What's Next in Prophecy?

Brethren, God's goal, ultimate goal, of course, is to bring a new heaven and a new earth within righteousness dwells, and we are there, will be there, God willing, as sons and daughters of God.

But a more near goal is to replace this wicked society with a righteous society, which is the kingdom of God ruling on earth. Prophecy, and a third of the Bible is prophecy, describes major events towards the establishing of the kingdom of God ruling on earth over physical human beings.

And so today, brethren, I want to spend a little time explaining, using a section of Scripture, obviously there's many others, but I'm using just one section of Scripture, explaining where we are in prophecy. Or in other words, what is next in prophecy. And as a conclusion, I want to ask the question, so what? What is it that you and I need to do? And so if you turn with me to start, please, brethren, to Revelation chapter 1.

Revelation chapter 1. And let's read from verse 1 through verse 3. Revelation 1, 1 through 3. The revelation of Jesus Christ. So it's Christ's revelation, which God the Father gave Him, gave Christ, to show us His servants. So the Father gave the revelation, and Christ is revealing it to us to show us His servants things which must shortly take place. And indeed, we know, because it says later on, John was taken into a time in the future, in a vision, to actually see what was happening at that time.

And therefore, it's a revelation to us. And continue to read. And He sent and signified that by His angel to His servant John, John the Apostle, who, John the Apostle, bore witness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ to all things that He saw. Blessed is He who reads, so we ought to be blessed to read this. And those who hear the words, it was not just reading, but hearing implies.

We're going to do something about it. We're going to apply. There are a number of instructions there for us. So we are blessed if we hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it. In other words, we ought to observe. There are certain instructions. Why? Because the time is near. The time is near. And so it is appropriate for us occasionally to have a message about prophecy because there are things that we need to learn and we need to observe and to pay attention to.

And He says we are blessed if we do that. So we're not going to do it with the spirit of fear and aura, but we're going to do it with the intent of saying, so what? What is it that we need to do as Christians? And so, as I mentioned a little earlier on, I'm going to use one section of the book of Revelation. We're in unfocused, but obviously I'll look at others. But one section, and that is Revelation 17. So if you turn to Revelation 17, you may want to put a marker there because we'll be in and out of it a few times.

But Revelation 17, it's a story about a woman. Now, events in the second part of the second half, let's call it, of the book of Revelation, focus in two symbolic women. Concentrates on two symbolic women. One, let's look at the first one, it's for instance referred in Revelation 12. So if you just turn a few pages back, we can see in Revelation 12, there is a woman described in Revelation 12.

Put it very simply, this woman is God's covenant people. God's covenant people. In Old Testament, it referred to Israel, to the nation Israelites, which were married to God, to the world. In the New Testament, as for this, as you can see in Revelation 12, verse 17, at the end of verse 17, and it says, And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

And so, it doesn't take a big IQ to identify this woman in the New Testament is pointing to God's church. So it's God's covenant people, a woman. This woman, this first woman, it's God's covenant people. And so, once again, in Old Testament, it was Israel, married to God. In the New Testament, it's the Church of God betrothed to marry Christ. That Christ's coming, but not married yet. So we see that similarity there. And this is very clearly supported if you look at Scriptures like Ephesians chapter 5.

So let's turn to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. And we're going to read just a few little verses, the Iron Day, and you know this section of Scripture. But I just want to emphasize that the woman in the New Testament is pointing to the Church.

And if you read in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 25, it's talking about husbands love your wives. Just as Christ also loved the Church. So there is an analogy or a contrast, as we heard in the sermonette, of husbands loving the wives and Christ loving the Church, which is betrothed to be married to at His coming. And He gave Himself a look a little bit further in verse 27, that He might present her to Himself a glorious Church. You see, so we're talking about the Church, present her feminine, a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she might be holy and without blemish.

And look a little bit further in verse 32. This is a great mystery, but I'm speaking concerning Christ and the Church. And so there is a relationship in the New Testament that God's covenant people now is God's Church, betrothed to marry Christ, you know, was the bride getting ready to marry Christ at His coming. And you know that. You can go to Revelation 19. I don't have to go there, but it shows that the bride has made herself ready and is going to marry.

