Restraint Removed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God is restraining the man of lawlessness, and his vast army, until the appointed time. Once the restraint is removed then the lawless one and his Arab-Islamic army will have a green light to invade Israel with the intent of annihilating the Jews. But Jesus will return and lead a heavenly army to defeat the invaders at Armageddon. In my book, Right At The Door, I explain this in much greater detail. 

So, just what is it that God is using to restrain the onset of Armageddon? The “restrainer” description is strikingly similar in II Thessalonians 2:7-8, in Revelation 9 :13-16, and in Rev 16:12-14. So similar that it is only logical to assume that they are all speaking of the same strategic event in the development of the last days. Paul’s account speaks of a person restraining, probably God himself. The sixth trumpet prophecy describes it as angels at the Euphrates restraining the invasion. And the sixth bowl prophecy describes it as the Euphrates River drying up for the armies to invade. These are all the same event with a slightly different description.

Way back in my seminary days, in a New Testament Greek class, the collective interpretation of II Thessalonian 2:7 was that the restrainer to be removed was speaking of the church being raptured, and the Holy Spirit being taken out of the world during the Tribulation period. No one thought to correlate this passage with the sixth trumpet and the sixth bowl, despite both of them talking about restraint being removed and the invasion beginning.

History is always the best interpreter of prophecy, and I believe that the restrainer is rather clear to be seen. Israel is surrounded by Arab enemies. These enemies have a determination to destroy Israel – al-Qaida, Hamas, Houthis, Hezbollah, Iran, ISIS, Taliban, and others. The one thing that holds them back from full on invasion is the threat of America coming to the defense of Israel. As strong as Israel may be, militarily, they could not stand up to their Arab enemies were it not for the USA ready to help defend them. The Arab nations fear the USA military more than anything (see Rev 13:4, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against it?”).

 America is the restrainer. When America is destroyed then there will be no deterrent to invading Israel. The 8^th beast will eliminate the 7^th beast, by some sort of fiery cataclysm (Rev 18:16-18; cf. Dan. 7:11)). The 8^th beast will then be able to wreak havoc for “one hour”, primarily against Israel (Rev 17:12-16). But they will be defeated by the Lamb, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

There you have it. The restraint that keeps the Arab alliance from invading Israel until God’s appointed time is the military strength of the USA. When America is destroyed then there will be no deterrent. The end of the age is drawing to its conclusion, rapidly. Don’t expect a rapture to rescue us from trial and tribulation, rather get prepared for the destruction of America and for Armageddon to ensue.

The Electronic Age in Biblical Prophecy

If we are rapidly cascading toward the end of the age, as Scripture prophecy seems to clearly indicate, then you would expect to see some of the more significant features of our age injected into the story. America’s dominance in world power, for one. But another predominant aspect of the end times is the electronic age. Do we see it in Revelation? Is electronics a key component of the last days prophecies?

Absolutely! Undeniably! But not like you might expect, not in modern vernacular. Rather, in an apocalyptic description, a vision that John could see and relate to in terms and picture forms of his own culture.  The electronic age is the false prophet of the last half of Revelation 13, starting with a beast coming up out of the earth with two horns, seeming like a lamb, but speaking like a dragon. And the description ends with the enigmatic number, 666, often called the “mark of the beast”. For me, this is one of the most intriguing visions in Revelation, once it is interpreted into the real-world relevance of today. It is pinpoint accurate. Once again, history interprets prophecy, not man’s conjecture.

Electricity is a rather recent invention, so far as world history is concerned. Actually, electricity was discovered, not invented, in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. But with its discovery many, many inventions have proceeded. The two horns on the beast that comes out of the ground represent positive and negative current. Why out of the ground? Because everyone knows that electricity does not work without the electrical current returning to a ground rod. Why the lamb and the dragon? The discovery and accompanying inventions all seem so innocent, practical, and helpful at the start. But with the development of electronics the innocent lamb became a false prophet, speaking like a dragon. The false prophet imagery does not depict a man, like the Antichrist, or his right-hand henchman. Rather the false prophet is a something, namely the electronic age of the end times. The pronouns throughout Revelation 13, relating to both the first and the second beast, should be translated “it”, not “he”.

How does electronics live up to the designation, false prophet? Prophets purport to dispense truth and wisdom and guidance. But a false prophet is deceiving, misleading, and destructive, all the while pretending to be a lamb. It promises life and truth, but delivers deception, bondage, and slavery.

