The First Beast of Revelation (study)

There will be two “beasts” one will come from the ocean and the other from out of the earth. I used quotes around beast because these beasts will not be monsters in the horror movie sense. The first will be a kingdom, the kingdom of the antichrist. The second will be the antichrist himself.  The kingdom of the Antichrist will pretty much be set up for the Antichrist to move in and immediately start using its power for his own will.

-          Revelation 13: 1-2

Then I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. It had seven heads and ten horns, with ten crowns on its horns. And written on each head were names that blasphemed God. ² This beast looked like a leopard, but it had the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion! And the dragon gave the beast his own power and throne and great authority.

            I say that this beast is the kingdom of the antichrist because that is the way it is explained in the Bible. The first explanation is to Daniel the next is to John in the Book of Revelation, both explanations coming from an angel. These explanations are so similar, that I think that it is obvious that the fourth beast from Daniels dream and the first beast from John’s vision is the same beast being described. Daniel has a dream in which he sees four beasts.

-          Daniel 7: 3

³ Then four huge beasts came up out of the water, each different from the others.

-          Daniel 7: 7

⁷ Then in my vision that night, I saw a fourth beast—terrifying, dreadful, and very strong. It devoured and crushed its victims with huge iron teeth and trampled their remains beneath its feet. It was different from any of the other beasts and it had ten horns.

In both Revelation and Daniel the beast being described comes from out of the sea. Daniel describes the first three beasts as having attributes similar to those of animals, a lion, a leopard, and a bear. The fourth beast however never gets such a label. The explanations given about these beasts and horns are these…

-          Daniel 7: 17

¹⁷ “These four huge beasts represent four kingdoms that will arise from the earth.

-          Daniel 7: 23-25

²³ Then he said to me, “This fourth beast is the fourth world power that will rule the earth. It will be different from all the others. It will devour the whole world, trampling and crushing everything in its path. ²⁴ Its ten horns are ten kings who will rule that empire. Then another king will arise, different from the other ten, who will subdue three of them. 

-          Revelation 17: 12-14

¹² The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast.

As we can see, the beasts are kingdoms. I believe the forth beast that Daniel claims is “terrifying, dreadful, and very strong,” is the first beast from Revelation. It is the kingdom that will be ruled by the antichrist. The fourth world power “was different from any of the other” world powers. This kingdom is significant, and unique. Something about it is very scary to the people of the earth.

Both the fourth beast from Daniel and the first from Revelation have ten horns. These ten horns are representing ten kings that rule before “someone” else takes over. Daniel says this king will be different than the others, and Revelation says that they will reign with the second BEAST for a short time. Revelation also has claims of a one world government, similar to Daniels fourth beast ruling the earth. With all the similarities between the two beasts, they must be one and the same.

If the birth pains, or the beginning of sorrows, have begun, then we can assume that the kingdom or nation is either here already or will emerge very soon. This nation will be very powerful and will have strong influence over the entire earth. This kingdom will be different from any other that history has known. It will start a war against the chosen people of God, and conquer them.

-          Revelation 13:

⁷ And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. 

God’s holy people in this passage could be talking about Israel or it could be speaking of believers. Either way, this powerful kingdom should stand out when we see the command to attack Israel or the attack on all those that practice Christianity. One or both of these two things will happen, either Israel will be defeated, or believers will be oppressed, imprisoned, and killed. I am leaning more toward the latter based on the words of Christ. He said believers would be persecuted in His name, because they believe Him to be the Son of God.

This kingdom will undoubtedly be full of blasphemous evils. Lust of every kind will be viewed as good. Greed, not God, will be the driving force for all things. Men will be treated as slaves by those that are wealthy. Unjust laws will be written in favor of the rich, and to discriminate against the poor. The unemployed widow and the bastard child will be viewed as nothing more than pests and a drain on the system. Murder, addiction, sexual immorality, drunkenness, and the hatred of YHWH will be common in this land. . Nothing will be thought of as sacred, including marriage. Divorce and premarital sex will be common. Extramarital affairs will touch the lives of high ranking officials. Those thought of as Holy men will commit obscene and lewd acts, making even the alter of YHWH no longer sacred. All these things will reinforce the unbeliever’s ideas that there is no creator of the universe, allowing them to scoff at even the idea of God. The world will hate this kingdom, but desire its riches. At some point this kingdom will have a major influence over every nation of the world.

