Write About It

Re-examining Biblical prophecy has been a mission for most of my life. My message about End Times prophecies has slowly evolved over those years. The burning in my heart was ignited in a seminary class when I came to the conclusion that prophecy “theologians” were merely parroting one another rather than “rightly dividing the word of truth”. They were like lemmings going over a cliff.  I read most of the popular and scholarly books on eschatology written in the 20^th century, but each of them was merely a slight variation on one grand theme – a seven-year tribulation with a rapture preceding it. They had to be shelved if I was going to re-examine prophecy.

One little book, though, stoked the flame in my heart -- Last Days in America, written by an unknown author. He wrote that the seven-headed beast of Revelation 13 represented seven nations, and America was the seventh beast, the one elaborated in the vision.  Consequently, Revelation 13 was not describing the Antichrist. Like a domino effect, that one insight helped me to understand more and more of Revelation in a whole new light.

A few years later, while serving as a Youth Pastor in Oregon, I was put on trial for heresy, because of a lengthy deliverance ministry. Soon after being expelled we went to visit another church. After the meeting, a stranger walked up to me in the aisle, handed me a pen, and said, “Write about it”. Then he turned and walked away. I look back, now, and marvel. Having just lost my job, my income, my credentials, and eventually my house, I was discouraged and defeated. Like Elijah the prophet, Ahab and Jezebel had done me in. But God gave me a new mission. He told me, “Write about it.”

I sat at a typewriter for months writing a book about demonic deliverance. But that manuscript still sits on my shelf in a 3-ring binder. Not until years later did I make sense of what God intended me to write about. The Holy Spirit reminded me of the message from years earlier and unveiled the meaning of the word “it”. One big key to understanding Revelation is the pronoun “it”, which appears throughout Revelation 13. I realized that God had told me years earlier to write about a new understanding of end times prophecy. Ah-hah, so that burning in my heart was not just a personal interest, it was a calling.

My first attempt at writing a book was self-published, Apocalypse Puzzle. I naively thought I had it all figured out. That was a beginning point, but the evolvement continued.

Along the way, I came to realize that the seven trumpet judgments were events that were already occurring, warning the world of God’s impending judgment. That meant that the seven-year Tribulation could not be a time frame in which to fit those seven trumpets, nor any of the other events of Revelation. The concept of a seven-year Tribulation was essentially a hoax, a false teaching. So, then, the pre-tribulation rapture had to go, as well.  I began to realize that my interpretations were going to be like little David going up against Goliath and the Philistine army with a tiny rock and a sling shot.

Currently (2024), my message has become a warning, almost like prophets of old, rather than a theological debate. My calling was not just to explain the prophecies, but to amplify the end-time warnings inherent within them. The aspect of warning did not come into focus until a couple years after publishing the book, Right At The Door. Unfortunately, it is hard to soft pedal an urgent warning of coming destruction and hardship.

The timing is critical to re-examine your beliefs about prophecy. The end is very near. Great turmoil is on the horizon. America will be destroyed. And then the church will be raptured, not before. In a nutshell, that is the message that God called me to write about. I have persuaded only a handful of people over the years, but perhaps I am right on schedule. When God calls you to do something for His kingdom, He doesn’t call you to be successful, He only calls you to be obedient.

Run, Or Stay Put

When the time comes that America is destroyed, there may be enough of a last-minute warning to make a run for it. Or some may decide to stay put and ride out the destruction and be a survivor, if possible. But I dare say that most people in America will not believe it even possible that America could face destruction, so considering whether to run, or to stay put is pointless to them.

First of all, what is this talk about America being destroyed? Who is so brash as to even suggest such a thing? After all, America is indomitable, indestructible. We have the greatest firepower and military strength of any nation in the world. Everyone in the world stands in awe and fear of America.

While that has been true over the last eighty years (cf. Rev 13:4), that elite position will soon come to an end. It has happened to every other great world power, and America will be no exception. God is in control of the rise and the fall of nations. God predicted in Daniel’s dream that the little horn nation, America, would be destroyed – utterly destroyed, not just defeated and allowed to limp along (Daniel 7: 11-12). God said it, not me. But most Christians will deny it, because they cannot fathom that America was in the crosshairs of God’s prophecy, 2500 years ago.

The destruction of America is also prophesied in Revelation 17. An eighth beast arises for just one hour at the very end of the age, and that eighth beast hates the Great Babylon, America. The eighth beast is an alliance of ten Arab nations who will eventually invade Israel – the battle of Armageddon. But first it must destroy America, probably with the help of some nuclear-armed super-powers. “They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire” (Rev 17:16).  The Arab-Islam nations have a chant, “Death to America, Death to Israel, Allah is great.” Their threat is very real.