Revelation 13 speaks of the electronics age as creating images that could speak and control, referring to television and computer screens in everyone’s’ home, and the palm of their hand. Stop and realize how much our world – our morals, our activities, our loyalties – are shaped by those images. The false prophet also performed great signs, most notably, causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of man. This is most assuredly referring to the atomic bombs deployed on behalf of the first beast, America.

What about the number, 666? It is not a number engraved on the forehead of wicked unbelievers. And it is not to be relegated to a seven-year Tribulation period. “Solve a riddle: Put your heads together and figure out the meaning of the number of the beast. It’s a human number: 666” (Rev 13:18, MSG). The barcode was invented in 1974, and used the number six to signify the beginning, midpoint and ending of the scan. Barcodes, UPC labels, QR odes, smart cards, and all forms of electronic codes have controlled commerce for the last fifty years. You cannot transact business without electronics – buy or sell, inventory, shipping, delivery, cash register – nothing. The number is readily observable, so it is used as an identifier of the electronics age, the false prophet that controls the end of the age.

And there you have it, a very abbreviated version of chapter 3 in my book, Right At The Door. The false prophet of Revelation 13 is the electronics age of the end times, a very urgent sign and warning that the end is very near. If we are rapidly cascading toward the end of the age, as Scripture prophecy seems to clearly indicate, then you would expect to see some of the more significant features of our age injected into the story. America’s dominance in world power, for one. But another part of our end times culture that is massively significant is the electronic age. Do we see it in Revelation? Is electronics a key component of the last days prophecies?

Absolutely! Undeniably! But not like you might expect, not in modern vernacular. Rather, in an apocalyptic description, a vision that John could see and relate to in terms and picture forms of his own culture.  The electronic age is the false prophet of the last half of Revelation 13, starting with a beast coming up out of the earth with two horns, seeming like a lamb, but speaking like a dragon. And the description ends with the enigmatic number, 666, often called the “mark of the beast”. For me, this is one of the most intriguing visions in Revelation, once it is interpreted into the real-world relevance of today. It is pinpoint accurate. Once again, history interprets prophecy, not man’s conjecture.

Electricity is a rather recent invention, so far as world history is concerned. Actually, electricity was discovered, not invented, in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. But with its discovery many, many inventions have proceeded. The two horns on the beast that comes out of the ground represent positive and negative current. Why out of the ground? Because everyone knows that electricity does not work without the electrical current returning to a ground rod. Why the lamb and the dragon? The discovery and accompanying inventions all seem so innocent, practical, and helpful at the start. But with the development of electronics the innocent lamb became a false prophet, speaking like a dragon. The false prophet imagery does not depict a man, like the Antichrist, or his right-hand henchman. Rather the false prophet is a something, namely the electronic age of the end times. The pronouns throughout Revelation 13, relating to both the first and the second beast, should be translated “it”, not “he”.

How does electronics live up to the designation, false prophet? Prophets purport to dispense truth and wisdom and guidance. But a false prophet is deceiving, misleading, and destructive, all the while pretending to be a lamb. It promises life and truth, but delivers deception, bondage, and slavery.

Revelation 13 speaks of the electronics age as creating images that could speak and control, referring to television and computer screens in everyone’s’ home, and the palm of their hand. Stop and realize how much our world – our morals, our activities, our loyalties – are shaped by those images. The false prophet also performed great signs, most notably, causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of man. This is most assuredly referring to the atomic bombs deployed on behalf of the first beast, America.

What about the number, 666? It is not a number engraved on the forehead of wicked unbelievers. And it is not to be relegated to a seven-year Tribulation period. “Solve a riddle: Put your heads together and figure out the meaning of the number of the beast. It’s a human number: 666” (Rev 13:18, MSG). The barcode was invented in 1974, and used the number six to signify the beginning, midpoint and ending of the scan. Barcodes, UPC labels, QR odes, smart cards, and all forms of electronic codes have controlled commerce for the last fifty years. You cannot transact business without electronics – buy or sell, inventory, shipping, delivery, cash register – nothing. The number is readily observable, so it is used as an identifier of the electronics age, the false prophet that controls the end of the age.

And there you have it, a very abbreviated version of chapter 3 in my book, Right At The Door. The false prophet of Revelation 13 is the electronics age of the end times, a very urgent sign and warning that the end is very near.

