To use the words of Jesus Christ: "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God!" The Lord Christ and all the Apostles and teachers of that time used the only Scriptures in existence – called the Old Testament! Jesus pointed out to His detractors that they didn’t understand the Scriptures. Even though they were learned men, who could read and write, they didn’t understand what they were reading. In fact, the true meaning of the Scriptures was hidden so that they wouldn’t understand. The Scriptures can only be understood by those who have God’s Holy Spirit and the recipient must be actively guided by God’s Holy Spirit in all aspects of their lives. God doesn’t give His Holy Spirit to the disobedient.

Jesus actually made a reference to these things when He said this: John 8:42-47 "Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but He sent me. ⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. HE WAS A MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, FOR HE IS A LIAR AND THE FATHER OF LIES. ⁴⁵ Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? ⁴⁷ He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

From the very beginning it was Satan the devil who introduced lies to corrupt the Holy Seed, which was primarily Adam who was patterned after the Logos, even though Eve was patterned after Adam and created from his rib. God is a Father to those who are patterned after His only begotten Son Jesus. Quite apart from Adam who was created perfect, others must still be patterned after God’s Son through, at the very least, being led by God’s Holy Spirit and subject to, as Jesus was, to obedience to God’s Law. Hence Jesus’ taunt to His detractors: Can you prove me guilty of sin? Sin is the transgression of God’s Law (1John 3:4) – that is, lawlessness. No-one can be patterned after Jesus Christ if they live lawless lives, and God Himself gives the definition of sin. God doesn’t want His subjects to obey Satan’s laws or even his instructions! God wants them to obey His Laws! He who belongs to God hears what God says!

In the lead-in to John 8:42-47, Jesus pointed out several times that these people, who were questioning Him, were trying to kill Him: V37, V40. They, of course, denied it. And what subsequently happened? They killed Him! So on the face of it, it appears as if certain Jews did kill Jesus. But was it really these scheming, plotting liars, who masqueraded as the religious elite of that day, who killed Him?

Jesus gave very clear answers to all this. He knew He would be betrayed by one who was numbered among His own. He also knew who the architect of this murder would be, and right on schedule, Satan entered into Judas! John 13:21-27 "After He had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me." ²² His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them He meant. ²³ One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to Him. ²⁴ Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask Him which one He means." ²⁵ Leaning back against Jesus, he asked Him, "Lord, who is it?" ²⁶ Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. ²⁷ As soon as Judas took the bread, SATAN ENTERED INTO HIM."

And so the die was cast, and events moved swiftly after this. Satan took control as the murderer and liar that he is, and quickly moved his demon assistants into the religious elite to whip them into a frenzy, and to enact what was already planted in their minds – to kill the One who threatened their own supremacy among the people. These people loved money and power and clambered for honour among the common people. They were easy marks for Satan and his demons. In no time at all, Satan and his demons had complete control of the mob, and they became filled with madness as the KJV says in Luke 6:11. Then they engaged professional liars to falsely accuse Jesus. Even then Satan’s subtle cunning prevailed. He wanted this murder to be seen as a lawful execution – not to deceive God, which he knew to be impossible – but to deceive the people into believing that Jesus was an imposter, and not the Son of God.

Satan’s mindset has been active in his chosen brood since mankind was created – a point made by the Lord Christ Himself in Matt 23:33-36 "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ³⁴ Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. ³⁵ And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, FROM THE BLOOD OF RIGHTEOUS ABEL to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation." No-one in their right mind would suggest that the Jewish people were responsible for the blood of righteous Abel. Abel’s murder was the first committed on this earth, and this led the Lord Christ to say that Satan was a murderer from the beginning. His reference to them as snakes and vipers makes it clear who is to be condemned to hell (tartarus). It’s Satan and his demons who will be chained in hell for a thousand years. The Lord Christ was specifically referring to Satan and his demons – the whole generation of them as well as their murderous brood who are reserved for another hell (hades). This whole generation comprises those who generated the first rebellion against God and were unceremoniously cast to earth in exile.

Isa 14:9-24 "The grave (sheol) below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed (more correctly: departed spirits, that is, demons) to greet you – all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones – all those who were kings over the nations. ¹⁰ They will all respond, they will say to you, "You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us." ¹¹ All your pomp has been brought down to the grave (sheol), along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you." It’s not intended to be a pleasant place! The putrid stench of dead bodies and maggots will be a constant reminder of all the blood shed on earth. And who is this celebrity that is eagerly anticipated to join the rulers of the heavenly realms in their dungeon? It’s the very one whom the Lord Christ will REPLACE as the Morning Star, Son of the Dawn – the Sun of Righteousness as detailed in Mal 4:2.

Continuing in V12 "How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! ¹³ You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. ¹⁴ I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I WILL MAKE MYSELF LIKE THE MOST HIGH." ¹⁵ But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit. ¹⁶ Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: "Is this the man who SHOOK THE EARTH and made kingdoms tremble, ¹⁷ the man who MADE THE WORLD A DESERT, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?" ¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb. ¹⁹ But you are cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch; YOU ARE COVERED WITH THE SLAIN, WITH THOSE PIERCED BY THE SWORD, those who descend to the stones of the pit. Like a corpse trampled underfoot, ²⁰ you will not join them in burial, for you have destroyed your land and killed your people. The offspring of the wicked [one] will never be mentioned again."

When God says "the offspring of the wicked [one] will never be mentioned again," He intends that this will be so. He intends them to be rotting corpses thrown into Satan’s habitat along with all the rulers of the heavenly realms.

