The End of Fear and Uncertainty ...

How much of your life is curtailed because of fear?  How many things do you avoid, or risks you refuse to take, because the fear of the loss that might come to pass, is just too great for you?  The thing we call life, the way we define our existence, is so often ravaged by our fears.  We construct a box for ourselves to live within, hoping that if we stay confined to our box, we will be safe.  But inevitably life has a way of knocking down the walls of any box, and when the reality of those challenges present, its most devastating side effect, is to deepen the fear that governs how we live at all.  Imagine for a moment if you had taken every risk you were ever presented with, but imagine that they all worked out positively.  It is as if your brain won’t let you imagine that outcome.  Surely the nature of a risk, is that not all of them work out the way we want, so imagining they do is nearly impossible.  It presents a “too good to be true” scenario.  And yet, your mind is much more comfortable imagining every risk would have worked out badly.  And that kind of imagination, governs what you have done, and what you will do.

That kind of risk avoidance, that is so easy to imagine going badly, and so difficult to imagine working out the way we want, leaves a footprint in how we live.  It confines our actions, and stunts our imaginations.  It pushes us to want a life we can define, and predict, with relative certainty will go the way we want.  You call that common sense.  An outside observer would call it moved-by-fear.  So to get you to look beyond.  To get you to examine what life may have to offer beyond the limits and history of your fear, you must ignore your fears.  This is especially true in matters of religion.  Nearly every time an Angel is commissioned to communicate with mankind, the first few words are generally, “fear not”.  There is a reason for this.  Confronted with the supernatural, with the out-of-bounds, something beyond the limits you set for yourself and your ideas about life … the first human response is one of fear.  Not joy, not rejoicing (imagine it, most of the news they have to say is usually always good, sometimes really good), not even curiosity.  The first human response is fear.

Having an Angel appear in your real world, knocks the wall down of the nice little box you construct for yourself.  Thus, the message of the good news they bring must wait, while first they re-assure our fears.  And these messages are most often reserved for believers, for people who have chosen to believe in our God, in His Word, and the history of communication between God and man it has presented.  Even behind the lives steeped in belief, remain human fear, human uncertainty.  And this condition is not meant to be permanent.  It is not even meant to be how we live today.  Consider as an example, the slightly misplaced argument that toddlers have on the playground about “my dad is bigger than your dad”.  The real notion behind it, is that the toddler is asserting his/her own security based on the idea that their dad is big enough to ward off any threat.  The toddler is comfortable looking to daddy to protect them, care for them, and generally be a fence between themselves and evil.  While slightly misplaced, the basis of this argument is sound, if we were to apply it to God instead.  Even daddies need that analogy.

Security enables us to feel better.  Certainty, a hedge against the downside of risk, allows us to live life in a completely different way.  When you are not scared about eating, about making a living, about God taking care of the things, the burdens, you usually take upon yourself; something wonderful happens.  You begin to let go of the fear, and start to really live, outside of the box, outside of the boundaries you used to place upon yourself.  Your existence begins to change because the way you think about your existence begins to change.  It is in a sense self-fulfilling, but it cannot begin or be effective, without an outside assurance that will cover the fears we face, and hedge the risks we no longer fear to take.  What our “Daddy” can do for us in this regard, is something He longs to do.  It is how we live in the eternity of heaven.  And it can begin right here and right now, if we will only let Him do it for us.

Jesus Himself gives us the roadmap for this.  Matthew continues recording His Sermon on the Mount in chapter six of his gospel.  Jesus has just concluded a snippet about true currency valuation, and what relevance money has in the light of eternal things.  But before humans can let go the fear of using our money differently, we need assurances too many of us ignore.  Yet here they are.  Picking up in verse 25 Jesus continues saying … “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?”  This is radical reprioritization.  We spend our lives working to feed our families, put a roof over their heads, and clothes on their back.  From the extreme rich, to the very poor, the mechanics remain the same.  Yet here is Jesus putting an abrupt halt on everything we value, on our entire economic structure, and furthermore saying “take no thought” for it. 