Is Prophecy Really Even True?

 

 

Thomas Jefferson’s Bible is widely known for being a cut-and-paste document. It was mainly a redaction of the New Testament gospels. He considered only the life of Jesus and his ethical teachings to be important, and discarded anything miraculous or seemingly mythological. In the face of criticism for his religious beliefs, Jefferson wanted to prove that he was a “real Christian, a disciple of the teachings of Jesus.”

I know too many people who view the incredible stories of the Bible as mere myths, including creation, the flood, even the virgin birth. Granted, they do have their place in helping mankind sort out their origin, their purpose, and the conflict of good and evil. Great stories, but they are myth.

The same is true of Bible prophecy, especially the end times prophecies found in Daniel and Revelation. Not only are they indecipherable, but even if you could understand them they are suspect as being believable and truly predictive. They are more or less on par with Nostradamus and ancient Aztec predictions. Wild hallucinations that the writers back then, as well as readers today, are foolish enough to take seriously.

We need a fact checker, some way to verify the veracity of the prophecies in the Bible. To quote Pascal, “People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof, but on the basis of what they find attractive.” I will attempt to offer proof, but I know that most who do not believe in prophecy will continue to scoff and mock, or at best, simply ignore. They find it more attractive to dismiss prophecy, so as not to be answerable to a God they also want to dismiss. They don’t want to become religious and have to trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And they don’t want to change their consumptive lifestyle to prepare for coming judgment.

The best proof that I can offer is the track record of prophecies in the Bible throughout its history. God bats a thousand when He speaks prophetically. Let’s start with the great flood. God was angry with the wickedness of mankind and would not contend with them any longer. So, God said that in 120 years the world would be destroyed by a flood. If you believe in Jesus, consider that He confirmed the veracity of the flood story when he spoke to his disciples about the end of the world. While making predictions about the end of the age Jesus said, “As in the days of Noah, some will be taken and some will be left.” Even though it had never rained on the earth before, the prophecy of the flood came true, right on schedule.

Consider all the prophecies to Israel and Judah of coming judgment. The false prophets wanted to predict peace and safety, but God’s prophets warned of the sword, famine, and plague. God’s prophets were always right.

Then there are the Messianic prophecies, foretelling the coming of the Messiah. Some apologists suggest there are over 100 such prophecies in the Old Testament. Although the priests and Levites in Jerusalem did not understand those prophecies, and therefore rejected their messiah, that does not take away from the fact that every one of the prophecies came true. History proved the providence of God inherent in prophecy.

So, then we come to the prophecies of the end of the age, events soon to be fulfilled. The trumpet warnings have already occurred, the first five. Soon Amerca will be destroyed. Then the Arab-Islam alliance will have an open door to invade Israel. That will be the start of the battle of Armageddon. Then Jesus Christ will return to earth. He will defeat the enemies of God’s chosen people, administer the awful seventh trumpet/bowl judgment upon the world, and then establish His kingdom. You can count on it -- fact-checked and verified.

Isaac Newton on Understanding Prophecy

Most people know Isaac Newton as one of the great scientific minds of the 17^th and 18^th centuries. He was also an astute theologian. I included an extensive quote from his writings on Revelation in the Foreword to my book, Right  at The Door. Newton believed that prophecy would not be understood “until the time of the end.”  He became frustrated with the wild predictions and assertions in his day, prompting him to offer some wise advice about interpreting Revelation.   

“Tis therefore a part of this Prophecy {i.e., Revelation}, that it should not be understood before the last age of the world… The folly of interpreters has been, to foretell times and things by this Prophecy as if God designed to make them Prophets. By this rashness they have not only exposed themselves, but brought the Prophecy also into contempt. The design of God was much otherwise. He gave this and the Prophecies of the Old Testament [i.e., Daniel], not to gratify men’s curiosities by enabling them to foreknow things, but that after they were fulfilled they might be interpreted by the event. [Then] His own providence, not the interpreter’s, be then manifested thereby to the world. For the event of things predicted many ages before, will then be a convincing argument that the world is governed by providence… [and] will at once both turn men’s eyes upon considering the predictions, and plainly interpret them.”¹

Interpreters of prophecy throughout the church age have rashly conjectured and prognosticated what they thought the prophecies to mean. But God designed the prophecies to remain somewhat mysterious and undecipherable until the end of the age when they would become obvious. He did this by using apocalyptic visions, foretelling modern nations, events, and technology in terms that Daniel and John could see and describe pictorially. But even they couldn’t understand most of the visions, themselves.

