops landed on the earth beneath the cross. Christ prayed "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
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Rulers, religious leaders, people and soldiers passed by the cross, mocking Him and saying, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. You trusted in God--so let Him deliver Him now if He will save Him, for He said I am the Son of God." Even the robbers who were crucified with Him said the same thing. "If you are the King of the Jews, save Yourself."
A sign was placed over Him--written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew--that said: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
A dying thief found the key, the secret to a life of ALL POWER! |
The sun was shining at its brightest. It was 12:00 noon. One of the criminals who was dying on a cross next to Jesus said, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." The other said ,‘‘Do you not even fear God?" He turned his head toward Jesus and said, ‘‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." And Jesus said to him, "I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise." Notice the paradox. Here was a man that was helplessly dying. He could do absolutely nothing except to speak a few words before dying. Yet this man found the secret to a life of ALL POWER. And that secret removed his fear of death and filled him with a new freedom that he never thought he would ever find in a million years.
All of a sudden the sun seemed to be blotted out of the sky. From noon until 3:00 p.m. there was a strange darkness over all the Land. And about 3:00 p.m. Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" Psalm 22:1. Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, "Father into Your hands I commit My spirit." And then He breathed His last. Immediately, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom by the unseen hands of an angel.
The leader of the soldier guard had heard Christ speak to the dying thief. He had watched as the sun was blotted out for three hours. He had just felt the earthquake that had thrown him to the ground, and he knew that this was truly the death of the King of kings. He felt he must share these feelings as he said, "This was truly the Son of God."
Christ's last cry on the cross revealed the real cause of His death. The mental pain of being separated from God, the Father and carrying the mental and emotional pain of all the billions of people who would ever live was so much greater than His physical pain that it killed Him. He was killed by the weight of your sins and mine. The sins of the entire human race crushed out His Life. He died of a broken heart and, without the additional strength from the angel in the garden, would have lost His life before reaching the Cross. He would have been crushed by sin while He was still in the garden of Gethsemane sweating "great drops of blood." Christ took your pain that you might have His victory. He wants you to share His throne with Him forever. He "who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne." Revelation 3:21.
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Why did the King of the universe leave His home to come to Planet Earth? Why did He choose to become a human--a little baby boy--and then grow up with the religious leaders hating Him? Why did He allow His enemy, Lucifer, to bring Him pain and suffering? Why did He allow those He made to spit on Him without retaliation? Why did He suffer the ultimate humiliation of dying naked on two pieces of wood--on "The old rugged cross"--hanging between heaven and earth? It was out of love for you. And it was out of love for me. If you had been the only sinner who needed a bridge over "the valley of death," God would have done it for you alone.
What would it be worth to you to have Jesus Christ in your home today? I mean to have Him really come walking up to your door and knock on it.
What would you do if Jesus Christ, who loves you personally so incredibly much, walked up to your door and offered you a crown? What if He said "_____________," (and imagine your name in the blank--because He knows you by name!) "I just stopped by to bring you this crown. It is a much finer crown than has ever been worn by any king. Also I am inviting you to come to my house--to My mansion. I have a special place of honor for you."
"To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne." Revelation 3:21.
"In My Father's house are many mansions." John 14:2, KJV.
What would you do? I know what I would do--I would shout with joy! I would be excited! If you accept Jesus as your bridge over "the valley of death," He will one day be just that physically close. The Bible, God's Word, says that every person is a sinner. It says that sin is disobedience to God's Ten Commandment law. It also says that everyone must die because the just penalty for sin is death. There is a law that says that weight keeps an object on the ground. That law is the law of gravity. Yet we have discovered another law, the law of aerodynamics, which overcomes the law of gravity and allows very heavy objects, like airplanes, to fly through the sky.
The power that overcomes gravity is the power of aerodynamics. The only power that overcomes sin is Jesus Christ! |
People are trying every other option. Many of the other attempts to overcome sin have good sounding religious names. But the only problem is they don't work. The only one that works is Jesus Christ.