Continuing V21 "Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the sins of their forefathers; they are not to rise to inherit the land and cover the earth with their cities. ²² "I will rise up against them," declares the LORD Almighty. "I will cut off from Babylon her name and survivors, her offspring and descendants," declares the LORD. ²³ "I will turn her into a place for owls and into swampland; I will sweep her with the broom of destruction," declares the LORD Almighty. ²⁴ The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand."

There is a parable in the Book of Zechariah that speaks of this very thing: Zech 5:5-11 "Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, "Look up and see what this is that is appearing." ⁶ I asked, "What is it?" He replied, "It is a measuring basket." And he added, "This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land." ⁷ Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! ⁸ He said, "This is wickedness," and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed the lead cover down over its mouth. ⁹ Then I looked up – and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth. ¹⁰ "Where are they taking the basket?" I asked the angel who was speaking to me. ¹¹ He replied, "TO THE COUNTRY OF BABYLONIA to build a house for it. When it is ready, the basket will be set there in its place."

This basket is the iniquity of the whole world! Satan will be forced once again to take up residence in the city of Babylon in the country of Babylonia. This ‘woman’ is the harlot of harlots, the instigator of all wickedness on this earth. Though Satan has tried in vain to secure Jerusalem as his capital, the Jewish people have rebuffed his many attempts at conquest. Satan likes to live in magnificent splendor in a manner that befits his inflated view of himself. Hence we see the justice that will be meted out to him in his imprisonment with putrid corpses and maggots his constant companions. But Satan is not done yet! Babylon will once more be a glitzy, bejeweled habitation for Satan, and through Babylon the great harlot himself, will control all trade on earth through precious cargoes and even the trading of slaves (Rev 18:13).

It’s just as well that God never entrusted the Scriptures to evangelical Christianity! Had He done so, then the Scriptures would have been discarded, and even today, the Scriptures that the Lord Christ used are not considered to be the essential path to the establishment of God’s Kingdom. No, God never entrusted the Scriptures to evangelical Christianity or any of Christianity! He entrusted His Word to the Jews! Rom 3:1 "What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? ² Much in every way! First of all, they have been ENTRUSTED WITH THE VERY WORDS OF GOD." Only the Jews could be entrusted with the preservation of the very words of God, and only the Jews are prepared to fight to the death for the preservation of God’s Holy City Jerusalem. Most of the rest of the ‘lost Tribes of Israel’ want to give it away to Satan’s brood in order to have peace.

As far as having a ticket to heaven for doing nothing, it’s worth noting that there will be some who will be gathered into ‘heaven’ to be housed under the Altar where the Lord Christ administers to the Father as High Priest. These faithful people will not get there for doing nothing! These will be killed in martyrdom just as Jesus was! The Scriptures state this very clearly: Rev 6:9-11 "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the Word of God and the Testimony they had maintained. ¹⁰ They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" ¹¹ Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed." These people had been killed, and were now alive and living under the Altar where they are fed (with manna – see Rev 2:17) and clothed with white robes. So you can take it at face value that there are no Christians in ‘heaven’ lounging around doing nothing – except those who will be killed in the coming martyrdom of the saints.

Christians should take Jesus’ word for it that no man has ascended into heaven except the Son of Man who came from heaven and is in heaven today (John 3:13). And just to confirm this, at the time of Christ’s death there were some saints resurrected bodily from their graves, and these walked around on earth and showed themselves to others. Matt 27:51-53 "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. ⁵² The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people." It was a miraculous event that showed the bodily resurrection process that Jesus experienced. These resurrected saints lived out the rest of their days and eventually died to await the latter resurrection. These will awaken in their lot along with Daniel for their allotted inheritance (Dan 12:13) together with all the servants of God of old.

1Thess 4:13-18 "Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. ¹⁴ We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him (these are the ones mentioned in Rev 6:9-11) ¹⁵ According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage each other with these words." In the next few verses, Paul speaks of that time, a time when destruction that will ensue: 1Thess 5:1-3 "Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, ² for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. ³ While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape."

Through carefully crafted fabrication, Christianity has attempted to apply this destruction to others rather than themselves. But they are unable to work around the clear message of Rev 6:9-11. As Paul says, those who are still alive will certainly not precede those who have died. What we can glean from all this is that there will be some who have held to the Word of God and maintained the Testimony of Jesus who will remain alive. These will meet the Lord Jesus in the air when He returns with the martyred saints. As Paul wrote, these will have their bodies changed in the twinkling of an eye, and will also be transformed to eternal life. But the martyrs will receive the greater reward. These all died in faith (Heb 11:13) in the hope of a better resurrection (V35).

The Almighty God openly admits to being a jealous God (Ex 20:4-5); He takes a dim view of those who serve other gods, but He is particularly angry at those who claim to serve Him, but would baulk at laying down their lives for Him. This is not Christ-like behaviour, and those who claim to follow Christ had better learn this lesson real fast!

