A look at the book of Micah, an overview.

As I told you in my previous post, I was recently in Emmett Idaho. On the ranch, there was no internet or phone service, and I was the volunteer groundskeeper for a week. My ability to post was non-existent. I managed to squeeze in a few minutes on the laptop computer, as I worked on the questions for a home group I am involved with and began looking at Micah while I was there.
No one has asked me, but I will tell you whether you ask or not, as to how I come up with ideas for posts. My primary sources were “men's Bible study,” and some of the twisted messages that come from the pulpit. Since I have separated myself from much of that, I have to listen to the Holy Spirit and my friends for ideas. Sitting at the table on a peaceful morning, it occurs to me that I need to look into the book of Micah, and so I did.
One other thing, I have no problem with using reasonable information from commentaries, Biblical dictionaries, and encyclopedias like the ISBE, as long as they ring true to what the Holy Spirit is trying to say. I know that last aspect is vague, but there are times when you open a resource, and immediately your gut responds with a NO, or at least, what is this person trying to say. Some, like a man I knew who has a Theological Doctorate, merely wants to fling large words around because it makes him sound important.

On the book of Micah

When I look at the overview of Micah, I am told, by almost every commentator, that little is known of the Prophet beyond his name, his place of origin, and the personal tone of his book. And yet, even I can find a historical setting which indicates that Micah's career extended from the reign of Jotham 752 BC to Hezekiah's reign which ended in 720 BC. Simple math could put Micah in the range of 50 years old at minimum.

Street columns, Ancient Samaria.

J. Vernon McGee tells us “There are many Micah's mentioned in the Scriptures, but this man is identified as a Morasthite, since he was an inhabitant of Moresheth-Gath, a place about twenty miles southwest of Jerusalem, near Lachish.”
The book itself centers on the threat of the Assyrian invasions that occurred throughout this period, beginning around 730 BC, culminating in 701 BC against Judah.
Micah 1:1 MKJV  The Word of Jehovah that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
From J. Vernon McGee – (Most commentators say the same thing.)
“Micah the Morasthite means that he was a native of Moresheth of Gath, which is southwest of Jerusalem. Although he was in the kingdom of Judah, he prophesied to both kingdoms, but his main message was directed to the northern kingdom. I have often wondered about that. His contemporary, Isaiah, was a prophet to the southern kingdom; and perhaps, since Micah was probably a younger man, he felt that Isaiah could take care of the southern kingdom while God directed him to speak to the northern kingdom. You will never misunderstand Micah because he makes it very clear to whom he is speaking.”

Still gleaning information from J. Vernon McGee -
...Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom, Israel. The city was built originally by Omri, king of Israel, and was the seat of idolatry. It was made famous—or infamous—by Ahab and Jezebel who built there a temple to Baal. The city stood in a very lovely location, but it lies in ruins today... The desolate ruins bear mute testimony to the accuracy of Micah's prophecy concerning Samaria.”

Micah was from Gath; yes, the same place as Goliath.

David, as something other than a child, facing Goliath.

Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions, tells us: môrashtı̂y - Morasthite see Moreshethgath = “possession of Gath” 1) an inhabitant of Moresheth.

E.W. Bullinger helps to establish the beginnings of Micah's prophetic voice.
“MICAH begins, apparently, a year or two before the end of Jotham’s reign, Isaiah, in that case, had already been prophesying some seventeen or eighteen years.”

By comparing Micah 4:10 with Isaiah 39:5,6, we have another case of similar words occurring in two different prophets. Note that we are told that Micah also functioned during the days of Hezekiah; it may be presumptuous to assume that Micah prophesied to or against Hezekiah as Isaiah did.

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing will be left,' says the LORD. 'And some of your sons who will issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'" Isaiah 39:5-7 NASB

Continuing with Bullinger's exposition/commentary -
"In this ease, the period covered by Micah and Isaiah was almost exactly the same (cp. Mic_1:1 with Isa_1:1; and see Appdx-77). It is no wonder that the circumstances did call for similar utterances, constituting a confirmation of the Word of Jehovah "by the mouth of two or three witnesses." Both were independent, without any idea of "copying" one from the other, as is alleged by the writer in The Encyclopedia Britannica, eleventh (Cambridge) edition, 1910, 1911, vol. xviii, p. 357, who says: "it is impossible that much, if any, of these chapters (Mic. 4-7) can be ascribed to Micah himself". This is said in the face of the fact that Jeremiah (Mic_26:16-19) definitely quotes and refers to Micah."