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It was Jesus who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." If you want to go to California, you had better get on the right highway. If you want to get eternal life, Jesus Christ is that highway. If it is truth you are after, you will find truth when you choose Christ. If it is life that you want, you will find that in knowing Christ. It is Christ who says "I am the way, the truth and the life."
Jesus says, "For God so loved_______________(say your name here) that He gave His one and only Son ,that (by believing) in Him you should not die but have eternal life." John 3:16
Prayer is just talking to God as to a friend. |
When anyone offers you a gift, you have a choice. You can either take it or reject it. The thief on the cross chose to accept it. He asked Jesus to give him the gift of eternal life. If you have never asked for the gift of eternal life and want this wonderful gift, all you have to do is ask Jesus for it in prayer. Prayer is just talking to God as to a friend. God wants you to talk to Him every day. He wants to be your friend every day. To begin your friendship with God, you must invite Jesus Christ to be your Savior from sin. You must ask Him for forgiveness for your past sin. He says, "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Isaiah 1:18; 1 John 1:9.
God offers us abundant life and a new beginning. Here is a suggested prayer.
Pray this prayer--and eternal life begins right now!
"Dear Father, forgive me for my life of sin. I invite Jesus into my heart to be my Savior from sin. You promised that when I do this that you make me 'clean' I believe You, and thank Jesus for cleaning my life and coming into my life right now. In Jesus name Amen."
If you prayed that prayer, and meant it, you have just become a "born again" child of God--you are accepted as a part of the family of God. Now continue choosing Christ to be your daily Friend and Strength and you will grow in strength, in knowledge, in peace, and in joy! Jesus tells us that, "no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." John 3:3.
Now that you have been "born again," let Jesus write His law in your heart. Hebrews 8:10.
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Continue following Him, and you will one day sit with Christ on His throne. Revelation 3:21. You have just begun a life of ALL POWER!
To maintain your life of ALL POWER you must:
1. Let Jesus talk to you through daily Bible Study.
2. Pray--talk to God, as to a friend, regularly throughout the day.
3. Help others find what you have found--a life of ALL POWER with Jesus Christ, the King of kings. Begin sharing your new faith today. One good way to do that is to purchase extra copies of Prophecy Made Easy for family, friends, and others. "The seed is the word of God" Luke 8:11. This little book is like a little acorn. There is an oak tree inside every little acorn. Plant this little book in the minds of your family and friends by faith, and be amazed at the power you have released into their lives.
20.
Below is a chart summarizing the visions of Daniel predicting which empires would
consecutively rule the world from Daniel lifetime to the second coming of Christ
Daniel 2 Daniel 7 Daniel 8 1 BABYLON Head Lion _______ 606-536 B.C.
2 MEDIA PERSIA Chest Bear Ram 536-330 B.C. 3 GREECE Belly Leopard Goat 330-146 B.C.
4 PAGAN ROME Legs Ten horn beast Little Horn - toward South, East & Palestine 146 B.C. - 476 A.D.
5 PAPAL ROME Feet of iron and clay Horn power Little Horn - exalting himself to the Prince Following Pagan Rome - Pagan Rome "gave him his power, his throne, and great authority." Rev 13:2
6 JUDGMENT ___ Court Seated Sanctuary Cleansed 1844 until "the seven angels pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on ” the persecutors of God's people. Revelation 16:1
7 SECOND Stone Kingdom His Kingdom Little Horn kingdom broken COMING Soon - Forever
The Four beasts of Daniel chapter 7 "Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings" Daniel 7:17 "The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom." Daniel 7:23 The beasts of Daniel chapter 8 The ram which you saw, having the two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. "The male goat is the kingdom of Greece" Daniel 8:21
The vision of Daniel 2, 7 and 8 foretold the kingdoms that would rule the world and persecute God's people from Daniel's day until Christ returns to set up His kingdom which shall never pass away. The metal man of Daniel two had a head of gold representing the nation that ruled the earth in Daniel's day, Babylon. The second part of the metal man of Daniel's vision was the silver chest and arms representing the kingdom that would conquer Babylon, Media Persia. The third part of Daniel's vision was the belly and thighs of brass representing the kingdom that would conquer Media Persia, Greece. The fourth part of Daniel's vision was the legs of iron representing the kingdom of Pagan Rome. The fifth part of his dream, the feet of iron and clay, represent divided Europe today. Some of the nations of divided Europe are as strong as iron and others weak as clay. The last kingdom in Daniel's prophecy is that of the kingdom of stone - THE ROCK OF AGES, the kingdom of Christ. Daniel saw a stone strike the feet of the metal man of his vision and destroy the metal man . The stone become a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. He writes "in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.” Daniel 2:44,45.