God intends to populate His Kingdom with those who are faithful to Him – just like His Son Jesus, and these people will share God’s view on the need for law and order as specified by God’s eternal Law. Dogs, liars, murderers and mystics will have no place in God’s Kingdom (Rev 22:15). A further reference to dogs can be found in Jesus’ comments to a Canaanite woman: Matt 15:26 "He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." In the next verse the Canaanite woman acknowledged that He was referring to her. What is more, Paul clarified the meaning of dogs in Phil 3:1-2 "Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. ² Watch out for those DOGS, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh." Have you seen any of these dogs mutilating the flesh of Christians and Jews lately? With our own eyes we’ve seen these dogs blowing people to pieces, collapsing buildings and burning them alive. It wasn’t just a few of these dogs who did this, it was all of Islam! All of Islam is determined to take over the Holy Land and to prevent the Kingdom of God from being established. They have openly stated that they intend to wipe the Israelis off the map, and as dogs they are baying for the blood of Israelis and the Western nations in general. From the human point-of-view, it would make sense for these creatures to live in peace and divest themselves of the madness that prevails over their minds, but we are not dealing with human elements, we are dealing with dogs! Voracious, evil creatures whose father is the devil!

Satan’s hordes comprise all those who are not of the Tribes of Israel. He is lord and master to them all. They have Satan’s mindset and he can switch them on and off like a tap. He can send his demons to rally them to mob-rule and riotous behaviour at will. He’s presently positioning his hordes for the greatest coup of all time – the complete destruction of the Western world – which are predominantly the ‘lost Tribes of Israel’. You’ve seen their murderous resolve enacted in the Holy Land for many years, and you’ve seen the Jewish people defend it with their own blood. Evangelical Christians can learn a lot from the faithfulness of the Jewish people. Not only did God entrust them with His very Words, but He has also emphasized that ‘salvation is from the Jews’. John 4:21-24 "Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, FOR SALVATION IS FROM THE JEWS. ²³ Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in Spirit and in Truth." The time has now come for you to know this, and to understand what ‘salvation’ means. It literally means to be rescued from the hands of your enemies! This is what the Kingdom of God is all about. God intends to rescue all the House of Israel and bring them back to the Holy Land as an inheritance forever.

As a matter of fact, John the Baptist was appointed to this very task as can be seen in the prophecies of His Levite father Zechariah under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit: Luke 1:67 "His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: ⁶⁸ "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. ⁶⁹ He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David ⁷⁰ (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), ⁷¹ SALVATION FROM OUR ENEMIES AND FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US – ⁷² to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His Holy Covenant, ⁷³ the oath he swore to our father Abraham: ⁷⁴ TO RESCUE US FROM THE HAND OF OUR ENEMIES, and to enable us to serve him without fear ⁷⁵ in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. ⁷⁶ And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, ⁷⁷ to give his people THE KNOWLEDGE OF SALVATION through the forgiveness of their sins, ⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Rising Sun will come to us from heaven ⁷⁹ to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." John was beheaded by a ruler of the heavenly realms – Herod – and never fulfilled these prophecies at the time, so they remain unfulfilled to this very day. But now they must be fulfilled, and God has appointed a man called ‘Levi’ to do it (Mal 2:4-7). Levi, like John is a messenger and a prophet of the Most High, and it’s he who will reestablish the House of God’s servant David, and set out to rescue the House of Israel from captivity, from among their enemies who hate them!

What is more, Jesus also stated that the Kingdom of God would arise among them – right in the Holy Land! Luke 17:20-21 "Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, ²¹ nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is [among] you." (margin reference). Jesus was certainly not suggesting that the Kingdom of God was in ‘the hearts of the Pharisees’ as some people like to suggest. The Pharisees were already ‘plotting in their hearts’ to kill Jesus. Jesus was telling them that the Kingdom of God would arise right among them in the Holy Land! And these words were from the King of Kings Himself.

Zech 12:1-6 "This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares: ² "I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the SURROUNDING PEOPLES reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. ³ On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. ⁴ On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness," declares the LORD. "I will keep a watchful eye over the house of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations (a reference to the four horsemen of the apocalypse) ⁵ Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the LORD Almighty is their God.’ So the first charge against the surrounding nations will be mounted by the people of Jerusalem (Sons of Jerusalem) and the whole world will see how strong they are! They will send the surrounding nations reeling; they will hammer them into the ground and leave death and destruction in their wake. And why? Because the Lord Almighty is their God, and as God has said, ‘Vengeance is His, He will repay!’ Like Moses, Joshua, David, and all the great men of God, they will go out as the ‘armies of the Living God’ and will not turn back until they accomplish their mission.

And while all this is going on among the people of Judah, what will their leaders do? On learning that the Sons of Jerusalem are strong because the LORD Almighty is their God, the leaders of Judah will jump in to support them. V6 "On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will CONSUME right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place."

This is the account of Jeroboam’s rule and the circumstances leading up to it: 1Kings 11:29-39 "About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, ³⁰ and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹ Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand and give you ten tribes. ³² But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have ONE TRIBE. ³³ I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molech the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in my ways, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my statutes and laws as David, Solomon's father, did. ³⁴ But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon's hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who observed my Commands and Statutes. ³⁵ I will take the kingdom from his son's hands and give you ten tribes. ³⁶ I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. ³⁷ However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. ³⁸ If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my Statutes and Commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a DYNASTY as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. ³⁹ I will humble David's descendants because of this, BUT NOT FOREVER.' "

In the final resolution of everything, and at the time when God’s Kingdom is established, and after a huge rift develops between Judah and Ephraim (the U.S.), they will be joined as one nation! Eze 37:15-28 "The word of the LORD came to me: ¹⁶ "Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Ephraim's stick, belonging to Joseph and ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL associated with him.’ ¹⁷ Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand. ¹⁸ "When your countrymen ask you, ‘Won't you tell us what you mean by this?’ ¹⁹ say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to take the stick of JOSEPH – which is in EPHRAIM'S hand – AND OF THE ISRAELITE TRIBES ASSOCIATED WITH HIM, and join it to Judah’s stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’ ²⁰ Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on ²¹ and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. ²² I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. ²³ They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, ⁿ and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. ²⁴ MY SERVANT DAVID WILL BE KING OVER THEM, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my Laws and be careful to keep my Decrees. ²⁵ They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. ²⁶ I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an Everlasting Covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my Sanctuary among them forever. ²⁷ My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. ²⁸ Then the nations will know that I the LORD make Israel holy, when my Sanctuary is among them forever."