The first beast will also have the most powerful soldiers, strong enough to be feared by the entire world. In order for this kingdom to wage war against every believer and have the ability to defeat and oppress them, along with being given the authority to rule over every tribe and people of the world means their national military must be of great significance. 

The Begining of Sorrows (study) (Update)

The tribulation period will be a very scary time for all of mankind. There have been throughout history, since the time of Christ, men saying that the tribulation period has begun, but all seem to have been proven wrong by the fact that we are all still here.  However, there are many signs that believers should be able to point to for the purposes of discerning these times. Believers should be able to see what is going on around them, and thus KNOW that the tribulation has begun. There are more end times prophecies in the Bible than any other type of prophecy, even those concerning the birth of Christ. My objective is to show what the tribulation will look like, how to tell if it has begun, and what man should expect to endure during the last days.

Beginning of Sorrows

Now that we have it established that everyone will be here during the entire tribulation period, let’s figure out just what will take place during those times. The Book of Revelation discusses these times, in depth, but let’s start in the Book of Matthew.

-          Matthew 24: 5-8

⁵ For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. ⁶ And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.

            So let’s break this down to a list

1.      False Christ’s

2.      Wars and rumors of wars

3.      Nations against nations

4.      Famines

5.      Pestilences (Fatal disease of epidemic proportions)

6.      Earthquakes in many places

            During the beginning of the tribulation I can see False Christ’s playing out in two ways. The first being, we will see false prophets that will claim that Yeshua is the Christ, but they will teach doctrine that holds no standing in the Bible. This could mean twisting the Word just enough to make it false, but still sounds very true to those believers that do not take the time to study the bible themselves. We can see this happening in many areas of the church today. They all claim Yeshua is the Christ, but they all have different ideas on what is supposed to be done or not done. For instance, dispensationalist groups believe that the church and the Jews (Israelites) are two separate entities in the body of Christ. However, there are other groups that believe that all believers are part of the same family. The latter seems to be the truth in my opinion based on this verse.

-          Romans 11: 17

But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree.

The second way is this verse may also be referring to men claiming themselves to be Christ. José Luis de Jesus Miranda is one of these men. He is gaining more and more popularity throughout the state of Texas. This verse could be taken in either context, and I think that both ways are very possible, and both ways will in fact take place, if they have not already begun. However, the closer we get to the second coming of Yeshua, the more the false gospels will be taught. We will get into that a bit later.

            There will also be many wars and rumors of more. There have always been wars and rumors of war, so the wars that are being discussed here may have some significance. As of right now, there are several countries threatening to invade Israel. These nations are Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Hezbollah, and Syria.

Psalms 83: 2-8

Don’t you hear the uproar of your enemies?
    Don’t you see that your arrogant enemies are rising up?
³ They devise crafty schemes against your people;
    they conspire against your precious ones.

“Come,” they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation.
    We will destroy the very memory of its existence.”
⁵ Yes, this was their unanimous decision.
    They signed a treaty as allies against you—
⁶ these Edomites and Ishmaelites;
    Moabites and Hagrites;
⁷ Gebalites, Ammonites, and Amalekites;
    and people from Philistia and Tyre.
⁸ Assyria has joined them, too,
    and is allied with the descendants of Lot. 

These countries today are

Edomites – Palestine and Southern Jordan

Ishmaelites – Saudis

Moabites – Palestine and Central Jordan

Hagrites – Egypt

Gebalites – Hezbollah and Northern Jordan

Ammonites – Palestine and Northern Jordan

Amalekites – Arabs of the Sinai Area

Philistia – Hamas of the Gaza Strip

Tyre – Hezollah and Southern Lebanon

Assyria – Syria and Norther Iraq

            Just turning on the world news you will no doubt see that all these very countries want Israel gone. Some of these countries have themselves on film claiming they plan to destroy Israel, or at minimum they plan to invade. This may be more significant than other wars because the bible was written by Hebrews from the perspective of the Israelites. So it seems to only make sense that the end times wars and rumors of wars would somehow involve them.

