"We see, in many a land, the proudest dynasties and tyrannies still crushing, with their mountain weight, every free motion of the Consciences and hearts of men. We see, on the other hand, the truest heroism for the right and the greatest devotion to the Truth in hearts that God has touched. We have a work to do, as great as our forefathers and, perhaps, far greater. The enemies of Truth are more numerous and subtle than ever and the needs of the Church are greater than at any preceding time. If we are not debtors to the present, then men were never debtors to their age and their time. Brethren, we are debtors to the hour in which we live. Oh, that we might stamp it with Truth and that God might help us to impress upon its wings some proof that it has not flown by neglected and unheeded." -- C.H. Spurgeon . . . "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:31, 32 . . . . .

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Thursday, May 2, 2019

The TTUF STUDY on The REVELATION of JESUS CHRIST – Chapter SIX: Part One

~ By James Fire

Before we venture into Chapter 6 and forward, we do well to remember the perspective of this book, and the meaning behind it. The Revelation of Jesus Christ entails everything about Him as the Second Person of the Trinity, the LORD JESUS: OUR KINSMAN REDEEMER, the LAMB of GOD as well as OUR AVENGER of BLOOD, The LION of JUDAH as well as the HOLY JUDGE of the whole Earth

For two thousand years, beginning with His earthly ministry that lasted in all likelihood about 3 years, testifying to the nation of Israel His people, and shortly after His resurrection, to be heralded to the Gentile nations by the apostles, as the Messiah of Israel, and LORD and Savior of all, people have heard the witness of the Risen Christ and His Gospel.
Yet He was (initially and up until this present time) rejected by His own nation (JOHN 1:11), and while the church grew with astounding rapidity among the Gentiles, the preponderance of the peoples of the Earth likewise rejected Him.

In each generation it is accounted as the greatest of tragedies, that people in the vast majority reject salvation in Christ; this supreme offering of grace by the Father, in sacrificing His own beloved and only begotten Son – His Holy and Righteous name being trodden down as an unclean thing:

HEBREWS 10:29
Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
For those who reject such salvation, there is only one other option – to face GOD on the Day of Judgment and on that Day to be judged by the Holy Standard of GOD’s Law.
This time in REVELATION, from Chapter 6 all the way to 19, is about the judgment of GOD falling upon “the earth dwellers” who have rejected GOD’s offer. Above the Gentile nations however, GOD will complete His (chastening) judgment upon His own nation, as He directed Gabriel to inform the prophet Daniel:
DANIEL 9:21-27
21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.   22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore, understand the matter, and consider the vision

24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. 25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.    

27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
Notice especially from vs. 24 and on, what is spoken by Gabriel:

Seventy weeks are determined. These are not weeks as we know them, comprised of seven days, but are rather “weeks” of years (shavuah in the Hebrew), and these are 70 in number: 70 shavuahs of 7 years each = 490 years. 


See the following video by Chuck Missler: 

A 13 minute explanation of Daniel’s 70 weeks 



For a good break down of this prophecy in its finer details, check out this site

This is the sum total of this period of time that Gabriel revealed to Daniel, beginning with (1) “the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem…” by Artaxerxes in 445 BC to (2) the offering of the sacrificial atonement of Christ (“Messiah shall be cut off” – the term “cut off” refers to penal execution) until the time when (3) the (rebuilt) Temple in Jerusalem is desecrated by the Beast with “the abomination that makes desolate” (DAN 12:11; MATT 24:15; 2 THESS 2:4) and then finally, (4) the arrival of the Messiah to rescue Israel from the Beast, will be 490 years (“70 weeks”).

Note that this prophecy is about Daniel’s own peoplethe Jews; and the Holy City – Jerusalem. The various fulfillment mentioned in the latter half of vs. 24: “to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” have been fulfilled in some points, but not others – yet!

