He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast. Revelation 13:11-18.

 Previously, the Apostle John saw this.

“It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.” (Revelation 13:7-8 NASB)

We established who this “him” or spokesperson for the beast, is; and it is the antichrist (the Assyrian.) As you can see above, this man:

• Makes war with the saints and to overcome them.

  War is the Greek word polēmos and, according to Strong's concordance means warfare (literally or figuratively); whether a single encounter or a series of battles.

  So, the reality is that this guy, with some help, is going to kill the saints. But you have to remember where you are at – in the early stages of the time of wrath. The assumption most people make is that we apply the term and characteristics of the Biblical Christian to those who go through the wrath. Christians – followers of Christ or believers are the church. The church is to be caught up into the clouds, to forever be with Him.

  “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17 NASB)

  Another aspect of being a Christian is the fact that we, the broken, will be changed. Ah, but changed into what? We will be like him (Jesus.).

  Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:51-53 NASB)

  Let me point out a few other things here. Raised perishable we will put on the imperishable – immortality, a term that I used frequently in my last post. I only point to this because religious zealots, who skimmed right over this term, will have hate-filled thoughts that I could apply comic book characteristics to this life that we will soon have.

  Now, many think they are Christians, though their lives show very little fruit. Using the story of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13,) it becomes clear that 50% of those who deem themselves to be in the family, will not make it in on the first pass. For me, the burning question is will these people, who believe they are Christians, and go through the time of wrath, be changed and therefore free from the draw of sin? Perhaps a part of the answer may come from 1 Corinthians 15:51-53 itself. Pay attention to the words “For this perishable must put on the imperishable.”
  Is it possible that some of us will put on the imperishable, while others will not?

  If they do not put on the imperishable then they are subject to pain and death, just like everybody else. If they displayed some love toward God, and yet, could not bring themselves to stay the course, to the point that like the virgins, did not choose to trim their wicks, put adequate oil in the lamps, nor bring extra oil, just in case. It is not hopeless for them but they, like everyone else, will have to prove their love for Him in martyrdom. It almost seems as though their love will be more precious because the cost was so high. These are those who are called saints in Revelation 13:7.

• Has “ authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.”

The extent of this man's actions is global. At the moment my mind says, how is that possible, but the reality of of global communications, and the fact that we see, even now, the world working in unison to get everyone vaccinated, should explain a bit of how this will happen. Holocaust again.

Page one.

• And we see this. “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”

  Everybody worships this fool with the exception of one group of people, those whose names are written in the book of life.

  Have you ever thought about this?

  All of these people who are refusing to worship the antichrist/the beast have been known to God all along.

  Let's go back to the virgins of Matthew 25. I want to scream here, as they were all virgins. What happened, because only half made it to the wedding.

  Did their hearts change toward God?

  Did God's heart toward them change?

  Did He erase them out of the Lamb's book of life?

  The answer is NO to all these questions, although I have experienced momentary shifts in my attitude toward God, especially when I knew I was in the wrong.

  And now, we find “virgins”, Christians, and people who have fought to maintain their denial of Christ because it made them look uncool. Suddenly everything becomes clear and you know that you have to hold on to the testimony of Christ, even if it is a bloody gurgle before you die.

Revelation 13:11 -

At this point in time, the madness above has been going on for three and a half years. Out of the shadows of the temple, this man called the false prophet steps forward.

Revelation 13:11 NASB Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon.

• Coming out of the earth?

  I looked at J. Vernon McGee because he tends to explain things on a farm level simplicity. He said, “The earth from which this second beast arises is symbolic of Palestine, and it is naturally assumed that the second beast comes from Israel. He is a messiah, and Israel would not accept him unless he had come from their land and was one of them.”

  Having spent my life in church I can say I have heard everything, but this is the first time I have heard this. The beast coming out of the sea represents a vast horde, but for me, it certainly seemed to convey the idea of a wide spread horde.

  I have pointed out that the Revelation is Middle East centric, with that in mind it would be easy to look solely at the Mediterranean and the Levantine coast.

  So, then, where should I look for the false prophet?

  You got it, the Middle East, but the passage gives us a huge clue in that it says, “he had two horns like a lamb.” The lamb is Jesus and the Revelation itself, give us this. John is told, not to weep, behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

  “and one of the elders *said to me, "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals." And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.” (Revelation 5:5-6 NASB)

  
  

Page two.

• So what is John now expecting to see?

  You got, a lion as regal as the imagery of Aslan from the C.S. Lewis book, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.

  But what does he see?

