8The beast you saw was once alive but isn’t now. And yet he will soon come up out of the bottomless pit and go to eternal destruction. And the people who belong to this world, whose names were not written in the Book of Life before the world was made, will be amazed at the reappearance of this beast who had died. 9“This calls for a mind with understanding: The seven heads of the beast represent the seven hills where the woman rules. They also represent seven kings. 10Five kings have already fallen, the sixth now reigns, and the seventh is yet to come, but his reign will be brief. 11“The scarlet beast that was, but is no longer, is the eighth king. He is like the other seven, and he, too, is headed for destruction. 12The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet risen to power. They will be appointed to their kingdoms for one brief moment to reign with the beast. 13They will all agree to give him their power and authority. 14Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because He is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.”
Revelation 17:8-14
I am sure you are all a step ahead of me based on the facts I have given you thus far. I am absolutely convinced that John has a number of layers in mind behind the scene of this important end time battle depicted in Revelation 17. Don’t forget the earlier criteria John has covered ought to be carried over to this chapter. Thus I am including John’s theme of persevering to the end, not yielding to the temptation to forsake Christ and not taking the mark of the beast, maintaining a repentant and humble heart before the Lamb and ensuring you are numbered among those who are saved by submitting to His LORDSHIP. By doing all of that and not shrinking back at the first sign of tribulation or threat to acquiesce to the enemy’s demands you will remain a child of God: A faithful follower of the Lamb of God to the End of the Age. You will be numbered among those who are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and faithful in your testimony and to His Presence within you.
I have made as clear as I can what I believe to be the major players at the end. In the last Gem I spelled out the perspective of George Otis Jnr gained from reading his book The Last of the Giants again. It is very clear, both in his book and in the summary I provided for you, that George Otis Jnr views Islam as being the major antagonist toward Christianity in the End Times. I concur, not because I follow George Otis mindlessly, but because of the facts he has gathered and the interrelationships he has drawn from those facts. I look for the successive cycles of Truth which manifest the underlying truth which surfaces age by age. I see that same truth underlying what George Otis Jnr has compiled for us all and drawn to our attention. I have often wondered why Armageddon and why Jerusalem feature so strongly in the End Times.
The Bible makes it clear that in God’s eyes, Abraham had one son given by God.
Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.
Genesis 22:2
God did not recognise the son of the flesh. God only recognised one son: Issac not Ishmael. Abraham could have responded to God’s order, “But God I have two sons, which one do you want me to sacrifice: Issac or Ishmael?” It was so clear that Abraham knew not to ask the question. God made it clear at the outset. The strong Hebrew makes it clear, Take your only son, Issac.” God does not recognise the work of the flesh. [See the Gem Series Unwaivering Abraham] That which is accomplished in the Spirit is sacred to God. Hence Ishmael was not recognised by God or Abraham as the child of the promise. Abraham doesn’t argue with God but acquiesces and takes Issac as the child of promise. Abraham proves the depth of his faithfulness and therefore his position as the epitome of Faith because he came to the point of being willing to sacrifice that which God had given him as the fruit of his faith. That step alone was demonstration of the lengths Abraham was willing to go in order to obey the LORD. That which is gained by the works of the flesh in the name of God are dead works. Only what is birthed by the Spirit of God is worth counting. That is the fork in the trail between Christianity and Islam. Don’t misunderstand at this point. Anything which is birthed by the flesh of man is an anathema to God. i.e. God will reject. These two Abrahamic faiths are forever opposed to one another. Anything, even a Christian endeavour, based on works without the Spirit of God involved is dead. This principle distinguishes the genuine from the false. We can use that principle as the benchmark with which to measure the outcomes.
God Himself summarily dismissed that which is born of the flesh as compared with that which is birthed by the Spirit of God. This is the litmus test for the works of faith. Is it evident that the Spirit of God is involved or not? If not, drop it like a hot brick. If the witness of the Spirit is present then keep going until it is clear that He is not.
Then he said to me, “This is what the LORD says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
Zechariah 4:6 (read to the end of Chapter 4)
. . . When he woke up, Samson thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realise the LORD had left him.
Judges 16:20
What is our role in the spiritual battle? To take swords and arm ourselves? No! [See Gem 1227]
What is the precursor to opening the door to that which God expects us to do to prepare for this end time battle? How should we prepare for this last battle? It has to be in God’s way not by human instincts and reasoning. Jehoshaphat was terrified by the nature of the battle he faced as recorded in 2 Chronicles 20.
‘Whenever we are faced with any calamity such as war, plague, or famine, we can come to stand in your presence before this Temple where your name is honoured. We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us.’
2 Chronicles 20:9
I hope we are not intent on winning a battle and just vanquishing the foe who opposes us. The end goal is to save as many as possible not to destroy them for our own safety. No, it is clear when we consider Scripture how we ought to prepare for this ultimate battle.
Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession.
Psalm 2:8
He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
Matthew 9:37-38
“Go west and look in the land of Cyprus; go east and search through the land of Kedar*. Has anyone ever heard of anything as strange as this? Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones, even though they are not gods at all? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols! The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay,” says the LORD. “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me—the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!
Jeremiah 2:10-13
- Kedar was the second son of Ishmael.
There is much I have not made explicit from these verses but I am sure you are able to put the pieces together. After all, John has encouraged us to come at this with a mind of understanding. I am amazed as I simply gather the facts I know pertaining to the tribes, languages, peoples and nations, the overarching purpose of God is to save as many as possible. His concern is not for our survival on this planet; His goal is way bigger than that. As Nate Saint said to his son Steve when asked if the five missionaries would use the guns on the Indians, “No Steve, we are ready for heaven but the Waořani [Auca] are not.”
The ultimate target of our spiritual battle are the demonic forces of darkness, not the flesh and blood people they inhabit. We have to learn to aim at the right enemy.
Ian
Given all of the above, we need to encourage workers to go into the harvest and ask the LORD for the nations. When that happens, the likely outcome can be seen by the examples below.
Algeria:
Facing minimal fruit from their endeavours, a group prayed in Bugia in 1960, where Raymond Lull had been martyred by stoning in 1315 for preaching the Gospel. They claimed fruit from the seed of the blood of martyrs in that very town. Twenty years later there was a sovereign outpouring as God spoke to the inhabitants of the area through similar dreams.
Iran:
In one of the most difficult nations to reach Shiite Muslim men, a call went out for God’s people to pray that God would speak to Shiite Muslim men through the same dream as He had done before in Algeria and He did.
God Story 126 – 900 Men Had the Same Dream on the Same Night.
Authors note: There are other testimonies I know but am unwilling to share in a public arena in order to protect those involved. Ask me about them if you are interested.
You weren’t made to fit in, you were made to stand out.
Jim Caviezel
Spiritual strongmen mock us because for decades we have displayed neither courage nor the faith to penetrate their ramparts with the Gospel. Are we suffering more from the church in hiding?
George Otis Jnr
When we are wiling to lay down our lives for the Gospel, not fearing death, God multiplies the effect by raising up others who are encouraged to give their lives too.
Ian
Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession.
Psalm 2:8
I will release a new Nugget titled:
Sherry Chapman modelled how to intercede for others. I am currently writing a full summary of her life including some never before released detail of the scale on which she prayed. You will need to ask me for this detail if you want it. Email me to request the extra material [email protected] .