Another one interesting little sub-example, Jerusalem, for instance, is the city of the physical Israel of the wife. In the future, New Jerusalem, particularly New Jerusalem coming on the new heaven and new earth, will be the city of the bride, you know, of the wife. So there is that linkage there. So one woman in the latter part of Revelation is actually talking about God's covenant people. And particularly in the New Testament, it refers to God's Church.

The other woman that talks in the latter part of Revelation, that's the one that we're looking at in Revelation 17. And let's look there in Revelation 17 in verse 1. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, Come, I'll show you the judgment of the great holid who sits on many waters. Now, this is very interesting. So here is another woman. Here's a holid. Here's a prostitute.

Now, if you just jump briefly to verse 5 and 6, it says on the forehead, and we're going to come to that in a little bit more detail, but I just want to pick up a point here. It says it's the mother of harlots.

And she's drunk with the blood of the saints and marveled with great amazement. So we have here a woman. Now, take note of this. This is interesting. It's not an adulterer. It's a holid. That's interesting. Look at verse 2. Revelation 17 verse 2. With whom? The kings of the earth committed fornication. It doesn't say committed adultery. Now, I know there are some people that disagree that the word fornication should be there. It should be sexual immorality. Okay! Sexual immorality. But it doesn't say committed adultery. Committed sexual immorality. In other words, it would say adultery if she was married.

But because she's unmarried, she's committing, as in modern lingua, language fornication. But the Greek word is porneo. A variation of porneo. We're getting words today like pornography. Now pornography can apply to married or to single people. Right? It's immaterial. Right? So, porneo, which says the fornication, could also be translated prostitute. In fact, in the Portuguese Bible, it's translated as prostitute. That she's prosecuted a body to other. But it's not married. Otherwise, it would have been adultery. And so, in this case, this sexual looseness is because not married. And the sexual looseness is looseness with the God's teachings and doctrines. Because it brings the spiritual meaning to it. So, in Old Testament, Israel was God's wife.

You know that. It says, you can go to the Scriptures on the left hand, and it says, I married you and you went out and committed adultery. Her unfaithfulness of Israel was called adultery. In Old Testament, other nations and faithfulness was not called adultery. It was called harlotry. Because they were single. For instance, Tyre in Isaiah 23.15 talks about its harlotry. Nineveh in Aion 3 verse 4 talks about harlotry, not adultery.

So, when we get down back to Revelation 17, we can see that we have a great harlot, which is not part of the children of Israel of the covenant people. Because if it was Israel, or part of the covenant people, it would have been adultery. But now it says she's committing sexual immorality or fornication. And continue a bit further in chapter 2, I've been in verse 2 still, chapter 17 verse 2.

It says, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. She was in bed with the kings of the earth, like olives, are in bed with others, and they use each other. They willingly participate in each other's sins.

And this corruption spread to the whole earth, the kings of the earth. And because they're drunk, you know what it means? They're seduced. They don't understand or they don't grasp that they're being deceived or seduced by the holleth. And if you look at Revelation 12 verse 9, it talks about Satan deceives the whole world. And so we have this church, this woman in the New Testament terminology church, which affects a whole lot of people, and with its doctrines or false teachings is deceiving the whole world. It says that, and it says the inhabitants of the earth.

That's the whole world, the inhabitants of the earth. So basically what we have here is a situation where people don't understand what is going on. They don't grasp it. I'm going a little bit further in verse 3. Revelation 17 verse 3. So He carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. A scarlet, red. Now red can have a meaning of splendor, royal splendor, particularly purple colors, but in this case, red represents sin.

You know, for instance, scriptures like Isaiah 1.18, you don't have to turn there. But Isaiah 1.18 says, come now and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be His whitest snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be His wool.