Since Bullinger points out how similar Isaiah is to Micah, I choose to give you Isaiah 1:1 here.
The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Isaiah 1:1 NASB
Some notable differences would be Isaiah's reference to King Uzziah, something Micah did not do. Both are speaking toward Judah and Jerusalem; however, Micah chooses to use the term Samaria, which was the capital of the Northern kingdom.

I want to add one more thing here –
I have come to understand the Jewish concept of prophecy, and it does not include the flash and pizzazz we have become accustomed to. Prophecy is repeated patterns to the Jew, and the idea of two or three witnesses is an essential part of the verification process.

The ISBE defines Uzzi'ah for us – His name means the (strength of Jehovah). King of Judah B.C. 809-8 to 757-6. In some passages, his name appears in the lengthened form Azariah: After the murder of Amaziah, his son Uzziah was chosen by the people, at the age of sixteen, to occupy the vacant throne; and for the greater part of his long reign of fifty-two years, he lived in the fear of God, and showed himself a wise, active and pious ruler. He never deserted the worship of the true God, and was much influenced by Zechariah, a prophet who is mentioned only in connection with him. 2Ch_26:5.

Under the reign of Uzziah,
''the southern kingdom was raised to a condition of prosperity which it had not known since the death of Solomon. The end of Uzziah was less prosperous than his beginning. Elated with his splendid career, he determined to burn incense on the altar of God but was opposed by the high priest Azariah and eighty others. See Exo_30:7-8; Num_16:40; Num_18:7. The king was enraged at their resistance, and, as he pressed forward with his censer, he was suddenly smitten with leprosy. This lawless attempt to burn incense was the only exception to the excellence of his administration. 2Ch_27:2. Uzziah was buried "with his fathers," yet apparently not actually in the royal sepulchres. 2Ch_26:23.”

A few other Prophets around this time frame.
Isaiah 1:1 NASB The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Obadiah 1:1-2 NASB The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom--We have heard a report from the LORD, And an envoy has been sent among the nations saying, "Arise and let us go against her for battle"-- 2 "Behold, I will make you small among the nations; You are greatly despised.
Nahum 1:1-3 NASB The oracle of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2 A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies. 3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, And clouds are the dust beneath His feet.

The Word from Micah is concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
In considering Samaria, I am reminded of the hatred and racism that we see in the gospels, as the Jews would walk the longest way just so that they would not have to pass through Samaria. And then there was the interaction Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well. That well was within Samaria, and her comments pointed out some of the hatred and prejudice she lived with on a daily basis.

Names that are mentioned: Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, several of which were Kings of Judah.
The reason I emphasize the names is that they may give us some insight into why the Word came. Keep in mind; nothing is random or by accident; and, you cannot separate the Word given from the human emotions that are a part of the speaker, in this case, Micah. The idea here is to find the link and possibly the reasons behind the “Word” given by Micah.

Jotham

The ISBE tells us that Jotham was the - Twelfth king of Judah, son of Uzziah and Jerusha, daughter of Zadok (2Ki_15:32-38; 2Ch_27:1-9).
Jotham was 25 years of age at the time of his father's attack of leprosy and was at once called upon to take the administration of the kingdom (2Ki_15:5; 2Ch_26:21). In doing this, he not only judged the people of the land by presiding at the administration of justice but also was over the household of the king, showing how complete was the isolation of his father. He was thus king in all but name and is invariably spoken of as reigning in Jerusalem. His reign lasted for 16 years (2Ki_15:33; 2Ch_27:1), 759-744 (others put later). While the father loved husbandry and had much cattle (2Ch_26:10) - external affairs with which he could occupy himself in his retirement - to the son fell the sterner duties and heavier responsibilities of the state.

Ahaz

Again we turn to the ISBE.
“The name is the same as Jehoahaz; hence appears on Tiglath-pileser's Assyrian inscription of 732 bc as Ia-u-ha-zi. The sacred historians may have dropped the first part of the name in consequence of the character of the king.”
Ahaz was the son of Jotham, king of Judah. He succeeded to the throne at the age of 20 years (according to another reading 25). The chronology of his reign is difficult, as his son Hezekiah is stated to have been 25 years of age when he began to reign 16 years after (2Ki_18:2). If the accession of Ahaz be placed as early as 743 bc, his grandfather Uzziah, long unable to perform the functions of his office on account of his leprosy (2Ch_26:21), must still have been alive. (Others date Ahaz later, when Uzziah, for whom Jotham had acted as regent, was already dead.)
“Although so young, Ahaz seems at once to have struck out an independent course wholly opposed to the religious traditions of his nation. His first steps in this direction were the causing to be made and circulated of molten images of the Baalim, and the revival in the valley of Hinnom, south of the city, of the abominations of the worship of Moloch (2Ch_28:2, 2Ch_28:3). He is declared to have made his own son “pass through the fire” (2Ki_16:3); the chronicler puts it even more strongly: he “burnt his children in the fire” (2Ch_28:3). Other acts of idolatry were to follow.” [These acts are spelled out in detail in 2Chronicles 28.]

