Pre-Trib Rapture

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Pre-Trib Rapture

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Pre-Trib Rapture

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I was recently emailed a link to a video by a young pastor, regarding what is called the "pre-trib" "rapture" doctrine, who rejected it as being irreconcilable with scripture. There does seem to be a growing number of Christians that are acquainting themselves with the origins and difficulties of the "pre-trib" "rapture" teaching. Besides marginalizing tribulation throughout the Christian era, and tribulation being suffered by millions of everyday saints around the world today, perhaps the greatest danger of the pre-trib rapture doctrine is that it offers the allure of judgment deferred. Offering a second bite at the apple for the unrepentant, within a difficult seven-year period that is to beset the earth, during which time those that have been "left behind" are given another opportunity to repent. How many teens have parroted the "sinner's prayer" but remained unrepentant, hoping that lip service might have gotten them saved enough to risk putting off repentance at least until after the proof of their parents being "raptured" announces their second chance to repent, but then died prematurely? How many will be caught with their pants down at the "last trump" when all opportunity to repent is gone?

As C.S. Lewis wrote: "God is going to invade this earth in force. But what's the good of saying you're on his side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else, something it never entered your head to conceive comes crashing in. Something so beautiful to us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left. This time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love, or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down, when it's become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realize it or not. Now, today, in this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever; we must take it or leave it."

Are we really to believe that after tens of millions of people disappear, while pilotless planes fall from the sky and driverless cars crash into trees - perhaps ejecting their unrepentant passengers - that somehow the whole world that got left behind wouldn't know they had exactly seven years during which to repent?

The particular pre-trib rapture expose I was sent even properly credits 19th century John Nelson Darby with the doctrine, and popularization thereof in the 20th century church, through C.I. Scofield's annotated bible. Unfortunately what wasn't mentioned is that the whole end-time scheme, as held by the 20th century futurist church, was penned by John Darby who is known as the "Father of Dispensationalism and Futurism". His eschatology includes a "revived Roman Empire", a "seven-year" "Great Tribulation" for the "pre-trib" "rapture" to be "pre", along with a resumption of animal sacrifices in a rebuilt temple that is to be defiled by "The" "Antichrist" 3-1/2 years into the 7-year tribulation, during which a "false prophet" is also supposed to be revealed and followed by much of the world, and Darby also tossing a future thousand year reign of Christ on earth into his end-time scheme.

The Pre-Trib VS Scripture (URL)

Let's take a look at the Olivet Discourse for openers:

Matthew 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time.

Matthew 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days ... the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Matthew 24:30 they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds

Matthew 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet [a great trumpet, NASB], and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

(1) great tribulation.

(2) after the tribulation.

(3) Son of man coming

(5) gather together elect (what some call the "rapture")

The chronological order of the book of Matthew would have to be rearranged to put the gathering of the elect or what some call the "rapture" before the tribulation.

The only excuse futurists even attempt is to suggest is that Matthew 24 was written to Jews. But here's how the Olivet Discourse closes in Mark:

Mark 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

In the following Paul addresses the church at Corinth in a message to all Christians:

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Remember in Matthew 24 "shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet" and "they shall gather together his elect". That "trumpet" is the last trump, and if there is any they group in the above I sure wouldn't want to be in it. In the following Paul addresses the church in Thessalonica. Note the order again:

1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Paul and the Thessalonians and you and I and the rest of the church are the WE. Didn't all those separate passages fit together nicely to describe the same event? For more on the pre-trib rapture please visit the "Great Tribulat ion" page at BeholdTheBeast.com

Revelation 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

That includes the last prophecy, of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, declared to the prophet John. That's it. "the mystery of God should be finished".

John Darby VS the Gospel (URL)

One pre-trib rapture expose video even includes "after the tribulation....." in its title. But while this new breed of skeptic may have "left behind" John Darby's "pre-trib" "rapture", the video indicates he still swallows the rest of Darby's end-time scheme, hook, line and sinker. So let's look at another place the term "tribulation" is used:

Revelation 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

(Greek/English Interlinear (tr) NT) Revelation 1:9 | egw <1473> {I} iwannhV <2491> {JOHN,} o <3588> {WHO} kai <2532> {ALSO} adelfoV <80> {BROTHER} umwn <5216> {YOUR} kai <2532> {AND} sugkoinwnoV <4791> {FELLOW PARTAKER} en <1722> {IN} th <3588> {THE} qliyei <2347> {TRIBULATION} kai <2532> {AND} en <1722> {IN} th <3588> {THE} basileia <932> {KINGDOM} kai <2532> {AND} upomonh <5281> {ENDURANCE} ihsou <2424> {OF JESUS} cristou <5547> {CHRIST,}....