1. The head of gold = Babylon. 2. The silver chest and arms = Media Persia. 3. The belly and thighs of brass = Greece. 4. The legs of iron = Pagan Rome. 5. The feet of iron and clay =divided Europe today. Some nations as strong as iron , others weak as clay. 6. The stone = Gods kingdom
The visions of Daniel seven and eight parallel the vision of Daniel chapter two. We have learned to use symbols just as God has done in Daniel two, seven, and eight. We use a Lion to represent Great Britain, an eagle to represent the United States of America and a bear to represent Russia. God uses the Lion to represent Babylon in Daniels dream. He uses the bear to represent Media Persia and the leopard to represent Greece. Notice some of the beasts that God uses to represent the world empires in the chart above. In prophecy God uses "beasts" as symbols of kingdoms. This piece of information will help you learn what God says about the mark of the beast in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation.
6 JUDGMENT We live in the time period of section 6 - The time of judgment when "The court was seated, and the books were opened." "The court will sit. "the sanctuary shall be cleansed." "The hour of His judgment has come." Daniel 7:10; 7:26; 8:14; Revelation 14:7. When Jesus comes back He rewards everyone at that time with life or death. In a trial the rewards and punishments are always given out after the trial, not before the trial. Jesus says "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. Revelation 22:12. He is judging those who claim to be His children right now. When He comes He brings His rewards and punishments with Him. For a clearer understanding of God's judgment message read chapters 6 - 15 which are pages 77- 134 in this book, Prophecy Made Easy. 06. - Like A Thief 07. - Babylon is Fallen 08. - Who is Babylon? 09. - Prophecies From Daniel 10. - The Sanctuary 11. - What is The Sanctuary? 12. - The Key 13. - The Wise Choice 14. - Eternal Values! 15. - Worship
7 SECOND COMING Jesus comes again AFTER the judgment which is going on in heaven right now. The stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Daniel 2:34, 35. In the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; . . . and it shall stand forever. Daniel 2:44. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, which shall not pass away, Daniel 7:14 |
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21.
THE BEAST WITH SEVEN HEADS
Who is the beast of Revelation 17:9-11?
What do its eight heads represent?
How can the eighth head be part of the seven?
God says that the person "which has wisdom" can figure this out. So let's try.
I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. For more information on the woman, Babylon, read pages 81 to 91, chapters 7 & 8, in this book Prophecy Made Easy.
This prophecy lets us see clearly how the church of the dark ages became a persecuting power. Notice that this woman rides the beast . She tells it what to do. Whenever a church, represented by the rider, and the state, represented by the beast, combine persecution always results. The woman, the church, sits on a scarlet-colored beast, the civil power. The civil government, the beast, supports the rider, the church . The church controls and guides the civil power, the government. She, the rider, tells it what to do. This relationship of religious control of the governments is called religious adultery. The church has left its first love, the love of God, and are depending on the power of earthly governments to force church doctrine on others. God says, "the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her." He says to those who turn to the government to enforce their religious beliefs "you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent ." Revelation 2:4
THE BEAST WITH SEVEN HEADS
"Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. Revelation 17:9-11.