This is beyond a general admonition not to have fear regarding it.  This is nothing even remotely related to having balance between responsibility and spirituality.  This is a one-sided, completely weighted statement, that passes up any boundary we are comfortable with.  “Take no thought” means past not worrying or stressing, don’t even think about it.  We can be that certain in how we live, that God Himself is looking after our lives, that we need not even think about what we eat, or wear.  The question is not whether I shop at Saks Fifth Avenue, or Walmart, for my clothing.  The proposition Jesus makes, is that my body is the important thing to God, and God will take care of clothing it.

Jesus continues in verse 26 saying … “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”  Jesus has a point.  Birds wake up every day, and go eat.  The bird never has to worry that they will not find food.  They simply look, and there it is.  God does the worrying.  God provides for the feeding.  The bird is just living his life, he is not obsessing about whether he has a full pantry of food at home, or whether his canned goods supply are adequate to withstand the next hurricane disaster.  The bird just wakes up and eats.  Mom’s bring home food for their little birds.  There is never a worry about this kind of thing.  If you took the evil of predatory creatures out of the equation, birds would thrive.  You don’t see them going extinct because of lack of food.  Even though they still have to contend with what man does to their natural habitats, with pollution, with weather events just like we do.  Yet after a hurricane, when the storms roll away, there are the birds.  They just wake up and eat and live without a thought about it.

Jesus drives home the point in verse 27 saying … “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”  This is not just a frustration the shorter population faces.  It equally applies to health issues you have almost no control over.  Think about it, as you read this, your local hospital is filled with people in varying degrees of need.  This is true all over the city, country, and world in general.  Wealth is no barrier against being there.  Youth isn’t either.  Fitness despite all its other benefits does not shield you against cancer.  And our thoughts about what we want, and our fears about what we want to avoid, do nothing from keeping any one of us from becoming the patient in the bed right next door.  If we cannot control our bodies by sheer force of will, why do we take on the fear and stress over them as if we could.  The stress does not fix the problems, it only makes them worse.  There is a better solution.

Jesus continues in verse 28 saying … “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: [verse 29] And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [verse 30] Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”  Ok Macy’s, your entire value proposition has just been cut to the ground.  And so has yours Walmart.  Jesus asks us to simply look at the beauty He has created around us in nature.  Beauty that occurs whether we encourage it or not.  If God offers us the beauty of Roses, and Lillies, and Tulips and Trees; He takes care of things that have a short span of time here in the world, and things that last.  Flowers cannot just transplant themselves to find better foods.  Nor has a tree ever been given this kind of option.  The Sequoias have been there for quite some time, and yet still they grow, their beauty a remarkable thing.  If God so takes care of the transient things, why would He not take care of you?

Jesus summarizes His thoughts picking up in verse 31 saying … “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? [verse 32] (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. [verse 33] But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  Your thoughts, your worries, your pursuits are either wasted in the temporary things of this world, or founded in the eternal things of God that matter.  Jesus tells us here that what we eat is not worth thinking about, food will be there.  He tells us what we wear is not our concern, God will make sure we have something, and that it lasts.  Following this advice may not offer us a wealth of new clothing every season, but it will meet our needs.  Following this advice may not have us eating at Morton’s every night, but it will have us eating to meet our needs.  And trusting God, to provide these things, is to just test what He provides.  His gifts are amazing.

What should be our focus is seeking His kingdom, the thing that lasts and matters.  The rest of the temporary needs will be met.  Jesus concludes this line of thinking with a more realistic and somber thought continuing in verse 34 saying … “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”  The problem is not our food, or clothes.  It is our priorities.  It is our faith or trust in God.  It is our inclination to focus upon ourselves and begin to indulge the evil that lays in wait all around us.  THAT is the real problem.  That is something we can have a little stress about.  Because the problem there is not half so much about what surrounds us as what lies inside of us.  Our refusal to trust.  Our refusal to change how we live, and who we rely upon to support us.  We take on burdens that do not belong to us, and in so doing continue to entertain fear, and uncertainty, that otherwise could die a permanent death.