Now, if you choose to take seriously these prophetic warnings, we in America may want to plan ahead. We have a choice – run, or stay put. In many of God’s previous judgments the righteous were encouraged to run. Two angels led Lot and his family out of Sodom and Gomorrah just hours before the sulfur and brimstone rained down (Genesis 19:15-17).  Lot’s sons-in-law were warned, too, and could have escaped. But they thought that the warning of the two angels was a joke (Gen 19:14).

When Jesus spoke to his disciples about the coming destruction of Jerusalem he said, “Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24: 15-22). Forty years later Titus ransacked and burned the city, killing a million Jews. Only a handful of Christians who were living in Jerusalem fled to the Transjordan hillsides.

God warned Joseph to take the baby Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s slaughter of newborns in Bethlehem. It is not a cowardly act to flee destruction and judgment.

Where would be a good and safe place to flee to, though? Maybe Canada, or Mexico, or Brazil, perhaps. I am not sure what benefit would be gained, though, since much of the world will be in turmoil, and the build-up to Armageddon will hastily proceed.

The return of Christ, including the rapture, will not occur until a few short years after America’s destruction, so it may be nearly impossible to hang on as a survivor.  Regardless, some Christians may make a decision to stay put, hoping to survive the nuclear destruction and fallout. Their heart may lead them to try to assist friends and family to endure the “death, mourning, and famine” (Rev 18: 8) that will be left in the wake of destruction. Jeremiah told the remnant in Jerusalem, after it fell to Nebuchadnezzar, not to flee to Egypt, but rather to stay put. But the situation was different – it was safe to stay put.

Each person will have to decide, based on the leading of the Spirit of God, whether to run, or to stay put. May we trust God fully, hear His voice, and respond accordingly.

A Matter of Life and Death

I recently had a video trailer produced for my book, Right at The Door. I sent the producer a page of talking points to give him some ideas to include in the narrative. One particular line that he included in the trailer caught my attention. “Understanding prophecy accurately is a matter of life and death.” When I heard my talking point restated in the trailer it seemed very bold. I had to ask myself, was it dramatic hyperbole – exaggerating for effect? Or is it really true?

There are many people – Christians, for the most part – who say that understanding prophecy correctly is not that important. After all, God is going to do what He is going to do, anyways. Oh my, you cannot believe how many times I have heard that statement. In my opinion, that view pretty much relegates Biblical prophecy to the same level as Aztec folklore of the end of the world.

That view conveniently goes hand-in-glove with the prevailing belief amongst most American Christians that the rapture will precede a seven-year Great Tribulation. If that were true, God’s prophecy is not really much of a matter of life and death. It’s more like an intriguing puzzle to contemplate and debate. Because, after all, God will dish out death and destruction after Christians escape. You must admit, there is no urgency, no matter of life and death in prophecy when you believe that you will be blissfully caught up and rescued from any severe turmoil and suffering which is coming upon the world. Yes, for the rest of mankind prophecy is certainly a matter of life and death. They must look forward to extreme tribulation, death, torment, famine, and pestilence. But not Christians, there is simply nothing too scary or painful on the horizon.

But if the Great Tribulation theory is jettisoned, along with an early-escape rapture, then the end times prophecies become much more urgent. They take on a foreboding character. The seven trumpet warnings of Revelation have already been sounding, for over 100 years. The end is very near, like at the door, right now. Daniels vision (Dan 7) and John’s vision (Rev 13 and 17) both make it clear that America is the beast nation of the end of the age. And here’s the crux of the matter, the matter of life and death. God also makes it clear that America will be destroyed (Dan 7:11; Rev 17:16), before the ten-nation Arab alliance rises up as an eighth beast, before the great battle of Armageddon, before Christ’s second coming and simultaneous rapture. Armageddon is the sixth trumpet, and Jesus does not return until the last trumpet. So, then, Americans are in fact facing a life and death scenario. And Christians will still be here when America’s destruction happens.

America’s destruction is very, very near on the horizon, and it will be unexpected and utterly cataclysmic. Many, many people will be killed when America is destroyed. I hate to have to say it so bluntly, millions will meet their death. Are you ready to die? Have you believed and trusted in Jesus as your savior, God’s provision for the forgiveness of your sin so that you can spend eternity with Him in heaven?