Those are definite articles "THE" in a literal verse that precedes the figurative language of John's prophetic vision. Thus a single verse just did away with Darby's future kingdom of Christ, a "pre"-trib rapture, and a "seven-year" tribulation for it to be "pre"! Since Christians are our brother John's "companion in [the] tribulation" (per the Koine Greek and NKJV), then we know that THE tribulation began before John penned that verse. And since we are our brother John's companion in "the kingdom" "of Jesus Christ" we can recognize that Christ has ruled and reigned in His kingdom for nearly 2,000 years. If you still doubt that Jesus came in His kingdom in the first century we can set that doubt aside:

Matthew 16:28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

Is there anything unclear about that? Was Jesus a false prophet? Jesus ushered in His kingdom through His crucifixion, death, and resurrection. Those of us in the "ecclesia" or "assembly of the 'called out'", enter into THE kingdom of Jesus Christ, and are "called out" of this world:

John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

Sound doctrine must begin with literal verses in literal passages that are essentially not open to interpretation, before even beginning to try to interpret, the figurative language of dreams and visions in prophecy.

While partial preterists and futurists are doctrinally blinded to 1900 years of tribulation, through the traditional historicist approach we can recognize the tribulation of the entire Christian era in prophecy, which includes 1400 years of Islamic slaughter and oppression as well as a period of "great tribulation" within THE tribulation, with sixty million killed just in WWII. Let alone tribulation continuing in the world today, with two million killed or displaced by the false prophet Muhammad's followers in the Sudan alone, and 105,000 to 180,000 Christians martyred around the world every year, mainly by the hand of Muhammadans. Is tribulation likely to abate with the Obama Administration recently approving the sale of 20 F-16 jets and 200 Abrams tanks to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, whose leader has called Jews "apes" and "pigs" and has also expressed hatred for the U.S.?

The Temple of God (URL)

Let's consider Darby's rebuilt temple, that is supposed to occupy the temple mount, where animal sacrifices are to resume. Jesus built His temple in three days, just as He declared He could:

John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.

God's people are His temple:

1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.

Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone]; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Hebrews 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

Acts 17:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

What possible purpose could any future physical temple on earth serve, since our temple was built almost 2,000 years ago through the crucifixion, death and resurrection of the sinless Lamb of God?

Hebrews 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

Please visit the "Temple of God" page at BeholdTheBeast.com for much more on this subject. Might Christians looking forward to a future temple and resumption of animal sacrifice as being necessary, be more akin to blasphemy against the blood of the Lamb, than an expression of gratitude for it? While it shouldn't be a surprise to find some faithful Jews who may remain sovereignly blinded to the Gospel, could have an interest in building a temple, is it appropriate for Christians to cheer it on - in light of the ONE sacrifice for sins FOREVER that is the source of our salvation - perhaps all because of a single 19th century individual's interpretation of the figurative language of an Old Testament prophetic dream?

The New Covenant (URL)

The old covenant yielded to the new covenant ushered in by our Messiah. Jeremiah prophesied of it:

Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day [that] I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33 But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

The "New Testament" (the Koine Greek term "diatheke") also translated as "new covenant" confirms Jeremiah's prophecy:

Hebrews 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 10 For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

Fulfilled through the perfect, complete and finished sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God.

John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Hebrews 8:13 In that he saith, A new [covenant], he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old [is] ready to vanish away.

Jesus ushered in the new covenant, and Herod's temple was thrown down every stone just as Jesus prophesied, further illuminating the way to the Father in this new covenant era.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Through the one sacrifice for sins forever:

Hebrews 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

The Jews at "Jews for Jesus" certainly aren't ashamed of the Gospel! Are you? Again, while some faithful Jews may remain sovereignly blinded to the Gospel perhaps to preclude them from sinning against it, that certainly doesn't call for a bunch of complicated charts and graphs and inappropriate presumption of a restoration of the old covenant. For some faithful Jews that may remain blinded by God:

Romans 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, [there is] no transgression.