Famines have been and continue to occur in many parts of the world. California is the producer of much of the United States crops. They have been in a severe drought over the last three years. According to the San Francisco Gate News, “After three consecutive years of below-normal rainfall, California faces its most severe drought emergency in decades. Governor Jerry Brown has called for Californians to reduce water use by 20 percent voluntarily, and mandatory rationing could be ordered soon so that homes, businesses and farms don’t run dry over the summer. Wildfire danger is unusually high.” If this continues, there may be a famine here in the U.S. Furthermore, I believe that the more a country turns there ways away from YHWH, the more that country will suffer under similar situations.

Epidemic diseases will break out in many countries. This one really scares me. I am somewhat concerned that an epidemic may be linked to the mark of the beast form the end times. I say this for two reasons. The first is I believe the mark of the beast will be some sort of genetic alteration that will make humans no longer humans. I link this to an epidemic because of what we find in revelation concerning the mark.

-          Revelation 16: 2

 So the first angel left the Temple and poured out his bowl on the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue.

The second is, a disease could break out, and it could be so bad that people are dying off left and right, massive populations dead within hours or days. Then there could be a miracle cure that the world governments just so happen to have. But not only will this cure stop the disease from spreading to you, it also prevents any further illness, and grants you a false immortality. How else would man desperately search out death, but be unable to achieve killing himself?

-          Revelation 9: 6

In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!

I have also taken into consideration, the idea of a disease so horrid that it would potentially wipe out all of mankind. Think of it this way, a virus breaks out in some small third world country and utterly destroys every man, woman, child, and animal. After that the virus begins to spread to other nations, eventually reaching first world countries. It just so happens that these countries have a vaccination for this specific virus. I say this because there just may be something like this during the last days. No flesh shall be saved, except those days were shortened. Yeshua swoops in and puts an end to the disease and stops His elect from taking the mark of the beast.

-          Mark 13: 20

And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.

We will also hear of many earthquakes, possibly in areas of the world that they do not normally occur. There seems to be many reports of earthquakes over the past two to three years that equal more than we are normally used to. I decided to look into this and I came across a lot of secular articles that deny this claim. They seem to be saying that we are not having any more than normal, but rather we are better equipped to be aware of them than we ever were before. I’m not sure if that means anything, or if just knowing about them is enough, especially since some of these earthquakes are happening in places we previously didn’t know felt their trembling shake.  

These things will only be the beginning of the treacherous times ahead.

            After He speaks of the wars, Yeshua goes on to say….

-          Matthew 24: 9

⁹ Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

            This quote not only suggests that believers must deal with persecution, but also, because they believe in Christ, they will be hated and killed. In order for believers to stand strong throughout the tribulation, they must hold a strong core belief that the word of God is true. Unfortunately, Christ says that many will be deceived. Presumably meaning that they will either believe the many lies of those that are teaching false doctrine, or they will reject the word in order to save their lives. Christ has something to say about that as well.

-          Luke 17: 33

³³ If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.

            This must be true during the tribulation period. When the day comes that the mark of the beast is given to us and we must choose whether to accept whatever this mark is, or possibly lose our life by denying it, that is the day that this verse should ring in your ear. By attempting to save your life and accepting this mark, you will be condemning yourself to an eternity in Hell.

            Concerning the false teachers the Book of 2 Timothy gives us a little insight as to what to do when we encounter them. This book also gives a little detail on what it is they may be saying and what will become of them.

-          2 Timothy 3: 5-9

⁵ They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!⁶ They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of^] vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. ⁷ (Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth...).  ⁸ These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. ⁹ But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres.

The fact that these men will “act” religious tells me that they will be preaching the gospel in a twisted way or they will have their own version of a gospel message to share with everyone. These men will oppose the word of God. The definition of depraved is the suffering of a severe and damaging lack of basic material and cultural benefits. Meaning these men will have no clue of the meaning of the Bible and therefore could not be teaching its truth. The very next statement seems to confirm this. They will have a “counterfeit faith.” This counterfeit faith will most likely “look” really good. It will probably have a nice, everyone is equal and we all need to get along feel to it. No doubt, these things will lead to the one world government, and religion of the tribulation.  We are told to “stay away from people like that,” so that believers do not fall victim to the lies being spread.