And for those few who do not die in the destruction, prophecy is a warning to prepare for living in extreme hardship. How do you prepare to live in a war-torn, nuclear destroyed landscape? How do you prepare psychologically? How do you prepare logistically? How do you prepare socially – family, friends, neighbors, and enemies?

And there you have it. Interpreting and understanding the prophecies of the end times is a matter of life and death. That’s no exaggeration. 

Trusting The Lone Voice

 

“When the whole world is running over a cliff,

 he who is running in the opposite direction 

appears to have lost his mind.” – C. S. Lewis

  

Throughout the Biblical story there have been men and women that stood out as a lone voice. Their message, or mission, was so contrary that everyone took them to be fanatic, or lunatic. Noah must have endured incredible mockery and rejection because he warned of judgment while building a monstrosity of a boat – for 120 years, no less. Jeremiah lamented, in anguish, over being a messenger of doom and destruction. Jesus, too, was a lone voice – the vast majority of the Jews wanted nothing to do with his kingdom message.

I recently had a lengthy discussion with a church elder about prophecy, explaining my contrary interpretation of the tribulation, the false hope of a pre-trib rapture, and the seven trumpets that are already being fulfilled. Eventually, he stated his biggest concern. How could all the great prophecy teachers of our day all be wrong? He listed a few – David Jeremiah, John McArthur, David Reagen, and his favorite, JD Farag. Actually, the list is quite extensive. But the truth is, they all parrot one another. Like lemmings running over a cliff, they all follow the leader. Their teachings may have slight variations, but they could all be condensed into one uniform theme, or encapsulated onto one Revelation Timeline chart.

The overwhelming majority of American Christians and their prophecy preachers have bought in to a false teaching -- hook, line, and sinker. It started with John Darby in the !840’s, then came down through Scofield, Pentecost, Chafer, and Walvoord. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins rode the wave, a tidal wave by that point, casting in stone the false teachings about a seven-year tribulation, a pre-trib rapture, and false notions about the Antichrist.

I am sure they all mean well. I am sure they have all studied and read countless books to come up with their teachings. And I am quite sure they have no intention of knowingly misleading their followers. Don’t get me wrong. I am not trying to cast aspersions on their character or discount their studiousness. Like little David with his sling and a smooth rock from the brook, I just want to slay the giant and send the Philistine army, with their pervasive false teachings, fleeing into the foothills. “Rightly dividing the word of truth” is a huge responsibility – it really does matter (2 Tim 2:15). I have a passion to re-examine prophecy and get it right. My motive is not to be the winner in some sort of theological contest, but to help God’s people be prepared for what God revealed about the coming days ahead. Most of the time I feel foolish and hopeless spouting the warning that I do. But that’s my lot in life, my calling I guess, a messenger of doom and destruction, starting in America, with Christians still on board the sinking ship.

So, there you have it. You can continue to believe the host that are running over the cliff, or you might seriously consider listening to the message of the few who are running in the opposite direction. America will be destroyed, before Armageddon. We will endure death, mourning, and famine (Rev 18:8). After that (not before) Jesus will return to gather up those Christians who are still alive and desperately awaiting His rescue and redemption.

Gog and Magog, Again

Gog and Magog appear in Ezekiel 38-39, and then we find Gog and Magog, again, in Revelation 20:7-10. Are there two great wars involving Gog and Magog? Or are they one and the same? This repetition presents somewhat of a conundrum.

The Gog and Magog battle in Revelation 20 seems to be a different war than the one referred to in Ezekiel 38-39. Ezekiel’s reference to Gog and Magog is definitely describing the battle of Armageddon, described several times in the book of Revelation (e.g. Rev 16:16). Gog, then, is the same person as the man of lawlessness (aka Antichrist), who leads the eighth beast into battle against Israel in Revelation 17. The Revelation 20 reference to Gog and Magog appears to be another great battle that will take place at the end of the 1000-year Millenium. Why the second battle has the same name as the first is confusing, but it may simply be symbolic. Even the nomenclature suggests this to be the case. In Ezekeil Gog is made out to be a prince, and Magog is his resident domain. But in Revelation, “Gog and Magog” seem to be a title, of sorts, borrowed, symbolically, because the second gathering of nations from the four corners of the world is reminiscent of the alliance of nations that Gog forms for the Armageddon battle.

