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.