Need to know.
Daniel 7:25 says the little horn would “think to change times and law.”

The little horn is not left unidentified. Daniel 7 shows it rising out of divided Rome, among the ten horns, uprooting three, speaking against God, persecuting the saints, and ruling for “a time, times, and half a time.” This identifies the Roman Papacy.

The “law” side of the prophecy is seen in the Papacy’s treatment of the Ten Commandments, especially in changing the Sabbath commandment to honour Sunday.

But Daniel says the little horn would also think to change the “times.”

That matters because Daniel has already told us who controls the times. Daniel 2:21 says God “changes the times and the seasons” and “removes kings and raises up kings.” In context, Daniel is speaking about God’s rule over history. He reveals the rise and fall of kingdoms before they happen: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, divided Rome, the Antichrist power, and then the kingdom of God.

So the “times” are not incidental. They are part of the prophetic timeline God revealed.

The Papacy could not change God’s actual timetable. But it could attempt to change how that timetable is understood.

That is exactly what happened through Preterism and Futurism. During the Counter-Reformation, Jesuit priests systematised alternative prophetic views that moved the Antichrist away from the Papacy. Luis de Alcázar developed the preterist approach, pushing Antichrist prophecy into the distant past. Francisco Ribera developed the futurist approach, pushing Antichrist prophecy into the distant future.

Though they move in opposite directions, both achieve the same result: the Papacy is removed from the prophetic timeline Daniel gives.

That is why the “times” element matters. The same power that claimed authority to alter God’s law also promoted systems that obscure God’s prophetic timeline.

If the Papacy is no longer seen as the little horn, then Daniel’s warning is neutralised. The Antichrist is either buried in the past or postponed into the future, while the very system prophecy exposes continues with renewed power to deceive.

The Rapture Truth # 3
Please, share these lessons with your family, friends, and Facebook groups. To enhance the Kingdom of GOD.

The Dangers of Darbyism

The most glaring inconsistency of the secret rapture is the belief that the antichrist will not appear until after the saints are caught away. The apostle Paul settled this matter clearly in
2 Thessalonians 2:1–4 ...

“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God”
(emphasis added).

These words are clear: Christ’s coming will not take place “unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed.” The man of sin, the antichrist, will be revealed before Jesus comes.

Paul was not referring to a powerful person who will appear 2,000 years after his writing. Indeed, he said, “The mystery of lawlessness is already at work” (verse 7, emphasis added). Paul was already combating the emerging spirit of antichrist. The apostle John said the same (1 John 4:3). By the sixth century, the man of sin had matured, yet the crowning act of his deception will occur just before the return of Christ. “Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8). There’s no question that the antichrist will not arrive after the second coming, but before it.

Where, then, did this “futuristic” interpretation about the antichrist in prophecy originate? What does it have to do with the rapture? During the Reformation, most reformers identified the antichrist as papal Rome. Of course, this was not well received by the papacy. Rome countered this with a new interpretation of prophecy in order to turn people away from the notion that it was the antichrist power:

“Accordingly, toward the close of the century … two of her most learned doctors set themselves to the task … namely, that of diverting men’s minds from perceiving the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Antichrist in the papal system. The Jesuit Alcazar devoted himself to bring into prominence the preterist method of interpretation ... to show that the prophecies of Antichrist were fulfilled before the popes ever ruled at Rome, and therefore could not apply to the Papacy.

“On the other hand, the Jesuit Ribera tried to set aside the application of these prophecies to the papal power by bringing out the futurist system, which asserts that these prophecies refer … to that of some future supernatural individual, who is yet to appear, and to continue in power for three and a half years. … The [papal] Jesuit Ribera, about ad 1580, may be regarded as the Founder of the futurist system in modern times.

“It is a matter for deep regret that those who hold and advocate the futurist system at the present day, Protestants as they are for the most part, are … helping to screen the Papacy from detection as the Antichrist” (Joseph Tanner, Daniel and the Revelation).

The origin of the two-phase, mid-tribulation coming of Christ has an equally questionable history. It was around 1830 that this view appeared. In a Scottish church pastored by Edward Irving, Margaret McDonald gave what was believed to be an inspired utterance. She spoke of the visible, open, and glorious second coming of Christ. But as the utterance continued, she spoke of another coming of Christ in which those who were truly ready would be secretly raptured.

John Nelson Darby, a preacher and writer in England, was most responsible for introducing this new teaching on a large scale. The secret rapture theory spread to the United States starting in the 1850s, where it received a boost when Cyrus Scofield incorporated it into the notes of his famous Scofield Reference Bible, published in 1909. Since that time it has been widely accepted, often by people who are unaware that this was not a belief held by Christians of the early and Reformation church.

Oswald Smith, a prominent minister from Toronto, explains in his book Tribulation or Rapture that he once believed this theory, but when he began to search the Scriptures for himself, he discovered that there is not a single verse in the Bible to uphold this view. He confessed:

“I had been taught that the Greek word ‘parousia’ always referred to the Rapture and that other words were used for the Coming of Christ in glory ... but I found that this is not true. ... We might go through all the writers of the New Testament, and we would fail to discover any indication of the so-called ‘two stages’ of our Lord’s Coming. ... That theory had to be invented by man. Search and see. There is no verse in the Bible that even mentions it.”

Take Heed
Jesus warned His followers, “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly” (Luke 21:34).

The most obvious danger of the false teaching of futurism is that it wrongly gives people the idea that they have a second chance. The Bible teaches that there is only one coming of Christ at the end of time, not two. Those who think there are two-phases to Jesus’ return will be caught unexpectedly, having ignored God’s call to salvation.

Christ said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (Matthew 24:36). Though we do not know that day or hour, we do know with certainty it is only one event on one day and at one hour, not two events.

Jesus goes on to explain, “Know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into” (verse 43). We do not know the day of Jesus’ coming. There is no calculated mid-tribulation time prophecy that we can count on. The best advice is from Christ who said, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (verse 44).

Don’t count on futurism or Darbyism as a second escape route out of being prepared for Christ’s return. Watch and always be ready!

A Little Light Reading.
Three Unclean Spirit's

Joe Crews.