There are signs that we can look to right now that may suggest that the tribulation has already begun, if not the tribulation then at least the beginning of sorrows. I am again referring to the Book of 2 Timothy, it reads…

-          2 Timothy 3: 1-4

You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. ² For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. ³ They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. ⁴ They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 

 Without any doubt I suggest that people today are very boastful and proud. From my own personal experience I know of men and women that scoff of God, they claim atheism and some think that we are our own gods. These people attack me on social media sites whenever I post anything concerning my belief in Yeshua. Children today are very disobedient and ungrateful. I cannot think of another time in our history that children were able to get away with being lazy, inconsiderate, or disrespectful as they do today. Things that used to be held sacred, such as virginity, or the sanctity of marriage, are sadly no longer sacred. Children are giving away their virginity younger and younger. I have heard confirmed stories of how middle and high school students perform sexual acts at school during school hours. Sexual relations are supposed to be between a man and his wife, and they are supposed to be sacred. Unfortunately, there is a appalling lack of understanding in this area of children’s lives. Those that are married are having extra marital affairs, without any regard for the vows they gave to their spouse. These vows were not only between themselves and their spouse, but also a third party. YHWH. The three of them came together to be joined as one in the eyes of YHWH. Not only that, but more and more state and federal governments are pushing and allowing for homosexual marriages to take place legally. This just shows that not even marriage is held as sacred in our society.

One of the biggest verses that stand out here is, they will “be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God.” I have noticed the word pleasure has also been translated as money; this seems very plausible as well considering that in today’s world one needs money in order to obtain pleasurable things. I see this more and more. The love of pleasure and/or money has reached epic proportions. Many people with the means to help the less fortunate would rather allow those people to suffer in order to obtain pleasurable things. Even though many times they could afford to help AND take their vacation.

It is not hard to see that we could be living in at least the beginning of sorrows today. Men are boastful and proud, there is nothing held sacred. Men certainly love money more than God. Children are very disobedient. Men do act religious even when there is no truth in them. There are wars, rumors of wars. Famines, pestilence, and earthquakes have been occurring in different places all over the world. We need to start preparing for what happens next.

Fiction Flood Story - Melkazza

Melkazza and the Flood

In the village of the giants, also known as Rahdom, men had no god. They were gods unto themselves. This particular village housed the mightiest men in the entire world. They relied on nothing and no one. The king and ruler of this land, also much of the rest of the world at this time was named Melkazza. He stood about thirty six feet tall. Using his riches he adorned himself with jewels of all kinds. He wore a golden crown with many gems encrusted in it, one for every county he had conquered. His skin was darkened from the sun; he wore his hair in three bands of six long blond braids. His earrings were connected to his nose rings with golden chains. He had defiled his body with ink, from head to toe. His most distinctive trait, however, was the long scar that ran from his forehead, through is left eye, and halfway down his cheek. He received the scar while fighting a lion with a club. He was a fearsome man to look upon.

Melkazza was the son of the god known as Shemjazza, leader of the gods. Shemjazza had left this world with all the rest of the other gods that came with him. Melkazza was 380 years old when a small, mortal man named Noah came to him. Noah told Melkazza that he must repent of all the evil works he had done and order his people to do the same. Noah pleaded with him and told him if he did not repent of his sin there would be a mighty flood that covered the entire world, and this flood would kill every living thing.

Noah said, “YHWH, my God told me to give you this message. ‘I, the Lord, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sin. I will crush the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of the mighty.  I will make people scarcer than gold— more rare than the fine gold of Ophir.  For I will shake the heavens’ (Isaiah 13:11-13). So you see you must repent of your evil ways.”

Melkazza scoffed, “I am the mightiest man living in this entire world. I am god. You should repent your sin to me! Now leave my presence before I kill you and your family. I will serve your dead bodies to my people as a small snack.”

Melkazza went on killing men and ravishing any women he pleased. He was the most famous man in all the Earth. Many women desired to be with him, but he only desired those that he could not have. He went after married women and girls not yet old enough to marry. He was the most feared man in all the Earth. When he came into cities men would lock up their wives and daughters in the lower chambers of their dwellings. If Melkazza found these women, he would ravish them before their fathers and husbands, and then torture and kill that man in front of his victims. He would then force the entire city to drink the blood of those men he had killed.

Every year on Melkazza’s birthday, Noah would come back to Melkazza and plead with him to repent his sin.

Melkazza would tell him the same thing. “Leave my presence, or I will kill you!” After 100 years had passed, Melkazza told Noah, “Do you know this is the day of MY birth, but you come and bother me with this nonsense? Never return to my presence for if you do, that will be your last day.”

