Epistles of Paul 13

Today we'll continue with our study on Second Thessalonians. And one thing that is interesting is that when we write, for instance, a letter or an update about any event, with our background and from our perspective, we try and make that explanation about that background or that event, crystal clear. And the other day I was just writing something and I wrote it and I thought, now this is crystal clear. This was a situation about the Brethren in Angola, and I was writing to a number of elders, and I thought this was absolutely crystal clear. Well, to my surprise, I had people come back to me asking of those elders, well, what about, yeah, this, this, and I thought I'd made it crystal clear, and I had to go back and restate carefully, now it's this. And then somebody else came up with something completely different, and I said, no, no, it's this. And it is amazing that when you try in good faith and to best of your capability, you try and explain something as precisely as you can. There's always a number of people that in good faith, in genet, raised a number of questions which you thought it had been quite clear.

Now, this is exactly the situation with Paul. When he wrote the first epistle of Thessalonians, he wrote certain principles about Christ's coming, and from war we can see it raised up a number of other questions which then he had to address in the second epistle. So in the last study, I explained a section in chapter two of 2nd Thessalonians about how Satan introduces deviation from the truth. Satan always brings some sort of deviation from the truth one way or another, and that deviation from the truth, I'm just going to call it apostasy. And that basically leads to what we have called a falling away.

So we have to be very conscientious of making sure that we are absolutely sticking to the truth, and that we are very clear how we express it, because in good faith there is going to be some people that are going to understand something different. So we were reading in the last study in Thessalonians chapter 2, and Paul was saying that he was surprised that people were being as he says here, not to be so soon shaken in mind or troubled. You know, if people were being moved, maybe they were taken to a different understanding, because he says maybe it's from somebody that said something, or by a word, or by a letter, as if it was from us. And even if it was from us, people misunderstand things. So, and he is saying you are being led away or being impacted by some misstatements or misinterpretations about Christ's coming. And so he said, don't let anybody deceive you. And that he says that in verse 3, in whatever fashion, in whatever way, by whatever means, because there's going to be a very important sequence. And he lists here two key points of the sequence. First, of falling away, and secondly, the man of sin being revealed.

So, yeah, we have a falling away, the actual big award is apostasy. So, he's basically referring to a situation in which there'll be apostasy, and then a man of sin. Now, in the last study, I showed you through history that in the early church, and that was right at the period of the Apostles, people started infiltrating into the church already with their own little ideas, trying to deviate from the truth. And so I explained that that was an internal situation that developed internally in the Church of God, and caused some people to fall away. In other words, to leave the fellowship. We went through that in the last study. And then we explained that this was like in two waves, and a secondary wave was later into the second and third century when the Roman authorities, the government, started interfering, and then that led to persecution on the church brought in by the government. And there is clearly a parallel for the end time, because we have this sequence, an apostasy, which is an internal deviation from the truth, and then a man of sin, which in, as we saw in the early primitive church, the apostolic church, it was a government, a government, in that case the Roman government. And so now we have this sequence, an apostasy, and a man of sin to be revealed. So this sequence is important for us to understand. And then in verse 4 says, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he, that's this man of sin, sits as God, as God sits, as God sits in the temple of God. In other words, he comes across as he's exalting himself, he's exalting himself as God, and he sits as God in the temple of God, sits in other words, I am in this position of authority, showing himself that he is God. So it's this real self-exaltation by the man of sin. Now, one could say that the man of sin is the false prophet. On the other side, one could also say that a man of sin is a civil leader called the beast.

Now, if we look at 1 John 2 verse 18, 1 John 2 verse 18, so let's just go there briefly, 1 John 2, 2 John 2 verse 18.