Then all the other nations will know that God has made the House of Israel holy and His Sanctuary will be among them forever. What is more, God Himself will dwell there with them. And David will be king over the Israelites, and the Lord Christ will be King over all the earth. The Lord Christ will be King over many kings, and will be called the King of Kings. There will be many kings and priests administering over the earth. What is more, the Sceptre of kingship will not depart from Judah: Gen 49:10 "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until He comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is His."

Well, most people understand this perfectly well, and know that it refers to the Lord Christ, who will have the obedience of the nations. But what most people don’t know and couldn’t know – especially Jew-haters – is that every ruler in God’s Kingdom will be from JUDAH! Zech 10:4 "From JUDAH will come the Cornerstone (the Lord Christ is the Chief Cornerstone), from him the tent peg (the support for securing the dwelling place), from him the battle bow (the means to make war against God’s enemies), FROM HIM EVERY RULER." With the establishment of God’s Kingdom EVERY RULER will be from JUDAH and they will rule the nations with a rod of iron, and dash them to pieces like pottery just as God has said in Rev 2:26-27. Those who are not Jews and hope to enter God’s Kingdom had better start emulating them now in dedication and obedience to God’s Law. Even the Jews are not perfect in this, but at least they have a head-start on evangelical Christianity!

Did you know that God has extreme issues with those who claim to be Jews and are not? Rev 2:8-10 "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. ⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty – yet you are rich! I KNOW THE SLANDER OF THOSE WHO SAY THEY ARE JEWS AND ARE NOT, BUT ARE A SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN. ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, THE DEVIL will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life."

It should be obvious to all today who these slanderous people are, and who their many sympathizers are. Who claims to worship the one True God, yet worship THE DEVIL (Allah), and who have substituted God’s Law for Shariah law? Who claim Jerusalem and the Holy Land as their own, and have corrupted the Word of God by substituting Mohammed as their prophet with precedence over the Lord Christ? Who is it that claims that Ishmael – not Isaac – was offered by Abraham as the sacrifice, and who is it that wields influence over all the Christian nations, who grovel before them? Who is plotting the destruction of the whole House of Israel and have vowed to wipe the Israelis off the map? Who has waged war on Christians and Jews and continues to slaughter them in Muslim countries and wherever they find them? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? Muslims even emulate the Jews by not eating pig meat, yet they happily eat any other of the meat that God has forbidden, including camels (Lev 11:4), which is a most desirable meat at the Hajj in Mecca, though most do consume sheep, which in itself has deep symbolic meaning.

So they are not Jews but liars – just like their father the devil! Rev 3:7-10 "To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my Word and have not denied my Name. ⁹ I will make those WHO ARE OF THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN, who CLAIM TO BE JEWS though they are not, but are LIARS – I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon THE WHOLE WORLD to test those who live on the earth." The faithful people, who really are Jews, even if by being grafted into the Olive Tree (as Paul puts it in Rom 11:16-18), will not deny the Name of Jesus Christ. There are even some today who claim to be Jews yet don’t resemble them at all! These are the fringe of Christianity who actually deny the Name of Jesus Christ, preferring another name (Yeshua) in a foreign language. Like the Muslims, they like to emulate the Hebrew language. There is nothing wrong with the Hebrew language, and the Jews still use it today in Israel, but as a matter of interest, they have substituted the word for oak tree (allah) for ‘allon’ in their modernized version of Hebrew so as not to offend Islam.

God foresaw this happening long ago, and believe it or not, the official language in the Kingdom of God will be English! So all the so-called ‘sacred names’ are set to disappear from human vocabulary. This is what God has said: Eze 3:1-12 "And he said to me, "Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the HOUSE OF ISRAEL." ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. ³ Then he said to me, "Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it." So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth." This is a reference to the Scroll of Prophecy and is mentioned several times throughout the Bible. There is the first instance where God gives the prophet the scroll to eat (as written above) and to go to the whole House of Israel and speak to them in his own language – a language that both understand. That language is English! God’s true prophets will not be speaking in any other language – not now or forever in the future! This is by the command of God!

V4 "He then said to me: "Son of man, GO NOW TO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL and speak my words to them. ⁵ You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, BUT TO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL – ⁶ not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. ⁷ But the HOUSE OF ISRAEL is not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for THE WHOLE HOUSE OF ISRAEL is hardened and obstinate. ⁸ But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. ⁹ I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a REBELLIOUS HOUSE." ¹⁰ And he said to me, "Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. ¹¹ Go now to your countrymen in exile and speak to them. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says,’ whether they listen or fail to listen." ¹² Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound – May the GLORY of the LORD be praised in His DWELLING PLACE!"