When Noah left that day, he went out to the people of Rahdom, and pleaded with them to repent of their sin. The mighty men of Rahdom chased him off with their swords and weapons of battle. They chased him all the way to his own home. Once there, these men saw his massive ark he had been building. They laughed at Noah, scoffed and made rude remarks.

One man said, “There is only rain a few times a year here. You are a fool to think it would ever raise high enough for an ark that size.”

Another man cried, “The poor mortal man thinks his God will destroy us all.”

Noah did not return to the land of Rahdom. But after twenty more years, Noah entered his ark and the heavy rains started to fall. Malkazza noticed that the rain was coming during the dry season and began to be worried. After a day of nonstop heavy rains, the ground was beginning to flood, after three more days the waters from the rain were rising quickly and were about knee high to Melkazza. After another three days, the water was waist high to Melkazza and he went out in search for Noah. By this time the ark had been lifted from the ground. It took Melkazza five days to reach Noah and his ark.

Only Melkazza head stuck out of the water. From afar Melkazza pleaded with Noah, “Please, save me from this horrible flood! Save me and I will never harm you but give you many riches, I will make you the richest man in the whole Earth next to me!”

Noah replied, “I cannot save you. You had your chance to repent your sin. You were given 120 years, but you scoffed at my God. You will face the wrath of God because of your evil ways. You are unnatural and have no goodness in you.”

With those words Melkazza’s head immediately went under the water. He never resurfaced. Many of the other mighty men from the village of Rahdom swam to the highest mountains. They climbed to their highest points until the waters rose above them too. Melkazza was the tallest man at thirty six feet, the waters rose 40 feet above the highest peak of the highest mountain top. Every man, woman, animal, and plant were destroyed aside from Noah and his family. “And the floodwaters covered the earth for 150 days” (Genesis 7:24).

Comparison of Gilgamesh flood with Noah flood

All throughout history in every culture on the planet there seems to be an ancient story that describes a flood. Some of them go into detail about how big the flood was, others go into detail about how long it lasted or how the flood was brought on by the gods. The two most prominent stories concerning floods are from the book of Genesis, in the Bible, and the flood from the Epic of Gilgamesh. These two stories share many similarities, but they also have a few contradictory ideas.
            One of the first noticeable similarities about each flood is they both were brought on from a deity from each culture. The Genesis story has YHWH, the unpronounceable name of the ancient Hebrew God, gave the message to Noah that he intends to wipe out mankind due to all flesh being corrupted. Noah had found favor in the eyes of YHWH because he was still pure in his generation. YHWH gives him 120 years to build his ark and collect every kind of animal on the planet.  

            The Epic of Gilgamesh has the god Enlil send a flood to wipe out all mankind due to the constant noise of the humans. Enlil claimed sleep was no longer possible, and the gods all agreed to exterminate mankind. The god Ea warned Utnapishtim in a dream about the flood. It took Utnapishtim seven days to build his boat and collect all the beasts of the field wild and tame. He also brought other men aboard including craftsmen and living things, family, kin, and all the gold that he had.

            Both Genesis and Gilgamesh stories contained specific measurements required for their respective boats. Noah’s ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. His ark had three levels with the door on the side and an 18 inch gap below the roof all the way around the ark. Utnapishtim’s boat was to have the beam equal the length, roofed like the vault that covers the abyss. He was to use the wood from his home to construct his boat. This boat would have been much smaller that the ark built by Noah. Utnapishtim’s boat only took six days to build, whereas Noah’s ark took 120 years.

            Another connection between the two stories deals with the tree of life and plant that grows under the water that restores the lost youth to a man. Both of these stories could be referring to the same tree. At the end of the Garden of Eden story, YHWH says no man will ever set foot in this garden again, and it is guarded by an angel. Gilgamesh is able to get to it by swimming to it. This could make sense that it was the same considering there was a major flood in both stories that are both near the same geographic area. The Epic states the city of Shurrupak stands of the banks of the Euphrates. Genesis says the Garden of Eden has a river that flows through it, with the fourth branch of this river named the Euphrates. Due to the general area and the magnitude of the flood, the tree of life could be submerged under water, and that is why Gilgamesh had to dive to find the plant that grants life.