How great could be our Christian lives and experience if we could think differently about who takes care of us, and who is there to meet the risks, and solve the challenges.  A sense of self-reliance is our biggest handicap.  Atheists must rely upon this as it is all they have.  But Christians should be able to rely upon something more, to a point where we literally … take no thought.

And the Sermon was far from over …

 

The Past is Prologue ...

The Revelations of Jesus Christ to his servant, the prophet John continue with events so close to the return of our Lord, they can nearly be seen already.  To say these events occur in the last days would seem obvious.  But when trying to pinpoint a more precise timeframe, one need only look at the sequence of events in terms of what has been completed already, and what is still left unfulfilled.  The sequence of seven that is the method of these revelations since the start of this book is once again to be employed as the last plagues of God’s judgments are poured out upon the evil in this world.  But to gauge where we are today consider the previous sequence’s.  The messages to the seven churches show you and I to be living in the days of Laodicea the last church before He returns.  The sixth seal has been opened.  The sixth trumpet has been sounded.  The history of the great disappointment, and work of the two witnesses is in our past now.  The plan of the enemy in raising three beasts to war against the lamb has seen us witness the rise of the third beast.  The ability to conduct commerce to be tied to the compulsion of conscience on a worldwide basis is something only our country has the power to implement.  And we are fast on our way to seeing it done.  Our direction in that regard has already been set; all that remains is to see our direction achieved.  Whether by those atheists, or believers of other religions who deny Christ altogether; or by those zealous fundamentalists Christians who believe only their version of doctrine is correct; the compulsion of conscience and attacks of our identity as followers of Jesus Christ is certain to be seen in our near future.

What remains undone to place us along the timeline of events that John has revealed to us is … the completion of the latter rain in the harvest described by the work of the Lamb and the fourth angel in the prior chapter.  The fulfillment of His work within us in the sealing of the 144,000 first fruits who have a special mission in the last days of our world’s history (likely tied closely to the work of the fourth angel).  The worldwide implementation of the Mark of the Third Beast which will restrict commerce unless we forfeit our identity as individual followers of Jesus Christ.  After which follows the seven last plagues which fall upon the evil in this world about to be described, as well as the work of the fifth and sixth angels who see a harvest of blood reaped among the wicked through these events.  These sequences conclude with the “seventh” church, or seal, or trumpet, or angels mission, or plague all being the culmination of His return and the beginning of our reunion with our Lord and our God. 

We, you and I, live perilously close to the end of all things.  While for believers to have thought that the last days have been with us for hundreds of years prior to now is also true.  In no other time has our country been in the position it is in today financially and with its ability to influence the financial systems of the entire world economy.  Our worldwide network of computer systems are now the backbone of immediate controls of wealth from every nation on the planet, and no nation can survive financially without participation in these systems.  In no other time has our nation had such a tremendous momentum to tie politics to fundamentalist beliefs in the right wing of the Republican party, or such fervor to see religion denied altogether from far left wing of the Democratic party.  Regardless of which political power triumphs, the ultimate compulsion of the conscience and attack on our identity as followers of Jesus Christ alone is imminent.  People today have more of a desire to look to men to find salvation than to submit to Jesus Christ.  Believers of all religions are more willing to follow their human leaders, than to seek Christ with a submissive heart and allow His transformation to be completed within them.  Instead we would rather follow the Pope, or Joel Osteen, or the Dali Lama, or a Cleric, or Rabbi, cult leader, or local pastor – most of all the man in the mirror; than to trust in ONLY Jesus Christ to save us from ourselves.

So while the delay in His return and the messages of warning cries about its nearness have persisted so long we have become hardened to them; the events needed to transpire to see the end emerge have crept up upon us like a thief in the night.  We sit now on the edge, on the precipice of the end of all things, and yet go about our lives with no sense of urgency or even joyous anticipation.  We marry and divorce with no thought other than to find what pleases our hearts as they are.  We attend our churches and try to find food in our sermons, but we tire of the idea of living as if tomorrow may be our last day, and today our last opportunity to see love reflected through us, inspire another to find Jesus and their salvation.  We have come to a point where prophecy is only decried by extremists wearing sandwich boards on the streets and in electronic forums predicting nothing but doom and fear as the reasons to seek God before it is too late.  But these revelations were not given to us to inspire fear; or as an attempt to use fear to bring us back to God.  In fact, quite the opposite.  The revelations were provided so that as events unfold they would NOT surprise us, or cause us fear.  We can be prepared for them both mentally, and spiritually.  We can take heart knowing that while danger and attacks are employed by the enemy of souls, the ultimate triumph of the Lamb is foretold in the same passages – both within us, and external to us.