There is another reference to this SCROLL (V3), but this time it’s referred to as a FLYING SCROLL in Zech 4:11-5:4 "Then I asked the angel, "What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?" ¹² Again I asked him, "What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?" ¹³ He replied, "Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I said. ¹⁴ So he said, "These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth." Zech 5:1 "I looked again – and there before me was a FLYING SCROLL! ² He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a FLYING SCROLL, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide." ³ And he said to me, "This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be BANISHED, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be BANISHED. ⁴ The LORD Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by my Name. It will remain in his house and destroy it, both its timbers and its stones." This is a FLYING SCROLL that will travel through the air, and to be more specific, it will be unfurled against the bow of a flying ship. Two witnesses or prophets, called the Olive Branches, will be BANISHING those who are offensive to God from ever entering God’s Holy Land. And what is written on this scroll will apply to their whole household and they will not only be BANISHED but destroyed forever. God lists two major faults to watch for: those who swear falsely by His Name in order to gain admission, and those who are thieves – who steal the bread of others for survival. These thieves will not look like Auschwitz inmates as they would be expected to be if coming from captivity and slavery and will draw attention to themselves by their appearance. As a matter of fact, the Jewish people used this formula for killing off the Capo collaborators after liberation in the Concentration camps of the holocaust. These were well-fed and in good shape and easy to spot, so they were killed on the spot. The whole purpose of the coming holocaust is to punish the House of Israel for their insolence and rebellion against God. Those who survive in good shape will not be those who are repentant! So that’s what the flying scroll is all about!

Rev 10:5-11, 11:1-12 "Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. ⁶ And he swore by Him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, "There will be no more delay! ⁷ But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, JUST AS HE ANNOUNCED TO HIS SERVANTS THE PROPHETS." ⁸ Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: "Go, take THE SCROLL that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land." ⁹ So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the LITTLE SCROLL. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." ¹⁰ I took the LITTLE SCROLL from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. ¹¹ Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."

This scroll is a time of bitterness and a time when the prophet comes under attack. A time when the whole world is hostile to the Kingdom of God and is seeking to kill God’s two prophets from the Tribes of Levi and Judah! This very scroll was mentioned by David in the Psalms: Ps 56:2-9 "My slanderers pursue me all day long; many are attacking me in their pride. ³ When I am afraid, I will trust in you. ⁴ In God, whose Word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? ⁵ All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me. ⁶ They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, eager to take my life. ⁷ On no account let them escape; in your anger, O God, BRING DOWN THE NATIONS. ⁸ Record my lament; list my tears ON YOUR SCROLL – are they not in your record? ⁹ Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me."

Continuing now in the next verse of the Book of Revelation: Rev 11:1 "I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. ² But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the Holy City for 42 months. ³ And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." Now here’s a situation! Gentiles are running amok in the Holy City after all the preliminary work has been done in securing the Holy Land. But prophecy must be fulfilled, and this insurgency comes about through rebellion when certain weaklings think they must ‘reach out’ to the Gentiles in order to have peace and security. And so history will repeat itself. Daniel actually mentions these things in Dan 7:12-14. Because this is a very complex subject, we won’t digress to cover it now, but we should make mention of Dan 11:31-35 "His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. ³² With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the Covenant, BUT THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW THEIR GOD WILL FIRMLY RESIST HIM. ³³ Those who are wise will instruct many, though for a time they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. ³⁴ When they fall, they will receive a little help, and many who are not sincere will join them. ³⁵ Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time." ³⁶ "The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place."

Prior to this, we get some idea of why the nations are so angry. They refuse to acknowledge God or His servants the prophets, and as a result of taking so many hits from them, they will seek to destroy them through flattery and intrigue. So in the interim the Two Olive Trees must stand their ground and take the fight to the enemy. Only this time, their weapons will be plague and famine and they will call down fire from the sky. Continuing in Rev 11:4-6 "These are the two Olive Trees and the two Lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵ If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. ⁶ These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want." Turning water into blood is one of the plagues of Moses’ day in Egypt. These two Olive Trees will add many more plagues to this – and as often as they want!

And herein lies the fiction of the present state of the House of Israel’s method of warfare. It’s called limited engagement. In the war in Vietnam, if the enemy dropped ten bombs, then the West would drop ten bombs – but never on civilians because of ‘collateral damage’. Mustn’t hurt the heathen! And of course, first strike or preemptive warfare is a no-no to the foolish House of Israel! Like lost sheep they don’t know how to engage the enemy! Well, as we have seen from Rev 11:4-6 that God’s servants the prophets have completely different methodology, and what is more, GOD FIRMLY BACKS THEM JUST AS HE DID MOSES!

The heathen mean nothing to God, and He makes this point very clearly in Isa 40:17 "Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing." As a point of interest, Isa 40 is where John the Baptist began his preaching (V3-5). I hope the reader understands the significance of this.

So God’s servants the prophets will pull no punches in regard to the heathen hordes, and especially those who have rebelled against God! This period, however, will last just 3½ years. And in fulfillment of what David wrote in Psalm 56:4, which we just quoted, no mortal man will harm the prophets. It’s going to take someone more powerful and ruthless, and God plans to set up this ruthless creature to commit this very act. God wants to convict this creature of a crime at the upper levels of the scales of justice and make him pay the ultimate price for his many outrages. And his many accomplices will join him at his execution. This is not a mortal man! He’s already spent many years in the Abyss (Rev 9:11 where demons are held for judgment), and he’ll be released to commit this very act!