Both stories speak of what could be considered “gods.” The Genesis account claims “there were giants in the world in those days”. These giants were the offspring of the “Sons of God” mating with human women. These “Sons of God” would have been viewed as gods, based on the rest of the biblical accounts of angels being worshiped by people. The book of Revelations chapter 22 verse nine speaks about an angel talking to man that has bowed down to worship him. The angel says. ““No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brother’s the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book.” There are several other instances in the Bible that depict man worshiping an angel and the angel rebuking him for it.

The Epic of Gilgamesh has many gods, and all but one become saddened that they destroyed all mankind. Enlil is the only one of the gods that does not seem troubled. The story claims that even the gods fled the planet due to fear of the wrath being brought on by the flood. They fled to the highest heaven, which was the firmament of Anu. Biblically speaking, the highest heaven is the heaven that houses YHWH and his throne. Anu is called the father of the gods in the epic.  That being said, the gods went back to the home of the father god. After the flood, Enlil was not allowed to be present during the burning of the sacrifice to the gods because he was the main god that wanted to kill all human kind. Utnapishtim was granted immortality because he was chosen by Ea to keep mankind alive.

            Noah’s story, however, does not have a regretful god. YHWH did not want to keep man alive due to their sin and corruption (I believe it is a genetic corruption). Based on the meanings of the ancient Hebrew language and the word usage on the oldest known documents, the word Tamin, is used for perfect in his generation. This word can also be translated as without defect. Because there were the “Sons of God” in the land in those days that were interbreeding with humans, this could be a reason that “all flesh” had become corrupt. YHWH found Noah and kept him alive in order to preserve the bloodline of Adam. Genesis does not speak about any gods leaving the planet out of fear. Once this flood is over YHWH does not grant Noah immortality. Noah goes on to live 300 more years before he dies.  

With all the similarities between both these stories, it is hard to dispute that they are not one and the same. Because both come from different cultures it is only reasonable that there would be some differences due to the nature of orally passing the story down from generation to generation. With these two stories both possibly referring to the same flood, how many other ancient culture flood stories could be also referring to this flood?

Post Tribulation Proof (edited)

Post Tribulation Proof

There are a few rapture views that have been circulating for centuries. First there is the pre-tribulation view.  Pre-tribbers claim that Christians will not have to face any of the tribulation and will be raptured before the tribulation period. This will happen at some point before the 7 year “peace treaty.” During a recent discussion with someone that holds to the pre-tribulation theory, I discovered that some in this category feel that believers will go through some of what I perceive as the tribulation, however, they do not call it the tribulation. So then this becomes an interpretation issue of what the tribulation period will actually consist of. Then there is the mid-tribulation view. Mid-tribber’s point of view shows that they will be taken half way through the tribulation. This will occur after the wrath of man but before the Great Tribulation. Again, this may be an interpretation issue as to what is considered the tribulation period. Finally we have the post-tribulation view, which states that everyone, including Christians will go through the entire tribulation period and be raptured just before or maybe just after the beginning of the wrath of God. I plan to focus on proving the post tribulation view as the most biblically supported view, and giving scriptural proof for why I believe this view to be true.

Will the Rapture be a Secret Event?

There are several theories that describe the rapture as a secret event and that people will just start disappearing. So what does the bible say about the rapture, and will people start vanishing without a trace? The main verses from the Bible that seemingly lead people to believe that there will be a “catching up” or rapture come from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4: 15-18. This excerpt reads….

-          1Thessalonians 4: 15-18 (NLV)

-          

¹⁵ We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. ¹⁷ Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ So encourage each other with these words.

There will be believers that are still living upon Yeshua’s return and those that are alive will not be raptured before those that have already died. So those that have died will be raised from their graves, followed by the rest of them who are alive to be taken to the clouds with Christ, to be with Him forever. It is quite apparent from this verse that this happens when Yeshua returns, not before.  

The follow up concerning the coming of Christ and also the Catching up is 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-4, which reads…..

-          2 Thessalonians 2: 1-4 (NLV)

Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him.² Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. ³ Don’t be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction ⁴ He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship. He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

Again we see that the rapture happens along with the second coming, not before. We even see a sentence that reads, “that day will not come UNTIL there is a great rebellion against God AND the man of lawlessness is revealed”. This is describing the antichrist. So we cannot expect to be raptured until we know who that man is. We can even see how to know who he is by the last sentence in this verse. He will be the man that sits in the temple of God, claiming himself to be God.