All of the revelations described in this book, were intended to be of a redemptive nature.  Even what follows of the plagues in this chapter is to give comfort to those who accept His redemption and refuse this final mark against our identity as followers of Jesus Christ alone, that all is not lost.  The judgments of God against evil and the pain it has so long caused, are NOT poured out upon His servants in these last days.  For God is not indiscriminant in pouring out the cup of His wrath, His wrath is reserved against evil alone, and is reserved only for those whose choice He must respect to remain apart from the salvation He offers.  Unlike His enemy, God does NOT compel the conscience of men.  He offers them salvation, through the power of His love, but He does not force them to take it.  If we choose to remain true to our love of self, we will ultimately be allowed to make this choice, and remain aligned with the ranks of His enemy.  It is for those who make this choice, who the following passages will inspire fear.  Those who have elected to be saved from the love of self, will see only His protective hand in the final sequence of events in this world’s history.  Like Noah before them, they will find grace and protection from the Lord during the destruction that lies all around them.

So John begins in verse one saying … “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.”  John does not specify if the voice who begins these plagues is that of God, or of the Lamb, or of an Angel, or one of the 4 beasts in front of the throne.  We assume it is the voice of God, because no human was allowed entry into the temple while the plagues are to be poured out as we learned in the previous passages.  John continues in verse 2 … “And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.”  What is past is prologue.  Egypt, due the hardness of the heart of the Pharaoh, suffered plagues and judgments from God because Pharaoh thought of himself as god, instead of submitting to the power of the only true God.  So now after the Mark of the Third Beast has been universally implemented which places the time of these plagues very close to when we live, the first vial of His wrath contains noisome and grievous sores to be poured out on those who have accepted this mark.  The men of our day accept no god greater than themselves.  They would rather worship self, or other men, than to worship Christ alone.  They would rather declare against Jesus and remain able to conduct commerce and live, than to risk starvation, persecution, and death by the majority who bare the mark of the beast.

Pharaoh refused to accept the supremacy of a god greater than himself.  He and his nation bore the consequences.  Now, the men of our day, will refuse once again to accept toleration of the voices of dissent among them.  They will choose to compel the conscience of others, and in so doing raise themselves to the level of “god”.  They will force a choice to deny personal and individual worship of Jesus Christ alone, and instead demand we follow the edicts of mankind.  In so doing they mimic the Pharaoh of old and share in his fate.  What is past is prologue.  When Satan came to tempt Christ, he came in the disguise of angel of light.  When men propose the choice to submit to their edicts, or follow conscience to serve Jesus Christ, they will also take on a disguise.  They will carry with them the wisdom of the majority in matters of doctrines and beliefs.  They will use scripture to “prove” their doctrinal positions are the only correct ones to take. 

Islamists often quote the Bible today to attempt to show they are not completely unaligned with the history of other “prophets” of God.  However, they do not accept the divinity of Christ, as that would prove the undoing of their entire religion.  The Jewish faith of today, still adheres to the scriptures of the Old Testament, but they cannot accept that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.  Catholics still believe the Pope has equality to God upon this world, and thus has authority to dictate practices he believes are scripturally based.  Protestants believe in a scriptural morality that would see those who dissent die, rather than to pollute the faith.  And atheists do not accept any god greater than the man who stands in the mirror.  To find any of these groups, or all of them united in purpose to see individual worship of Jesus Christ ended can be no surprise.  All of these groups can present excellent arguments and facts to support their various positions.  All of them tell elements of truth, and can cite our own scriptures, in an attempt to dissuade us from our various and personal beliefs.  But for all the strength of their arguments, their goal remains the same, to attack our individual identity as followers of Jesus Christ alone.  Whether we share some basis of belief or doctrines with any of these groups or ideas, it cannot excuse a wholesale denial of allowing ourselves to follow anyone other than Jesus Christ alone.  It is not the Protestant doctrines that save me, it is Jesus Christ alone.  It is not the Pope, or a cleric, or Rabbi, or a local pastor, or the majority opinion of any group, it is Jesus Christ alone.