Continuing in Rev 11:7-12 "Now when they (God’s two prophets) have finished their Testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them." So there will be a last stand and a fight to the death! God’s prophets know they will lose this fight and be martyred, but they will still firmly resist him and refuse to give ground or retreat! To die in God’s service is the greatest honour any servant of God could aspire to, and no servant of God fears death. V8 "Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified." This gives us a reasonably good idea of what will be going on in Jerusalem at that time. The reference to Sodom and Egypt is quite interesting and very appropriate. Obviously, the plagues of the two prophets account partially for the mention of Egypt and the fact that one of the witnesses is a Levite just like Moses. But the mention of Sodom has real significance. The Apostle Peter mentions Sodom in these terms: 2Pet 2:4-6 "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, PUTTING THEM INTO GLOOMY DUNGEONS TO BE HELD FOR JUDGMENT; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶ if he condemned the cities of SODOM and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an EXAMPLE of what is going to happen to the ungodly…" The ones being held for judgment are THE ANGELS who were put in gloomy dungeons! All the humans are dead! It’s these God-defying angels or demons that are going to be made an example of, and this example is for all the ungodly. It just happens that one of these is the beast that comes out of the Abyss to kill God’s prophets! God is identifying the very demon rulers of old, both in Egypt and Sodom.

Continuing in Rev 11:9-11 "For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. ¹⁰ The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, BECAUSE THESE TWO PROPHETS HAD TORMENTED THOSE WHO LIVE ON THE EARTH. ¹¹ But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. ¹² Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on."

Still they have yet to learn that Jesus is their Christ, and they will repent deeply of denying this evidence, which their forebears were privy to. Their forebears knew and recorded the many miracles and His miraculous resurrection from death. They were there when others were raised alive from the tombs and appeared to them. All of which would seem to make the rejection of Jesus Christ unforgivable, considering that God forgives nothing that is not repented of. So why did Jesus say, "Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing"? This is the very thrust of what we are saying. Those men who engaged in putting Jesus to death were demon-possessed, and they didn’t know what they were doing. These men were beguiled by satanic forces and conducted themselves accordingly, and at the time were incapable of doing anything else! Take the example of Judas, who was possessed by Satan in the very presence of Jesus. Following this possession, he immediately charged out in the middle of the night to muster forces against Jesus. This was a man who was numbered with the Twelve, who had seen the many miracles, and like the others was convinced that Jesus was the Christ. But he had a serious character flaw – he was a greedy thief – and so became an easy mark for Satan! Judas didn’t even have the presence of mind to protest or get a grip on himself. He turned on his heel and went out into the night.

Not all in the priesthood were like the murderous dupes of Satan the devil. In fact, a great number of them became obedient to the faith: Acts 6:7 "So the Word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and A LARGE NUMBER OF PRIESTS became obedient to the faith." It was the Jewish people themselves who took the Gospel into the world, and this is why they were entrusted with the very Words of God. Without the efforts of the Jewish people Christianity would not have survived. God knew this, and so He chose His most loyal tribe for this vital purpose. And furthermore, the Jews were the only ones who were obedient to the Laws and Statutes that God gave to His servant Moses. So why would God choose anyone else? It didn’t take long for Gentile Christianity to divest themselves of obedience to God’s Law, and this is the way it is today! Haplessly, Christianity is following the edicts of the Gentiles in repudiating God’s Law. There remains only a tiny minority of true Christians today who follow the Christianity founded by the Jews, and this speaks volumes against evangelical Christianity in all its forms! Not only do they worship a false Christ, but they also follow a false gospel. They depict Jesus as a cowardly weakling, and even portray Him as a long-haired sissy. They have yet to learn that Jesus is a Mighty Warrior, the Messiah, the King of Kings, and Lord of Hosts. In warfare He has no equal, and is the greatest General that will ever be! He will actually provoke a war with great hordes of people from the north and east of Jerusalem, and He Himself will go out to fight (Zech 14:1-3). This is the real Jesus, and the same Jesus that the disciples saw departing from the Mount of Olives as the angel pointed out: Acts 1:10-11 "They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This SAME JESUS, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

As a matter of fact, the 14^th chapter of Zechariah mentions this very thing: Zech 14:3-5 "Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. ⁴ On that day his feet will STAND ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. ⁵ You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake ⁿ in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, AND ALL THE HOLY ONES WITH HIM."

It’s written that if the demons knew what they were doing they would not have put to death the Lord of Glory. 1Cor 2:6-8 "We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷ No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸ None of the RULERS OF THIS AGE understood it, for if they had, THEY would not have crucified the Lord of Glory."

So who does Paul say crucified Jesus? He says it was the RULERS OF THIS AGE! Paul refers to them again in Eph 6:10-12 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹² for our struggle is NOT against FLESH AND BLOOD, but AGAINST THE RULERS, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and AGAINST THE SPIRITUAL FORCES OF EVIL IN THE HEAVENLY REALMS." This is a concept that many people simply refuse to understand. Satan has many rulers dominating the highest positions in human affairs, and their human hosts are able to manipulate virtually anyone or anything they choose, but with one exception! They are powerless against those who know their God and who therefore cannot be deceived.

It never ceases to amaze me how evangelical Christians are able to work ‘ma heart’ or ‘yo’ heart’ into nearly every sentence. Strangely enough, they never quote God when He mentions their hearts in Deut 5:29 "Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my Commandments always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!" God even adds this in Deut 8:20 "To the Law and to the Testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, they have no light of dawn." No light of dawn – which means they are still living in darkness! If there is any redeeming feature: at least they are not Muslims!