The battle In Revelation 20 is similar to the Ezekiel battle in some regards, besides just the name. Both armies of Gog are innumerable – “like the sand of the sea” (Rev 20:8), and “like a cloud” (Ez 38:9). Both armies attack Israel and the holy city, Jerusalem (Rev 20:9 and Ez 38:8, 16). This doesn’t necessarily indicate they are the same battle. Armageddon will pit an Arab-Islamic alliance against the Jews, the apex of a hatred that has existed for thousands of years. The battle at the end of the millennium will pit Satan against Jesus, and Jerusalem is the focal point because it is the place from which Jesus will reign during His earthly kingdom Zech 14:9; 16-17).

There are some distinct differences in the two battles, which help to confirm that they are different battles. The army of Gog, in Ezekiel, consists of Arab nations (Ez 38:5; cf Rev 17, the eighth beast), while the army in Revelation consists of nations from the four corners of the earth (Rev 20:8). Second, in Revelation the buildup and attack are spearheaded by Satan himself (Rev 20:7), whereas in Ezekiel, Gog’s army is drug into conflict by God. But God may use Satan’s deception to drag Gog into battle against Israel, so the two scenarios may not be all that different. The third and biggest difference is the aftermath of the two battles. In Ezekiel, the carnage will be so great that it will take seven months to bury the dead (Ez 39:12). This would indicate that the clean-up will extend into the Millennial kingdom. After the Gog and Magog war at the end of the Millenium, Satan will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet (Rev 20:10). Satan will then spend eternity there, in torment. The fate of Satan after the second war is different than after the first war. After Armageddon Satan is bound in the Abyss for 1000 years, after which he will be loosed for the second war (Rev 20:2-3; 7-8).

These two battles indicate that Satan is very effective at deceiving people into rising up in rebellion and insurrection against God and against Jesus. He always has been good at it, and he will go all out at the end. So, you better choose whose side you are on, and don’t waver.

History Repeats Itself

 

People never change. We ignore warnings until the catastrophe is right on top of us. And then it’s too late. Hurricanes, wildfires, floods, check engine light. But most importantly, God’s warnings of judgment. History seems to always repeat itself. We just don’t learn. We tell ourselves, “They were foolish and stubborn, but we are not that stupid.”

When it comes to Biblical prophecy, God always gives clear warning before He metes out judgment. “When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets” Amos 3:6-7).

God warned mankind of coming judgment in the days of Noah. For 120 years Noah “prophesied” that God would destroy the world with a flood. But they ignored him and continued on in their sinful lifestyles. God warned Sodom and Gomorrah by sending two angels into the city but they perversely mocked the messengers from God. God warned Israel that Assyria would destroy them. And it happened in 721 BC, so completely that we now call them the “lost tribes of Israel”. God warned Judah and Jerusalem, through the prophecy of Jeremiah, that they would be destroyed and taken captive if they did not submit to becoming a vassal state to Babylon. None of the religious leaders believed Jeremiah. They were crushed, many taken into exile. King Belteshazzar was warned that his kingdom would fall to the Persians, by God’s handwriting on the wall inside the palace ballroom. He denied that his walled city could be captured by the army of Cyrus. God even judged His own beloved, chosen people, the Jews, again in 70 AD.  He had warned them twice, but they refused to believe it. More than 1 million were slaughtered.   

What do these lessons from history have to teach us about the coming judgment in our near future. God clearly prophesied that this age would come to an end in catastrophic judgments. He even made it clear that there would be seven trumpet warnings when the time of judgment drew near. Those trumpets began with World War 1 and have continued for nearly 120 years now. Yet the masses of mankind continue on in life like nothing will ever change. And that’s exactly what Jesus predicted (Mt 24:37-39). 

Christians live in denial of coming judgment, also, particularly American Christians. We can’t believe that a nation as great as America could possibly be destroyed, even though God clearly has given warning in prophecy (Dan 7:11; Rev 18:8). We insist that those prophecies are not about America, rather, about the Antichrist, or someone else. Anyone and everyone else are deserving of judgment, but not America. We have come up with a great alternative to judgment. Christians will be raptured, unscathed, prior to the seven-year Tribulation. Then God can cut loose and pour out His judgment upon all those wicked people left behind. How convenient to interpret prophecy the way you want it to turn out. We ignore that God severely judged his chosen people in 721 BC, 606 BC and in 70 AD. We ignore that judgment begins with the household of God. And we ignore the sins of our nation, both past and present. We are convinced, contrary to both history and prophecy, that we will be caught up before judgment and destruction begins.

History teaches us that people who are warned by God of coming judgment always ignore it, manufacturing their own desirable outcome. But God will not be mocked or misconstrued. American Christians, and the world as a whole, should prepare for destruction and devastation.