So red scarlet implies sin. So yeah, we have a woman that is sitting on a beast full of sin. And then it says, continue reading in verse 4, it says, having on her hand a golden, I beg your pardon, I've jumped in, on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Names of blasphemy. In other words, calling people holy which are not holy. That's blasphemy. If you say a person, well, you are, you know, like a god, you are whatever. You are the Father. That's a blasphemy because you're calling somebody, well, they're not. In other words, a misuse of religious packets which are applicable to God. A name full of blasphemous. That's what it says there. Full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Now, as we'll see, this woman is pretty well identified who it is, and we'll look a little bit more about that. But I think you all know what this woman is already. The interesting thing is that this woman only counts onto the wall seen after the fall of the Roman Empire. This woman, this church, this powerful church around the world of Roman origin only comes onto the wall seen after the fall of the Roman Empire.

Now, this is important, critically important to understand. And so, she is now riding, this is Yah, she's on a scarlet piece, so she's riding this piece which has seven heads and ten horns. This is important. So, she has control or influence over a beast that has seven heads and ten horns. This is important. So, put that aside, stash that briefly, and let's now summarize something else. And then we're going to come back to it.

You know, prophecies like Daniel 2. Daniel 2 is Nebuchadnezzar 3. And in Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar 3, there's a big statue. And there's basically four kingdoms. The head, the chest, the belly and thighs, and the legs and feet. Four kingdoms. Right?

And you know, the head, which represents, and you know, that's Babylon. Then you know, the chest represents Persia, the belly and thighs, which represents Greece, Alexander, which then had four divisions. And then the fourth one, which is Rome. But Rome fell, as you know, in 476 of the current era, AD. But then there was a restoration, what they call the Holy Roman Empire that came up, which is a continuation of Rome.

Right? You know, history. And that Holy Roman Empire, why was it holy? Because it was controlled by a Roman church. But it only came into control or influence over that statue after the fall of the Roman Empire through the resurrections that followed.

After the fall of the Roman Empire. I hope I'm not losing you. I'm trying to make it simple so that I don't lose you. Then there is a further explanation on Daniel 7. And Daniel 7 talks about that Daniel now has a dream. Not Nebuchadnezzar, but Daniel has a dream. And in this dream he sees four beasts. And the first beast that talks about is a lion, which equates to the head, Babylon. The second beast is a bear, which equates to the chest, which is Persia. The third beast is a leopard, which then has four heads, which equates to Greece and Alexander the Great, and it followed four divisions. And then it talks about the fourth one. And it says that it's dreadful and strong. And we know that it's tied to the Roman Empire. And so we see a parallel between Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 about these two beasts. Now, I know this is complex for you to understand, so I'm trying to keep it simple. But there is a graph, which I have a few handouts there at the back, that compares Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 and Revelation 17. But I'm just giving you in a very simple resume what they are so you don't get confused. But you can go and look at this graph. Are there any extra copies? Some of you have already probably have it. You have it at home, because I gave it previously. So I might not have enough copies for each one of you, but if needs be, maybe some of you can share if you want extra ones. You can have this one I don't need. But anyway, I've got extra ones. I can make extra ones. So what I want to emphasize is again, there are four kingdoms. Daniel 2 is a head. Daniel 7 is a lion. That's Babylon. Then, the second kingdom, Daniel 2 is a chest. Daniel 7 is a bear. Persian. Then there's a third kingdom. Daniel 2 is the belly and thighs. Daniel 7 is the leopard. And that's Greece. And then there's the fourth kingdom. Daniel 2 is the legs and feet. Daniel 7 is this dreadful, extremely strong beast. And it's Rome. Simple. Simple. Now, this was explained to Daniel many years before Christ came. Now, after Christ came, the Roman Empire was already ruling. And then this Revelation, Book of Revelation, is given towards run about somewhere during the year 90 to the Apostle John when he was in the Isle of Patmos. And there are two sections of the Book of Revelation that talks about this. One is Revelation 13 and the other one is Revelation 17. So let's go briefly to Revelation 13.