Should we find ourselves in sympathy with those who would seek to compel the conscience of others, we have found ourselves on the side of the Beast and the enemy of souls.  For compulsion is not the way of Jesus Christ.  No matter how devout our faith in a given doctrine of scripture, there is never a reason it needs to be advanced at the point of a sword.  The punishment of the wicked must be left to God, not to us.  We are commanded only to love them, to love specifically those who hate us and would seek to kill us.  We do not show love, when we inflict persecution, and death, in order for their “greater good”.  That is not love.  That is the tool of the enemy.  It is not love we show when we kill our enemies “in order to defend ourselves, or our faith”.  It is what it is.  It is pain and death, and a vain attempt to advance scripture at the point of a sword.  It is blasphemy to think ourselves and our ideas as equal to God, to believe we can take life or allow it to persist based on an acceptance of our ideology.  It is the devout thinking of the Pharisees that took this idea and used it to crucify Jesus Christ.  Lest we think we are different, we are not.  What is past is prologue.  We should learn from history, that compulsion of morality can never be achieved.

John continues in verse 3 … “And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.”  The parallels between the second plague and the second trumpet sounding in ages past are undeniable.  Both are poured out against the sea.  The sounding of the second trumpet affects a third of life in the sea, whereas this plague appears to affect the entire sea.  It is not immediately apparent how the alteration of water into blood would result in the deaths of all those on the sea at the time.  But consider the effects of the difference in buoyancy between water and blood.  Could metal ships and submarines that use water as coolant still function if blood were introduced instead?  Could steam be produced from blood as it is from water?  The ocean life that lives in the sea, would likely also die.  On a worldwide scale this plague would certainly cause a level of devastation like none we have ever borne witness to.

John continues in verse 4 … “And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. [verse 5] And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. [verse 6] For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. [verse 7] And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”  The third plague turns what is left of the world’s water supplies to blood.  All of the fresh water has been turned.  Egypt witnessed this plague as well.  The corollary to the winepress of the wrath of God which produces blood instead of grape juice springs to mind. The wicked are offered blood to drink, as they have seen fit to believe that the killing of saints, and prophets, were in the best interest of everyone.  The “purification” of the church has seen any who dissent give their lives violently for the cause of Christ.  In vain efforts at keeping church doctrine pure, countless saints and prophets who actually serve God were murdered.  In changing the water into blood and offering it as drink, God shows His supremacy to the men who cling to the ideas of control they have embraced.  They have none.  They never did.

It is not dissent the makes doctrine impure.  It is dissent that causes us to learn, to grow, and to either deepen in our faith and beliefs, or to alter and expand them to embrace greater truth.  Dissent is not our enemy, nor those who will not comply with our majority view.  It merely represents a different position in the journey to the perfection Christ brings about.  Over time, incorrect thinking and beliefs are altered by the power of His love and grace to the point where truth is better understood, and embraced.  This process is inevitable.  But it happens on different timelines, as each of us are unique.  He must bring it about in our lives in the ways in which each of us respond to His love.  He knows us better than we know ourselves, and MUCH better than we know each other.  We must allow Christ the freedom to change each of us, in His time, and in His manner.  To seek to accelerate the process through force is nothing but folly.  We cannot compel others to stop believing what they believe, and we need not do so.  Christ will take care of the incorrect thinking and beliefs of others.  This is the process of salvation.  Our “job” is merely to love them through the process, and to realize this process is also going on within us.  It may well be “we” who are changed in matters of belief and doctrinal persuasion over time, to believe otherwise is arrogance and pride.