Certainly, transgressions have yet to be finished, nor an end of sins, but the reconciliation of these and “iniquities” was accomplished on a lonely hill outside of Jerusalem, called Calvary two thousand years ago. Has everlasting righteousness been brought in yet? Certainly, it has in heaven, where Christ offered up His blood before the Father at the holy altar (HEB 9:11-14), but has righteousness been brought into this world in any visible sense? 
Not so you’d notice! Indeed, it’s getting spiritually darker and darker, practically by the day! Nevertheless, righteousness will one day fill the Earth (HAB 2:14; ISAIAH 26:9)!

The sealing up of the vision and prophecy (which I believe refers to this which was just given to Daniel by the arch-angel Gabriel) and the anointing of the most Holy – the Messiah, when once He returns to inaugurate His rightful and righteous reign over all the Earth, from the city of Jerusalem (LUKE 1:31-33) is also yet future in most respects. Whereas the prophecy given to Daniel was sealed (DAN 12:4,9), this same vision was opened by the time the apostle John received the full revelation of the LORD Jesus Christ (REV 22:10).

The entire prophecy concerns GOD’s chastening of the nation of Israel, starting with the Babylonian captivity that ushered in “the times of the Gentiles (this linked article is by Lambert Dolphin) and culminating with the end of the reign of the Beast, when Christ returns and dispossesses the Earth of His adversaries is what is in view in its final stages, here in REVELATION Ch. 6 through 19.

For more on "the times of the Gentiles" see the following article by Compelling Truth ministries

Specifically the LORD Jesus Christ, as the avenger of blood, will require the blood of those who themselves shed the blood of His brethren, the Jews – and this He will accomplish upon His arrival to Earth, when the armies of the world, being led by the Beast are intent on wiping the nation of Israel from off the face of this planet (REV 16:14-16).

Why the need for all of this preliminary exposition? 

Because it must be clearly understood that after the seven and sixty-two weeks (69 total), when the Messiah was “cut off” (this is an execution for criminal accusation and conviction; definition found at the link under "niphal" 1.c is explicit to this verse) – crucified – that this brought about a cessation of this prophetic clock: the 70 weeks was temporarily halted* and the time of Israel was suspended while the church was born, grew and spread over all the world – the body of Christ comprised of both Jew and Gentile.

* There are other examples in Scripture where different events from different time periods are contained within the same passage; for examples:
ZECHARIAH 9:9-10
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth
.
We know that verse 9 was fulfilled when the LORD arrived the first time (MATT 21:1-9), but in the very next verse, we read something that we would expect to have been fulfilled at that time, but this is speaking of Christ’s dominion “from sea to sea” which won’t happen until the Millennial reign, at least 2000 years apart from the fulfillment of the first portion of this Scripture.

And also:
ISAIAH 61:1-3
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified
.
Likewise, we know that vs. 1-2a was fulfilled during the LORD’s first Advent, yet after “To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD…” when it leads to “the day of vengeance of our GOD” are two separate and distinct events: the first part was fulfilled, the second part will be when once the LORD arrives at His second Advent as the Avenger of blood and Judge of the whole Earth.

We see a temporal break in the passage in Daniel as well as we’ve seen it in Zechariah and Isaiah; in fact, in the passage in Daniel there are two breaks in time: between the first 49 years (7 weeks) and the next time period of 434 years (62 weeks) and the second break after the 62 weeks and the last week (7 years).

At the conclusion of the first week (49 years), the temple was rebuilt in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra; at the conclusion of the second time period of 62 weeks (434 years), the Messiah was crucified – and at the conclusion of the last seven years (1 week) the Messiah will return to Israel.

There is little if any significant passing of time in the first break (but it’s significant that the Temple was established and that the commencement of ‘The Count-Down of the Ages’ for the first arrival and eventual crucifixion of the Messiah had begun), but there is a significant break in time after the Messiah was cut off – Israel was dispersed in 70 AD, and there was no kingdom of Israel until this very day, and the church that was established during Pentecost grew and prospered.

The Jewish nation wasn’t re-established for over 1800 years but during all that time, since the rule of Babylon over Israel, and the subsequent empires, down to the Roman Empire Israel never regained its kingdom but was always under Gentile dominion (“the times of the Gentiles” LUKE 21:24). This time will however, come to a close when God decides for it to end.