I certainly don't profess to have all the answers to this "mystery" described in Romans 11, however the drop-down menu of this video includes a link to one verse-by-verse exegesis that is not intended to convey any pretense of authority. It doesn't seem difficult to count two groups in the following verse:

1Corinthians 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and [that] no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

Jesus built our temple in three days just as He promised. A temple that is not of this world, which temple we are. The old covenant yielded to the new covenant. The veil in Herod's temple was even ripped in two from the top to bottom at Christ's death. Yet it seems the 21st century western church remains almost as stone cold blind to the Gospel, as it does to the false prophet Muhammad, and his Islamic kingdom beast as the final foe of God's people. I would inquire of that rogue pre-trib rapture bashing still-futurist pastor:

1. Why is the new covenant not for Jews when it's with the houses of Israel and Judah?

2. Why cheer on a restoration of the old covenant that waxed away?

3. Why is salvation through the Gospel not for Jews when it was specifically given "to the Jew first"?

4. Why is Jesus' one sacrifice for sins forever somehow so insufficient, incomplete and unfinished, that a resumption of animal sacrifices in a future physical temple would ever be appropriate or sanctified for any reason?

5. Why denigrate the temple that Jesus built in three days, by cheering on a future physical temple, made with hands?

6. Why would God would dwell in a temple made with hands?

7. How could such a temple ever be sanctified in the first place, to then be desolated, when our high priest is already seated in the true tabernacle that the Lord pitched?

8. Why reject the kingdom that Jesus ushered in nearly 2,000 years ago, to cheer on a 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth, when Jesus told us His kingdom is specifically not of this world?

Some folks mistakenly believe that partial preterism is the only alternative to futurism, and thus Darby's dispensational doctrine is the only way to understand the matter of fact historical reality, of the return of Jews to their land. However recognition of the restoration of Jews to Israel, is well accommodated within the 1900 year church tradition of historicism, as applied to New Testament prophecy. This is the same traditional approach through which all Jews and Christians understand Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled.

Quoting Wikipedia: "Historicism is a method of interpretation in Christian eschatology which attempts to associate biblical prophecies with actual historical events and identify symbolic beings with historical persons or societies. The main texts of interest are apocalyptic literature, such as the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation, and historicist methods have been applied to ancient Jewish history, the Roman Empire, Mohammedism, the Papacy, the Modern era and even into the End time."

So without historicism Christians couldn't even recognize Jesus Christ as the prophesied Messiah, or identify Daniel's lion, bear, leopard and fourth kingdom "beasts" as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and the Roman Empire.

Once printed copies of translated bibles became available that were taught in spoken languages that everyday saints could understand, folks began to shed the bondage of the Roman Church, and thus its replacement theology. Centuries before John Nelson Darby, and centuries before the restoration of Jews to our (we Gentiles grafted in) land began to take place, great men of God of the Reformation like Matthew Henry and Isaac Newton and Puritans like Thomas Brightman and Oliver Cromwell anticipated that Jews would be restored to their land, through bible prophecy. Please visit "Christian Zionism" at BeholdTheBeast.com for more.

Tragically, in the 19th century the traditional historicist approach to New Testament prophecy began to be overshadowed, by the advent of John Darby's futurist doctrine, as well as preterist doctrine that emerged from 19th century liberalism. However evidence suggests that both eschatologies may be rooted in 16th and 17th century Roman Catholic Jesuit counter-reformation inventions.

The inverted pyramid of pile-on presumption of futurist eschatology is centered upon John Darby's 19th century interpretation of the figurative language of Daniel's Old Testament prophetic dream, and specifically Daniel's 70th week, which is perhaps the most contentious element in all of scripture. Thus from this upside down approach his interpretation becomes untenable by the time we work our way into literal passages of the Gospel that are not open to interpretation. Darby's error is also in part due to the book of Daniel having been sealed until the "time of the end" and according to Scofield's notes that time isn't even supposed to begin until the middle of Darby's future seven-year tribulation. So how could his 19th century interpretation be of any value? He personally figured out how to unseal the book of Daniel ahead of schedule? Please see "Time, Times and an Half" on the "M athematical Precision of Proph ecy" page at BeholdTheBeast.com regarding Daniel's seal.