Revelation 13 talks about two beasts. From verse 1 to verse 10 talks about a beast that came out of the sea. Why out of the sea? Because the sea, when it's turbulent, when it's wind and there are changes, it's like what's happening now. You just have to watch. We are living through a turbulent sea in our political scene in our country. And you can see it's boiling up and people come up out of that sea. A person will come out of that turbulent sea to be the head of that beast, which will become the beast power. That is the first beast, the beast out of the sea. Then from verse 11 to the end of that chapter talks about a second beast, which is a beast that comes from the earth. And why it comes from the earth is because it's already there. So at the end time, they'll come out this beast out of an organization that is already there, comes out of the earth, out of an existing organization, and will become prominent. So it's talking about this time of the end and this second beast, which represented this church, this false church, this woman, the false prophet. So it's referred to in various ways. That's the one that comes from the earth. Let's keep that beast that comes from the earth aside now. But let's just look at the beast that comes from the sea.

And it says, then I looked and I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns. Now, we've got to be careful with this, because these seven heads and ten horns are not the same seven heads and ten horns of Revelation 17. So let's look at this. Seven heads and ten horns. So that's this beast.

And it says, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous man. Now, the beast we just saw, now this beast that comes out of the sea, was like a leopard. Remember Greece? His feet were like feet of a bear, Persian. His mouth like the mouth of a lion. Remember Babylon? So there's three heads. But remember the leopard had four heads. So in fact, there's the leopard had four heads. So the leopard had four heads. And then there's a lion. Right? And a bear. So far we have four, five, six. Right? Six heads.

And this is not the beast we just saw like a leopard, and his feet were like a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a bear. The dragon gave him power, he's throne, and great authority. So this is a time when this beast is going to have a lot of power. And I saw one of his heads, that's the other one, the seventh, as if it had been mortally wounded. So, we had those four heads. First, in fact, six heads, which basically describe in parallel with Babylon, Persia, and Greece. So those are the six heads. Babylon, the head of gold, the lion, then the bear, which was Persia, and the leopard, which had four heads, which was Greece. Four, five, six, so six. And the last one, which was Rome. And it says Rome, which is the last head, the eye, had mortally wounded. In other words, the Roman Empire fell, collapsed, in 476 A.D.

But, it says, his deadly wound was healed. It had a resurrection, and it had the resurrection, which is the resurrection of these ten horns. See? And it continues. So they worshiped the dragon, who gave authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast, who is able to make war with thee? And so we can see this beast was mortally wounded, but it was healed. And the other healing had these ten horns.

And these ten horns are exactly in parallel with Daniel 7. And in Daniel 7, you can see that the first three were pulled out, in Daniel 7, by a little horn that came, which was the church. And when you look at history, there were the three groups of barbarians, the Vandals, the Eruly, and Ostrogoths, which were basically people, which were Christian, following Arianism. And when the Catholic Church came up, following Trinity, destroyed those that had Arianism.

Now, Arianism is the belief about who Christ is, that He is an angel. And that belief still crops up now and again. And that belief was put down in favor of a belief of the Trinity. And that group that came out and started what is today a very powerful, rich, wealthy church, believing in the Trinity, put down the other first three horns, which were believing that Christ, you know, it was Arianism, and Christ was an angel, Michael. So that's false. But that's the history now, what happened? And therefore, this little horn of Daniel 7 pulled out the first three. In Revelation 13, it talks about this two-horned lamb that's like a dragon. And then it writes the remaining seven horns. See, so Revelation 13 has got ten horns. It's got seven heads. The heads have been pulled down, had a mortal wound died, Roman Empire died, collapsed. The ten horns came, the cesitat crowns, three were pulled down, and it remains seven that the church, the Roman church, had influence on control over. And this happened during the time of Justinian in, if I remember correctly, 554 AD. That was what's called the Imperial Restoration. It's history. You and I can go there. It's history. It's a fact. It's history. And so this church, this corrupt church, only controlled the last seven horns that came one after another, part of the revival of the Roman Empire. So that's why there's this little graph there as a handout that you can go and compare and read that carefully. So, this church, which is the woman of Revelation 17, only rode the beast on those last seven. Not all ten. Only influenced the last seven. So these seven, if you turn to Revelation 17, these seven are now the seven heads of the beast of Revelation 17. They were referred as horns in Daniel 7 and Revelation 13, but in Revelation 17, they are now referred as heads, but only seven because the other three have already been pulled out. And she only controls the last seven.