Little children, it is the lost hour, and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even so many Antichrists have come by which we know it is the lost day. So there's going to be various Antichrists. And then in 2 John verse 7, it says, for many deceivers have gone into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh versus deceiver and an Antichrist. So clearly I'm talking about a doctrine, somebody that says that Christ is not who He is. In other words, He's saying that Christ did not come in the flesh. And this is very much tied to what is a section of Gnosticism, which is today called Docetism, which says that God, Christ, did not come in the flesh. And in some of my journeys to other countries, I've come across many people with that understanding, says no, no, Christ didn't come in the flesh. Christ was, there was the human and then the God, Christ left him just before he died, which is obviously so wrong. And that's why in 2 John, verse 7 says, they don't confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an Antichrist. So this man of sin could be that. But there is another very possible meaning because let's consider a couple of things. We're going to look at various things. But one of them is Christ means the Messiah. And the Messiah is the coming, ruling King, is the one that is going to rule as the Messiah that is going to bring peace to the world. This is what Christ's Second Coming is all about, as King of King and Lord of Lords, and is going to bring peace to the world. So when we think about false messiahs, we could think as false religious leaders. Okay, but we could also see it as false civil leaders. It's important to understand. So a false messiah represents a false king claiming that he is going to bring, solve all the problems in our country, and for instance, he is a president or a leader of a nation that says, I'm going to solve all the problems of this nation. And therefore, that could be seen as a false messiah. And the outcome of a leader like that, which he claims, I'm doing this because I want peace, a leader like that only brings wars. So let's just quickly look, for instance, at Matthew 24. At Matthew 24, Matthew 24, and we're going to read in verse 5.

For many will come in my name, in other words, as Christ, as messiahs, saying that I'm the Christ. So it clearly is talking about religious and will deceive many, but could also imply people as physical civil leaders, saying, I am the one that is going to bring peace to the nation and will deceive many. You see the duality that it could be.

So what do we have these false leaders that always have some sort of ideology behind them to get the masses to follow them? They must have some sort of do-good principle or whatever some sort of ideology that is going to say, well, that's why we need me to solve the problems. And this is a parallel to Revelation 6 verse 2, where it talks about the white horse coming and conquering. Now, obviously, we always said, and I'm saying it applies to religion, but it could also apply to leaders using a religious or some ideology background, saying, I am going to solve the problems and they bring war.

And therefore, then we read in verse 6 of Matthew 24, a new year of wars and rumors of wars, because the outcome, the result of these false religions or false ideologies or false leaders promoting false ideologies, is going to be wars. And that's why in Revelation 6 verse 3 and 4, talks about the red horse triggering wars. So, continue reading in Matthew 24 verse 6, see that you're not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. And then verse 7, for nation shall rise against nation and kingdom shall rise against kingdom, and there will be famines and diseases or pestilences and earthquakes. The Greek word is seismos, which means like seismology, which is disturbances. It could be on earth, could be in the air, like storms, bad weather, seismos. It's great things affecting the earth and its environment. So, what it says here is that because of wars and outcomes back, and because of man's sins, there's going to be destruction, there's going to be famine, there's going to be diseases, and that is parallel to Revelation 6 verse 5 and 6, which is a black horse. So, what do we have? These false leaders, these false so-called messiahs, are going to bring peace to the nation or to the nations. They actually bring war, and as a result of that, we have famines, diseases, and shakings of the earth could be through explosions. It could be because of man's sin. God allows different things to happen. And what is the outcome of all that? The outcome of these false ideas, which trigger wars, which trigger death, which basically trigger diseases and famines, it basically then it triggers death and the grave, which is the fourth horse of Revelation 6 verse 7 and 8.

So, we have that fourth horse, which is death and the grave. So, the triggering event is these false messiahs, these false leaders claiming to bring peace. It could be religious leaders, could be civil leaders, and in the end, they only bring trouble. So, going back to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 4, where it says, it's talking about this man of sin, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God. Could he, therefore, be a physical leader, this man of sin? You see, we're going to look at that a little bit more in detail.

And as we were reading a moment ago in Matthew 24, we know that in verse 15 says, therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in holy place, whoever reads, let him understand. So, there is, therefore, all this kind of leads to an abomination of desolation. Now, it is important for us to look at historically to see what that was. What was this abomination of desolation? Because it's quite enlightening if we look at that carefully. So, to do that, let's go to Daniel chapter 8.

Now, Daniel chapter 8, this is a prophecy of Daniel chapter 8, is a prophecy of a ram and a he goat, which then has a great horn and has four notable ones. Now, I want to share with you a screen or a graph very briefly, which I call it the chart of Gentile kingdoms. And in this chart, it parallels these different prophetic chapters in Daniel and Revelation, specifically Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Daniel 8, and Revelation 13 and 17.