The unfortunate result of such rash speculating is that the interpretations, which are guesswork, become accepted and enshrined as “gospel truth”. From the early church fathers on through the ages it was believed that the beast of Revelation 13 was describing the antichrist. And that belief has stuck around for nearly 2000 years, and it is still believed by most Christians. Around 1830 another interpretative theory was hatched. Someone discovered that the last week of the seventy weeks of Daniel’s great Messianic prophecy was intended to be detached from the first 69 weeks and placed at the end of the church age. This theory (might I call it a hoax) hatched several corollaries, misinterpreting other prophecies. The midpoint of the seventieth week was audaciously assigned to the Antichrist, not the Messiah. The temple must be rebuilt so that Antichrist could desecrate it during the Tribulation. The second coming of Jesus Christ was split into two events to accommodate the rapture prior to the Great Tribulation. Now tell me, where in the world, in all of Revelation or Matthew 24, do we see the second coming split into two events? That should be a really, really big deal, but it is not there. But we all believe the hoax. History will be prove it otherwise, I am quite certain. And one more corollary: the seven trumpet warnings were placed in the timeframe of the seven-year Great Tribulation, I suppose so that Christians could avoid God’s judgment. But that theory is already blown away by history revealing the true interpretation of those events.

And there you have it. That is my evaluation of the fine art of speculative interpretation of God’s prophecy. It’s so very, very unfortunate that most Christians are led to believe the false teachings as though they were “gospel truth”.

¹  Isaac Newton, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John (London: Murray, 1733) 305-306.

America in Bible Prophecy

 

Over and over, I hear the question, "Is America mentioned in prophecy?" The clear and unmistakable answer usually falls on deaf ears. They want to toy around with the theological question rather than accept the obvious answer and then wrestle with the urgent ramifications. Hardly anyone cares to seriously consider the imminent and horrific repercussion of America's place in Bible prophecy.

America is actually a major theme of end times prophecy in the Bible. In my book, Right At The Door, I explain that America is the feet of clay in the vision of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2). America is the little horn in Daniel’s vision of the five beasts (Daniel 7). America is the beast of Revelation 13, confirmed in Revelation 17:9-10. And America is the prostitute that is hated by the eighth beast. That eighth beast, a ten nation Arab alliance, will bring the prostitute, America, to ruin -- eat her flesh, and burn her with fire (Rev 17:15-16). Soon, I might add. Like in the next few years. 

I have decided to quit belaboring the theological and interpretive explanation of America in Bible prophecy. Rather I plan to cry out, America will soon be destroyed…are you ready?1 That might get someone’s attention. They might react and check it out to see if they have been misled for many years. That would only be a few, though. Most will probably scoff at the idea and consider it fanatic or grandstanding. After all, most Americans think that our country is the most blessed country on earth. God loves us! Not only are we blessed, but we bless all the other countries on the earth.

I was at breakfast with a couple of friends, recently. We listened to an hour-long discussion of one of the men’s upcoming prostate surgery and urethra reconstructive surgery. I then decided to bring up my book and the key concepts that I think are most important – America is the Beast, there is no Tribulation, and the rapture will not rescue us before the Tribulation, or before the destruction of America and the start of Armageddon. Their response was discouraging. One of my friends said that he gets all his prophecy interpretation from listening to a favorite preacher online who gives weekly prophecy updates. I googled this preacher and noticed that every update ended with the reassurance that we will be raptured and not have to endure all the turmoil and destruction of the final days. The other friend said that the debate over prophecy is pointless and divisive, similar to debating creation. Some hold to an old earth and some hold to a new earth. As I was driving home, I thought about that response. I wish I had asked him, “Have I ever misled you in the 20 years that I have known you and been a teacher? Have I ever majored in insignificant and debatable details when it comes to what the Bible teaches?”

There you have it. America will soon be destroyed. And we will not be raptured ahead of time. You can leave the blinders on, or you can believe it and prepare your heart and your well-being for impending trials and tribulation.

1  The urgency of the message of America's impending destruction is evident in my book trailer found on Home | David Eymann , as well as in a Spotlight Interview I did with Logan Crawford, Revealing Secrets of the Book of Revelation (youtube.com) .