Now, to further identify this woman, we were reading now in verse 3, so I mentioned this. We can go back to what I said earlier on about the seven heads and ten horns of Revelation 17. So the seven heads are these seven resurrections of the Holy Roman Empire under the influence of control of that church. And then it further identifies this church, this woman, verse 4. It says, This woman is a reading purple in scarlet adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. It's a church which is very rich. It's a universal, a worldwide church. The word Catholic means universal, means worldwide. So it's that worldwide church with a lot of money that controlled or influenced the Holy Roman Empire. If that does not identify who that is, you just have to go to the history and see who that is. And then it says, having on her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the full-finess of a fornication. So having on her hand a golden cup. So again, it's got money, but the act is referring it to a hand. It's got a golden cup with this wine that is going to make the nations drunk. In other words, with this false doctrine that is going to make the nations drunk. And the nations are going to willingly follow a ways. And not only that, because those are abominations there, it says, and on her forehead a name was written. So it's on her hand and on her forehead. As you can compare to elsewhere in scriptures, on the hand and on her forehead is a mark of the beast. And this is a mystery, because it says, mystery! Because people don't know what the mark of the beast is. Oh, people say it's a chirp! Or it's going to be whatever it is on your hand. You're going to have a chirp on your forehead. And if you believe that, well, maybe in one day they will do that. But that's only a means. It's not the real mark of the beast. Because what your hand controls what you do in your forehead controls your thoughts. And the mark is forced. It's not voluntary. Meantime, you can read the Sabbath. And oh God's Sabbath, which is the annual Holy Days, are a sign for God's people on their hand and on their forehead. And why is it a sign? Because it's voluntary. It's not a mark, which is like a brand. Your brand cackles the mark, which is forced. And so the mark of the beast is Sunday observers, not a chirp. A chirp might be a means to enforce it. They'll know where you are with your cell phones anyway. They can pretty well track you where you are. But the mark of the beast is a mystery to the world. They don't see it unless God reveals it. Babylon the Great. Why? Because this church, which is Roman, which is dressed up as Christian, has pagan beliefs that come all the way, have roots from Babylon.

So, what are some of its beliefs?

The immortal soul comes from Babylon. The doctrine of heaven and hell comes from Babylon. The Trinity, believe it or not, comes from Babylon.

The worship of specific days of the week comes from Babylon. You look at some of the pagan holy days, and you can study them. They come from Babylon, which were just dressed up as Christian. And it says, Babylon the Great, the mother of holids.

In other words, it spreads its teachings like a mother to other churches that have exactly the same beliefs.

And therefore, the source of those beliefs is Babylon, not the Bible. So, Catholics and Protestants alike have the same beliefs. No wonder there is a move for ecumenism, which is unity in some way, because it's a matter of all these other teachings, and of the abominations of the earth. In other words, there's a lot of wicked practices out there. And look at verse 6, And 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. You just need to look at history. In the Middle Ages, how many people died for keeping the Sabbath and were killed by this woman? It's just as happened. But it says, they hate the saints. When you and I have high moral standards, we are hated by evil people, because darkness hates light. And therefore, it is a mystery. Continue then reading in verse 7. But the angel said to me, Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has seven heads and ten arms. So yeah, it is a mystery of this beast that has seven heads. Why is it a mystery? Because it's a kingdom that has died, but it's suddenly come back again. When have you seen an old kingdom kind of reappearing again? People are going to be amazed when they see it's basically a revival of the old Roman Empire. Verse 8. The beast that you saw was and is not, and will ascend out of bottomless pit. Yeah, it was. It's not existing today, but it will be resurrected again. And go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written on the Book of Life. People will be surprised. You and I in God's Church are not prepared for it. We're waiting for it. But the wall will be amazed, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was and is not and yet is. So it will come back.