Many see partial preterism as the only alternative to futurism since by and large, these are the only two end-time doctrines between which the church divided, during the 20th century. Amazingly, partial preterists must reject the stunning reality - of six million Jews ruling Israel today as the focus of the whole world - as being of the Lord. This self-imposed blindness is the result of continuing in the tradition of Roman Catholic styled replacement theology or punitive supersessionism that suggests that Christians entirely replaced Jews as God's chosen people, and that God had no further plan for Jews after the first century, in spite of historical reality. A fulfillment of prophecy so conspicuous and stunning, that one related prophecy suggests even "the heathen shall know that I [am] the LORD", as a result. Partial preterist rejection of the restoration of Jews to their land as having been prophesied, is also a result of their doctrine suggesting that New Testament prophecy was virtually all fulfilled in the 1st century, except for the resurrection of the dead and the Second Coming of Christ.

Thus aside from a few details, futurists and preterists must each believe the other to be virtually 100% in error in regard to their end-time doctrine, because a gulf of 1900 years divides the two eschatologies. This also renders 1900 years of Christian era history, essentially unavailable even for consideration, as fulfillment of New Testament prophecy.

As a result, both doctrines necessarily preclude a near unanimity of the church from even considering, that Muhammad could be the false prophet of the book of Revelation, and his Islamic kingdom "beast" the final foe of God's people. A church insisting on doctrine-imposed blindness even as 1.5 billion people in the world today - 1/4 of mankind - are commanded to conquer all kingdoms, and subjugate all people to denying the Son of God and rejecting His crucifixion and shed blood, as articles of faith in the false prophet Muhammad.

Bukhari, V1 B2 #24 Narrated Ibn 'Umar: Allah's Apostle said: "I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle....."

Pure blasphemy for a Christian to confess that.

Surah 9.29 Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. 30 The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!

Surah 4:157 That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-

A Church blinded by pop-19th century doctrine to Muhammad's follower's conquest and subjugation of nearly the whole known world during the First Islamic Jihad, who have perpetrated over 20,000 deadly Islamic terror attacks around the world just since 9-11, during this Second Islamic Jihad. Muhammad's followers compelled to believe that to confess that Jesus is the Son of God or even to pray in Jesus' name, is to commit the most egregious and only unforgivable sin - as compared to cold-blooded mass murder or child rape, for example, which may be forgiven. The perfect opposite of the Gospel:

1John 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

Let's look at John Darby's future "The" "Antichrist" "beast" hermeneutically, beginning with the term "beast" - that preterists peg to be 1st century Roman ruler Nero. In one of Daniel's prophetic dreams we find the figures of:

Daniel 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

Daniel 7:4 The first [was] like a lion, and had eagle's wings...

Daniel 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear...

Daniel 7:6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard...

Daniel 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly...

Through the traditional historicist approach, tens of millions of Jews and Christians understand those figures of lion, bear, leopard, and fourth "beast", to have been fulfilled through the succession of the ancient kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and the Roman Empire, because Daniel's prophecy offers such detailed descriptions of those kingdoms that were to gradually unfold over hundreds of years in his future. Googling "babylon, medo-persia, greece", even in quotes, nets over a hundred thousand results. Daniel's prophecy also defines the term "beast" when used in the context of the figurative language of a prophetic dream or vision:

Daniel 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth.....

Through an adjacent hermeneutic we discover that the only other place those figures are mentioned together in scripture is in Revelation 13, but as a composite "beast", and with the order reversed perhaps because Daniel's prophecy was forward looking toward the fulfillment of those kingdoms while John's prophecy was looking back through time after they were fulfilled.

Revelation 13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. (Daniel assigns the masculine gender to his kingdom "beasts)

The seven heads being seven successive kingdoms that we will explore, and ten horns perhaps being the ten Islamic Caliphates, as will become more apparent. The dragon, Satan, gives this "beast" his "seat". The false prophet Muhammad's Islamic kingdom occupies the same geographical area, as Daniel's successive kingdom beasts did - lion/Babylon/Iraq, bear/Medo-Persia/Iran, and leopard/Greece/Syria-Lebanon. Which we will also explore further.

Revelation 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Revelation 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon.....