  A Lamb, standing, as if slain. Something completely the opposite. In case you have forgotten, the Lion voluntarily became the Lamb for our benefit.

  With all this in mind, there is a strong push to see this false prophet as coming out of Israel, as Dr. McGee mentioned.

  What relational passage can we find from the Old Testament?

  'These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth.

  (Daniel 7:17 NASB)

  “Four beasts,” is similar to the terminology, used to describe the four beasts coming out of the sea. Using the term land forces us to re-center upon the Middle East.

  “And on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with the regular sacrifice; and it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.”
  (Daniel 8:12 NASB)

  The “host” may well be referring to the Jewish religious leadership. The verse implies that all of them will cave to this false prophet, but if we use Nicodemus as an example, then we can know that NOT all will sell their sole to the devil.

  You need to know something, Islam has its own set prophecies, and one of them includes their understanding that in the last days there will be a high priest in the last temple.

  Israel already has this guy appointed, and this appointment happened several years ago. His name is Rabbi Baruch Kahane. He is respected and loved by many.

  Islam believes that this man, whom the Jewish council did an extensive background check to validate his lineage as it relates to Aaron, will, at some point, (3.5 years into the seven-year reign of the antichrist,) switch teams, convert to Islam, join himself to the antichrist (whom the Muslim's call the Mahdi,) and become the deadly enforcer of Sharia law. He will throw down the law of God in exchange for Sharia law. Empowered by the dragon – Satan, he will perform miracles and signs; one of those signs is to turn the rain back on again.

  What is he doing turning the rain back on?

  Because the two witnesses from God, have been doing signs and wonders, not so dissimilar to what Moses and Aaron did before Pharaoh; and they have turned off the rain. Because after three years God calls the two witnesses back home, He has allowed to be killed, up to this point NO ONE has been able to touch them; and now they are gone.

  What or who is there to stop this false prophet from performing any evil miracle he wants?

• The verse, Revelation 13:11, finishes by saying “he spoke as a dragon.”

  When you consider that this is Satan filling this priest's mind and soul with evil power and direction; to the point that this priest, serving in the newly built temple, is speaking on behalf of Satan when he speaks.

As if speaking on behalf of Satan was not bad enough, “He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence.”

Page three.

Revelation 13:12 NASB He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.

The false prophet exercises all the authority of the beast, or antichrist, strangely, the verse adds, in his presence. So, whatever powers or authority that the beast has, he has, and so the false prophet continues the killing. Apparently, the antichrist and now the false prophet, do not care that the church, and, therefore, the Christians, were caught up to be with Jesus, and, therefore, protected from the dangers of the wrath. And so, the people they are now killing without thought or reason, are those that were NOT anxiously awaiting Jesus return, and they were non-believers when the rapture came, so I would be hard-pressed to call them Christians. Thank God a change can still come and God calls them saints.

But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. (2 Corinthians 3:15-16 NASB)

An even more decisive verse comes from Isaiah. I included verse 6 as it speaks to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The mountain is where the New Jerusalem will be.

The LORD of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; A banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, And refined, aged wine. And on this mountain, He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations. He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 25:6-8 NASB)

Look at these words, “And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched over all nations.” What did I tell you? That the veil over the world will be lifted. I assumed that this would happen at the rapture, a prime moment of time as it would be logical and open the door for the world to come to know Him.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4 NASB)

• “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,”

  Are you telling me, that if by believing, and, therefore, no longer perishing, that the veil is lifted from the those who come to the Lord during “the tribulation.”

  So, if someone during the time of wrath believes, are you telling me that they have the veil lifted from their heart and eyes?

  Yes.

• “ And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast.”

  The false prophet, quite possibly the rabbi who is to become the high priest, will make everyone on earth worship the first beast.

  The first beast is the antichrist, but wait a minute, didn't the antichrist emerge from one of the heads of this four-headed beast?

  Yes, he did. The problem here is that the story just made a shift and assigned this head wound that apparently kills a kingdom.

  "The broken horn and the four horns that arose in its place represent four kingdoms which will arise from his nation, although not with his power. (Daniel 8:22 NASB)

Page four.

• “whose fatal wound was healed.”

  I have explained on multiple occasions how the Ottoman empire fits the description of the kingdom that sustained a mortal head wound in 1924, and yet came back to life in 1979 with the Iranian or Islamic revolution.

  But, because the context is focused on a man, the false prophet, who is following the antichrist – the beast, the terminology feeds into the false teachings that we should be looking for someone who survives an assassination attempt.