But look now in verse 9 through 11. Let's read that section. And here is the mind which has wisdom. So in other words, yeah, it's a bit of additional information for you. Think about it. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. So people say, oh, well, Rome has seven hills. Therefore it's Rome. True? But it's not complete.

Because it says they are also seven kings. Because not mountains. They're kings. They're nations. They're kings. Five have fallen. Well, it can't be mountains or hills in Rome because they've fallen. Five have fallen.

One is, and the other has not yet come.

And when he comes, this last one, so five has fallen, one is, six, and the other has not yet come. That's the seventh out of those seven horns. But when he comes, he must continue for a short time. So here we have proof that these seven horns are not contemporary. They're not at the same time. They're sequential. One after another. One comes, disappears, and another comes, disappears, and another comes, disappears, and so on. But the Apostle John was moving time in a vision to a time period where one is when he wrote.

At that time in history, one was existing. That existed at a very specific time when that sixth revival occurred. Remember, there were five, so there was the sixth revival of the Roman Empire. When did that happen in history? It happened in the late 1920s, 1930s, till the 8th of May 1945, when it was a fall of Hitler and the end of the Second World War in Europe.

I'm talking about Japan. I'm talking about Europe. So there was that period of time where it started, say, the beginning of 1920s through the 30s through the mid-40s. During this time, John was taken, like in a time machine, put it this way, in a vision, to this time period when that sixth was, for the specific reason to write it in a way, so that the Church of God would understand that at that time when they would read this, they'd say, bingo!

In 1927, Mr Armstrong was baptized. In 1931, he was ordained a minister of Jesus Christ in the Church of God in Oregon. And in the early 1934, January 1934, and then February 1934, he started his radio program and the magazine, The Plain Truth. And so God started his end-time work, and he understood at that time this, which I'm explaining to you today.

At that time, one is. In other words, the sixth revival existed, and that existed until the end of 1945. So where are we now? In prophecy. We are beyond six. We're waiting for seven. That's where we are in prophecy. We are past the sixth, and we're waiting for the seventh. The final revival will be a short one. Thank God. He says, yeah, in verse 10, at the end of verse 10, and when he comes, that's the one he's yet to come, and when he comes, that's the seventh. He must continue for a short time.

Verse 11, the beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth. Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, now I'm confused. How can it be the seventh and the eighth? Now, remember, this beast is the one that is mounted or ridden by this church. So it's only those last seven. It was the Holy Roman Empire. There is one final one resurrection to come.

So it's seven, but that Holy Roman Empire is part of the original Roman Empire, which is the eighth. So it's seven, the resurrection, but it's actually part of the original one, which had a mortal wound, and so was eighth. And that's what it says. The beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth. This was that last one is the eighth. It's the seventh of the seven resurrection, but it's the eighth because it's part of the Roman Empire.

And it's going to perdition. So those are the heads of this beast of Revelation 17. The ten horns of Revelation 17, which you saw, are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet. So it shows they're contemporanean. They happen at the same time. They're the ten kings. They relate to the ten toes of Daniel 2 of the feet. And iron mixed with clay. Those ten kings who have not received kingdom as yet, yet they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.

And you know they will give the power, their power, to the beast, which rises out of the sea, out of the turbulent of world. Turbulence is happening in Europe. It will rise up. A leader. And these ten kings will hand their power to the beast. And this is the army that Jesus Christ, when he comes, will destroy. These are the ones that destroy the earth. You can read that in Revelation 11, 18. They are the destroyers of the earth.

And you can read also in Revelation 19, 20, verses 19 and 20. And that's when Christ comes, and he comes and takes the beast and all the kings, etc. And he throws them into the lake of fire and destroys them. You can also read that in Zechariah 14, that destruction. So, brethren, let's continue reading. Verse 13. These are of one mind. You know, it was these ten kings, which are contemporanean, which are the ten kings, the ten toes, that will give the power to the beast.