Followers of the jealous fallen angel, through his "messenger" Muhammad, deny the Son of God and reject His crucifixion and shed blood as articles of faith in the false prophet Muhammad. They prostrate themselves toward the Quraish pagan's black stone idol at the Kaaba in Mecca five times a day, while praying in the "vain repetitions of the heathen" in the names of the Arabian pagan deity "Allah" and his "messenger" Muhammad. Believing the stone to have been sent down from heaven, for them to hold as sacred, just as the Quraish did before Muhammad. They also engage in thinly veneered pagan Arabian moon, sun, star and jinn-devil worship rituals, that Muhammad adopted from his tribe the Quraish and adapted to fit his new religion. Following is a picture of the Quraish pagan's Kaaba, located in the southwest Arabian desert, about 1200 kilometers away from THE Holy Land of the prophets and patriarchs.

.....which gave power unto the beast:.....

Satan gives power to Islam through western wealth transfer in development and purchase of the petroleum lifeblood of western consumption and waste driven economies, that turn a blind eye to greedily financing the enemy of all mankind - Islam - and immorally empower the very beast that has been the persecutor and oppressor of God's people for 1400 years, that is commanded to subjugate all mankind to Muhammad's followers.

.....and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Just as Muhammad's followers boast, and as the world has witnessed for decades and continue to in Afghanistan, who indeed is able to make war with the Islamic beast? With Islamic blasphemy replacing the Gospel during this "falling away" in "post-Christian" Europe, and Iran on the verge of having the nuke, with the Taliban biding time until the U.S. cuts and runs to take over Pakistan's nukes. Who indeed is able to make war with a beast that wears civilian clothing and launches rockets from among the general population. An ununiformed army that IS the general population, since all Muslims are expected to engage in jihad or die as hypocrites.

Quran Sura 9.111 Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Qur'an: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah. then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme.

Of course patently false regarding the Gospel binding anyone to "fight and slay", since the Gospel commands us to love and bless our enemies, but it is "a promise binding on" all of Muhammad's true followers "in the Quran". Chapter 9 being second to last in order as recited by Muhammad, thus abrogating all prior contradictions, particularly from his early Mecca drivel such as "no compulsion in religion".

"Summarized Sahih Al-Bukhari" footnotes page 580: [1] "Al-Jihad (the holy fighting) in Allah's Cause (with full force of number and weaponry) is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars (on which it stands). By Jihad Islam is established, Allah's Word is made superior, [His Word being La ilaha ill-Allah (which means: none has the right to be worshipped by Allah] and His Religion (Islam) is propagated. By abandoning Jihad (may Allah protect us from that) Islam is destroyed and the Muslims fall into an inferior position; there honour is lost, their lands are stolen, their rule and authority vanish. Jihad is an obligatory duty in Islam on every Muslim, and he who tries to escape from this duty, or does not in his innermost heart wish to fulfill this duty, dies with one of the qualities of a hypocrite."

Middle East nukes may give one pause to contemplate some Old Testament Prophecy:

Zechariah 12:9 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn.

Zechariah 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

Joel 2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Old Testament Hebrew Definition:

08490 tiymarah {tee-maw-raw'} or timarah {tee-maw-raw'}

from the same as 08558; TWOT - 2523d; n f

AV - pillar 2; 2

1) pillar, column

1a) palm-like spreading at top

The ruler of Iran, Achmed Ahmadinejad, who is about to have nuclear weapons in his possession, believes it's his responsibility to create a period of murder, mayhem and misery unprecedented in human history, to usher in the 12th Imam or Mahdi, with absolutely no interest in the casualties to be numbered among his own people in such a suicidal effort.

Now remembering John's assignment:

Revelation 1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

So we are to consider the "world" from the point in time of John's 1st century. Employing this ethnographic hermeneutic, we recognize that bible prophecy isn't about New York City, but about the Holy Land and God's people. In Revelation 17 John details a history of the succession of all kingdoms - the seven "heads" of the "beast" - from the beginning of mankind to this present day, from the perspective of John's 1st century "world":

Revelation 17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

As we'll discover later the term "beast" and "king" are interchangeable in this passage, and we can easily assign individual kings, as representative of each kingdom "beast". Tens of Millions of Christians identify the first six of these "kings" as:

"And there are seven kings: five are fallen,.....

.....and one is,.....

Daniel's 4th "dreadful" kingdom "beast", the Roman Empire, that ruled in John's day as the "one" that "is" to John.