John continues in verse 8 … “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. [verse 9] And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.”  The fourth plague in our day could be easily attributable to global warming, or global climate change; but as scientists point out, these changes take place over very long periods of time.  The plagues that are falling upon the wicked are thought to happen in fairly rapid sequence and with worldwide dimensions to their scope.  This plague in particular only affirms the pattern set by Pharaoh of old, in that repentance is not sought.  Instead blasphemy occurs.  We think ourselves equal to God, and therefore deny His power in the genesis of this plague, or any other.  Despite all the miraculous events that occur during these plagues, atheists do what atheists always do, they look for a scientific explanation that negates the need of God.

But blasphemy is not the exclusive province of the atheist.  It is shared in hearts of those who prefer the wealth of this world to the humble service found in the next one.  Many who still carry the name of “Christian” will suffer under the weight of these plagues.  This will only serve to intensify their passion to weeding out and killing the voices of dissent.  They believe that until every soul who refuses to follow their majority view is killed, the plagues will continue.  They must all be found and slaughtered, offered as human sacrifice to the vengeful god they serve in order that relief is found.  The fact that those who do NOT bare the mark of the third beast, are NOT suffering from any of these plagues has been lost on them.  They believe it must be Satan protecting his own, instead of God who alone has the power to perform these plagues, protecting His own.  They like the Pharisees of old, accuse the divine protection and healing that comes from God as coming from demons.  What is past is prologue. 

Suffering does nothing to inspire the wicked to change.  This is the mistake even Christians have so long made in their evangelistic efforts.  Fear has been presented as a prime motivator to bring people to Christ.  But fear and punishment do not deter evil in the slightest.  If anything, evil is fed off of fear.  The first words of Christ to His servants all throughout time have generally been … “do not be afraid”.  Christ does not look for us to fear Him, rather to respond to His so great love.  His first concern in almost every dialogue is for us to lose our fear.  We cannot think well when we are afraid.  We do not reason well, and it is impossible to love under the threat of fear.  The reason for these revelations of great plagues upon the evil of this world, is that our fear is to be completely negated.  When all these events unfold we will be fully aware, and the peace of Christ will be our pursuit.  While the wicked carry sores upon them, our bodies will not.  While the wicked are offered only blood to drink, we will find water to sustain us.  While the sun bares down in scorching heat upon the men of this world, for only a miraculous reason, we will find none of its ill effects.  For we know that our God is God.  Like the children of Israel who awaited in eager anticipation to leave what they knew of slavery and find God in a promised land, so we too will wait eagerly knowing these plagues only mark a timeline for His imminent return to take us away, home to be with Him forever.

But three more plagues are to mark that timeline, for what is past remains prologue …

 

Seven Angels [part one] ...

In actuality there are 3 groups of 7 angels described throughout the book of Revelations of Jesus Christ relayed by the disciple John.  The first group of seven were angels given messages to the seven churches.  The second group is described here with messages for the last days.  And the third group will come later carrying the plagues of God’s judgments to be poured out upon the world.  It is possible these may be the same angels performing three different and unique missions.  It is possible they are each unique, each given a message to convey or work to perform.  What is clear, is that the work of the redemption of mankind, is not limited only to actions performed by God alone, or Christ alone.  Actions, messages, and missions that work for our redemption are “shared” with those who are willing and long to participate.  Those who would volunteer to be tools united in seeing our fallen race reconciled to God are honored by God with a work towards that goal.  In the courts of the Father Himself, are seen 24 elders, 4 beasts of unique composition, the Lamb of God or His only Son, and an innumerable host of angels who have been working and fighting for our redemption.  His angels have already fought two wars in heaven and one final war is still to come.

This idea of participation is not excluded from you and me either.  Jesus Himself gave us His great commission; reminding us we should love one another, and in small teams, carry His gospel of hope and redemption to a world who has never heard this truth.  Christ did not require us to be perfect “before” we could share in this work.  He has demonstrated His willingness to use “broken tools” in the process of our redemption.  He knows despite our imperfections and incomplete understanding of His word, if we will be willing to Love like He Loved, the gospel will find its way into the hearts and minds of those who need it, and will lead to their redemption.  It is not the strength of our doctrines, or the purity of our interpretation of scripture that transforms the hearts of men.  It is the love of Christ alone that performs this function.  When we demonstrate this love we become agents united in His mission.  We become tools working for the redemption of mankind.  When we pollute our love with our own ideas, and assume it is “us” who saves others instead of “Christ” who saves us all; we detriment the cause of Christ. 