But not all demons are the same, just as all human beings are not the same. Many demons are subtle, cunning, and manipulative. And those they target usually have cunningly disguised behavioural or emotional problems, but still have the ability to appeal virtuous just like ‘angels of light’ as mentioned by Paul: 2Cor 11:14 "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." And this is not confined to false apostles and deceivers in the churches, but at the highest echelons of society. Look at how many Hollywood celebrities have become complete crackpots, and who call evil good, and good evil, yet always seem to claim the high moral ground.

What about Christians today? Knowledge has been greatly increased, yet are they getting closer to the Truth? No, they’re going in the other direction still believing myths and fables and a spurious doctrine. Would they recognize Jesus if He appeared again? Some would expect Him to have long hair like a girl. Others would expect Him to be pleading with the nations to be nice. I would just remind people that Jesus is the Christ, the Promised Messiah, and everyone would do well to understand the meaning of ‘Messiah’. The Christ today wields a mighty sword, and His exploits are detailed in a coming battle with the slaughter of millions of Muslims in the City of Mecca: Isa 63:1-6 "Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with His garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? "It is I, SPEAKING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, mighty to SAVE." ² "Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress?" ³ "I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. ⁴ For the Day of Vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. ⁵ I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm worked salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me. ⁶ I trampled the nations in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground." This is the Mighty Christ, the Saviour, the Promised Messiah, mighty to SAVE, and He takes the fight to the heart of His enemies, and attacks them in their own holy city Mecca in the territory of Edom – whom God hates!

In the lead-up to this, John saw two distinct SIGNS appear in the heavens. Rev 12:1-2 "A great and wondrous SIGN appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. ² She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth." The first SIGN was of a woman, clothed with the sun (the Sun of Righteousness), with the moon (the lesser light) under her feet, and a crown of 12 stars (the sons of Israel/Jacob) on her head. She was pregnant and was about to give birth. This was a SIGN rather than a prophecy, and the prophecy from which this sign originated was given by Joseph in the Book of Genesis: Gen 37:9-11 "Then he (Joseph) had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." ¹⁰ When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, "What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?" ¹¹ His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind." As it turned out, his brothers sold him into slavery out of jealous rage, and his Father and brothers actually did come and pay obeisance to him in fulfillment of the prophecy. It’s important to note that Joseph’s mother (spoken of by Jacob) was Rachel, and she died in childbirth with the birth of Benjamin.

I’m reluctant to attempt an explanation of all these things because the details are so vast they can’t be condensed into abbreviated answers. But I’ll make a feeble attempt to put it together so the reader can make some sense of it, and distinguish between prophecy and signs. In the interests of clarity, I’ll include comments in blue with each of these prophecies.

Firstly, there is a prophecy about Rachel recorded in Matt 2:14-19 "So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." ¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: ¹⁸ "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

(There are several comments to make here. Firstly, Herod! Herod was a ruler of the heavenly realms, a satanic tyrant before whom Jesus refused to speak, thereby fulfilling what was written, He remained silent and went as a lamb to the slaughter. Conversely, Jesus did speak to Pontius Pilate, who consequently wanted to free him and washed his hands of the whole affair. Pilate was not in Satan’s camp!

Concerning Hosea’s prophecy ‘Out of Egypt I called my son’ (quoted by Apostle Matthew the Levite), we find this is a reference to Ephraim: Hos 11:1-6 "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON. ² But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me. They sacrificed to the Baals (Baal or Beelzebub is Satan the devil – Matt 12:24-28) and they burned incense to images. ³ It was I who taught EPHRAIM to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. ⁴ I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. (God speaks in the plural in reference to Ephraim, because He is referring to the whole Tribe of them). ⁵ "Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? ⁶ Swords will flash in their cities, will destroy the bars of their gates and put an end to their plans."

(Comments: You’ll notice that Matthew shows this prophecy was yet unfulfilled at the time of Christ, until Joseph and Mary fulfilled it. It was not fulfilled when Ephraim led the northern Ten Tribes into captivity in 721BC, though it was partially fulfilled. The complete fulfillment will result when Ephraim and the Ten Tribes associated with him return to the Promised Land and settle in peace. This is further explained by the prophecy of Rachel weeping for her children.)

This is what Jeremiah wrote about Rachel: Jer 31:15-22 "This is what the LORD says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN and refusing to be comforted, because her children are no more." ¹⁶ This is what the LORD says: "Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded," declares the LORD. "They will return from the LAND OF THE ENEMY. ¹⁷ So there is hope for your future," declares the LORD. "Your children will return to their own land. ¹⁸ I have surely heard EPHRAIM'S moaning: "You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I will return, because you are the LORD my God. ¹⁹ After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ ²⁰ "IS NOT EPHRAIM MY DEAR SON, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him," declares the LORD. ²¹ "Set up road signs; put up guideposts. Take note of the highway, the road that you take. Return, O Virgin Israel, return to your towns. ²² How long will you wander, O unfaithful daughter? The LORD will create a new thing on earth – a WOMAN will surround [or protect] a man." That man is God’s dear son Ephraim! We’ve come full-circle on the ‘woman’ mentioned here. It’s the same ‘woman’ mentioned in Rev 12:1 and fulfills Joseph’s ancient prophecy concerning the sun, moon and 12 stars. Importantly, it’s now a sign because it is currently being fulfilled.