The book of Revelation is different
from any other part of the Bible. As a
prophetic history of the church of all the
ages, it is quite largely a book of quotes.
Someone has calculated that out of 404
verses, 276 are either directly quoted or
paraphrased from the Old Testament
Scriptures. It seems clearly evident that
no one can properly understand this last
book of the inspired canon unless he also
has a close familiarity with the writings
of Moses and the prophets.
This may account for the vast confu-
sion that exists today over the meaning
of John’s apocalyptic beasts and sym-
bolic horsemen. The so-called “New
By Joe Crews
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Testament” church bodies that view the
Old Testament as only fulfillments of
an antiquated past would certainly find
no relevance in the writings of John
the Revelator.
Paul wrote, “… all scripture is giv-
en by inspiration of God, and is profit-
able for doctrine, for reproof, for cor-
rection, for instruction in righteous-
ness” (2 Timothy 3:16). Since the New
Testament had not yet been written, we
can be certain that he was referring to the
Old Testament Scriptures. “For whatso-
ever things were written aforetime were
written for our learning,” Paul declared
in Romans 15:4.
These texts establish that the com-
posite prophecies of Revelation are espe-
cially applicable to our own day and were
inspired for our “doctrine,” “learning,”
and “instruction in righteousness.”
Just as the book of Genesis delineates
the beginning of the great controversy
between good and evil, the last book
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of the Bible describes the close of the
conflict. This makes it one of the most
important books in the sacred Scriptures.
It describes the kind of people God will
take to heaven and how they become
overcomers by the blood of the Lamb. It
warns, also, against the final assaults that
Satan will throw against the saints as the
battle rages to its climax. What a docu-
ment! And how the devil hates this book
that exposes his origin, devices, and
final destiny!
Can we logically expect Satan to at-
tack these prophecies which lay open his
deceptive plans and purposes? How has
he done it? By introducing futurism, the
adversary has struck a blow at the foun-
dation of prophetic understanding. The
biblical principle of historicism that es-
tablishes a “day for a year” has been re-
jected, and an unwarranted literalism has
been applied to the great lines of proph-
ecy laid out in Daniel and Revelation.
Specifically, this type of confused
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hermeneutics has been utilized in the
study of Armageddon and the king of the
north. The symbolic portrayal of those
events from the pen of the Revelator pro-
vides a key for correcting the error.
“And the sixth angel poured out his
vial upon the great river Euphrates; and
the water thereof was dried up, that the
way of the kings of the east might be
prepared. And I saw three unclean spir-
its like frogs come out of the mouth of
the dragon, and out of the mouth of the
beast, and out of the mouth of the false
prophet. For they are the spirits of dev-
ils, working miracles, which go forth
unto the kings of the earth and of the
whole world, to gather them to the bat-
tle of that great day of God Almighty.
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he
that watcheth, and keepeth his garments,
lest he walk naked, and they see his
shame. And he gathered them together
into a place called in the Hebrew tongue
Armageddon” (Revelation 16:12–16).
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Armageddon—A Spiritual Battle
This is probably the key text in the
Bible relating to the great world-end-
ing struggle between Christ and Satan.
Immediately, we can see that many sym-
bols are brought to light in these verses.
The beast, and dragon, and false prophet
are not literal at all. And what can we say
about the clothes described in verse 15?
Why would this peculiar interruption
take place in the midst of a description of
Armageddon? These clothes are the gar-
ments of salvation and refer directly to
the “fine linen” of that robe of righteous-
ness described in Revelation 19:8.
From these verses also we notice that
the coming of Jesus “as a thief ’ is related
to the drying up of the river Euphrates
and the appearing of the “kings of the
east.” And even the Battle of Armageddon
is tied to these events. Do these phrases
sound familiar? They should, because
the same language is used in Isaiah 44:27
to describe the fall of ancient Babylon.
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Cyrus actually “dried up” the Euphrates
River and thus delivered the literal Jews
from Babylonian captivity. After refer-
ring to Cyrus as “the righteous man from
the east” in Isaiah 41:2, Isaiah speaks of
him as one who would “dry up thy riv-
ers” and “open … the two leaved gates”
(Isaiah 44:27, 28; 45:1).
Historians recognize these as refer-
ences to the clever battle plan of King
Cyrus to enter the city via the water gates
through the wall, after the water had been
diverted from its channel. Since the river
flowed through the midst of Babylon,
this ruse was a perfect means of access
into the city while the drunken king par-
tied with his military leaders.
Why is Revelation predicting a future
drying up of Euphrates and an end-time
deliverance of God’s people? Hasn’t this
all been fulfilled in the days of Daniel
the prophet? It has in its primary literal
fulfillment, but John reveals that there
is a secondary, symbolic application of
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those events. In the historical account,
the literal Jews were freed from the literal
Babylonians, but the book of Revelation
pictures a spiritual Israel being saved
from spiritual Babylon. Both rescues are
made possible through the drying up of
the Euphrates River, and both are accom-
plished by kings of the east.
Here we encounter an important
principle of prophetic interpretation. The
immediate fulfillment is always literal and
local, while the future prophetic fulfill-
ment is always spiritual and worldwide.
Thus, God’s people in one instance are
the nation of Israel, and in the later case
are His faithful people of all nations and
races; in other words, two Israels—one
physical in the book of Daniel, and the
other spiritual in the book of Revelation.
Two drying ups—one literally in the past,
and one symbolically in the future.
This leads us to the conclusion that
the battle of Armageddon, as portrayed
in Revelation, is not a literal battle
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between East and West, but the spiritual
climax of the 6,000-year conflict between
Christ and Satan. Here the great adver-
sary is symbolized as making a final at-
tack against the people of God to destroy
them. Using a combination of earthly
powers he will influence world govern-
ments to unite in a program to wipe out
those who refuse to receive his mark of
authority. Those who stand loyal to God’s
law in the face of overwhelming opposi-
tion will finally be condemned to death.
This is what Armageddon is all about.
John tells us that water represents
people. “The waters which thou sawest
… are peoples, and multitudes, and na-
tions, and tongues” (Revelation 17:15).
The harlot woman who sits on the “many
waters” is identified as the apostate reli-
gious system. Drying up of the water rep-
resents the drying up of support by those
multitudes that had been deluded by the
woman and her spiritual daughters. The
Bible declares that they “shall hate the
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whore, and shall make her desolate …
and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with
fire” (Revelation 17:16). Unfortunately,
that awakening will come too late to re-
verse the fate of those who will have al-
ready been sealed in apostasy and error.
But who are the “kings of the east” in
Revelation whose coming is preceded by
these dramatic events? Whatever is sym-
bolized here must follow on the heels of
the three unclean spirits gathering the
whole world to the Battle of Armageddon.
Cyrus, king of the east, brought deliver-
ance to Israel in the Old Testament, but
who are the kings of the east in the book
of Revelation who will save spiritual Israel
from the wrath of spiritual Babylon?
The Scriptures describe only one
rescue operation from the east after that
final gathering of the nations. “For as
the lightening cometh out of the east,
and shineth even unto the west; so shall
also the coming of the Son of man be”
(Matthew 24:27). It is from that same
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direction that the sealing angel ascends
to mark the saints for their deliverance.
“And I saw another angel ascending from
the east, having the seal of the living
God” (Revelation 7:2).
The prophet Ezekiel identifies the
east as God’s special place of abode and
operation. “And, behold, the glory of the
God of Israel came from the way of the
east” (Ezekiel 43:2). These verses leave
no doubt that the kings of the east sym-
bolize the glorious intervention of Jesus
and the armies of heaven in dealing with
the warring factions of this earth. We
note once more the inspired account of
the opposing forces that will clash in this
last encounter between good and evil.
Revelation 16:12 speaks of the “kings
of the east” and verse 14 describes the
other side as “the kings of the earth.”
What a contest! The great controversy
reaches its final stages in this cosmic
involvement of every soul who lives on
planet earth.
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What circumstances lead up to the
gathering of all nations to this apocalyp-
tic Armageddon? John gives a graphic
account of it: “And I saw three unclean
spirits like frogs come out of the mouth
of the dragon, and out of the mouth of
the beast, and out of the mouth of the
false prophet. For they are the spirits
of devils, working miracles, which go
forth unto the kings of the earth and of
the whole world, to gather them to the
battle of that great day of God Almighty.
… And he gathered them together into
a place called in the Hebrew tongue
Armageddon” (Revelation 16:13–16).
Three Spirits Like Frogs