Hezekiah

Hezeki'ah. (the might of Jehovah). The ISBE informs us that he was the twelfth king of Judah, son of the apostate, Ahaz and Abi or Abijah, ascended the throne at the age of 25, B.C. 726. Hezekiah was one of the three most perfect kings of Judah. 2Ki_18:5. Sir_49:4. His first act was to purge, repair and reopen, with splendid sacrifices and perfect ceremonial, the Temple. He also destroyed a brazen serpent, said to have been the one used by Moses, in the miraculous healing of the Israelites, Num_21:9, which had become an object of adoration.”
“He refused to acknowledge the supremacy of Assyria. 2Ki_18:7. The instant war was imminent Hezekiah used every available means to strengthen himself. 2Ki_20:20.”

 “It was probably at this dangerous crisis in his kingdom, that we find him sick and sending for Isaiah, who prophesies death as the result. 2Ki_20:1. Hezekiah's prayer for longer life is heard. The prophet had hardly left the palace when he was ordered to return and promise the king immediate recovery and fifteen years more of life. 2Ki_20:4. An embassy coming from Babylon ostensibly to compliment Hezekiah on his convalescence, but really to form an alliance between the two powers, is favorably received by the king, who shows them the treasures which he had accumulated. For this, Isaiah foretells the punishment that shall befall his house. 2Ki_20:17.”

This is the stuff bad dreams are made of. Migrating toward Revelation 16. Part 3

We are still within the seventh seal, and we are up to the sixth trumpet.

THE SIXTH TRUMPET BRINGS THE SECOND TERROR

Revelation 9:13-15 AMP Then the sixth angel blew [his] trumpet, and from the four horns of the golden altar which stands before God I heard a solitary voice, (14) Saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Liberate the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. (15) So the four angels who had been in readiness for that hour in the appointed day, month, and year were liberated to destroy a third of mankind.

“Liberate the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”

After you sit under some of the teachings out there, you begin to develop at least the hope that Satan and his cohorts were put out-of-the-way. I know I did. But, if that were the case we wouldn't be having most of the troubles we have. Spend some time in the Word, sorting these out, and you will find out that Satan still runs around deceiving, and he has helpers in the form of fallen angels. (These are what many call demons. If you watch any of those ghost chaser shows, you know that these angels will throw stuff around the room. This is very real.)

The number of angels is an unknown to us, but Satan convinced a third of them to follow him. Four of those have been chained in Euphrates river. Remember, it only took one angel, working on behalf of God, to kill all the firstborn of Egypt in one night.

“So the four angels who had been in readiness for that hour in the appointed day, month, and year were liberated to destroy a third of mankind.”

The Greek word for readiness is hetoimazō (het-oy-mad'-zo), and means to prepare. Are the angels preparing for the time they would be freed, or is it that God has placed them there because of their destructive capabilities, while he awaits the proper time to release them?

Try reading some of Frank Peretti's books, such as This Present Darkness; Piercing the Darkness, or The Visitation, and you will get a fairly accurate picture of how these fallen angels operate on the earth. We seem to forget that they are extremely powerful even if they have fallen, but we - those who follow Christ and have his name, have all authority in the name of Jesus. And, every knee will bow before that name, even if it does not seem like it now.

So, four angels get released and destroy a third of mankind. Are they selective in whom they kill? It does not specify. I feel safe in saying that they will not be able to harm those sealed by God. And, if you are paying attention, they are not excluding their own followers. Isn't that a strange irony. Satan does not care about anyone, not even his followers.

What is this sudden transition?

Revelation 9:16 NASB The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.

In verse 15 we see four angels, held in chains for years, now released upon the earth. But just that quickly we are looking at 200 million horsemen.

Where did 200 million horsemen come from? Are they human or inhuman?

When I was younger I heard that this would be a Chinese infantry. The impracticability of mounting 200 million horses becomes more evident when you see some practical numbers. The IVPBB Commentary gives us this: “Two hundred million” would be a huge standing army even today (nearly the entire population of the United States, almost four times that of Great Britain, over twice that of Nigeria, and eight times that of Canada); in the first century it may have represented more than the population of the entire world.” Is it impossible for God? No, but it seems highly improbable, especially after you read the description in verse 17.

Revelation 9:17 NASB And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone.