  The truth of the matter is that the followers of Christ, really have nothing to do with any of this. We are merely trying to inform those who insist on getting caught up in this torture; this is especially grievous since you don't have to endure the wrath of God, simply turn you heart to God and look for His salvation.

Revelation 13:13 NASB He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.

We talked about this briefly. It is highly possible that God has already sent the two witnesses. They have been here for three and a half years and have been doing the very things that this passage describes. The witnesses use fire to destroy anyone who tries to harm them. And, remember that the magicians in Pharaoh's court copied or mimicked the signs and miracles that Moses and Aaron performed; an exception came when Aaron threw down Moses' rod and it turned into a serpent. The magicians did the same thing, but Moses' rod ate theirs; this they could not duplicate.

Revelation 13:14 NASB And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the wound of the sword and has come to life.

Previously, we saw that everyone except for those whose name is written in the book of Life worshiped the antichrist – the beast. Now, the false prophet deceives everyone who is dwelling on the earth, and he does it by the signs.

Consider for a moment, that if this is actually a known, well-accepted rabbi, who the Jewish council promoted to be the high priest of the new temple, and suddenly he is doing the same signs that the two witnesses performed.

What would the potential impact be?

Jesus, in His response to the disciples about when these things would come to pass, said, see to it that you do not become deceived. The deception will be great, but only because these men do not have their hearts settled in God's word.

Revelation 13:15 NASB And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

The beast was a four-headed monstrosity; a kingdom; a man – the antichrist, and all of them empowered by Satan, and most likely a fallen angel, a demon.

Which one of these will become the model for the image?

So, we truly have no major clue as to what this image will look like. It just makes sense that it is the image of a human.

But what if it is the image of Allah?

No one has seen Allah unless you count the demonic angel that tried to choke out Mohammad in an effort to convince him to follow Allah.

We live in an age of robotics and audio-animatronics, thanks to Disneyland. I don't see this false prophet using techniques like Disneyland but they might use some of the projection techniques.

Revelation 13:16-17 NASB (16) And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, (17) and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Dear Lord, who is left on earth to accept this mark?

The antichrist and now the false prophet, have been on a rampage killing followers of Christ during the time of wrath. One might think that most would have been killed by now. If that is the case, this has to be only those who are still coming to an acceptance of Christ. In other words, people, from every nation, who have been able to dodge the sword; the vaccine; the wrath of man, and the hatred of the antichrist.

Are you aware that the technology to permanently mark you with a traceable tattoo, is less than three years away from being implemented in association with the vaccine?

So this can happen at almost anytime.

Revelation 13:18 NASB Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.

This is like Rubik's cube to me and I have never figured it out.

The beast has been associated with empires, like the Ottoman empire, and finally connected to a man, empowered by Satan. The last representation is a demonically empowered man. I suggest, strongly, that he is a Muslim because one of his names (given in Daniel's prophecies,) is the Assyrian. Do your homework and you will find that the Muslims and the remnant of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires are all Assyrians. In short, Middle Easterners; sons of Abraham through Ishmael.

Revelation 12 verses 7 through 10. Satan thrown down to earth.

As I discussed in the previous post, covering Revelation 12 verses 1 through 7, Satan was thrown to earth and dragged one-third of the angels with him. Somewhere in that scene, Satan sets himself in front of the woman about to give birth with the full intent of killing the male child that was to be born. We learned that the male child was the nation Israel.

For no extra charge, I will throw this in. In Genesis 3 we see this.

Genesis 3:15 NLT And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Many translations use the word seed instead of offspring. We tend to make the assumption that the offspring or seed are the relatives/extended family, but what if it is the mystery of God being played out in what would eventually the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ?

Although, Christ was born long before Israel became a nation, every descendant of Adam and Eve became targets; this is evidenced almost immediately by Satan taking out both Cain and righteous Abel. So, when we read Revelation 12, we are having history played out before us through word pictures, even though much of this history is only minutes away as we read this.

One of the biggest struggles we “Christians” have is not understanding that Satan, though stripped of everything except his ability to deceive, IS STILL free to roam, not only that but one-third of an uncountable number of angels, seems to allow him the illusion of being omnipresent, just as God is. We will soon see that Satan's days are numbered.

This next section is entitled:

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

Revelation 12:7-9 NASB And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, (8) and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. (9) And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

I used to be involved in the faith movement and I listened intently, for a time, to Kenneth Copeland. One day, Kenneth, in describing Jesus' comment about Satan falling like lightning, talked as if God threw him like a dart to earth. We actually have scripture that defends that possibility.