Now we are prepared to identify the
three major actors who will set the
stage for this end-time holocaust. Time
does not allow us to give the prophetic
and historical background on each of the
miracle-working trio who influence the
earthly rulers to war against God. Suffice
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it to say that all three—the beast, drag-
on, and false prophet—are portrayed as
being used by demonic power in their
gathering of nations to the battle of
Armageddon.
From the days of Martin Luther to
the present, Bible commentators have
recognized the papacy as the fulfillment
of the score of biblical tests relating to the
beast power. It was to rise among the na-
tions of Western Europe, uprooting three
tribes, speaking blasphemy, persecuting
all opponents, ruling for 1,260 years, and
finally receiving a deadly wound.
Only the papal system fulfills all of
those characteristics so clearly delin-
eated in both Daniel and Revelation.
The deadly wound was given in 1798,
at the end of an exact political reign
of 1,260 years, and the pope was taken
prisoner by French Revolutionary forc-
es dispatched by Napoleon Bonaparte.
This makes it clear that the modern pa-
pacy will indeed be one of the powerful
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catalysts that will bring on the ultimate
threat against the remnant of the seed of
the woman (Revelation 12:17).
The second force in the preparation
for Armageddon will be the dragon.
This is the symbol of satanic power in its
most virulent and confrontational form.
Certainly this would include every as-
pect of pagan worship, but specifically, it
would also relate to the more respected
elements of occultism, Spiritualism, and
New Age, which have been adopted by
many Christians today.
None can deny that churches of
various persuasions have embraced the
doctrine of the natural immortality of
the soul, the very root and foundation
of all attempts to communicate with
the dead. Such a belief opens the door
for almost every form of modern New
Age deception, including Spiritualism
and the mind sciences. Thus, a strong
sympathetic chain has been forged be-
tween Christianity and paganism. Such
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a federation will be one of the major
influences in stirring up the kings of
the earth to battle against the remnant
of the woman, and finally, against the
armies of heaven. “And the dragon was
wroth with the woman, and went to
make war with the remnant of her seed,
which keep the commandments of God,
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ”
(Revelation 12:17).
The third symbolic power that will
prepare the world for the battle of that
great day is described as the false prophet.
He, like the others, causes miracles to be
performed in order to effect a gathering
of the nations to that last battle between
Christ and Satan. Who is this false proph-
et? We find a clue in Revelation 19 that
describes the disastrous outcome of the
battle for the enemies of Christ. “And the
beast was taken, and with him the false
prophet that wrought miracles before him,
with which he deceived them that had re-
ceived the mark of the beast” (v. 20).
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This text describes how the false
prophet works miracles in relation to
those who receive the mark of the beast.
Does the Bible identify the one who car-
ries out these counterfeit miracles? In
Revelation 13 we read, “And I beheld an-
other beast coming up out of the earth;
and he had two horns like a lamb, and
he spake as a dragon. … And he doeth
great wonders, so that he maketh fire
come down from heaven on the earth
in the sight of men, And deceiveth them
that dwell on the earth by means of those
miracles which he had power to do in
the sight of the beast. … And he causeth
all, both small and great, … to receive a
mark in their right hand, or in their fore-
heads” (vs. 11–16).
By putting these verses together
we discover that the second beast of
Revelation 13 is the false prophet who
also works miracles and causes all to re-
ceive the mark. Even the nature of the
miracles is detailed by John: “he maketh
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fire come down from heaven on the earth
in the sight of men” (v. 13). The descrip-
tion of this second beast establishes be-
yond question that the prophet is talk-
ing about Protestant America in its rise
to world dominance. Note the signifi-
cant reference to “coming up” as the first
beast received its deadly wound. Was the
United States rising to power in the very
year the papacy went down? Indeed, in
1798 America was first recognized as
a world power—the very year of the
papal wound.
Contrary to the first beast rising out
of the water, representing many peo-
ple, the two-horned second beast came
up out of the earth, signifying a place
of no former civilization and peoples
(Revelation 13:11).
The absence of crowns on its two
horns also indicates a peaceful democ-
racy in contrast to the crowns on the
horns of the first beast that symbolized
monarchies or dictatorships. It is also
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interesting to note, in passing, that the
miracles had to do with bringing fire
from heaven. John added that the work
of the false prophet was like frogs, going
forth to deceive.
Frogs capture their prey with their
tongues, and the false prophet bring-
ing fire down from heaven sounds
very much like a counterfeit Pentecost.
These symbols may well indicate how
pseudo-Christian concepts will form
a link between paganism and apostate
Protestantism. The false prophet, instead
of representing the United States as a po-
litical entity only, would extend to the
“image of the beast” and portray fallen,
compromised Protestantism doing the
work of the first beast, or Catholicism.
Church and State Unite
There is no question but that Satan
has woven an age-long network pat-
tern of pagan infiltration in both govern-
ment and religion. It has been done so
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cleverly, over the ages, that few recognize
how much common ground now exists
in these powerful institutions. Sunday,
the ancient day of licentious sun wor-
ship for every heathen culture, has been
so artfully sanitized that it is now the ac-
cepted substitute for the biblical seventh-
day Sabbath in both secular and reli-
gious settings. Incredibly, this has been
accomplished while both church and
state still give recognition to the moral
nature of the Ten Commandments that
declare unequivocally that “the seventh
day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God”
(Exodus 20:10).
Consider the ease with which gov-
ernment can now lend support to a rest
day which they themselves recognize by
closing up all official functions of their
own operation on Sunday. Repeatedly,
laws have been instituted and enforced to
make it a crime to violate the supposed
sanctity of a day dedicated originally to
satanic sun worship. Amazing? Indeed, it
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is the most incredible religious fraud of
the ages and one that only the prince of
evil could have perpetrated.
Then, we must marvel again at the
respectable status accorded to the New
Age movement whose tentacles have ex-
tended equally through both religious
and non-religious communities. Finally,
the devil has been able to effect a revival
of his most primitive approach to the
human race. Through a variety of mod-
ern titles and high-sounding techniques,
Satan is channeling his evil principles
directly into the minds of millions today
who cannot recognize that they are actu-
ally learning to worship Satan. All who
subscribe to the pagan concept of a natu-
rally immortal soul are vulnerable to the
New Age appeal to communicate with
these supposed “Spirit Masters.”
Charismatic worshippers who have
been conditioned by emotional and sen-
sory manifestations stand in the great-
est danger of being deceived by the New
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Age and Spiritualism appeal. Those who
trust feeling as a valid test of true reli-
gion do not easily discern counterfeit
gifts. Prophecy indicates that a counter-
feit “tongues” could be one aspect of the
three-fold preparation for the final de-
ception.
Coming back to the words of the
prophet, we now see the tri-lateral ap-
proach that Satan will make to the kings
of the earth to prepare them for their
part in Armageddon. Every effort will
be made by our great enemy to unite
secular and religious powers to de-
stroy the little remnant people which
“keep the commandments of God and
have the testimony of Jesus Christ”
(Revelation 12:17).
Satan’s wrath is especially aimed
against the law of God. He hates it be-
cause it constitutes the foundation of
God’s government. He despises the saints
who are repeatedly described in the book
of Revelation as those who “keep the
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commandments of God” (Revelation
14:12; 12:17; 22:14).
Thus far we have discovered that the
common ground of Spiritualism (im-
mortal soul), counterfeit tongues, and
New Age errors will cement an end-time
alliance between apostate Protestantism,
Catholicism, and secular governments—
an alliance which will unite them against
the unpopular minority who refuse
the mark of the beast. Under the influ-
ence of this confederation the nations of
the earth, following the example of the
United States, will be led to issue a death
decree against all who will not receive
that mark.
Counterfeit Miracles and
the Kings of the Earth
I
t is interesting, at this point, to ob-
serve how this grand objective of
unified action will be accomplished by
these diverse political and religious en-
tities. Some have held that they will be
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drawn together by economic necessity,
as related world finances experience si-
multaneous collapse. Without discount-
ing this and other possible factors, we
must recognize that the prophecy itself
plainly bears witness to the primary role
of demonic miracles as the basic bond-
ing force pulling the nations together for
the final action against God’s people and
His government. In other words, it seems