A beast is the Bible symbol of a nation or power. It sometimes represents the civil power alone, and sometimes the ecclesiastical in connection with civil. We have already looked at a number of successive persecuting powers from the book of Daniel. They are 1. Babylon, 2. Media Persia, 3. Greece, 4. Pagan Rome, and 5. Papal Rome. John, however, saw seven or eight persecuting powers. Who are the others? Why does God say there will be seven? And why does God tell John that there will be an eighth that will be part of the seven? Who are they and how can this be? The prophet Jeremiah gives us part of the answer. Jeremiah wrote " Israel is like scattered sheep; The lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him; Now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones." God tells us that Assyria was a persecuting nation against God's children before Babylon. Jeremiah 50:17
Now the king of Assyria went throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other gods," 2 Kings 17:5-7.
Thus we know that there are and were at least six persecuting powers of God's true children. But what about the seventh? Moses tells us of the nation that was the first persecutor of God's faithful children. He writes about the persecutions of Egypt. Moses wrote "The Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage-in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; and he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live." Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive." Exodus 1:8-22.
"Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. Revelation 13:9-11.
THE BEAST WITH SEVEN HEADS
Revelation 12:3; Revelation 13:1; Revelation 17:3, 9-11
God Predicted
1. EGYPT |
Exodus 1:8-22 |
|
2. ASSYRIA |
Jeremiah 50:17 |
2 Kings 17:5-7 |
God Predicted |
Daniel 2 |
Daniel 7 |
Daniel 8 |
| Persecuting suceeding kingdoms | An Image | 4 Beasts and a horn | 2 Beasts and a little horn |
3. BABYLON |
Head |
Lion |
|
4 MEDIA PERSIA |
Chest |
Bear |
Ram |
5 GREECE |
Belly |
Leopard |
Goat |
6 PAGAN ROME |
Legs |
10 horn beast |
1. Little Horn - (Two Phases of Rome) - toward South, East &Palestine |
7 PAPAL ROME |
Feet |
Horn power |
2. Little Horn - exalting himself to the Prince |
8 PAPAL ROME |
Feet |
Horn power |
2. Little Horn - exalting himself to the Prince |
1. EGYPT - The first head
2. ASSYRIA - The second head
3. BABYLON - The third head
4 .MEDIA PERSIA - The fourth head
5. GREECE - The fifth head
6 .PAGAN ROME - The sixth head
7. PAPAL ROME - - "And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast." The seventh head, the papacy, ruled supreme for 1260 years from 538 to 1798. She received "a deadly wound" in 1798 when General Berthier took the pope prisoner as predicted in Bible prophecy. The papacy looked "dead" in 1798 and 1799. God predicted the exact year the papacy would receive its deadly wound and for a short period of time it looked like the papacy was forever dead and abolished. God not only predicted that it would receive a "deadly wound" and appear dead but also that its deadly wound would be healed and "all the world " would marvel "and follow the beast." "If anyone has an ear, let him hear. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. "And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. " Revelation 13:3, 9, 10.
8. PAPAL ROME - - The eighth head after recovering from its deadly wound "The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. Revelation 17:9-11.
22.
A SUMMARY OF REVELATION
SCENE # 1. THE SEVEN CHURCHES
Revelation 1,2,3 were written to the 7 churches in Asia. The counsel to each of those 7 churches has a dual application. The counsel also applies to the 7 successive periods of the church from the first church to that which exists just before the second coming of Christ. The first church was Ephesus and the last is Laodicea. We live in the Laodicean time period.
What is God's message to His church today? God says "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:14- 21.
In this message to His last church God explains that most "Christians" are deceived at to their real condition. God says that you and I may be deceived as to our real condition and calls us to repent and "buy" from Him . We can't "buy eternal life with money. We must spend time talking to God as to a friend. We must spend time in prayer and we must spend time studying God's Word. We must also spend time sharing what we learn with those who are searching for help.