It seems easy to associate passages like what we see in Ezekiel. However, because there is an undeclared quantity of people and horsemen I do not believe we should be looking for a physical, mounted force.

Ezekiel 38:1-6 NASB And the word of the LORD came to me saying, (2) "Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him (3) and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. (4) "I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; (5) Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; (6) Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops--many peoples with you.

The visuals we see in verse 17 do not sound like anything from reality, horses with heads like lions, and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. Seeing as there is nothing like this on earth, then it has to be spiritual, even demonic, and they come out of the pit with these fallen angels.

By these three plagues.

Revelation 9:18-19 ESV By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. (19) For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed. We are within the seventh seal and the sixth trumpet. When I paid attention to what this said, I found myself saying, what plagues?

Coming out of the horses mouths are:

• fire
• smoke
• sulfur

“For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.” So, one-third of mankind dies because of them.

I was recently asked, what about the survivors of the time of wrath? It is hard to imagine anyone surviving. This tells us that they did not repent nor give up worshiping demons and idols.

Revelation 9:20-21 ESV The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, (21) nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

The Greek word translated repent here, means to think differently. All this is being done to get hardcore fools to think otherwise, change from their own way of doing things, and turn toward God. This shows a special kind of arrogance, as these people just continue the godless lives they were living.

In what ways do we worship demons? Idols I can understand, but unless you joined yourself to a Satanic cult, what else could this mean? The word worship here is proskuneō and means (meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master's hand). Hasn't the world's ways taught us that money and the pursuit of it, is the only way to go? In living like this haven't, we enslaved ourselves almost in worship to the ways of the world?

How can we know when we are close to the end? Chapter one.

If I was trying to assess what I knew for sure about the seven week period we call the Tribulation. It only seems reasonable that I would try to find things in scripture that speak of this period. For example:

• Do we know approximately when this seven-year period will take place.
  Because there are always skeptics, can we know at all?
  The short answer is yes
• Does God have a seven-year period?
• Does God have to stick to man's plan?
• If it is a man's plan, then who is this guy?

Do we know about when this Antichrist will show up, or when God will pour out his wrath?

The skeptics will quote, improperly and out of context, that no man knows the day or the hour. So what does scripture say to the believer?

1 Thessalonians 5:2-5 ESV (2) For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. (3) While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (4) But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. (5) For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

Jesus told the disciples -

Matthew 13:11 And he answered them, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.”

So apparently not everyone has a security clearance, or the capability to know, and yet we all have the same clues.

What then are the clues that indicate we are close to the end?

Although Matthew 24 is filled with these clues, lets focus on something that we might be able to relate to. Matthew 24:32 begins a parable of a fig tree. Israel is that fig tree.

Matthew 24:32-33 KJV Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: (33) So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

a fig tree beginning to bud

Israel became a nation in 1948, and it is the general assessment that this was the tender branch. All these years later, she has put forth leaves, summer is nigh, and the time to pick the fruit has come. While all these aspects may be telling, it is this portion of the statement that draws our attention: “when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” Once again the things we were to look for:

• The branch putting forth leaves
• Summer and the time of harvest. (This is not a literal time, but could be.)
• “know that it is near, even at the doors.” What is the “it”? The Day of the Lord.

While the next verse has many interpretations, there is something very plainly stated in it:

Matthew 24:34 KJV Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

Remember, we are looking for clues, therefore the general idea is that when Israel became a nation the limb budded, and it is understood that that generation that would not pass away without all these things being fulfilled, and that includes the coming of the Day of the Lord. However, many feel that Israel did not become the nation God intended until the six day war of 1967 (I suppose that ignores the fact that the United Nations pressured Israel into giving back much of the captured lands. A person born in 1948 would today be 67, but the person born in 1967 would today be 48. Both of these ages lay outside of a commonly understood time frame, which I discuss in the next paragraph. I suppose the hardest part of this equation is to decide what determines a generation.

Genesis 6:3 tells us that God changed the time frame for man, giving him only 120 years, but it is rare that someone lives that long. Why is that important? What if man, living to be hundreds of years old, as they did in Noah's day, did not mature or have an interest in starting a family, therefore a new generation, until they had lived at least one hundred years? Ancestry.com writer, Donn Devine, says, “As a matter of common knowledge, we know that a generation averages about 25 years—from the birth of a parent to the birth of a child—although it varies case by case”. Our western mindset gets in the way of understanding this eastern mentality book we call the bible, therefore the possibility exists that a generation could have been as short as fourteen to sixteen years. All this merely creates confusion, because as we read statements like Matthew 24:34, or possibilities like this we immediately attempt to constrain God into a box of our own proportions and making. Then, because God does not fit into our box we deem his actions and intent impossible to understand, and everything about him a mystery.