Now, Daniel 8 is this prophecy of the ram and the he goat, and the ram is tied to the breast and the arms of the silver of Daniel 2's image, which is Daniel 7's bear, and the meaning is the Persian empire. And the he goat is the one that comes afterwards, which parallels the belly and thighs of brass, which is the third beast of Daniel 7, which is the leopard with four heads.

And the he goat has got this great horn and has got these four notable ones, which parallels those four heads of Daniel 7. And its meaning is Greece under Alexander the Great, and the four divisions, north, south, east, and west. And east and west kind of disappeared after a while, and then it just became north and south, which we call them the king of the north and the king of the south. Now, as we get back to the storia now, and in Daniel 8, verse 9 through 14, we talk about this he goat, and then he talks about one of them, between these four notable ones, came out a little horn, and it grew up and exalted himself as high as the prince of host, and by him the daily sacrifices were taken.

So it is interesting to look at history because who is he? Is that the little horn? Or was a civil leader that went and stopped the daily sacrifices? And when we look a little bit later in verse 25, and it says in others, vision is for the future, you know, and then he talks about the 2300 in verse 14 days, but if you look in the margin, that it actually is evenings and mornings, and also in verse 26, he says in the vision of the evenings and mornings.

So we're really talking about 2300 evenings and mornings, which is 1150 days, which is three years plus 70 days. So we see that there was an abomination of desolation, and this is also referred to in Daniel 11. Now Daniel 11 is probably the longest and most detailed prophecy, basically, of the king of the north and king of the south, which is two of these notable ones, because it said the ego at four notable ones, and then he talks about two of those notable ones.

And then we read in Daniel 11, verse 31, and it says, and the forces he mustered by him, they shall defile the sanctuary fortress. There they shall take away the daily sacrifices. History tells us that this was in Tychus Epiphanes in the year 168 BC. And so this was actually a civil leader, not a religious leader, and he was the one that stopped the daily sacrifices. And if we study a little bit more about that history, that was stopped when the Maccabees started fighting against that, which is exactly 1150 days after the abomination of desolation was set up. So this brings a going to say, hey, this abomination of desolation, this person, this man of sin, could be a civil leader.

So it's just a possibility. So as we look now into the future, because now we're looking at Matthew 24 verse 15, therefore when you see the abomination desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and it's talking about a little later it says, because then it will be great tribulation. And unless those days would, there will be great tribulation verse 21, as such as never has been.

So it's actually talking about a time of the future, tie in to the abomination of desolation. So it's again a duality. It happens what happened once, it's going to happen again. So there's going to have to be a stopping of sacrifices.

Offerings need to start. They have not started yet. And that has been our understanding for a long time. And then there's going to be a time to flee.

So there are still a number of things to happen. And as we look at Revelation 11, let's now jump to Revelation 11.

Revelation 11.

It talks about Jia. I was given a read like a measuring rod, and the angel stood, saying, rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship thee. But leave out the court, which is outside the temple, and do not measure it. For it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will tread the holy city under foot for 42 months. That's three and a half years, exactly the same time period as the Great Tribulation. Three and a half years, or 42 months. All right, so what do we have here is a period of three and a half years. So I want to now share with you another screen, which is a chart I've shown to you before. But yeah, we have these seals of the Book of Revelation, these seven seals, which were presented by these red circles, these seven. And then we have these horsemen, false religion, false ideology, false leadership, wars, hunger, and plagues, and death, and the grave. But yeah, we have a mocktia, the Man of Sin, and the false prophet. Once that is revealed, then there is a great abomination of desolation. Why? Because we read the Man of Sin will then cause that abomination of desolation. And then we also read that there will be a period of three and a half years in that great tribulation, three and a half years. And we're looking at Revelation 11, which then also talks about the two witnesses, which will be working for 1,260 days, which is also three and a half years. So what we have here is a possible duality again, in which in Revelation 11, 1, and 2 could be a read measuring the temple of God.

The temple of God today is us. We are God's temple. And so we have this read measuring the temple of God. And once the temple is measured, it could mean, I'm not saying it does, but I say it could mean that then those people that are counted worthy to escape, like counted worthy, measured, measuring the rod, counted worthy to escape, look 21.