SCENE # 2. OPENING THE 7 SEALED BOOK
In Revelation 4 to 8:1 Christ opened a book with seven seals. We might call it a book with 7 chapters. The first four chapters deal with the progressive fall of God's church as also foretold in 2 Thessalonians 2:1,3,4; Revelation 2:5 and Daniel 7:25. Notice the changing color from white to red to black to pale.
The first seal, the first chapter, opens with a rider on a white horse.
The second seal, the second chapter, opens with a rider on a red horse.
The third seal, the third chapter, opens with a rider on a black horse.
The fourth seal, the fourth chapter, opens with a rider on a pale horse.
The fifth seal, the fifth chapter of this book, opens and we see a record of the millions of people whom the apostate church slew because they chose to obey God's Word.
The sixth seal, the sixth chapter, opens with "every mountain and island . . . moved out of its place. And the kings, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid in the caves from the "wrath of the Lamb!
The seventh seal, the seventh chapter, opens and "there was silence in heaven for about half an hour." In prophetic time a "half an hour" is equal to about a literal week. The prophetic time principle is that one prophetic day is equal to one literal year. There was silence in heaven because everyone in heaven has left with Christ. All the angels come with Jesus to Planet Earth to harvest the earth and take God's children home.
The spiritual fall of the church is seen in the first four seals.
The Apostle Paul foretold that God's church would "fall away."
"Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin] is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 2 Thessalonians 2:1,3,4.
The Apostle John wrote that the early church had already begun falling.
"I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place-unless you repent." Rev 2:4,5.
The Prophet Daniel foretold that the church would "persecute the saints of the Most High" and would attempt to change God's law.
He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time. Daniel 7:25.
The Apostle John foretold that the day would come when the popular Christian churches would be completely fallen and God would call His people out.
"And he cried mightily[a] with a loud voice, saying, 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.' And I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven" Revelation 18:2-5.
SCENE # 3. THE 7 TRUMPETS
In Revelation 8:2 to 11:19 Christ reveals 7 successive judgments He would send on the persecutors of His people, both pagan and papal Rome. He also reveals the preadvent judgment and the final destruction of those who persecute His children just previous to His second coming. His persecuted children win.
Trumpet one - In the year 395 the Goths under Alaric were in arms against the empire.
The Roman Empire, after Constantine the Great, was divided into three parts. Thus the words "a third part of men," speaks about the fact that a third part of the empire is being attacked. The Roman kingdom was divided at the death of Constantine, among his three sons, Constantius, Constantine II, and Constans. Constantius controlled the East, and lived in Constantinople, the headquarters of the empire. Constantine II controlled Britain, Gaul, and Spain. Constans controlled Illyricum, Africa, and Italy..
Trumpet two - evidently relates to the invasion and conquest of Africa, and afterward of Italy, by Gaiseric (Genseric), king of the Vandals. His conquests were for the most part naval, and his triumphs were "as it were a great mountain burning with fire, cast into the sea."
Trumpet three - Attila, king of the Huns, against the Roman power. Speaking of this warrior, particularly of his personal appearance, Barnes says: "In the manner of his appearance, he strongly resembled a brilliant meteor in the sky. He came from the East gathering his Huns, and poured them down.
Trumpet four A new conqueror of Italy, Theodoric, the Ostrogoth became king in Rome. The power of the Caesars was gone. The 'third part of the sun' was smitten. The next three trumpets are woe trumpets, because of the more terrible things that happen during these periods of time. The fifth, sixth, and the seventh trumpet are all very painful events.
The Saracens and the Turks were used by God. They were a false religion that God used to punish an apostate church. "Constantinople was besieged for the first time after the extinction of the Western Empire by Chosroes [II], the king of Persia.