The ‘prophetic clock’ will commence once again (just as it will in the passages cited above in ZECHARIAH and ISAIAH) when the church is completed (“the fullness of the Gentiles see the essential verse here in ROM 11:25) and the last remaining week to complete the 69 previous weeks, will begin – what we colloquially refer to as ‘The Great Tribulation’. Essentially, within its prophetic context, this is just as much a part of the Old Testament as the prior 69 weeks – no longer will the New Testament from a dispensational point of view, be in effect (though the new covenant sacrifice of Christ ever and always remains in effect where redemption is concerned) and of course we know that the church is born of the New Testament, not the Old.

For this, and many other reasons, we at TTUF believe the church will be taken out prior to the commencement of this last shavuah (seven years) that will once again deal with Daniel’s people, the Jews and the Holy City, Jerusalem (and of course, the Gentile nations who have likewise rejected Christ).

As mentioned in the study of Chapter 5:

“We take it therefore that the opening of the seals of this book is the enlargement, development, and continuation of the Book of Daniel, describing, from God’s side, the judgments necessary to secure the fulfillment of all that He has foretold.
“The identification of this scroll is not found only in the fact that, like other prophetic writings, it is sealed, but also in its close association with redemption and the events which follow upon the loosing of its seals. The scroll is inherently related to the fulfillment of a purchase . . . the scroll is a form of ancient will; HEB 9:1).” This view has the advantage of explaining the emphasis found here upon the death of the Lamb:

REVELATION 5:6,9
6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation
;

Listen to Chris Tomlin, singing IS HE WORTHY


“Although the loosing of the seals results in the realization of the promised inheritance: 
PSALM 2:8
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession
. . .it seems that more than just a will is in view. A purchase was made at the cross, and now the deed of that purchase is being claimed by its rightful owner.”
Notice that Satan, aka Lucifer was not present during this time – he still has access to the throne of GOD (REV 12:10) just as he had in the days of Job (JOB 1:6; 2:1). It would seem that he isn’t ultimately cast out of heaven until REV 12:12-13

He offered the world to the LORD during His 40 days in the desert as his rightful ownership allowed (MATT 4:8-9). The LORD referred to him as “the prince of this world” (JOHN 12:21; 14:30; 16:11). The apostle Paul referred to him as the god (small “g”) of this world (2 COR 4:4). But he is nowhere seen in the proximity of this throne – no one was found worthy: except for One!

As previously mentioned in Chapter 5, the meaning of the scroll, which is a title-deed of the Earth, is best represented as (1) a catalog of judgments, (2) prophetic revelation, (3) a testament and (4) a deed of purchase.

REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. 2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer
.

We have the breaking of the First Seal: 

These four beasts are described in terms we are familiar with as cherubim and seraphim (EZEK 10:1-9,15-16; 41:18-20,25; ISA 6:2,6). These are a super-class of angelic beings, among them Lucifer was the “anointed cherub that covers” (EZEK 28:14); in all likelihood, given the greatest place of prominence among all the cherubim, thus as is often inferred, the most powerful creature GOD had ever made, perhaps even more powerful than Michael. The first of these four “beasts” (zoa in the Greek, meaning “living creature”) pronounces the unleashing of what the first broken seal brings . . .

The LAMB Who rightly possesses this title-deed because He purchased the world with His own blood opens the first of seven seals. Again, there are seven seals that speaks of the rendering of perfect and complete judgment upon rebellious mankind, and in this first seal, the LORD brings forth this rider on a white horse.

People reject Christ, and will prefer some other who comes not in the name of the Father, but in his own diabolical name (JOHN 5:43); so, the LORD will honor their request, but it will become a judgment upon them. Much like the people of Israel desired a human king rather than the rule of GOD over the nation, and so they were given Saul (1 SAM 8:6-8), who was a chastening upon the people and a judgment.