While millions of Christians agree with the identities of those first six "kings", they then go on to throw out hermeneutics and the historical record, because it doesn't fit in with John Darby's end-time boogeyman. Willy-nilly switching from kingdoms to a man. But what does history tell us about the next king, through a consistent hermeneutic, within the traditional historicist approach?

.....[and] the other is not yet come.....

The historical fact of the matter is that the Roman empire of John's day, was later conquered by the Islamic First Jihad, which took Jerusalem in 639 AD. Thus Islam is this seventh "king" and the seventh "head" of the leopard-bear-lion beast.

.....; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

The Islamic First Jihad lasted a relatively short 152 years (five prophetic "months" in day-year language as suggested in Revelation 9) during which it conquered and subjugated nearly the whole known world, before being turned back by the Battle of Tours France, as date pinned mathematically by Daniel's "1335".

Revelation 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Characteristic of the "beast" that "was" to John's "whole world" before the Roman Empire (Greece/Medo-Persia/Babylon - the leopard-bear-lion composite), were pagan empires that persecuted and oppressed God's people while guided by Satan, and thus were of the "bottomless pit". The Roman Empire began as a pagan empire and in John's day did it's share of persecuting Jews and Christians, however it eventually embraced and even advanced Christianity (though unfortunately to a lesser extent the "ecclesia"), and the persecution of God's people subsided.

.....shall ascend out of the bottomless pit,.....

The Roman Empire was eventually conquered by the false prophet Muhammad's Islamic empire that was and still is guided by Satan, and thus ascended out of the bottomless pit, and just as those pagan empires before the Roman Empire - the false prophet Muhammad's kingdom beast has persecuted and oppressed God's people since the 7th century. The "dar al Salaam" VS the "dar al Harb". The "house of peace" VS the "house of war". If you are a non-Muslim you are in the "house of war", and while you may not be at war against Islam, Islam has been at war against you for 1400 years!

Muhammad's followers commanded to subjugate the world, to prostrating toward the Quraish pagan's black stone idol in the southwest Arabian desert five times a day, and engage in thinly veneered pagan Arabian worship rituals.

AP - December 06, 2006 MOGADISHU, Somalia - "Residents of a southern Somalia town who do not pray five times a day will be beheaded, an Islamic courts official said Wednesday, adding the edict will be implemented in three days."

How's that for tribulation? It might help some western Lazy Boy chair reclined John Darby styled futurists, overcome suggestion that great tribulation is reserved for the future, if they booked a vacation to anywhere in John's "whole world" outside of that protected by the democracy of the Jewish State of Israel.

.....and go into perdition:

Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Muhammad's Islamic Empire as the seventh "head" of the leopard-bear-lion beast, the Islamic First Jihad being "wounded to death" in the Battle of Tours, but "his deadly wound was healed" by western wealth transfer in oil purchase. Western nations financing the Islamic Second Jihad in the image of the Islamic First Jihad. Jihad is the pinnacle of worship in Islam.

Would Isaac Newton would have missed this if he were here today?

"….. the Beast that was and is not, being wounded to death with a sword, he is the eighth, and of the seven: he was therefore a collateral part of the seventh." - Isaac Newton

Whether you agree or disagree with this exegesis does not change the matter of fact, that the succession of kingdoms detailed here is not idle speculation or guesswork theology, but rather concrete matters of historical record.

The "two horned beast" of the Crusades and British Mandate held power for brief spells, but always "before" or "in the presence of" the Islamic LBL beast. Please visit BeholdTheBeast.com for a verse by verse exegesis of Revelation 13, or ChristianEschatology.com for this overview.

Mark of the Beast (URL)

Revelation 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Revelation 19:20 And the beast was taken,..." The false prophet Muhammad's Islamic kingdom - his followers - all perfectly united through the Quran, and specifically in the spirit of antichrist by denying the Son of God.

"... and with him..." Daniel assigned the masculine gender to his fourth "beast": "...and his nails ..... stamped the residue with his feet:"

"...the false prophet..." THE false prophet Muhammad who founded this antichrist Islamic kingdom "beast". The definite article "the" occurs in the Koine Greek and no metaphor is suggested.