And then there is a time to flee, which ties in to Matthew 24, 15, as I read in a moment. And therefore then after that, what happens immediately after that, and it says 11 verse 3, I'll give power to my two witnesses. That's the two witnesses. And they'll prophesy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth. And so what we have here is a time of the two witnesses, which they will be preaching in the world in parallel with the Beast and the False Prophet. So what do we have here, brethren? Let me show this chart again so that we are clear in this. We have the Beast and the False Prophet having now ruling and causing the trouble of the Great Tribulation for three and a half years, and also the two witnesses in parallel for three and a half years. And also in parallel is the time when the Church is protected for a time, time, and half a time. Can you see how these overlap? So as we read there in Revelation 11 verse 3 to verse 10, we can see that these two witnesses are preaching at the same time as the Beast and the False Prophet. And let's look here in verse 7. It says, when they, that's the two witnesses, finished their testimony, the Beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit. So this is actually talking about the Beast, the Beast power, which is a civil government, will make war against them, overcome them, and kill the two witnesses. So at the end of these three and a half years, the two witnesses will be killed. So who is this Beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit? Well, if we read in Revelation 17 verse 8, in Revelation 17 verse 8, when it's talking about the Beast that you saw was and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. So this is clearly talking about the Beast. Now I'm going to go back to this chart of the reign of Gentile kingdoms. And in this chart, we can see that this Beast, that is this Beast, has a deadly wound, which is a Roman Empire, is dead, but then this Beast that has a deadly wound is healed. We can see in this section that is again in Revelation 13. The deadly wound is healed, and then this Beast is ridden by the Lamb, which is the Church. And then we can see that this Beast is the Beast that actually ascends out of the bottomless pit. So that this is the revived Roman Empire by 10 dictators, and which the Church rides, rides this Beast. So as we put this together, we see that the Beast, as we know, is a reshaped Europe. And what we see from this chart is that the government comes first, and then that religious entity rides the Beast, comes later. First is the Roman government that starts with pressure on the Church externally, and then the Roman Church comes and rides that Beast, that government.

Now this is interesting because as we look at Revelation 13, it talks about a Beast in verse 1, rising up above the sea. And that talks about the Seven Heirs and Ten Horns, and that is clearly the government. As I showed you in that reign of the Gentile Kingdoms, that Beast that comes out of the sea is in Revelation 13. That's a state. That's civil. And that is the one which comes out of the sea, out of people. And that is prophetic to a later event that is going to happen.

So Revelation 13, verses 1 through 3, it's clearly talking about a civil government. And then we can see that it receives power by the dragon, by Satan.

And then we read in verse 5 of Revelation 13, verse 5, we read here that, and he was given a mouth—who is this? This is the Beast power. This is the civil government. He was given a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemy, and he was given authority to continue for 42 months. That is three years and a half. He's got this power during the Great Tribulation. And then in verse 6, then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And in verse 7, he says, it was granted him—that's the Beast—to make war with the saints and to overcome them.

And authority was given to him—that is the Beast—over every tribe, tongue, and nation. So this is a civil government. So what do we have here as a civil government that now starts blaspheming God, blaspheming his name, and he's got power for 42 months, and he persecutes, and he says, he is to make war with the saints.

Then we can see in verse 11 that then he brings into the picture also the second Beast, but we can see there is a sequence—the civil government, and then the church gets behind this bandwagon, this Roman false church. And so the sequence is important.

Now we also see in Revelation 13 verse 7, it was granted to him to make war with the saints. And to overcome them. Well, where is this war described? Well, this war is described in Revelation 12. So let's look at Revelation 12 verse 13 and 14. He says, Now when the dragon saw that he had been passed down to earth, he persecuted a woman, which is God's church, which is the saints, who gave birth to the male child, which obviously is the church symbolic of what came through Mary, through that woman. But it is the church who gave birth to the male child, in other words, to the outgrowth from that being the church, not church. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness to a place where she's nourished for a time, times, and half a time from the presence of the serpent. So what do we have is a portion of the church is protected for these three and half years. And that's why we read flee, abomination of desolation, then we are to flee. And he says, we're going to be given protection for three and half years from the presence of the serpent. And it says that she'll be nourished and she'll fly into the wilderness. So it's some place where sightings, influence, and media and wavelengths cannot get in there. So people cannot be deceived.