The white horse is typical of a conquering king, and speaks of power, authority, military might and majesty. The rider is given a single crown, not any more than one – as well as this a bow, but no arrows. He proceeds in conquering and to conquer.

There are some who see this man as Christ, but he cannot be for many reasons. For one thing, Christ is crowned with many crowns, not just one; all of His crowns are diadems, the crowns of royalty and reigning sovereigns, while this man is given a single stephanos – which is a crown won in the games (What we know of as the Olympics which were in honor of ‘the gods’). The same term may be used of saints and rewards in specific cases, yet this man is no saint but rather is brought forth as a judgment upon the Earth.

He has a bow but no arrows – but he is going forth conquering and to conquer, whereas Christ has already conquered and need not conquer anything else (with the exception of death, the last enemy (1 COR 15:26)). When Christ returns, He will have no need to conquer, because it will be a slaughter of the rebellious in Judgment by the Executioner of judgment (JOHN 5:27; REV 14:20), not the victory of a winning Commander. 

While many have asserted that this ‘arrowless’ bow that this rider on the white horse carries represents how he will by peace destroy many (see below), and this is a proper application, I can’t help but wonder if this ties into some legends associated with Nimrod, who is seen as the first type of anti-Christ in Scripture.

It is believed, according to many legends, that Nimrod climbed into a box where four eagles (or vultures) were tied and lifted him up into the heavens, and when he ascended to the greatest height, he fired arrows into the skies in an attempt to kill the God of Abraham. When he returned to the Earth, his arrows spent, he declared God to be dead, and that he took His place.

Could this view of this conqueror on the white horse, with a bow without arrows be a representation of this second Nimrod, in his opposition to the God of the Bible?

Who in Scripture then fits this descriptive M.O.?
DANIEL 8:25
And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand
.

This personage is spoken of in:

DANIEL 8:11-12

11 
Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of the sanctuary was cast down. 12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced, and prospered.
We know that the Beast, the anti-Christ will take away the daily sacrifices that will be offered up in the coming Temple at Jerusalem*; this same man will cause craft (deceit, insight, understanding) [in matters political, economic and military] to prosper without exerting violence; he will achieve conquests – as with a bow, but without any arrows.

*. For more about the coming Temple in Jerusalem, see the following video with Bob Cornuke, David Sielaff and Earnest L. Martin.

Yet how can this man be the anti-Christ, as he is here described in Chapter 6, but the Beast seems to ascend up from the bottomless pit in REV 11:7? Yet if this man isn’t the anti-Christ, then who – or what – is he? 

If one examines Chapter 11 carefully, it addresses the beast “that ascends out of the bottomless pit” in a reflexive manner; in referring to the beast, it speaks of his origin – where he came from (“the bottomless pit”), and not that he comes from that place concurrently with the slaying of the two witnesses.

For example, I could say “James Fire, who comes from New York, helped to establish The Truth Under Fire website.” That doesn’t mean that I came from New York at the same time as establishing this website; it simply refers to my place of origin, in order to identify me as the one who did this thing. I didn’t help to establish this website until fifteen years after I came from New York to Arizona.

I believe this white rider is indeed the Beast – and that the spirit of the Beast comes from the bottomless pit; yet I also believe that Satan himself shall possess the Beast at a crucial point in time when this man of sin, the son of perdition will demand worship of “the earth dwellers”.

Is he a metaphor that represents anti-Christs in general, or the spirit of anti-Christ? I think in a non-specific sense, that is certainly true.
The other riders would seem to be metaphorical in nature – why not this first?
Is he perhaps not a man at all, but a kingdom or empire of some kind?
Or could it be that all four horsemen represent the anti-Christ but in different phases? That is an idea I’ve thought about for some time, but this will have to be considered at length before any determination may be made.

Let’s look at what the following treatments based on Scripture say about this One Whose Coming Is After The Working of Satan
.