Revelation 9:1 TLV Then the fifth angel trumpeted, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. The key to the bottomless pit was given to him.

Some, in an attempt to take the bible literally, will say this was a physical star that struck the earth. The probability of that taking place, merely because of the global devastation that would have taken place, eliminates an actual star strike.

Now, what if God actually threw Satan to earth like a dart? Could the impact of a fallen angel create an impact crater, much like we see in the Yucatan Peninsula?

Maybe.

When did the events of Revelation 12:7-9 take place?

While the Word of God does not give us an explicit answer, there is evidence that demands a verdict. Isaiah tells us this.

Isaiah 45:18 NLT For the LORD is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the LORD,” he says, “and there is no other.

Page one.

While the NLT is very readable the depth of what happened here gets lost in its choice of words. The NASB gives me words with their Strong's numbers. Let me show you.

waste^H8414 place^H8414, but formed^H3335 it to be ^R4inhabited^H3427

The phrase “to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos” is lacking. “To be lived in” leaves the door open to varying forms of creation, one of which speaks of a perpetual creation that could eventually be lived in. While that is possible, it is not the focus of the study, and that is a restoration of power to Jesus Christ.

A different translation can demonstrate what I am saying.

Isaiah 45:18 NASB For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am the LORD, and there is none else.

Created is the Hebrew word bara. It means to shape and create.

Formed is the Hebrew word yâtsar and conveys the idea of squeezing into shape.

Established is the Hebrew word kûn and indicates the action of setting in place, to prepare.

^{Waste place is the Hebrew word tôhû used twice. Using a word twice is used for emphasis. The word tôhû means a desolation (of surface), figuratively a worthless thing, emptiness, chaos, confusion and formless. (The idea of waste comes across more like college students trashing an Air B&B rental. To say the earth was a desolation gives the impression that it was utterly destroyed, and became a worthless thing.)}

Inhabited is the Hebrew word yâshab and means to sit down specifically as a judge; by implication to dwell, and to remain quietly. (This speaks to the position that Adam held and the environment in which he was to live.)

^{If, as you can see above, that the earth suffered some form of violence that changed it, what happened?}

^{Obviously, something other than God's intent happened because, as you see in verses 10-12, the earth was originally good.}

^{Genesis 1:10-12 NASB God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. (11) Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them"; and it was so. (12) The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.}

^{I contend that there is a gap between verses one and two and that this is where Satan was thrown to the earth; and that God, then had to make it good once again.}

Genesis 1:1-2 NASB In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (2) The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

The words formless and void is tôhû and bôhû.

tôhû means to lie waste; a desolation (of the surface), that is, desert; figuratively a worthless thing; adverbially in vain

bôhû meaning to be empty); a vacuity, that is, (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin.

Page two.

Moving on with the study.

Revelation 12:10 NASB Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.

If this distribution of power and authority happened before Adam's entrance into the earth, then why have we been dealing with Satan's accusations unnecessarily?

I ask the question above, because if Adam had this same authority and power (Jesus, in 1 Cor 15:45 is referred to as the last Adam, and in Romans 5:14 Adam is called a type of him who was to come,) why would he stand silent and allow Satan to grab control of the earth?

I have on several occasions talked about how and why Satan had a course of action to deceive Eve. To understand this you have to establish it in your mind who was the first human placed here on earth. The answer is Adam. The instructions about “the tree” were only spoken to Adam, NOT Eve merely because she was not physically created as yet. So, how did Eve come to understand the only restriction (law) that the two of them were subject to? Adam had to tell her. Do you think Adam merely cut some instructional corners, and said, because I said so! No, he told her word for word what God said. Now, fast forward to Satan saying, “did God really say that?” In this conversation Satan challenged not only Adam's but God's character, authority, wisdom, judgment, and governance. If you can understand this, then you can understand that Adam had been placed as the magistrate of this earth and that it was his responsibility to deal with what was happening, there before his eyes. We are told, that Eve was deceived but Adam was not; he merely stood there motionless.

So there are two things going on here, much of which is not so obvious; power and authority over the earth had somehow been stripped away, and, because of the actions of Jesus (this would include the fact that He was sinless, His willingness to obey the Father's will, and all that death on the cross entailed,) all would be restored.

If I take the placement of Revelation 12:10's statement in a chronological order, then it becomes clear that God has poured out His wrath and it is time to end this lawlessness on earth.

What exactly does Revelation 12:10 say?

“ Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come,”

• “Now the salvation,”

  Now is the Greek word arti and means just now, this hour or day. (So there is a relative immediacy, but it's associated with a context .) Italics mine.