"...that wrought miracles..." Some reject Muhammad as the false prophet because he did not perform a single miracle, however the Koine Greek word "semeion" translated as "miracles" and "signs", is defined in Strong's as "that by which a person is distinguished from others and is known". That makes Mohammed a perfect fit for the false prophet, since he is his known for his Quran, and has without question been distinguished from others by it for 1400 years. Muhammad's Quran is the "semeion" that he "wrought" before his followers.

"...before him,..." From Strong's "before" indicating "in the presence of" - the beast - Muhammad's followers.

"...with which he deceived them..." Muslims deceived by the Quran.

"...that had received the mark..." Anecdotally, t he number 666 represents the Quran and Muhammad according to the gematria advanced by a sect of Muhammad's own followers.

"The truth is that This Quran is the 666, The Book from The Lord of the Universe."

"GOD made His Messenger a witness with the letter Qaf and the number 666."

More importantly please note:

Revelation 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast {Islam - Muslim}, or the number {666} of his name.

While we can see that no physical mark is necessarily called for, anymore than God needs a physical "seal of God in their foreheads" to sort his saints out, it is interesting to note the prayer marks and bumps in the foreheads of Muhammad's followers, from prostrating toward the Quraish pagan's black stone idol in Mecca five times a day, with their foreheads pressed to the ground.

Continuing with our subject verse:

"...of the beast,..." Muhammad's Islamic kingdom

"....and them..." Muhammad's followers

"...that worshipped his image." Today's Islam and Second Jihad are the image of the First Islamic Jihad, with the beast commanded to conquer all the kingdoms of the world, and subjugate all people to denying the Son of God and rejecting His shed blood. Jihad is the pinnacle of worship in Islam.

"These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." Though written in the figurative language of a prophetic vision it doesn't spell a picnic. When does this happen?

Acts 24:15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

The scriptures were written about the Holy Land, and God's people, not Peoria Illinois. Through an ethnographic hermeneutic of John's "whole world" - which is required because his assignment was to:

"Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

Strong's confirms John's "whole world" as the whole known world, of John's day, or the Roman Empire.

Through this ethnographic hermeneutic, with the exception of the tiny strip of land of Israel, protected by the democracy of the Jewish State, we find almost the entirety of John's "whole world" is marked by the name of the beast today! Islam! Thus the mark of the beast is fulfilled prophecy!

Almost everyone in John's world has been conquered by the "beast" and as a result must deny the Son of God and reject His shed blood as articles of faith in the false prophet Muhammad. Today the tiny remnant of Jews and Christians in those Islamic countries are discriminated against and oppressed by Muhammad's followers, and are being wiped out by the Muslim Brotherhood, with churches like this one in Egypt, burned.

In Saudi Arabia, if a Muslim announces they have come to know the love of the one true God through Jesus Christ they are beheaded, because the penalty prescribed for "apostasy" or turning away from Islam, is death. The ultimate exit penalty and hallmark of a dangerous cult, whether the crime syndicate of the Mafia, or the false prophet Muhammad's Mafia. Whether in Egypt or Malaysia, the fruit of "that spirit of antichrist" is the same.

We find Islamic murder, mayhem and misery throughout John's "whole world", outside of Israel's democracy where the freedom, liberty and right to self-determination of Israeli Jews, Christians, non-Muslim Arabs and Muslims, are protected by the Jewish State. Where Muslims enjoy more freedom than they do in any Muslim controlled country on earth.

Thus we can see that when we are willing to exercise hermeneutic discipline in Bible study, within the traditional historicist approach, we find that prophecy may be at least nearly fulfilled, and our Lord and Savior's return truly imminent. Perhaps even today!

Whenever the fearful and politically correct media use the terms "rebels" or "freedom fighters" we can usually substitute the term "Muslim" or "Muslim Brotherhood" and to a lesser extent "communist". For example in the Sudan:

"Once again, women are the targets. In mid-March, rebels [Muslims] assaulted three women gathering firewood and cut off their ears, lips, and breasts."

"Eyewitness accounts detailing the [Muslim] militia attacks are horrifying. "They killed my 3-year-old son right in front of my eyes," one father from West Darfur said. Since last fall, women have reported more than 500 rapes. Three women said five [Muslim] militiamen beat and raped them last August. The women said, "After they abused us, they told us that now we would have Arab babies. And, if they would find any [more] women, they would rape them again to change the color of their children.""