These two excerpts show how the second coming will look and sound, and when it will happen. It doesn’t give an exact time or day, but rather it gives an order of events to look for. First Christ himself will come from heaven and he will come with a “commanding shout” made by an angel. There will also be trumpet sound. These two details show that this will not be a quiet, secret event, but rather quite noticeable. This is also elaborated later in Revelation 1: 7.

-          Revelation 1: 7

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all people of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

If every eye will see Him upon his return, and the rapture occurs upon His return, then there is no way that this could be a secret event.

It isn’t until after every eye will see Him, and the loud shout of the archangel, and the sound of the trumpet of God that those that remain alive will be “caught up” or raptured to the clouds to meet Yeshua (this is the given Hebrew name of Jesus). 1 Thessalonians clearly describes what the second coming and rapture will look and sound like.

What to watch for

2 Thessalonians gives an idea of when it will happen, “that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God AND the man of lawlessness is revealed.” This statement again shows what to look for and also describes the time in which His coming will happen. The second coming and rapture will not occur until AFTER a great falling away from God. This means that something must happen that will fool many Christians into no longer believing that the Bible is a true account. This idea is elaborated on in 2 Thessalonians 2: 9-12

-          2 Thessalonians 2: 9-12

⁹ This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. ¹⁰ He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. ¹¹ So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. ¹² Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.

This excerpt is describing the antichrist. Notice that is says this MAN will come, not this spirit. There will be a physical man here on earth that has the work of Satan on his mind. This man will be given the power of Satan; he will perform what seem to the masses to be miracles. He will be able to show great powers and wonders to all the people on the earth. These things will be far greater than anything modern day man has seen, and they will easily be confused with the power of God. Once he has been able to fool the masses he will claim that Christ is not who He says He is. Unfortunately, many will fall for these lies.

 It is because of this that God sends His great deception on all those that choose to no longer follow the scriptures. Based on what the text says, it seems as if even some Christians may fall for this man’s evil deceptions. After this man has been revealed, but before the second coming, God causes those that believe the antichrist to fall deep into these lies. Because these people allowed themselves to be deceived, they must face the wrath of God and will not be raptured.

-          Ephesians 5: 6

⁶ Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

Let no MAN deceive you. Again we can see that the antichrist will be a man, and again we see God’s warning to all believers to not be deceived. We must hold strong to the truth of His word. We will see these things coming, and we will need to be prepared for when they do, because this man of sin will be great. He will be able to spit convincing lies, and perform miracles before the masses. But to believe his lies and miraculous actions will cause or very own doom for all of eternity.

So far we have read that upon the second coming is when the rapture takes place. Not before. The second coming starts with a commanding shout from heaven, and sound of the trumpet of God, signs in the sky of His return. These are all followed by Yeshua sending out his angels to gather His people to be “caught up” or raptured. But even this does not happen until AFTER the great rebellion against God AND the man of lawlessness is revealed.

We must all be on the lookout for a great falling away from the belief in God’s word. We also must be very suspicious of any man that has the ability to perform great wonders. Even if this man is claiming that he does all he does for the good of the world or people. We absolutely must take the things said by any miraculous man and compare them to scripture. No doubt, the things claimed by the antichrist will NOT match up with scripture, but if they do they will be twisted in some way. Just as Satan twisted scripture in his tempting of Christ.

More Proof of the Elects Presents during Tribulation

We have been through several scriptures that point to the rapture taking place after tribulation. Does the bible come right out and say that the elected or chosen people are still here on earth during the tribulation period?

-          Matthew 24: 21-22

 ²¹ For there will be greater tribulation than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again.²² In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.

Here is what has to be the most sobering passage in the entire Bible. Yeshua says that unless the tribulation days are shortened, not a single person would be left alive, even His elect. This implies that the elect are still here during the tribulation period. If His chosen people were not still on the earth during the tribulation period, then there would seem to be no reason for those days to be shortened. Yeshua says that the tribulation period is shortened because His chosen people ARE still on the earth, and had He not shortened this time then even they would not survive. Verse 22 would not make any sense if God’s elect were already ruptured at during the great tribulation.