Trumpet five What men were they to hurt five months?--Undoubtedly the same they were afterward to slay (see verse 15), "the third part of men," or third of the Roman Empire--the Greek division of it. near the close of the thirteenth century, the Mohammedans were divided into various factions under several leaders, with no general civil government extending over them all. Near the close of the thirteenth century, Othman founded a government which has since been known as the Ottoman government, or empire, which grew until it extended over all the principal Mohammedan tribes, consolidating them into one grand monarchy. Othman make his first assault on the Greek empire?-- According to Gibbon "it was on the twenty-seventh of July, in the year twelve hundred and ninety-nine
"They should be tormented five months." "Five months" is equal to 150 prophetic days or 150 literal years. In Bible prophecy a day is equal to a year. Beginning July 27, 1299, the one hundred and fifty years reach to 1449. During that whole period the Turks were engaged in an almost perpetual war with the Greek Empire, but yet without conquering it.
Trumpet six Late in the year 1448, as the close of the 150-year period approached, John Palaeologus died without leaving a son to follow him on the throne of the Eastern Empire. His brother Constantine, the lawful successor, would not venture to ascend the throne without the consent of the Turkish sultan. This was not a violent assault made on the Greeks, by which their empire was overthrown and their independence taken away, but simply a voluntary surrender of that independence into the hands of the Turks, by saying, 'I cannot reign unless you permit.' " The four angels were loosed for an hour, a day, a month, and a year, to slay the third part of men. This period, during which Ottoman supremacy was to exist, amounts to three hundred ninety-one years and fifteen days.
"It was to 'the fire and the smoke and the sulphur,' to the artillery and firearms of Mahomet, that the killing of the third part of men, i.e., the capture of Constantinople, and by consequence the destruction of the Greek Empire, was owing. gunpowder, firearms, and cannon--that Constantinople was finally overcome, and given into the hands of the Turks.
This supremacy of the Mohammedans over the Greeks was to continue, as already noticed, three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days. "Beginning with the end of the one hundred and fifty years in 1449, the period would end August 11, 1840 On August 11, 1840, the period of three hundred ninety-one years and fifteen days, given to the continuance of the Ottoman power, ended; and where was the sultan's independence?--GONE! Who had the supremacy of the Ottoman empire in their hands?--The four great powers; and that empire has existed ever since only by the sufferance of these Christian powers. Thus was the prophecy fulfilled to the very letter.
Trumpet seven The end of human kingdoms come with lightnings, thunderings, voices, the earthquake, and great hail. Jesus will come and take His children home to His kingdom. -- We see the fulfillment of Trumpet seven in the following verses from Revelation 16 - "And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great". Revelation 16:18-21
SCENE # 4. THE WAR
In Revelation 12 to 13:18 Christ reveals that the Devil brought war first to heaven and then to earth. Christ reveals the Devils strategy of using popular religion to deceive "the whole world" into joining his rebellion. "The whole world" will be convinced that they are serving God when they and war against God, His commandments, and those who obey Gods commandments.
SCENE # 5. THE JUDGMENT
In Revelation 14 to 16:21 Jesus warns the world that # 1 Judgment has begun (before He returns the second time) # 2 The church is falling and will soon be completely fallen (spiritually) #3 Obey Gods commandments. Those who choose not obey are warned that they will be destroyed in the soon coming plagues of Revelation chapter 16. God's 7 last plagues fall and Christ harvest the earth. He takes those to heaven who honor Him keeping His commandments and destroys those who choose to continue breaking His commandments thus joining Satan's rebellion.
SCENE # 6. BABYLON AND THE BEAST
In Revelation 17 to 19:21 Christ identifies both the woman (the church), Babylon, and the seven headed beast. God calls His people to come out of the churches known as Babylon so they will not participate in the sins or destruction of Babylon.
SCENE # 7. THE 1,000 YEAR REST
In Revelation 20 Christ reveals what will happen during the 1,000 year period after He returns the second time.
SCENE # 8. HEAVEN
In Revelation 21 and 22 Christ reveals some of the fantastic joys of eternal life.
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