This chapter (twelve) of the Book of Revelation continues with another sign, and this time the sign identifies the enemy with the seven heads and ten horns. The Book of Revelation is heavy with symbolic language and many of the signs given will only be apparent when they are fulfilled. God does, however, reveal His secrets to His servants the prophets in advance. It’s an enormous red dragon, and he has seven heads of government. These seven heads are rulers, which is indicated by the crowns on their heads. These are rulers of the heavenly realms and are not flesh and blood! They are spirit beings and have been around for a long, long time. They’ve been deployed by Satan the devil to rally his troops – whole nations of them – against the House of Israel – both Christians and Jews. So we see the age-old conflict emerging once again in the following passage with references to the birth of Christ in the cradle of Judah. It brings to mind the slaughter of male children by one of these rulers of the heavenly realms to prevent the birth of Christ. Rev 12:3-6 "Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. ⁴ His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. ⁵ She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to His throne. ⁶ The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days."

I shouldn’t need to remind anyone that those who hurt Christ’s ‘little ones’ will pay a horrific price! Here is Christ’s reminder of this: Matt 18:5-6 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my Name welcomes me. ⁶ But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." The dice have already been cast on some of these wretched creatures who ‘masquerade as angels of light’ but are filled with satanic impulses. Such people are well practiced in deception, and think that as long as they fool other humans they have fooled God. I would invite the reader to read the whole passage from V5-18 to get an idea of how serious this offence is. Such people don’t fear God, they fear only being exposed by men, and it’s a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.

The importance of God’s Kingdom is reflected in the many parables that Jesus taught, and the time of the establishment of God’s Kingdom is to be very important for the conduct of Christianity when exposed to the forces of evil that will try to prevent it. The Lord Christ has tried to teach in advance the sort of conduct that will be required for all who would gain entry. It will be a horrific period for the saints. It will be a time of slaughter, mayhem and betrayals. As Jude pointed out, there will be deceitful shepherds among you who will be looking after only themselves (Jude 1:12), and they will be like wild waves of the sea – to use Jude’s description. Jude was warning of what to expect. These evil creatures are controllers who masquerade as shepherds of God’s flock, who slavishly crave for recognition and respect – but they don’t have God’s Holy Spirit: Jude 1:19 "These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit." It seems they are always present in some form or another. The Church members must be faithful to one another nevertheless, and learn to distinguish between good and evil (Heb 5:14).

God intends to hold all His servants to account, whether in the Church or in the Kingdom. And this is reflected in Jesus’ parable of the unjust servant: Matt 18:21 "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" ²² Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. ²³ "Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. ²⁶ "The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. ²⁸ "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. ²⁹ "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ ³⁰ But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. ³² "Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers TO BE TORTURED, until he should pay back all he owed. ³⁵ "This is how my Heavenly Father WILL TREAT EACH OF YOU unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

So brotherly love and compassion will rank very highly in the coming holocaust of all the saints. The common bond will be in protection of each other, and from time to time, giving up one’s life to protect others – the most noble of all qualities: John 15:12-13 "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends IF you do what I command." Are you, the reader, prepared to do as the Lord Christ commanded? Well, the day is coming when you will find out, and if you do, then you will be the friend of Christ! All true Christians today will have to make this choice, and in so doing, will provide the inspiration for many ‘little ones’ who will follow your example of obedience and faithfulness. This is the type of person God requires for His Kingdom! He wants those who are prepared to emulate the faithful obedience of His Son Jesus. Satan has his ‘martyrs’ who die and receive no reward. God is different! God has promised His martyrs great rewards, and God will deliver!

At that time, you will learn to fear God more than anything man can do to you. With death and destruction all around, life will be cheap – just as it was in places like Auschwitz as any Jew will tell you. With the vast increase in knowledge that is evident today, no-one has any excuse for not sensing the dangers that are fast approaching. The television media, the bloggers, the online news sources are all trumpeting the rampant escalation of dangers all around the world, and Islam is at the forefront of it all. These same people who have been troublesome since antiquity, and who earned God’s displeasure long ago, are now making their move to wipe out Christians and Jews and the whole House of Israel. What is more, they will go to any lengths to prevent the Kingdom of God from being established. Not surprisingly, the Kingdom of God will be established with force this world has never seen and this force will be in the hands of men whose God is the Almighty God (Zech 12:4-6). And these mighty men will be allied with the Jews (V6), but not before the Jews realize how much they need their help.

One might ask (especially if they are besotted by political correctness) if this is fair to use such overwhelming and unequal force against anyone. Well there is going to be a display of this against Satan and his rulers and this gets us back to the next verse in Revelation 12. Satan and his rulers are in the planning stages of attacking God Himself in an attempt to destroy His dwelling-place. In their madness they have imagined that if they destroy the Glory Mothership they will bring God Almighty crashing to the earth.

Rev 12:7-9 "And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him."

So it’s not surprising that God would retaliate against Satan’s brood just as Satan has done with God’s people. And neither is it surprising that God would use supernatural weapons of unimaginable power to clear the Holy Land of Satan’s vermin breeders. God never promised a fair fight, and Satan certainly never offered one. He’s been a murderous liar from the beginning, and this is the calling card of all of his followers. From the very beginning God has described the inauguration of His Kingdom as being like a tiny mustard seed that will grow into a large tree. What good would an insignificant mustard seed be without the Power and might and authority of the Lord Christ? Well this is how the Kingdom will begin – with the Power and authority of the Lord Christ – and that is when salvation begins! Rev 12:10-12 "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the SALVATION and the POWER and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of