Even though we think we understand the meaning of a simple word like generation, we, because we are astute students of the Bible, look the word up so as to not let anything escape us. The problems we create for ourselves is that we, without further training, do not understand the nuances of the Greek word γενεά / genea, the basis for our word in question. Genea was also translated as nation and age. If I apply either of those words to Matthew 24:34 it opens the door to a rather large and variable time frame.

This (age or nation) shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

With that in mind, this idea of generation does not even apply to us, but to Israel. Therefore what Jesus was saying in Matthew 24, really was Israel (his people specific.)

While we did not pin God down to a specific moment in time, we do have the evidence that He is near, even at the door.

I have for a while now been telling people that we are no longer looking for His return in terms of years, but that we are in the last minutes or seconds of time. Now consider that I have been saying that for a couple of years now. Does that change my enthusiasm about the eminent status of His coming for his church and beginning the final countdown prior to His return as the conquering Messiah that Israel longed for? Not at all, for He created time and passes in and out of it, putting it on hold, even if meant bringing you (that one person) back into the kingdom.

If you can not honestly say you know you are a part of God's kingdom, then all you really have to do is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord. Allow him to rule your life; you have not been doing all that great of a job ruling it yourself. He will come into your life and make you his. No, he is not going to strip your will and decision making abilities out of your life, but you will find that things go so much better when you turn those things over to him. He loves you and intercedes for you before the Father. 

We have a promised life in eternity, free from the pains of this life, if we will do this. He loves you very much. Now how would I know that, because I have experienced this love for myself, and I now know that it is his character, and the nature of the Father's. 

God bless and have a blessed Christmas.

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And those who had conquered the beast. Revelation 15:2-4

The Apostle John described what he saw – good news mixed with bad; bad only in the regard that those on the earth at this time will have to endure more tortuous wrath.

Question: What do you believe? If you are “non-religious” - meaning you refuse to take part in any religion, as you are a religion unto yourself, then you either have no idea what to believe; or, you merely refuse anything that conflicts with you personal moral standard. You noted that I said you are a religion unto yourself, that is because you have a moral standard upon which your personal religious system is based. To prove you have a moral standard consider a few examples and ask yourself how you would honestly react:

• To someone raping your wife or little daughter?
• If someone stole your drugs or personal belongings?
• To someone trying to kill you?

Why would it matter to you? It matters because you have a moral standard and there are some things that are just not right, even to you.

The next, and obvious question is, upon whom or what do you base your moral standard, because all standards have some baseline of good. Think about a particular food you like to eat; have you had some that causes you to think back on it with fondness? Of course you have. It then becomes the standard upon which you decide if something called by the same name is good or not, because you have a baseline upon which you judge something.

Since you have a moral standard, then do you declare that standard to others? If you contrived your own standard for living, it may sound something like this, touch my stuff and I will kill you. Admittedly, there is no attractive draw to your religion, but it is a common mantra among those who also include the idea that what is yours is mine, and not surprisingly, you are found in scripture:

2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. (2) For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, (3) heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, (4) treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, (5) having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. ..”

(I wanted to sound like Norm Geisler: normangeisler.net, or Ravi Zacharias: RZIM.org, giving you a clear, profound definition, but I did not have time, nor do I have the enthusiasm to do so. I kept thinking about man left to his own inclinations, because that seems to the theme without God. Most believe that they are making the decision to be or do good on their own, however scripture does not tells us that.)

Gen 6:5-7 LITV And Jehovah saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the day long. (6) And Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved to His heart. (7) And Jehovah said, I will wipe off man whom I have created from the face of the earth, from man to beast, to the creeping thing and to the birds of the heavens; for I repent that I made them.

Genesis chapter 6 describes man making his own decisions, and it was not good. Sure there were exceptions, like Methuselah, Enoch, and Noah's family. But do you realize that the entire time Noah worked on that ark he was telling people about the character of God and what was coming. They all had the option of joining him. How many followed Noah and God? NONE.

The obvious point I am making here, is that God is the moral standard, and if you were honest, you would admit that you know that. I know you know that because an aspect of the original sin was to know good and evil. Since God is good, then you do know Him and are going to be held responsible for that knowledge. Doesn't that just suck!

God did an amazing thing for the people who walk upon this earth; since they choose to ignore his moral standard, something he knew they would do, he sent his own son to die in our place, on a cross, at the hands of the Jewish high priest, just as prophecy said he would. God had to do that because Adam, the first man, chose to flex his own moral standard and apparently tweaked our DNA in the process. From that moment forward we have all had a preference toward doing our own thing, some just take it farther than the others and in time they are killed or caught.