  Salvation is the Greek word sōtēria and means rescue or safety (physically or morally): - deliver, health, salvation, save, saving, and preservation.

  One of the first instances of Jesus saying something like this comes from Matthew 28; here Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had come to the tomb. Finding it open and Jesus gone, an angel appeared and explained that Jesus was not here, and that they should go quickly and tell the disciples. In Matthew 28 we are NOT told where Jesus met them, but He did, and this is when He said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

  When most read the Revelation we see a point at which the death and fire bombing – all of which falls under the category of God's wrath comes to a dramatic end; peace finally comes, and, whether you like it or not, Christ reigns supreme.

Page three.

That word sōtēria, from which we get rescue and preservation, although comparable to salvation can mean a multitude of things depending upon your circumstances - one of which is health.

Is rescue and preservation what Jesus had in mind when He spoke these words in Mat 28:18b, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth”?

In Matthew 28, Jesus speaks about authority. The Greek word for authority is exousia. a word that means power, ability, privilege, capacity, freedom, mastery. Those defining words convey the idea of salvation, which we saw when we looked at sōtēria. Jesus had, not only the power, but the power was NOW in them who followed Him through their union with Him.

Does this apply to us? Without a doubt.

• “and the power”

  Power is the Greek word dunamis. Dunamis is a word connected to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The word carries the meanings of force (literally or figuratively); specifically miraculous power (usually by implication a miracle itself): - ability, abundance, meaning, might.

• “and the kingdom of our God”

  Kingdom is the Greek word basileia, it means royalty, that is, (abstractly) rule, or (concretely) a realm (literally or figuratively): - kingdom, + reign.

• “and the authority of His Christ have come”

  Authority here is ginomai and means to come into existence; to be created, exist by creation, to be born, produced, grow.

What changed that Christ would suddenly have power?

The ability to understand what changed lies in the context, but that can take us back to Genesis 3 and the garden. If I start my context search at Revelation 12:1 I see a synopsis of Satan's fall to earth. This fall does not mean a full lockup but an expulsion. The final judgment, where Satan comes to an end, only comes at the time that encompasses the great white throne; all the while, the previous thousand years, Satan had been locked up and unable to deceive the population. It should be obvious that Jesus has reigned in unquestioned power during the thousand years, and it certainly does not end there.

At this point the earth has experienced the trumpet judgments, but not the bowl judgments.

Revelation 11:15 NASB Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."

And yet, only two verses later we have this assertion.

Revelation 11:17 NASB saying, "We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign."

Chronologically, it makes no sense that there would be such a huge transition from "He will" to "You have" taken unless there has been a monumental change; that change came through the cross.

Colossians 2:13-14 NASB (13) When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, (14) having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Page four.

 

Colossians 2:13-14 tells us that

• He made us alive with Him.

• He has forgiven all our transgressions.

• He canceled the debts again us.

• And He took those debts out of the way, by nailing them to the cross with Him.

The Father, once again, called Him Son.

Romans 1:4 NASB (Jesus) who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,

Romans 1:4 originates in the Psalms.

Psalms 2:6-8 NASB "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain." (7) "I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. (8) 'Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.

Psalm 89 tells us that God shall make Him My firstborn and the highest of the kings of the earth.

Psalms 89:27 NASB "I also shall make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.

If God had already made Him His firstborn, then why this?

Philippians 2:6-9 NASB "who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (7) but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (8) Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (9) For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,"

Jesus, for the joy set before him, stripped Himself of equality with the Father; all that was restored because of His death and resurrection.

Hebrews 5:5 NASB So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, "YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU";

So, once again, Christ has become the begotten son.

When Jesus spoke those words that we saw in Matthew 28, He was already risen from the dead, having accomplished every aspect of our salvation, including pouring out His blood on the tabernacle in heaven.

Hebrews 9:21 NASB And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood (His blood.) Italics mine.

By understanding the Revelation we see those enemies become His footstool. The power has been His for a long time, He just needed the right set of circumstances to bring closure, put away the deceivers, and reward those who follow Him. He could not force our salvation, even though He paid for it, as that is entirely upon our shoulders to accept our salvation. We have to voluntarily give our lives to Jesus, the one who bore our sins.

Ask yourself a question.

Beyond the thousand years, when there are NO more people merely living for themselves, why would Jesus have to reign over the followers of Christ?

He wouldn't, and the reason is that all those on the earth, from the great white throne forward, would be dedicated to God and living by a moral standard - God's, by choice - not the choices an enslaved person is limited to, but one where we are invested in Him through that same blood.