Those Muslims simply doing their best to do as Muhammad did and prescribed for his followers:

From Islam's most highly regarded Hadith collection Bukhari B93 #506: Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: That during the battle with Bani Al-Mustaliq they (Muslims) captured some females and intended to have sexual relation with them without impregnating them. So they asked the Prophet about coitus interrupt us. The Prophet said, "It is better that you should not do it, for Allah has written whom He is going to create till the Day of Resurrection." Qaza'a said, "I heard Abu Sa'id saying that the Prophet said, 'No soul is ordained to be created but Allah will create it."

Bukhari B59 #459 Narrated Ibn Muhairiz: I entered the Mosque and saw Abu Said Al-Khudri and sat beside him and asked him about Al-Azl (i.e. coitus interruptus). Abu Said said, "We went out with Allah's Apostle for the Ghazwa of Banu Al-Mustaliq and we received captives from among the Arab captives and we desired women and celibacy became hard on us and we loved to do coitus interruptus. So when we intended to do coitus interrupt us, we said, 'How can we do coitus interruptus before asking Allah's Apostle who is present among us?" We asked (him) about it and he said, 'It is better for you not to do so, for if any soul (till the Day of Resurrection) is predestined to exist, it will exist."

Bukhari B62 #137 Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: We got female captives in the war booty and we used to do coitus interruptus with them. So we asked Allah's Apostle about it and he said, "Do you really do that?" repeating the question thrice, "There is no soul that is destined to exist but will come into existence, till the Day of Resurrection."

Likewise when the media and the ignorant use the term "Palestinians" they parrot the invention of a 2nd century Roman ruler designed to insult the Jews that he had vanquished. Today it serves as a dishonest smokescreen substitute term for "Israeli Muslims", since Israeli Jews, Christians and 80% of Israeli non-Muslim Arabs are overwhelmingly in favor of preservation of the democratic Jewish State of ISRAEL.

Perhaps next, the U.N. will offer observer status to Narnia.

Please visit our newly launched site ChristianEschatology.com which is a companion to our other sites that include:

BeholdTheBeast.com that focuses on Islam in Bible prophecy

BrotherPete.com that exposes Islam, through their own books, and in the light of scripture

HistoryOfMecca.com that explores the absence of a history of Mecca prior to the 4th century AD

IsraelinBibleProphecy.com which is self-explanatory

IslamAndTheTruth which is geared toward bringing a self-serve Gospel to Internet browsing Muslims, while integrating it with some of their prior understanding.

Are you Berean spirited enough to even investigate a bible study within this traditional historicist context, based entirely on its own merit, before comparing it with your present view? To consider this entirely separate and complete approach to bible prophecy fairly, without trying to wring it through the filter of your present eschatology or pre-conceived notions at every turn? If so you will enjoy reading "The False Prophet", authored by 85 year old elder Ellis Skolfield as it is fun and exciting to read. It is available free in PDF at EllisSkolfield.com, and an HTML version with page links is available at BeholdTh e Beast.com as well as translations into several languages. Links to both sites are available in the video drop-down menu.

Please visit ChristianEschatology.com for the text version of this video, and an introduction to the four approaches to Christian eschatology, including traditional historicism through which all Jews and Christians understand Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled, and up until a couple centuries ago the church understood New Testament prophecy was being fulfilled.

While one newly pre-trib bashing pastor expresses frustration with a church for refusing to consider it could be in error, for over thirty years Ellis Skolfield has tried to get through to a stone deaf and blind church regarding how Muhammad is revealed as the false prophet and his Islamic kingdom "beast" the final foe of God's people, through a hermeneutically sound brick by brick empirical argument within the traditional historicist context through which the reformers would approach New Testament prophecy were they here today. Perhaps the 19th and 20th centuries came along right on schedule.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Also heralding the "falling away" or apostasy which continued to increase exponentially over the last half of the 20th century.

While millions of Christians recognize the day-year "language" of prophecy for Daniel's 70 "weeks", we didn't have a chance to even get into the stunning blessing of mathematical confirmation of the traditional historicist approach, through this day-year language of prophecy that those great men of God of the Reformation would have applied to New Testament prophecy were they here today. Please visit the "Mathematical Precision of Prophecy" page at BeholdTheBeast for more.

For discussion please join us in the Islam-Christian Forum at the second link.