Are of one mind. They are living at the same time. They are of one mind. And they give their power and authority to that beast, to that seventh lost, which also happens to be the eighth. Right? That seventh lost resurrection, which is the eighth, including the Roman Empire. And these, verse 14, these ten and the beast will make war with the lamb. So, they are contemporanean.

They are right at the end. These ten, plus the beast itself, will overcome them. And the lamb will overcome them. For he is the Lord of lords and king of kings. And those who are with him are called, chosen, and faithful. Those who are with him have been called. You know, many are called, but few are chosen. Many get the good news and the Beyond the Dying magazine and the TV broadcast. How many actually come? Few are chosen. In a words, few respond and get baptized and come this way. And even fewer remain faithful till the end.

So that is what is our responsibility to remain faithful to the end. That's our job now, to remain faithful to the end. So in summary, what we have here out of Revelation 17, brethren, we have a very powerful spiritual holleth with roots all the way back to Babylon, which rides the beast. Many nations will be deceived and dominated by this group of nation and religious combined. They will persecute God's servants and right at the end at this resurrection, there will be 10 kings who will join the beast and will fight Jesus Christ at his return.

That's what we have here. And we now are waiting for this final resurrection. The sixth has already gone. And we're very near waiting for this final resurrection. So what's next in prophecy, brethren? What's next? Brethren, when we look at history, we need to understand a couple of things. One of the things we need to understand is who is the United States and Israel. If we don't understand who Israel is, in other words, the United States and Britain, sorry, if you're from in Manasseh, rather, Manasseh and if you're from reading it that way, the United States and Britain, Manasseh and if you don't understand who those two are, and therefore you don't understand a lot of prophecies about Israel.

And you look at Judah maybe only, instead of looking at England and the United States. And you must the prophetic abundance in a Bible about Israel, about Ephraim and Manasseh and Israelite institutions. So, when you read that, you see how God blessed Abraham for his obedience, promising blessing. And then you read, for instance, in Genesis 49, how Ephraim and Manasseh had an extra blessing. That is so important for us to understand prophecy, brethren.

And then, when we put that and understand that, and we understand as I went through the scriptures you are about Daniel and the book of Revelation, we've got a study guide that covers it in a lot more detail. But when you understand that, then you start looking at the blessings and curses of Israel.

And then you say, but who is Israel? Then you look at scriptures like Leviticus 26. And look at Leviticus 26.

Remember, I'm not putting dates here, but you can see how some of these things have already happened. Leviticus 26, from verse 1 to...

So verse 13, Leviticus 26, from 1 to 13, talks about blessings if you obey me. In fact, particularly from verse 3 to 13. But then on verse 14 says, if you do not obey me, then I'll punish you. And the first wave of punishment, see this on verse 16, and it says, I will send terror upon you. Brethren, have we had terrorism, or have we not had?

The nation lives in fear. When you travel around the world, sure there's airport security everywhere, but when you have come in, in any other country, you come in to... you post security. And then you're going to go into the plane flying to the U.S. You have a second security.

Whether you're in Brazil, whether you are in Europe, there's an extra security if you're just going through the sights. Because of terrorism. I read to you from this section in our prophetic times, how the United States is being targeted for terrorism.

But we have not repented. And then in verse 18 says, I'll break the pride of your power. It doesn't say I'll break your power. It's still a powerful nation, but the pride of your power.

Nations around the world don't respect the United States' power anymore.

And we still don't obey God. We still have not repented.

And then we're looking in verse 21 and it says, and if you still don't obey, and in verse 22 says, I'll bring wild beasts among you who shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock and make you few in number.

And it could be diseases, serious diseases. But, you know, when we look at these things about beasts, they actually are human beings. They're not diseases.

So if he brings upon wild beasts, could actually be human beings with real wild ideas, like suicide and driving trucks into people. Those are wild beasts. So both could be true. But brethren, we still have not repented.

And then he says, and if you still don't obey me, look in verse 25, I'll bring a sword against you. That means war against us. In whatever form, I don't know what form. We can speculate. But I think if you're watching the news, you can see something is really brewing. The pot is boiling. It's like a pressure cooker, and it's going to burst, and it's going to get worse.