And why do I say it's a portion of the church? It's because in verse 17, we can see the church is protected by a military power. We read that in verse 15, which is the water is spewed out like a flood. And then we see in verse 17, now because that portion of the church is protected, the dragon was enraged with the church, the woman. And he, the dragon, Satan, went to make war with the rest of her offspring, which is the rest of the church. Those who keep the commandments of God can have the testimony of Jesus Christ. So there is a portion of the church, those that keep the commandments and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. So they are the church. We have some people that keep the commandments and have the testament of Jesus Christ that are protected. They count it worthy to escape. And there's some people that keep the commandments of the testimony of Jesus Christ that do not escape. And so that brings us to a point. We have to watch and pray, watch our conduct ourselves, that we may be counted worthy to escape and to stand before the Son of Man. As we read in Luke 21, I think it's verse 36. So continuing that, we see that the church was persecuted, is being persecuted. Now how can a portion of this church can be persecuted?

Well, it can be persecuted because...why? Because physical Israel has been destroyed. In other words, the nations that proclaim liberty of religion has been destroyed.

So let's go back to Matthew 24, where we were a moment ago. In Matthew 24, verse 15, it says, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in holy place, that those who are in Judea flee. So there is a time to flee. And how? What?

We don't know. But we also then read in verse 21, for then there will be great tribulations, such as never been since the beginning of the world. Until this time, no, nor ever shall be. So there will be that great tribulation. Now, when we turn back to Daniel chapter 12. Now, I'm talking about Daniel chapter 12. Let's look at that. In Daniel chapter 12, verse 7, Daniel chapter 12, verse 7, it says, and when I heard, then I heard the man clothed in linen was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time, three and half years, and the word and is not in the number of translations. So from what I can see is not in the original. So for three and half years, when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered. Who is the holy people?

Ganguality.

One is a church, but the physical holy people are the Israelites. When their power has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished, and then there'll be three and a half years, which is the period of the Great Tribulation. The holy people will be shattered, Israel will be destroyed, and because of that, there's no more religious liberty, and the church will now be able to be persecuted during that time of the Great Tribulation.

So what we have is a time when the holy people will be completely shattered. When we read a little bit later in verse 11 of Daniel 12, in verse 11, and from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken and the abomination is set up, this is at the time of the end. So yeah, there is abomination and desolation at the time of the end. This shall be 1,290 days.

So what do we have? We have 30 days extra. We have 30 days extra from the time of the abomination of desolation to when the Great Tribulation occurs. There is a period of 30 days, which is a month, right? 30 days a month. So the time to flee seems to be there, and then there is a month. What happens in this month? Now we've got to turn to Hosea chapter 5. So let's now look at Hosea chapter 5. In Hosea chapter 5, starting in verse 5, it says, The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore, Israel, that's the Israelites nations, which includes different nations, including America, English-speaking nations, and other nations, and Ephraim, which is the United Kingdom, let's call that, stumbling their iniquity. Judah also stumbles with it.

With their flocks and herds, they shall go to seek the Lord. Oh yeah, people go to church and pray and ask, God help us, but they will not find him. God will not answer them.

God, he has withdrawn himself from them. So the soviet people, when this time comes and asks for help, they will not get that help. Why? Verse 7, they have dealt treasurously with the Lord. They've broken God's laws in for months.

Why? For they have begotten pagan children. They have raised children that are as in the margin puts they, strange children. In other words, children that don't fear God.

They're strange children. And while they should be children of Israel, they've done that.

It reminds you in Malachi, you know, you need to draw the hearts of the fathers to the sons and the sons of the fathers. This will come and destroy the earth with the curse.

And look at this last section of verse 7. Now, a new moon shall devour them and shall devour them and their heritage. A new moon. That means a month. A new moon that's in a month, the period of a month. A month is 30 days.