So this amazing, unselfish act by God, bought us out from under the penalty of that brokenness we have within us. We no longer have to pay the penalty of death for our sins (as far as God is concerned), but we now have to make a decision, what will we do with the Son who died on our behalf. We have to either accept this Jesus, as the Son, the Sacrifice, and the Savior, OR, we reject him.

And this brings me back to my question, what do you believe?

If you believe that Jesus Christ is your salvation, that is a good thing; that makes you a follower. As a follower, we have the promise that he will come again (soon) and extract those that are his out of here before God pours out his wrath upon those that have rejected Him. The bad news is that Jesus himself said that those who choose to follow him will have tribulations in this world. There is no escape from the evil that people will commit, and much of that will be in the name of their religion. And there is little relief, for most, from the pains of scratching out an existence. Yeah, I know, there are always exceptions, but the filthy rich will have their day of judgment as well – I see them described in my bible as well.

This seven years of wrath is filled not only God's judgment being poured out on earth, but the extreme violence that man can and will perform upon their fellow-man.

In my last post I focused on verse one of Revelation 15, (NIV) “I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues--last, because with them God's wrath is completed.” I noted that this does not give the reader any precise time frame, but if we are to read chronologically, this is a continuation of the wrath, but when it is done there will be a glorious end.

Inserted into this pain and destruction are three verses that exude God's magnificence.

Reflection of fire in glass

Rev 15:2-4 ESV And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire--and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. (3) And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! (4) Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."

This sea of glass mingled with fire might be the same as Rev 4:6 AMP And in front of the throne there was also what looked like a transparent glassy sea, as if of crystal..” However, they are clearly different in description.

“and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.”

Who do we see standing beside the sea of glass?

“Those who had conquered the beast the and its image and the number of its name”

We need to stop and ponder this a moment. What is one of the first things prominent within this sentence?

“Those who had conquered the beast”

Why should this demand any special consideration?

1. As followers of Christ, just as the disciples were, what is our method of operation? To answer that you need to consider what James and John were willing to do.

Luke 9:52-56 ESV And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. (53) But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. (54) And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" (55) KJV But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. (56) For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

(Take note: Infiltration and the watering down of something to the point that you no longer hold that belief tightly, but merely accept what you hear as truth, is subtle. An example of this just presented itself to me as I was looking at translations, trying to find one that clearly conveyed the destructive nature of James and John's question, while demonstrating the character of God that Jesus was living out in front of them. If you paid attention, you noticed in the verse above that I switched translations when I got to verse fifty-five. Why do that? Because in the ESV, which I use with frequency, it merely says: “But he turned and rebuked them. (56) And they went on to another village.” Why, it might as well tell us that they stopped to pick daisies along the way. The ESV stripped the power right out of the moment, and it eliminated your ability to see the true nature of not only God, but our mission here on earth.)

A second verse to take note of comes from Matthew's gospel.

Matthew 10:16 AMP Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; be wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and without falsity) as doves.

Jesus never told us to be mindless, spineless sheep. However, we do have the admonition to be wary, and strangely, wise like a serpent. Since we really only have the one serpent for an example - Satan in the garden, his actions prove that he listened and thought through some of God's reasons for the express purpose of watering them down with some twisted logic.

(The Greek word for wise, as used by Matthew, also means thoughtful, or discreet.)

How do I apply that to my life as a believer?

Paul had something to say about that.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 KJV (4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

So you are to analyze what is being said. Not only what the “world” dishes out, but anything the “Church” tosses out as truth, as well. Things sometimes sound logical. As I pointed out, this twisting of the truth worked for Satan.

(Since the church is really the people who form it, then the admonition is to pay attention to everything thrown at you. Your ability to judge quickly is in proportion to your understanding of God's Word, and that only comes through your thoughtful reading of scripture.)

Look at what Paul says in his letter to the church in Corinth once again: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God”

• Casting down – is the Greek word kathaireo, and it gives us two levels of approach “to lower (or with violence) demolish”. Some things just need to be pushed down and out-of-the-way, but some ideas and teachings need to be destroyed and demolished. (This applies to the voices in your head as well.) Keep in mind that we are using God's word as the basis for assessment, not our opinion.
• Imaginations means to reason. No one is asking you to stop thinking. Just stop thinking on things that destroy God's character and diminish his love for you, because God will never stop loving you, and you certainly can't destroy his character. You take in enough garbage and you might destroy how you think about God, and your own good will toward him.
• Every high thing – are the things man has lifted up. At least once a week I hear about a “pastor” or a collection of them, exalting some new governmental atrocity, as though God had changed His heart and we are to now accept it as normal.
• That exalts itself against the knowledge of God – This seems to imply that it is raising itself up. The Greek word also defines the word as exalt self. Any thinking person can take this two ways, and neither are good in the context of this verse.