And after that, if you still don't obey me, then it comes to says, I will scatter you amongst the nations. And to me, that's the great revelation. I'm not putting dates forever, but I think we're pretty near. I think we're pretty near. So, there are a number of other things that need to happen. Another excellent study guide that you really need to study to understand what's happening in the Middle East. And some of the radical ideas in the Middle East. This study guide is outstanding. You really need to study it in the Middle East in Bible prophecy and study the Bible using this guide. Really outstanding. But brethren, there's a lot of little stones and pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, let's put it this way, that need still to happen. But I think we're going to see them happening pretty quickly. You have scriptures like in 1 Thessalonians. I think it's chapter 5, verse 3, I stand to be corrected. But it says, peace, peace, and then, sudden destruction. Reverend, we are near that. We are near that.

So now, what about you and I? We have to remind Fytheal to the end. What is important, therefore? Is it important to know dates?

No. It's important to remind Fytheal to the end. Is it important to know every little detail? No, because God does not give it to us. We got the big picture, and that's enough. Because then, as we read in 2 Peter, chapter 3, so turn with me to 2 Peter, chapter 3.

2 Peter, chapter 3.

There's the apostle Peter, writing his last epistle, and he's saying, please remember, please remember, we really have to look at ourselves. He says, people are going to become cynical. He says, oh, well, we've heard this before. Ah, blah, blah, blah. Ah, I go to sleep. I'm kind of relaxed. This is that, but I'm not interested.

Verse 9 says, the Lord is not slain towards His promise. But He wants us all to repent and to change. He's giving us a bit of time to get things right.

And you know, brethren, I'm not going to turn there, but if you think about Ephesians 5, it's a good section of the Bible for you to study Ephesians 5. What it says, you know, we are to actually grow towards the faith and the knowledge of Christ. It says, we need to put on the new man the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

That's what's important.

Now, sometimes we don't understand because it talks about the faith and the knowledge of Christ, which means it's the faith of Christ and the knowledge of Christ. It's not my faith. It's not your faith. And what was Christ's faith? Christ's faith was His whole character of trust and belief in the character and the qualities of the Father and Himself, that gracious feeling of kindness and love towards one another. And He had absolute confidence and trust and faith because that grace was unbreakable.

Unbreakable.

And that's why it says the faith of Christ and the knowledge of Christ. And that's what we need to put on the new man, renew our minds with that new man, with Christ in us, with God's Holy Spirit in us, and change ourselves to become more like Christ.

And that's not knowing all the dates of prophecy. It's not knowing about who is this woman or who is not this woman, but it's actually changing ourselves to become better people.

Look a little bit further in 2 Peter chapter 3. It says in verse 11, Therefore, since all those things are going to happen, I mean, in the end there's going to be a judgment, the earth is going to be burnt, and there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth, all this is fact, is sure, it's as good as it's happened already. It will happen. That is so what? What is it that it means to you and I? It says, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and governance? In other words, to be faithful to the end. This is important. We've got to look at Christ. We've got to look at His character, His example, His grace, His kindness, His loving kindness, what He is, and put that in our lives. Look, for instance, and I don't have to turn there now, but it's just crossing my mind, Revelation 14 verse 12 says, And thee as the patience of the saints, that's the hoop of money, that's the perseverance of the saints, those that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Christ. Keeping the commandments of God is not enough. The Jews keep the commandments of God is not enough. You've got to have the faith of Christ, which is that character of God of Christ, which is divine grace and gentleness and kindness and whole being to be a perfect, full stature of Christ. That's what's important. And look how Peter concludes this section of Scripture. In verse 17, You therefore beloved, since you know this beforehand, be aware that lest you fall also of your unsteaded fastness, and was remained faithful till the end, being led away from the error of the wicked, so there's going to be enough pulls and enough things to deviate you from the truth, in many ways. But verse 18, Grow, grow in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the same grace of the Father, and the knowledge of the Father. That's what we've got to do. And that is our responsibility. To Him be the glory, both now and forever. Amen.