So that ties in with the difference between 1290 and 1260 when Israel and Ephraim and Judah stumble and religious freedom ceases on earth. Therefore, Satan can now persecute those that keep God's laws. And therefore, the mark of the beast, which is disobedience to God and more specifically breaking the Sabbath and God's only days, that will be forced upon mankind. So the breaking of God's laws and more specifically breaking of those laws that identify people as God's people will be forced. Now, who will do that? Well, we need to look at Psalm 83. So let's look at Psalm 83. In Psalm 83, verse 1 through 8, Psalm 83, verse 1 through 8, it says, Do not keep silent, O God. Do not hold your peace, and do not be still, O God. For behold your enemies, make it tumult, make an uproar. These are enemies of God, clearly inspired by Satan because he's in the enemy of God. He's the adversary. And those who hate you have lifted up their head. And so those nations and those people that hate God have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against your people. Israel is a lot of nations, including Ephraim and Judah, and consulted together against your sheltered ones. So those are people that have been protected and blessed, but they have not given God thanks for all the blessings. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation. That the name of Israel may be remembered no more. That is so plain to stop the Israelite nations being a nation. So the name of Israel will be no more. For they have consulted together with one consent, they form a confederacy against you. Yeah, in the end it's against God, but they want to destroy God's people. And then it identifies who those nations are, which are basically nations of the king of the south, getting together with Assyria. And so what do we have is this alliance getting together and destroying the nations of Israel, because this man of sin is standing up and is destroying and is talking against God, and these nations get courage and destroy Israel. And so continuing in Daniel 12, in Daniel 12, and right at the end of Daniel 12, verse 12, says, blessed is he who waits. Now we have a blessing for waiting and comes to the 1335 days, which is exactly 45 days before 1290. Well, in other words, a month and a half.

So a month and a half before all this happens, there's some event that those that have been faithfully waiting, suddenly they'll be blessed. That counting of 1335, 1290, 1260 starts ticking and things are available.

What will happen in at that time, 1335 days before? I do not know. I cannot speculate. It could be the end of the work as we have. It could be the time when we read things. Again, I'm speculating. Matthew 24, verse 40 and 41, when touring the field, one is taken. In other words, there's something that we don't know what's going to happen. But from that moment onwards, it seems to be that now people know the countdown. Now people know the countdown.

So let's continue now reading in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 4. Because it says, "...he opposed and exalts himself above all that is called God." So this is now the man of sun that is revealed.

Or that is worshiped. So there he sits as God. He sits as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God, as God in the temple of God. So he says, I'm God. And he sits as God in the temple of God. And if we follow this parallel, it appears that this man of sun is the leader of the beast power.

Then we continue now reading in verse 5. Do you not remember that when I was with you, I told you these things. Paul had mentioned to them already this. So that is interesting.

And understanding that the book of Revelation was written much longer, the apostles had some understanding of a number of things they are before the book of Revelation was written. And then let's read verse 6 and 7. And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains will do so until he's taken out of the way. So this spirit of breaking God's law, of turning grace into lawlessness, is already at work. But this will culminate at a time to come when he who is holding this says, okay, now is the time to go. And no man knows that day or the hour but God the Father. And when God the Father, which is holding this back and restraining, when he says it can now happen, then it will start happening. Because now then is the time. So God is clearly restraining Satan and not allowing certain things to explode. Yes, things are getting worse and worse. But imagine how terrible will happen when the nations of Israel, United States, Canada, Australia, cease to be. When Europe ceases to be as it is, it becomes a dictatorship.

This is going to be sometime very different. So when is it that says, all right, now is the time? It seems to be at these 1335 days. It is possible if we turn to Revelation 12. Again, I'm speculating what 1335 might mean. Revelation 12, starting in verse 7, and war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they will not prevail. Nor was the place found for them in heaven no longer. So the great dragon was cast out at the serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. It was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. It might be. Again, please understand it's purely speculative. It might be when Satan, when this war in heaven will happen and Satan will be thrown down to earth. Because it says, and then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, our salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before of God day and night has been cast out. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens, and you dwell in them, but well to the inhabitants of the earth. And the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath, because he knows he has a short time. Now the clock timing of Daniel 12 starts ticking, and now Satan knows that's it. I know this is it. The days are counted.

So that is a possibility. The days are counted. And then in Second Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 8, and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. So when Satan bangs his throne to the earth, he now has to execute full steam, the plan. The man of sun is revealed, and all these things start developing and building up in a period of 45 days, a month and a half, and then there's going to be the abomination of desolation after those 45 days. But then there's still 1,290 days to go, and then there's 30 days for Israel to be destroyed, and then the Great Tribulation starts. So in Second Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 8, then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. So when he comes, you read in Revelation 19 verse 19 and 20, that the beast and the false prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire.

And so, yeah, we have that this will be very deceitful to the world because we read in verse 9, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders. So brethren, this is where I'm going to stop today. I hope you all found a very profitable session, and then we'll continue again next week.