less political than it does spiritual from
the biblical viewpoint.
Right now we can only speculate
about the nature of those signs and
wonders that Satan will use to impress
the kings of the earth. With the rising
influence of Spiritualism in many reli-
gious bodies and the growing emphasis
on miracles and emotional feeling as
the criteria of truth, we can expect some
grandiose display of demonic power that
will capture the attention and interest of
every country in the world. We know
that the great deceiver will impersonate
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the coming of Jesus in some spectacular
manner, and no one should doubt that
such miraculous displays could make
intellectual believers and cooperators
out of Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists,
Communists, or any other strain of na-
tional or religious identity.
And don’t discount the providen-
tial influences that will be operating on
the other side—God’s side—to prepare
for the final events of the great contro-
versy. Even though Satan is the tempo-
rary prince of this world, God still has
oversight of the rise and fall of nations.
A divine destiny is even now influenc-
ing the political processes and pressures
in which certain relationships are being
established between countries.
The most atheistic observers have
counted the rapid fall of international
communism as an incredible develop-
ment very close to a miracle. And almost
everyone describes the lightning victory of
the allied forces over Saddam Hussein as
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an unbelievable, impossible accomplish-
ment. How could such a war be fought
with so few casualties on one side? Yet in
each of these recent cataclysmic actions—
the fall of communism and the United
States victory over Iraq—the results have
been to place America in a center-stage
position of influence over all the other na-
tions. This is exactly what is demanded by
the prophecy of Revelation 13. This coun-
try will “deceive them that dwell on the
earth … And he causeth all, both small
and great, rich and poor, free and bond,
to receive a mark in their right hand, or
in their foreheads” (Revelation 13:14–16).
Another shocking activity of the sec-
ond beast of Revelation 13 apparently is
produced after it loses its lamblike qual-
ity and begins to speak as a dragon. John
wrote, “And he exerciseth all the power
of the first beast before him, and causeth
the earth and them which dwell therein
to worship the first beast, whose deadly
wound was healed” (Revelation 13:12).
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As we have already discovered, the
deadly wound was given to the papacy in
1798, and it has been in the process of
healing since 1929 when the Vatican was
established as a political state once again.
According to this prophecy, the United
States will begin to exercise a similar reli-
gious intolerance as the Catholic Church
and will use her influence to cause peo-
ple allover the world to give spiritual al-
legiance to that church.
If this scenario seemed far-fetched
and unlikely at some time in the past, it
certainly is not that way today. The grow-
ing political influence of Pope John Paul II
in world affairs is a phenomenon of the
very recent past. The United States has
appointed an official representative to
the head of that church state, and some
amazing concessions have been made to
accommodate the pope in his pilgrimage
visits to this and other countries.
A very significant statement ap-
peared in the August 13, 1990, issue of
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U.S. News and World Report magazine.
“Pope John Paul II discusses world af-
fairs on the telephone with George Bush
and Mikhail Gorbachev at least once a
week, according to Professor Malachi
Martin, a Roman Catholic theologian
and Vatican insider. … Martin says
the Pope offers the President informed
analyses prepared by the Vatican’s intel-
ligence network about developments in
Eastern Europe and his personal assess-
ments of the new leaders there as well as
in the Soviet Union.”
Such an unseemly alliance between
papal churchmen and the heads of na-
tions is certainly a violation of the tra-
ditional American concept of separa-
tion of church and state. But it fits in
perfectly with the prophetic scenario of
final events. Many students of proph-
ecy found it difficult to believe that
Catholicism could ever regain her pow-
erful political clout after the “deadly
wound” experience of the eighteenth
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century. It was felt that Communist
totalitarianism would always be around
to limit the expansionistic aims of the pa-
pacy. The two giant opposing forces were
perceived as a necessary balance against
each other so that neither could gain
authoritarian superiority.
Now all that has changed. It is gen-
erally recognized that the Pope played a
significant role in the collapse of interna-
tional communism. The recent book The
Keys of This Blood, written just before the
iron curtain began its rapid dissolution,
describes the obsessive determination
of the present Pope to bring the entire
world order under the spiritual domina-
tion of the so-called Holy See of Rome.
The author describes the concentrated
focus of the papal attack on the com-
munistic system, long recognized as the
greatest obstacle to the Church’s goal.
If time allowed, we could study the
prophecy of Daniel 11 where the pre-
cise victory of the king of the North
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(Catholicism) over the king of the South
(Atheistic communism) is clearly pre-
dicted. For three tense, dramatic days in
August 1991, the world held its breath as
the Russian coup appeared to reverse the
prophetic agenda for the little time re-
maining. Now, the road seems to be wide
open for the Catholic power to fulfill its
particular role, along with the dragon
and the false prophet.
Beginning with verse 40, we read
the account of a mighty struggle tak-
ing place at the time of the end between
these two contending forces. The iden-
tity of these symbolic kings can be es-
tablished by comparing a few texts. In
Isaiah 30:6, 7 the land of Egypt is identified
as “of the south.” John the Revelator re-
fers to France’s period of atheism around
1798 as that “which spiritually is called
Sodom and Egypt” (Revelation 11:8).
Thus, we find the land of the Pharaohs
connected to atheism. Indeed, it was the
king of Egypt who made the proud boast,
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“Who is the Lord, that I should obey his
voice?” (Exodus 5:2).
As Daniel describes the continuing
conflict between the king of the north
and king of the south, we are made aware
that his symbol of Egypt has come to rep-
resent not just the arrogant spirit of that
large country south of Israel but last-day
atheism in whatever form it is manifest.
Communism is the virulent form that
atheism has assumed for the past many
years, and much of Daniel 11 is describing
the life and death clash of communism
with its great foe, the king of the north.
But who is this antagonist from the
north who finally gains the ascendancy
over the powers of atheism? Here are some
texts that show beyond question that the
primary application of this symbol was to
Babylon. “Toward the north by the river
Euphrates,” “in the north country by the
river Euphrates,” “all the families of the
north … and Nebuchadnezzar the king
of Babylon” (Jeremiah 46:6; 46:10; 25:9).
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The literal city of Babylon was built
right over the Euphrates River, but there
is another future, spiritual applica-
tion of Babylon revealed in the book of
Revelation. The very last part of Daniel
11 also deals with the symbolic king of
the north, or spiritual Babylon. Many
phrases in this chapter give positive evi-
dence that this power is the papacy. For
instance: it shall “pollute the sanctuary,”
“take away the daily sacrifice,” “magnify
himself above all,” and “corrupt with flat-
teries” (Daniel 11:31, 32).
Now consider the high drama of this
prediction in Daniel 11:40. “And at the
time of the end shall the king of the south
push at him: and the king of the north
shall come against him like a whirlwind,
… and he shall enter into the countries,
and shall overflow and pass over.”
How significant it is that Newsweek
magazine on December 25, 1989, trum-
peted the news of the fall of communism
in these words, “Days of the Whirlwind.”
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Commentary after commentary gave
credit to the Pope for bringing down
Gorbachev and the iron grip of atheism
on Eastern Europe. The prophecy said it
would be “like a whirlwind” and that is
exactly how the media reported it.
Bible students have long debated how
the whole world could be influenced to
wonder after the beast, and also how the
kings of the earth could be drawn into
that final encounter between good and
evil. Now we can see how the greatest
barrier has been removed, and the three
unclean spirits are working through the
beast, dragon, and false prophet to in-
volve every soul in that “battle of the
great day of God.”
What an age to be alive! Excitement
mounts as we ride the crest of towering
events that sweep us toward the grand cli-
max of history—the coming of Jesus. We
need to be constantly aware of the fast-
breaking signs that point to His return,
but our preparation for that moment
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in time involves more than knowledge.
Only the pure in heart will see God and
live in His presence. A total commitment
of heart, mind, and body is the greatest
need of every living soul.
While the angels of Revelation hold
the four winds of strife from blowing on
the earth, and the glory of God gathers
in the eastern skies, a final invitation is
beginning to confront every man, wom-
an, and child on this crumbling planet.
“Come out of her, my people” is the call
of the hour. God is gathering His faith-
ful ones, who love Him supremely, to
Mount Zion, the place of safety and
salvation. The three unclean spirits are
gathering the forces of apostate religion
and compromising governments to the
great day of battle. Today we stand in the valley of decision.