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 goes on to tell us to be “innocent (harmless, guileless, and without falsity) as doves.” Doves seem to do little else besides eat and make cooing sounds. The question really is, how do I blend all these attributes in one package: Wary; wise, and harmless in appearance? My answer to that question is, just allow God to deal with that in us. That is why we have His Word and the Holy Spirit - remember: the Holy Spirit will lead you and guide you into all truth.

John 16:13 KJV Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

2. Again, our passage in Revelation 15:2 says, “Those who had conquered the beast the and its image and the number of its name”.
   Of the thousands in the Middle East who have been tortured and lost their lives, how many were victorious or conquered the beast? It is hard to perceive of any, unless of course standing their ground, and not denying the name of the Lord is really what we are talking about here.
   The problem is, the human mind does not perceive conquering in that way; it sees the beast as done away with and gone. Where is the problem with that? The problem in seeing this as a destruction of the beast lies in the fact that the beast is only truly dispatched when Jesus returns to earth and physically casts the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire.
   What then does it mean to conquer?
   Since conquer is the Greek word nikaō / nik-ah'-o, and means to subdue (literally or figuratively): - conquer, overcome, prevail, get the victory.
   “they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony”
   It becomes a little easier to see that we do something to that effect when we apply some faith to our lives.
3. One last thing on Revelation 15:2. It speaks of conquering not just the beast, but the image, and the number of its name.
   The beast/Antichrist does not even present itself until the church is removed from the earth. Okay, fine, I will show you.

2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 ESV (7) For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. (8) And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.

[The word restrain was also translated as let or letteth. Let is old English for hinder, prevent. In Greek it is katecho and means to hold down (fast). Much like a policeman might.]

How does one conquer what they cannot see?

Let me explain. In Revelation 13 we get a tremendous amount of information, however, it is rather cryptic, and like the decoder rings we used to get as children, you have to decipher the code by going back through scripture, comparing terminology.

By the time we get to Revelation 13:11 we have already seen a multi-headed beast arise from the sea. While this aspect of the sea throws some people, by doing our homework we can figure that it merely means a vast quantity of people spread over a wide area. Verse 11 presents us with another beast, but it rises out of the earth. Again it is coming out of a people group, but the reference to earth tells us that it is from a locale. While all these things play a role, the important aspect for people living during this time period (the seven years of God's wrath and judgment), is what it does.

Revelation 13:11-18 ESV (11) Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. (12) It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. (13) It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, (14) and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. (15) And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. (16) Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, (17) so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. (18) This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

If I only consider the imagery of the first and second beasts I have no way of visualizing what I am looking for outside of some bizarre mythical characterization. I will give you some clues to understand this mess.

• Beast number one - Revelation 13:1-2 GNB “... Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads; on each of its horns there was a crown, and on each of its heads there was a name that was insulting to God. (2) The beast looked like a leopard, with feet like a bear's feet and a mouth like a lion's mouth. The dragon gave the beast his own power, his throne, and his vast authority.” The prophet Daniel had problems with this as well, and he asked for an explanation. What he got was that it was empires, and the Babylonian empire was the first. So, in this form, it is ruling bodies or governments. Can a Caliphate fit the description of a ruling body or government? Certainly.
• In Revelation 13:3, one of its heads sustains what the world perceives as a mortal wound. In other words the world thinks this ruling body is dead. Why would the “world” care, unless it affected their economy, or was a threat to their safety. Well there was an entity like this. It started around 640 A.D., and continued being a thorn in the world's flesh until 1924. This was the succession of Islamic caliphates; the last being the Ottoman empire.
• Out of this particular empire – No, scripture does not specifically label the empire, but we have some great clues – comes a spokesman, (a mouth.) This is the Antichrist we see in scripture. (A common description of this spokesman says that he makes a seven-year peace treaty with Israel, and we anticipate someone doing that. But that is not what scripture tells us. It says he makes a seven-year treaty with many. We just assumed that Israel would be included. The things that have alerted the Christian community is the fact that America leadership has turned its back on Israel, while making treaties with the sworn enemy of Israel – Iran. Someone is making treaties, for something we never thought we would see is Russia and China inserting themselves in Syria.) Some have speculated that the American President is the Antichrist. I do not think so, but the White House posted a picture on their twitter account showing Obama holding a crown, and there is a bow lying on the floor in front of his feet. This is symbology that we see in Revelation 6:2. Those that republished the photo say that it is Photoshop'ed but note that the White House may be trying to say something by publishing it.
• The second beast – another man who quickly represents all that the beast is and wants - rises up from the earth. If we are talking about the Muslim world, then I suspect this person will come out of one of those nations.