He goes by many different names, terms and titles: the anti-Christ, the man of sin, the son of perdition, the Beast, the Bloody and Deceitful Man, The wicked one, the mighty man, the adversary, the Assyrian and others. For a detailed treatment of the many titles and names of the anti-Christ, check out this article by A.W. Pink.
For a comprehensive view of the anti-Christ, look at the following video by Chuck Missler: The Identity of the anti-Christ.

One specific reason why we can view this rider on the white horse, the anti-Christ, as a literal man and not a metaphor or a representative of a kingdom is because we know that this is an anti-type of Jesus Christ Who Himself is a literal man, the Son of man (the God-man). Thus His counterpart must likewise be a man, rather than an idea, a symbol, or a kingdom (only).

That being said, it is important to recognize that the idea of a king and his corresponding kingdom are often interchangeable; the Hebrew word for king is the same word used for kingdom (melek). So when we see verses about “the Beast” it can refer to the anti-Christ or his corresponding (world) kingdom, but never meaning the one to the absolute exclusion of the other – the same may be said of the red dragon, which is a representation for Satan (REV 12:9; 20:2), and the same kingdom over which he promotes the Beast as its human ruler.
The other reason we know that this Beast, this “man of sin” is in fact, a man, is plainly stated in:
REVELATION 13:18
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six
.
There is an indisputable correlation between REVELATION 6 and MATTHEW 24. Both passages speak of false Christs, wars (“and rumors of wars), famines, pestilences and other events and occurrences. The next seal is then broken. . .

We have the breaking of the Second Seal:

REVELATION 6:3-4
3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
4 And there went out another
horse that was red
and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

What the Beast brought into the world was obviously a false peace, and many will herald this as a tremendous victory, but their boast will come too soon; as it states:
1 THESSALONIANS 5:2-4
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief
.
What we have learned about wars, particularly those of the 20th and 21st centuries is that they are, for the most part, engineered, for specific reasons, to serve the cause(s) of the ‘global puppeteers’ – those globalists who will, through force, achieve their plans for global governance. Their motto, ordo ab chao is fraught with meaning: “through chaos, establish order”, that is, a one world order by any crisis or emergency situation that will serve the purpose.

For more on this, see Professor Antony Sutton in this short 14 min video based on his book, The Best Enemies Money Can Buy 

  

The corresponding verses that mirror REVELATION 6:3-4 are found in: 

MATTHEW 24:6-7
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

I used to think that “nation against nation” and “kingdom against kingdom” more or less meant the same thing, but it wasn’t until fairly recently that I discovered the word for “nation” in the Greek is ethnos, which brings a somewhat different meaning to the passage:

Certainly, kingdom against kingdom is political in nature as a ‘kingdom’ is a governmental authority, but with military employment. A conventional war is here described. Yet in ethnos, we see racial tensions that may indeed be conventional war as well but could also be attributable to race riots and civil unrest which could conceivably result in the use of military arms.

By the way, for a detailed treatment of MATTHEW 24, please have a look at these TTUF articles:

TWENTY-FOUR SIGNS of The LORD’s RETURN - A ‘Snap Shot’ of The Last Days

The LAST DAYS of LAWLESSNESS – TIME of the SIGNS

Both of these articles have links in the following verse by verse study in:

It is the curse of sin, working in the hearts of men that will compel them to beat their plough shears into swords. For as long as humanity wars against their Creator, they are doomed to war against each other.

The angels proclaimed at the Nativity of Christ:
LUKE 2:13-15
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men
.
And as Christ, the Prince of Peace brings salvation to the individual hearts of repentant sinners, they will be ruled by grace and peace – and what He is doing one soul at a time, He will accomplish on the Day of His return – once He disposes the world of those rebellious ones who refuse His Lordship.

Everyone is welcome to the kingdom, through the LORD Jesus Christ, and we will know eternity free of the curse of war and turmoil – within ourselves: between our sinful and holy natures that strive against each other; and in the world at large, between nations!

So, we will conclude Part One here and pick up on Part Two with the opening of the Third Seal. Until then saints, “keep your eyes on the skies, and don’t believe the lies: the LORD Jesus Christ returns soon from on high!”

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