THE ADVENT TRUTH.
John MacArthur taught that the Antichrist will arise from Islam. That claim may sound compelling in a post-9/11 world, but biblically and historically, it collapses under scrutiny.

Islam did not arise out of the Roman Church, does not sit in the temple of God claiming divine authority, does not change God’s law, and does not fulfill the prophetic markers laid out in Daniel 7, Daniel 8, 2 Thessalonians 2, or Revelation 13. The Antichrist power is not merely hostile to Christianity—it claims to be Christian while replacing Christ’s authority.

This is where the Islamic Antichrist theory fails. Scripture identifies the Antichrist as a religious-political power arising out of Rome, speaking great words against the Most High, persecuting the saints, and attempting to change times and laws (Daniel 7:25). Islam never fits that profile. The Papacy does.

This wasn’t a fringe view. It was the unanimous position of the Protestant Reformers.

Martin Luther wrote:

“I am convinced that the papacy is the Antichrist.”

John Calvin stated:

“We call the Roman pontiff Antichrist… because he arrogates to himself what belongs to Christ alone.”

Even the Westminster Confession (1646) declared:

“The Pope of Rome… is that Antichrist, that man of sin.”

For nearly 300 years of Protestant history, this identification was settled. Only in modern times—largely through Jesuit counter-reformation futurism—was the focus shifted away from the Papacy and redirected toward Islam, atheism, or a future political boogeyman.

Islam is a false religion, yes—but it is not the Antichrist of Bible prophecy. The Antichrist arises from within Christendom, masquerading as Christ’s representative while undermining His law, His priesthood, and His mediatorial work.

If you want the full biblical breakdown, watch my pinned videos and read the in-depth studies on my website where I walk through Daniel, Revelation, church history, and the Reformers step by step.

LET'S TALK ABOUT IT.
For centuries, the dominant Protestant understanding of prophecy was Historicism.

This was the prophetic lens used by the Reformers — men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, William Tyndale, and many others.

Historicism teaches that Daniel and Revelation unfold progressively across the course of Christian history. The kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome are not isolated symbols — they form a continuous prophetic timeline that stretches into the Christian era.

Through this framework, the Reformers identified the Papal system as the prophetic “little horn” of Daniel 7 and the sea beast of Revelation 13 — the Antichrist power operating within history.

This was not a marginal opinion. It was the mainstream Protestant position.

And it was precisely this identification that placed the Papacy under intense prophetic scrutiny during the Reformation.

In response, alternative interpretive models emerged during the Counter-Reformation — pushing the Antichrist either into the distant future (Futurism) or entirely into the distant past (Preterism).

Both approaches remove the Papacy from the prophetic spotlight.

Historicism does not.

It presents prophecy as God’s unfolding warning through history — identifying powers clearly and preparing believers for what lies ahead.

The question is simple:

Will we interpret prophecy through the lens of the Reformers — or through systems developed after they had already identified Rome as the Antichrist?

A NUGGET OF TRUTH.
WHO ARE THE TRUE PEOPLE OF GOD?
(A Lengthy Biblical And Historical Investigation).

In an age where rhetoric and emotions often determine people's beliefs, one of the most countercultural things that anyone can do is to objectively look at the evidence, regardless of how it makes them feel. It is also important to remember that things are not often what they seem, that history is not always what we have been told, and that the truth will always be hated by the world. Today, we must abandon political correctness and oversensitivity to learn the truth about one of the most consequential questions of our time: Who are God's chosen people?

Many believe that the Jews are God's chosen people and that God intends to bless the Jews and the state of Israel at some point in the future because He obligated Himself to do so with Abraham. One reason people think this makes sense is that they believe today's Jews are direct descendants of Abraham. Many Christians even believe that the Zionist state of Israel and anyone calling themselves a Jew today have a special place in God's heart, and therefore we as non-Jews need to bless and honor these people more than others, lest God curse us or withhold His blessings. These and many similar attitudes must be tested thoroughly with Scripture and with history. After all, when the devil tempted Christ in the desert, he did so by twisting God's word to suit his agenda. This is why we must exercise discernment and test all things.

To understand who God's chosen people truly are, we must begin with Abraham. The Jewish Almanac of 1980 makes a critical observation: strictly speaking, it is incorrect to call an ancient Israelite a Jew or to call a contemporary Jew an Israelite or a Hebrew. The word "Jew" originates from one of the tribes of Israel named Judah, and the term refers to people who lived in or were from Judah, the territory that the tribe of Judah received as their inheritance. This means that those before the territory of Judah was created were not Jews. Moses was not a Jew, nor was Jacob, Isaac, or Abraham. Abraham was a Hebrew, a descendant of Eber, and he was promised to be the father of many nations, not just one nation or group of people.

This distinction is vital because it reveals that God's covenant with Abraham was never intended to be limited to a single ethnic lineage. A careful examination of the biblical record shows that from the very beginning, God intended His covenant community to be inclusive, based on faith rather than bloodline. Abraham's household was large, numbering well over a thousand people, and he taught all within his household, regardless of their origin, to follow the Lord. The direct physical descendants of Jacob who entered Egypt numbered only seventy, yet at the Exodus, Israel numbered over two million people. This astonishing growth cannot be explained by biological reproduction alone. The Scriptures record that a "mixed multitude" went up with Israel out of Egypt, and these foreigners were fully integrated into the covenant community, partaking equally of God's promises.

Throughout Israel's history, this pattern continued. Joseph married an Egyptian, Moses married a Midianite, Caleb was a Kenizzite, Rahab was a Canaanite, Ruth was a Moabite, and Uriah was a Hittite. These individuals were not biological descendants of Abraham, yet they were counted among God's people because they joined themselves to the Lord in faith. King David himself was only partially Israelite by ancestry, being descended from Ruth the Moabite. In the time of Esther, we read that "many of the people of the land became Jews," indicating that conversion and incorporation into the covenant community was a regular occurrence.

This understanding transforms our perspective on what it meant to be part of Israel. In God's eyes, true membership in Israel depended not on ancestry but on faith. The Apostle Paul acknowledges this when he points out that out of the whole nation of Israel during the time of Ahab, only seven thousand had remained faithful to God, and it was they who constituted the true Israel. Biblically, Israel was a spiritual community to which people were added or removed with no consideration of ancestry or race.

As we move through biblical history, the term "Jew" becomes increasingly complex. After the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they eventually formed two kingdoms: Israel in the north, composed of ten tribes, and Judah in the south, composed of Benjamin and Judah. The people of the northern kingdom were Israelites, not Jews, and many of the most prominent figures in Scripture came from these non-Jewish tribes. Samson was from Dan, Deborah from Ephraim, Gideon from Manasseh, Elijah from Gad or Manasseh, Joshua and Samuel from Ephraim, and Moses and Aaron from Levi. All of these biblical heroes were Israelites, not Jews.

When the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom in 722 BC, the ten tribes were dispersed and assimilated among the nations, effectively ceasing to exist as a distinct people. The southern kingdom of Judah survived for another century and a half before being conquered by the Babylonians. After the Babylonian exile, a remnant returned to the land, but by this time, the territory had been occupied by various pagan tribes, including the Edomites. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother, and had a long history of hostility toward Israel. They had allied with Nebuchadnezzar during the Babylonian invasion and rejoiced at Jerusalem's destruction.

A critical development occurred in the second century BC when the Hasmonean dynasty, led by John Hyrcanus, forcibly converted the entire Edomite nation to Judaism. This was the only case of forced conversion in Jewish history, and it brought into the Jewish community a people who were not only not descended from Judah but who were traditionally enemies of Israel. The Edomites became fully integrated into Jewish society, and from them came the notorious Herodian dynasty that ruled Judea at the time of Christ.

By the time of Jesus, therefore, those who called themselves Jews were a complex mixture of genuine descendants of Judah, descendants of the other tribes who had survived, and large numbers of converts from various pagan nations, including the Edomites. This historical reality explains why the Gospel of John often distinguishes between "the Jews" who opposed Jesus and the faithful remnant who followed Him. It also explains why the Apostle Paul identifies himself as a Hebrew and an Israelite rather than simply as a Jew.

The complexity only increases when we consider developments after the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70. Following the failed Jewish revolts against Rome, the Jewish population was scattered, and all records of genealogies were destroyed. Today, it is impossible to reliably trace ancestry back to the biblical Israelites or even to the tribe of Judah.

One of the most significant events in this regard was the conversion of the Khazar kingdom to Judaism in the eighth century AD. The Khazars were a Turkic people who ruled a large territory in what is now eastern Ukraine and southwestern Russia. Their conversion to Judaism was a political decision, and the entire ruling elite and many of their subjects adopted the Jewish religion. When the Khazar empire was destroyed, its people dispersed throughout Eastern Europe, and their descendants became a significant portion of what is now known as Ashkenazi Jewry.