  Numbers 24:14-23 ESV And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days." (15) And he took up his discourse and said, "The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, (16) the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered: (17) I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. (18) Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. (19) And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!" (20) Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said, "Amalek was the first among the nations, but its end is utter destruction." (21) And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said, "Enduring is your dwelling place, and your nest is set in the rock. (22) Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned when Asshur takes you away captive." (23) And he took up his discourse and said, "Alas, who shall live when God does this?

  Moab, Edom and Sheth (people of the east). Interesting isn't it? The prophet Isaiah also mentions Moab's utter destruction.

  Isaiah 25:9-10 ESV It will be said on that day, "Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." (10) For the hand of the LORD will rest on this mountain, and Moab shall be trampled down in his place, as straw is trampled down in a dunghill.

  So in a sense the beast out of the earth represents someone more local for the Muslim community. Therefore I expect this man coming out of the Middle East.
• This second beast – Islam calls him Jesus, just as we do – shows up around the 1260 day mark within the time of God's wrath. Because of the signs he performs, he is believed by many, and he causes many to convert to Islam. He will also create an image of the beast. Remember how the beast is introduced to us as a seven headed monstrosity. Since these multiple empires have a common theme, that theme may be Allah. Allah was a creation of Muhammad, therefore no one knows what he looks. Nonetheless, this “beast” makes an image, animates it, and causes everyone to worship it. Those refusing to worship the beast, and the image of the beast, and take its mark, are killed. (Pay attention to this, there are three parts to it, not just the taking of an “rfid” chip.)

Jewish high priest wearing a hoshen, and Levites in ancient Judah. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So I am overcoming a beast, which I am not even sure what it looks like, and, its image and number of its name.

Because of the chronology and the known entrance of the second beast, I can guarantee that these who are portrayed as standing around the sea of glass mixed with fire, were well aware of who each of these enemies are. Since I kinda covered the image aspect in the bullet-ed overview section, I want to talk about something I noticed, and it is this phrase – the number of its name.

Our first encounter with this cryptic description is found in Revelation 13. I want you to see the typical representation first and then the Amplified because in a strange way, the Amplified may shed a little light. However I cannot explain either of these adequately, and this playing with numbers is Gematria and confusing at best.

Revelation 13:18 ESV This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.

Revelation 13:18 AMP Here is [room for] discernment [a call for the wisdom of interpretation]. Let anyone who has intelligence (penetration and insight enough) calculate the number of the beast, for it is a human number [the number of a certain man]; his number is 666.

As I pondered this phrase: “those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name,” it occurs to me that this could convey the number, in total, of those who march under the orders or name of this entity/beast. Since this verse 15:2 makes no directive to interpret “the number of its name” I felt compelled to look up the Greek words.

number - G706 – arithmos/ar-ith-mos' - From G142; a number (as reckoned up): - number.

of his name - G3686 - onoma/on'-om-ah - From a presumed derivative of the base of G1097 (compare G3685); a ?name? (literally or figuratively), (authority, character): - called, (+ sur-) name (-d).

If the central core of the multi-headed beast we see in Revelation 13 is Islam, then the name may well be Allah and the rules of engagement come from the Qur'an. The number, and as we can see from the Greek, is a calculated quantity. The implication of that is an overwhelming quantity. Is this starting to make sense to anyone? An overwhelming quantity of people, submitted to Allah, running around the world, killing anyone who does not submit.

Wow, that sounds like Islam to me.

Ask yourself why any of this is important. If, you are a believer, and not just the person who says, “I go to church”, but you have an active exuberance for Christ. That means you personally know, the one who died on the cross and rose again, fulfilling God's promises so that you might have an abundant life. It also means you have a lively hope in his return which is specifically to catch his church away. That catching away is intentional so that those who are part of that church, and still alive here on earth at that time would not have to go through the wrath that is coming.

If by some chance, the rapture has come and you are reading this, then know this – His love and arms are still extended to you. The Holy Spirit of God is in the earth drawing you to him. Accept his love for you, turn your life over to him, and you will be received into the kingdom. That's the good news. The bad news is that some crazed group of people will probably kill you for taking a stance for Christ instead of the god they are pushing. Stand your ground and shortly you will find yourself standing before the one who has loved you since the beginning of time.

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