-          Matthew 24: 29-31

²⁹ “Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

This section of the book of Matthew uses the words of Yeshua himself. He says that AFTER the tribulation the sign of the second coming appears in the sky. This verse alone should be enough to prove that all Christians will be here throughout the tribulation period. Once the signs of His coming are in the skies, He sends out his angels to gather the chosen, or believers, from all over the world.

So the events that will happen before the rapture go like this, there will be a loud shout, most likely heard all around the world, immediately after, if not coinciding with, every person in the world turning their eyes toward the sky and seeing a magnificent cloud carrying Christ. Once every eye sees Him, there will be a mighty blast from the trumpet of God, and His angels will be sent out to gather together (or rapture) all the chosen people. If we are to believe that there is only ONE second coming of Christ (I have yet to see anything proving otherwise), then based off these scriptures the rapture happens AFTER that second coming, which proves that the elect will still be here throughout the tribulation period.

A final piece of evidence is from the Book of Revelation. These verses have John speaking with one of the elders in heaven during John’s spiritual vision and/or trip, into heaven.

-          Revelation 7: 9 and 14

⁹ After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.

¹⁴ And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in the great tribulation. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.

In these excerpts John is talking about seeing millions of people standing before the throne of God. They are all wearing their new white robes. So this is indicative of the fact that all of their sin has been forgiven. After this the elder explains that these people are “the ones who died in the great tribulation.” If the elect are NOT on earth during the tribulation then that makes the elder a liar. How could these chosen people die in the tribulation if they were raptured? But again, based on the text, and all the supporting evidence, he is not lying and all the chosen were still here on earth during this time.

-          Revelation 14: 9-12

⁹ A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, ¹⁰ they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” ¹² This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.

These verses seem to be indicating that there are still people on the earth that have not received the mark of the beast or worshiped the beast and its image; if that is the case, who are these people? This verse follows the two other angels, the first being one that goes throughout the earth proclaiming the gospel of Christ and the other claiming that Babylon has fallen. This seems to be saying that the great deception has something to do with the mark of the beast, and even the believers will be denied their place in heaven if they accept this mark and/or worship the beast and his image. “This calls for patient endurance of the part of the people of God,” the people of God are the believers. Why would they need patient endurance if they were not here during this part of the tribulation? It is only logical to suggest that all people believers and others will still be on the earth during the days of the Antichrist's reign. Believers will still be here after the fall of Babylon. All believers will be tempted during this great tribulation period. This time will be like no other time in history. It will be very difficult to survive without the mark of the beast, making the temptation to receive this mark great. It is possible that people will be starving, left without shelter or clothing. People will be killed for not taking the mark. I believe THAT is why verse twelve says there is a need for “patient endurance.”

-              Revelation 20: 4-5

⁴ And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵ But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

            Again we see that it is possible for believers to have accepted the mark of the beast. Believers will still be on earth during a time that would cause them to be murdered and during a time that they could potentially worship the beast and its image. If all believers are taken before the reign of the antichrist, how could it be possible for any of them to accept the mark, or worship the beast or its image? I do understand that in certain places around the world, there are Christians being beheaded, so I cannot go into too much argument there. However, the second part concerning receiving the mark would make no sense if there were no believers left. I believe that is the reason Christ will shorten the tribulation days. There will be too many people falling for the lie that the mark gives.

Verse five says that only those that have either been raptured and those that died in the name of Christ will rise and reign for the 1000 year period. It won’t be until after that period that the rest of the dead will rise for judgment. Then, based on whether their names are written in the Book of Life, they will be granted entrance into the New Jerusalem, or be cast into the Lake of Fire.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is an abundance of evidence that points to all believers of Christ still being on the earth during the time of the tribulation. Yeshua’s own words indicate that believers will not be raptured until after His return, or at least during His coming. There seems to be too many occurrences throughout the Bible that mention believers still being on the earth during the tribulation period. Too many verses seem to not make sense if believers had already been taken. Therefore, all people, believers and otherwise, will be on the earth throughout this horrible time period.  

Although there are a few other theories about how and when this catching up will occur, the Bible seems to point toward the post-tribulation view far more than any of the others. In fact, I see no evidence for any other view. That being said, all believers need to strap in for the long, hard road ahead. We all need to be prepared for what will happen, and know what to be on the lookout for.