While some scholars debate the extent of Khazar ancestry among modern Jews, the historical fact remains that a large-scale conversion of a non-Semitic people to Judaism occurred, and these converts and their descendants became part of the Jewish community. This means that many people who call themselves Jews today have no biological connection to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but are rather descendants of Turkic converts.

Many argue that the Jews are still God's chosen people because God owes them the land He promised thousands of years ago to Abraham. But careful study reveals two significant problems with this argument. First, Abraham was not a Jew, nor were Isaac or Jacob. God made the promise to the Hebrews who eventually became the Israelites, not to the Jews. Second, these land promises were fulfilled long ago.

The biblical record is explicit on this point. In Joshua 21:43-45, we read that "the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and not one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass". During the reign of Solomon, the boundaries of his empire matched exactly the area of land described by God to Abraham in Genesis 15:18-21. The land promise was fulfilled in its entirety.

The covenant of land was conditional upon obedience, as God had made clear from the beginning. Because the Israelites repeatedly rebelled, intermarried with pagans, and abandoned God's laws, they lost the land. God's judgment was just, but it did not nullify His promises. The greatest blessing God promised Abraham that through him all nations would be blessed, was fulfilled in Christ through the gospel, and this is why the Church, not any ethnic group, is the true body of chosen people.

The prophecy of Daniel 9 provides a clear timeline for when Israel's role as God's chosen nation was to be fulfilled. The prophecy states that "seventy weeks are determined upon thy people," referring to Israel, not Judah alone. These weeks represent years, giving a total of 490 years during which God's purposes for Israel as a nation would be accomplished.

Historical and archaeological evidence aligns this prophecy precisely with the coming of Jesus Christ. The starting point was the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, which is generally understood to be the decree of Artaxerxes in 445 BC authorizing Nehemiah to rebuild the city walls. From this date, the prophecy of sixty-nine weeks (483 years) leads directly to the time when the Messiah would appear.

The seventy weeks conclude with the cutting off of the Messiah and the subsequent destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. The critical turning point comes in AD 34, when Stephen was stoned and the apostles were dispersed from Jerusalem to spread the gospel to the nations. Shortly afterward, Paul was converted and Peter received his vision about the Gentiles. The time for the Old Testament system had passed, and with it, the special status of physical Israel as God's chosen nation had come to an end.

One of the most remarkable pieces of evidence that the Jews were not God's chosen people after the time of Christ comes from their own rabbinic literature. The Talmud records in Yoma 39b that for forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the signs that the Jews had relied upon for centuries to confirm God's forgiveness of their sins no longer occurred. The lot that should have come up in the High Priest's right hand did not, the crimson wool that should have turned white remained red, and the western lamp of the candelabrum would not stay lit.

Counting inclusively, forty years before the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 brings us to AD 31, the exact year that Jesus was crucified. For forty years, God was giving the Jews a clear message that their sacrifices were no longer accepted because the true Sacrifice had been offered. In the spirit of their fathers, most of the Jews remained stiff-necked and were judged in AD 70 when the Temple was destroyed. The Temple was not rebuilt because there was no more need for it. The time for physical Israel as an outward demonstration of God's electing purpose had come to an end.

Zionism, the political movement that led to the creation of the modern state of Israel, was not a religious movement but a secular, nationalist one. It emerged in Europe in the late nineteenth century, spearheaded by Theodor Herzl, an atheist or agnostic Jew. Herzl's vision was not for a religious state governed by biblical law, but for a secular Jewish state that would serve as a haven for Jews from persecution.

This secular origin is significant because it demonstrates that Zionism was not a fulfillment of biblical prophecy but a political project. Herzl himself had little interest in the religious aspects of Judaism and was primarily concerned with nationalism and state-building. The state that was eventually established in 1948 was similarly secular in character, with its founders being largely atheist or agnostic.

The creation of the state of Israel was not the result of divine intervention but of political maneuvering. The Balfour Declaration of 1917, the British Mandate, the support of the Rothschild banking family, and the geopolitical interests of Western powers all played crucial roles. The transfer of large numbers of Jews to Palestine was facilitated by agreements with Hitler's Germany, which sought to deport Jews from Europe rather than see them remain.

The New Testament reveals that the Old Testament system of physical Israel was a type and shadow of a greater spiritual reality. The tabernacle, the priesthood, the sacrifices, and the nation of Israel itself were all foreshadowing the coming of Christ and the establishment of His church. When Christ came, He fulfilled what these types had pointed toward, and the physical reality gave way to the spiritual.

This is why the Apostle Paul writes that not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and that the true children of God are the children of the promise. In Galatians 3:16, Paul explains that the promises made to Abraham were made to his offspring singular, who is Christ. If we are in Christ, then we are Abraham's offspring and heirs according to the promise. There is no promise to anyone who is outside of Christ.

In Romans 4:11-12, Paul writes that the covenant of circumcision with Abraham was made so that those in the future who would not be circumcised could be counted as righteous by faith as children of Abraham. This is the New Covenant announced in Jeremiah 31:31-34, where God promised to write His law on hearts rather than on tablets of stone. This covenant is not determined by fleshly lineage but exclusively by the work of God to give people a new heart.

The Apostle Peter appropriates the language of the chosen people when he writes to believers: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" (1 Peter 2:9). This language, originally used of Israel in Exodus 19:5-6, is now applied to the church, the body of believers from every tribe and nation. Paul calls this new spiritual reality "the Israel of God" in Galatians 6:16.

What then does it mean to be chosen by God? The New Testament reveals that God's electing purpose has always been sovereign and unconditional. Jesus said that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws them, and that all whom the Father gives to Him will come to Him. This electing purpose was established before the foundation of the world, based not on human merit or effort but on God's own will and pleasure.

The true people of God are not those who can trace their physical lineage to Abraham, but those who have been given new hearts and new spirits by God, who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and who place their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This group includes people from every nation, tribe, and tongue, and it excludes anyone, regardless of their ancestry, who does not have faith in Christ.

This is not replacement theology, as it is often accused of being. The church did not replace Israel; rather, the church is the fulfillment of Israel. It is the spiritual reality that the physical Israel was designed to foreshadow. Just as Christ came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it, so the church is not a replacement for Israel but its fulfillment. Dispensationalism and Jewish-focused futurism are the true replacement theologies, for they replace the elect bride of Christ with a political state, replace the spiritual temple with a physical building, and replace the gospel of grace with identity politics based on ethnicity.

If the Jews of today are God's chosen people, one would expect them to exemplify the character that God desired for His set-apart people. Yet the evidence points in the opposite direction. Surveys indicate that Israel is among the least religious nations in the world, with a significant percentage of the population identifying as atheist. The founders of the Zionist movement and the early leaders of Israel were largely atheist or agnostic. David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, and many others who shaped the modern state had no interest in biblical religion.

The state of Israel has also become a center for cultural movements that are directly contrary to biblical values. Tel Aviv has been called the gay capital of the world, and the promotion of transgender ideology is prominent in Israeli society. The very symbol that the Zionist movement adopted to represent itself, the Star of David, is not of biblical origin but was a pagan occult symbol appropriated by Kabbalists in the sixteenth century. The biblical prophets condemned the Israelites for taking up the star of their pagan gods, yet this very symbol now represents the modern state.

If these are God's chosen people, they are a strange representation of His character. The true people of God, by contrast, are those who have been transformed by the Holy Spirit, who love God and keep His commandments, and who are being conformed to the image of Christ. They are not perfect, but they are being sanctified by the Spirit, and their lives bear witness to the power of the gospel.

Conclusion

The evidence from Scripture and history is clear. The people who live in the state of Israel today are not the biblical Jews, nor are they God's chosen people. The biblical Israelites were a covenant community defined by faith, not ethnicity, and they fulfilled their purpose when the Messiah was born and accomplished His work of redemption. The land promises to Abraham were fulfilled long ago, and the covenant with physical Israel ended with the coming of Christ and the establishment of the New Covenant.

The term "Jew" has undergone so many transformations over the centuries that it no longer refers to a people who can be reliably traced back to the tribe of Judah. Mass conversions, forced conversions, and the destruction of genealogical records have made it impossible to establish any certain connection between modern Jews and ancient Israelites. The Zionist movement was a secular political project, not a fulfillment of prophecy, and the state it created is a political entity like any other, with no special claim to divine favor.

God's chosen people today are those who have been chosen by Him before the foundation of the world and given to Christ, those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and placed their faith in Jesus, those who are being conformed to His image and are awaiting His return. They come from every nation, including Israel, but they are defined not by their physical ancestry but by their spiritual rebirth. They are the true Israel, the Israel of God, and to them belong the promises of Abraham, fulfilled in Christ and applied by the Spirit.

We must therefore reject the false narrative that the modern state of Israel or the people who call themselves Jews today have any special place in God's plan. This narrative is not supported by Scripture, is contradicted by history, and leads people away from the true gospel of grace. Instead, we must embrace the biblical teaching that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, but all are one, and that the true children of Abraham are those who share his faith, not those who share his blood. This is the truth that sets us free, and it is the truth that we must proclaim without compromise.

Gospel Angels Broadcasting

A NUGGET OF TRUTH.
THE ORIGIN OF THE SECRET RAPTURE DOCTRINE, IT CAME FROM THE PEN OF JESUITS, AND THE BIBLE PROOF THAT THE RAPTURE THEORY IS FALSE.

For almost 300 years after the Council of Trent, Jesuit futurism remained largely within Catholicism, but the plan of the Jesuits was that Protestants would adopt this doctrine. This adoption process actually began in the early 1800s in England, and from there it spread to America.

The story of how this happened is both fascinating and tragic because those who made futurism a mainstream Protestant doctrine were Protestants themselves. The Futurism of Ribera never posed a positive threat to Protestants worldwide for three centuries. It did stop the Reformation in Eastern Europe. However, largely, it was virtually confined to the Roman Church. But earlier in the nineteenth century it sprang forth with vehemence as it latched on to Protestants of the Established Church of England.

Origin of the Secret Rapture Doctrine

As the doctrine of futurism was spreading across Europe, the much-respected Scottish Presbyterian minister Edward Irving (1792-1834), the acknowledged forerunner of both the Pentecostal and charismatic movements, came onto the scene. Irving pastored the large Chalcedonian Chapel in London with over 1000 members.

When Irving turned to the prophecies, he eventually accepted the one-man Antichrist ideas of Todd, Maitland, Bellarmine, and Ribera. But Irving went a step further. Around 1830, Edward Irving began to teach the unique idea of a two-phase return of Christ, the first phase being a secret rapture prior to the rise of the Antichrist. This is how Protestants themselves worked to undermine the doctrines once held by the Reformers.

The dispensational view of the rapture is unBiblical, and gives those who reject God the false belief that they will have another chance to turn to God after God's people are raptured.
Some Christians believe that Christ will secretly steal away His church before the tribulation. Then after seven years of Antichrist ruling on earth, Christ will return with His saints to reign with them on earth for a thousand years. What does the Bible say about these things?

One of the main verses used to support these ideas include the following:

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

This passage reassures believers that because Christ rose from the dead, resurrection is certain for “the dead in Christ” (vs. 16). It also teaches the order of the “rapture”: the dead in Christ rise first, then we which are alive and remain will rise up to meet them in the clouds. So, the living saints will witness the opening of the graves and the resurrection of the sleeping saints. What a privilege it will be to be alive at that time!

However, the passage in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 presents a problem for those who believe in a secret rapture. Some think that unbelievers won’t know about this snatching away of God’s people, but, according to these verses, there’s nothing secret about it. These verses are not talking about a “secret rapture” at all, but rather about the one and only second coming of Christ when He takes His people home.

The Lord will “shout,” the “voice of the archangel” will be heard, and the trumpet of God will sound. The only way these verses can be made to be a silent event, is to assume something that Scripture does not say here or elsewhere. To assume that only God’s people will hear what the Bible describes as loud and audible is to read something into the verses that isn’t there. Some assume that unbelievers, by some miracle, will not hear these announcements from heaven. This is imposing a view upon the text, making it say something it is not saying. (See also Matt 24:31-32, John 5:28-29, 1 Cor 15:52, Ps 50:3, etc.) According to Scripture, the “secret” part of the rapture does not exist. We must let Scripture interpret Scripture.

Another idea is that, at the rapture, Jesus will come “as a thief in the night” and steal His people away. This idea is based on Paul’s words to Christians in Thessalonica.

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 1 Thess 5:1,2
Does this verse tell us that Jesus will come secretly as a thief to steal away the church? No. Paul is saying that we can know that Christ’s coming is near.

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 1 Thess 5:3

One of the signs of Christ’s coming would be when people think there’s peace and safety, and then, just as a pregnant woman suddenly goes into labor, there will be no stopping the last-day events (vs. 3). Then he says,

But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 1 Thess 5:4

In other words, Paul was warning the Thessalonian Christians that they should be alert and ready for Christ’s return. They should not be caught off guard as those who are unaware of the thief’s approach and are overtaken when he comes (vs. 4) and sudden destruction comes upon them (vs. 3).

Another problem with using the “thief in the night” scenario to describe the secret rapture is that those who use this analogy see Christ as the thief. They believe that His coming as a thief is a good thing. The trouble with this is, that nowhere in the Scriptures is a thief used in a positive light. When used as a figure or symbol, the coming of a thief is always bad news, never good news. (Job 24:14, Jer 2:26, Joel 2:9, Mt 24:43-44, Lk 12:39, John 10:1, 2 Pet 3:10, Rev 3:3, Rev 16:15)

Dispensationalism may create a false hope of a second chance for those who put off making a full commitment to Christ. Actually, some dispensationalists believe that the great multitude (Rev 7:9-14) will be made up of people who are saved during the great tribulation. Some believe the great multitude will be those who never had an opportunity to hear the true Gospel until it’s preached to them during the greatest revival of all time that will happen after the rapture. Some believe that after the rapture God will send 144 000 Jewish evangelists, the two miracle-working witnesses, and an angel from heaven to preach the Gospel and a great multitude will be saved. Some believe this, though there is no such precedent of supernatural evangelism anywhere in the Bible.

Another problem with dispensationalism is that it leaves believing Christians unprepared to face hardship and persecution and may set them up for faith-shattering disappointment when they realize the time of trouble has come and they were not raptured.

A NUGGET OF TRUTH.
10 ERRORS OF DISPENSATIONALISM.

Today, dispensationalism is a method of Bible interpretation that is common to nearly every Protestant denomination around the world. The doctrine is so firmly established that few even stop to consider its origins or validity. As a Counter-Reformation tactic, the development of dispensational theology upon the foundation of Ribera’s interpretive method of futurism, has been a resounding success. Few Protestant churches today teach that the papal system is the Biblical Antichrist. Ribera would be pleased.

Dispensationalism is a dangerous corruption of Scripture. Here are seven errors in the dispensational viewpoint:

1. Dispensations.
God’s plan of salvation has always been the same for all people through all ages. The teaching that history is broken into different periods with a unique plan of salvation for each is unbiblical.

2. Antinomianism.
The rejection of God’s law is an important feature of dispensationalism. Dispensationalists believe that since they are living now in a dispensation of grace and not of law, the moral law is no longer necessary.

Apparently popular among Gnostic sects, antinomianism was revived among the Anabaptists and by Johann Agricola, who later retracted his position after arguments with Luther and Luther's associate Philip Melanchthon.

John Nelson Darby, the “father of dispensationalism," believed in antinomianism, as did those in the movement he founded—the Plymouth Brethren:

Mr. Darby would say that if any man had anything to do with the law of God, even to obey it, he was a sinner by that very act...Of course they strenuously antagonize inwrought and personal holiness as an utter impossibility, since the old man has a lease of the soul which does not expire till death. Yet they insist that they are perfectly holy in Christ "up there," while perfectly carnal and corrupt "down here" in their moral state.

Mr. Darby taught that no act of sin, even murder, can remove us from our standing in Christ. Sin may obstruct communion, and leave the soul in sadness and darkness for a season, but sin in a believer is ok and will not hinder one from attaining eternal life.

*Grace and the Law*
It is true that salvation can be found only in God's grace through faith, and not by human action. However, antinomianism brings with it a license to continue living in sin, which defies the purpose of salvation in our lives, that is, to free us from sin. Romans 6:1-2 explains:

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
As Romans 3:20 tells us, the law's purpose is to show us that we are sinners who need God's grace. The law is like a mirror that reflects to us our sin. The law gives us the knowledge of sin—the realization that we are sinners and need a Saviour. If there is no law there is no sin (see Romans 5:13, 7:7; James 1:22-25). Martin Luther agrees, saying that the person "who destroys the doctrine of the law, destroys at the same time political and social order. If you eject the law from the church, there will no longer be any sin recognized as such in the world.

Antinomianism forgets that the law has a purpose in our lives today. However, the truth is that the Ten Commandments, written by God's finger, still stand today. John Calvin gives this admonition:

We must not imagine that the coming of Christ has freed us from the authority of the law, for it is the eternal rule of a devout and holy life, and must, therefore, be as unchangeable as the justice of God, which it embraced, is consistent and uniform.

3. Antichrist.
From the days of the early church until the time of the Reformation, Bible scholars consistently applied the literal-historical interpretation method to prophecy. Based on this clear interpretive method, there was consensus among Reformers that the Papacy is the Antichrist. Futurism, a feature of dispensationalism, was created by the Roman Catholic Church to deflect attention away from this well-established truth. Dispensationalism teaches a future Antichrist who builds a temple in Jerusalem, makes, and then breaks, a covenant with Israel.

4. 7-Year tribulation.
Against all logic and without Biblical precedent, dispensationalism teaches that the last week of Daniel’s 70-week prophecy (Daniel 9:25-27) is not consecutive with the prophetic 69 weeks that precede it. Instead, the final week is separated from the other 69 by an unspecified period of time and is thrown off into the future. In dispensationalism, end time prophecy centers around this final 7-year period of time dominated by the Antichrist.

5. Third temple.
In dispensational theology, end-time events depend upon the building of the third temple, which will be destroyed after 3 ½ years.

6. Secret rapture.
Despite such clear statements about the order of events at Christ’s return (Greek parousia, or coming) as Matthew 24:30-31 and others, many have swallowed the lie of a secret rapture. The secret rapture is a contradiction of the Bible’s teaching on the Second Coming of Christ.

In addition, while 61% of evangelical leaders polled7 believe Christ will rapture believers before the great tribulation, the Bible teaches that the entire world, including believers, will be plunged into the greatest time of trouble in history just before Christ returns. What if the secret rapture, a core belief of dispensationalism, is wrong? How will the faith of believers fare when they realize the tribulation is upon them and they were not raptured?

7. Israel.
Expecting the rise of Israel to fulfill end-time prophecy shifts Christians’ focus from Christ’s great commission to take the good news of salvation by grace to all people. Belief that the Jews will be converted and evangelize the world, instead, turns attention to supporting Israel politically and financially.

Believing the Jews of Israel have a significant role to play in relation to Christ’s return, evangelical Christian organizations engage in massive funding campaigns providing millions of dollars of private funding to Israel. “US Evangelicals have donated some $65M to illegal settlements,” reports the International Middle East Media Center.8 It is difficult to estimate the total amount of funds and volunteer hours American Christians have provided to Israel over the years, but their economic and political support is significant.

Evangelical views on Israel are also reflected in US foreign policy. A Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Israeli governments shows the US is committed to $38 billion in military aid between 2019-2028,9 or $3.3 billion annually with “an additional $500 million in missile defense funding.

But what if the Evangelicals are wrong? The fact is, this colossal economic and political support for Israel is based on a religious belief that stems from a misunderstanding of Scripture and an erroneous method of prophetic interpretation. History is clear that futurism, from whence comes dispensationalism and Christian Zionism, was introduced by the Roman Catholic Church as part of their counter-attack on the Reformation, the Bible, and the authority of God.

8. Millennium.
Dispensationalism teaches 1000 years of peace as Christ reigns on the earth. Is this what the Bible teaches about the millennium?

9. The Kingdom of God.
John Nelson Darby believed that even in New Testament times, the church and Israel were distinct and separate entities. He taught that in a future kingdom dispensation, the ethnic-national state of Israel would yet experience earthly blessings. This is in opposition to Christ’s teaching when He was on earth that the kingdom of God was available to believers even then. (See Luke 17:21, Luke 11:20.)

10. Salvation after rapture.

Dispensationalism teaches that the Gospel will still be preached after Christians have been raptured, giving people a chance to accept Christ during the tribulation and the millennium. But this unbiblical view may give some a false hope for a second chance of salvation to those who refuse Christ’s mercy now.

Dispensationalism did not exist until the 19th century. Its development relied upon the foundation laid by Ribera, a member of the Jesuit Order, an order whose purpose was to destroy the Reformation. As the events described in Revelation 13 draw nearer by the minute, it’s time for Protestants to rethink Dispensationalism, open their Bibles and plead for God to send the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth once more.

LET'S TALK ABOUT IT.

Futurism?

For over 300 years, Protestant reformers identified the Papal system as the “little horn” of Daniel 7 and the sea beast of Revelation 13.

In 1537, in the Smalcald Articles, Martin Luther wrote:

“This teaching shows forcefully that the Pope is the very Antichrist, who has exalted himself above and opposed himself against Christ.”

This was not fringe rhetoric. It was formal Protestant confession.

Historicism understood prophecy as unfolding across the course of Christian history — and saw the Papal system operating within that framework.

In 1590, during the Counter-Reformation, Jesuit scholar Francisco Ribera published a new prophetic framework. Instead of identifying the Antichrist as a present system operating through history, he pushed the Antichrist into the distant future as a single individual who would appear just before the end.

This shift mattered.

If the Antichrist is entirely future, then the Papacy is no longer under prophetic scrutiny.

Today, much of evangelical Christianity follows that futurist model — often including a future seven-year tribulation and a pre-tribulation rapture.

The question isn’t emotional.

It’s historical.

Why did this shift occur during the very period when Protestantism was identifying Rome as the Antichrist?

And should we build our prophetic framework on a system first articulated in that context?

LET'S TALK ABOUT IT
THE GREAT PROPHETIC DIVERSION: How the "Times" Were Changed.

For centuries, the world recognized the "Little Horn" of Daniel 7 as the Roman Catholic Papacy. To stop this realization, a strategic "re-writing" of prophecy occurred. This is the fulfillment of Daniel 7:25—the "changing of times."

The Jesuit Counter-Reformation
When the Reformers pointed to the Papacy, the Church needed a way to shift the blame. They commissioned Jesuit scholars to create two opposing "times" for prophecy:

1. Preterism (The Past)

The Architect: Luis de Alcazar (1554–1613).

The Move: He pushed the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation into the distant past, claiming they were fulfilled by Nero or Antiochus Epiphanes.

The Result: If it already happened in 70 AD, the Papacy can’t be the Antichrist today.

2. Futurism (The Future)

The Architect: Francisco Ribera (1537–1591).

The Move: He pushed the "Little Horn" into the distant future, claiming the Antichrist would only appear for 3.5 literal years at the very end of time.

The Result: If he hasn't arrived yet, the Papacy is off the hook.

Changing the "Times"
By moving the fulfillment to the far past or the far future, they successfully removed the attention off the Papal system’s 1,260-year reign in the middle of history.

Today, most of the world (including many Protestant churches) has accepted these Jesuit-led interpretations without realizing they were designed to hide the true identity of the Little Horn.

The Bible warns that he would "think to change times." This isn't just about calendars—it’s about the timeline of God's truth.

#BibleProphecy #Truth #Daniel7 #HistoryUnveiled #Futurism #Preterism