Angels understand “who” is in charge.  Angels are aware the messages they convey originate with God, not within themselves.  The works they perform are the works they volunteer for and have been commissioned or directed to perform.  They are more perfect tools to use in our redemption than we are.  Too often we would be all too happy to take credit unto ourselves.  We assume “our” words are actually “ours”.  We believe “our” deeds were originated within us.  In this we forget, that His words should be flowing through us.  We forget His works come from Him, His motives, His love reflected through us, not beginning within us.  Our greatest danger, even within the work of the gospel, is to lose our dependence upon Christ alone, and begin to accept the idea that “we” too are an integral part of the process of salvation, our own, or that of others.

John has only recently set the stage for the work of this second group of seven angels who are to bring messages to us near the end of time.  Earlier he described the plans of the enemy, raising up three beasts, allied to see us deny our identity as followers of Jesus Christ alone, and instead submit and carry the mark of this third beast.  John went on to identify a special group of 144,000 first fruits, who instead of bearing the mark of the beast, they bear the name of the Father God in their foreheads.  They stand before God pure, and without guile.  They have been transformed by the power of Christ, and their willing submission to His transformational power and love.  While John describes the fury of our enemy in his intentions to make us question our identity, he also describes the hope that not all will succumb to the mark of the enemy and instead there will be those who see the perfection of Christ wrought within them, even while still in this world.  This work is all timed near the end, just prior to the return of Christ to this world, to take us home.  It is against this timing and the back drop of these events that the second group of angels takes up their messages.

John begins in verse 6 of chapter 14 of his Revelations of Jesus Christ, saying … “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,”  The first angel carries with him the message of the eternal gospel, he carries the good news.  The message is not intended for only a select group of people, but for literally everyone on planet earth.  Language is no barrier to love.  Nationality, community, and family all bow to the power of love.  It is the love of Christ that underlies the power of the gospel.  It is the revelation of His so great love, that comprises the eternal and everlasting gospel that is to be preached to all who dwell on the earth.  Notice as well, it is the mission of this angel to see that the gospel is spread.  He will work this work through any who are willing to share in His mission.  But the ultimate disposition of the gospel reaching the world is carried by this angel commissioned with this work.  As always, it is God who insures, everyone has a chance to hear and accept the freedom His gift is made of.

John continues in verse 7 … “Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”  This angel proclaims to our world that we should “fear God”, or perhaps better understood, we should “respect God”.  “We” are NOT the top of the food chain.  “We” are not the supreme beings of the universe.  There is something greater than us.  It is God who made man, not the other way around.  In fact this angel identifies God by His most important attribute – He made heaven (and the universe in which it is found), earth (everything that lives), the sea (everything found in water as well as the water itself), and fountains of water (our most basic necessity).  The reason we are to give glory to God is because of His identification as our Creator, and more importantly our re-Creator.  You will remember from our earlier study of the gospel of John, wherein we learned that to “give glory” is to perform acts of love for others.  The request to love others forms the basis of His great commission to us, and is consistent in the message of the eternal gospel, this angel is relaying.  The hour of His judgment is come.  The time of the end has arrived.  Evil will not be allowed to live on in perpetuity.  An end to the time where evil will be allowed to exist is coming fast, this is the hour of His judgment, and the angel begins by announcing that time is now upon us.

The revelation of this first angel is very important in both content, and timing.  He carries the gospel to the entire world.  And he does it in the last days of this world’s history.  The methods for communicating on a global scale have arrived.  The penetration of Christianity around the world is no longer zero, it is rising.  Language barriers have been overcome.  The printed and electronic word is carried to parts of the globe that could not have ever been reached only ten years ago.  The angel carries his message of the eternal gospel to places we have not dreamed of going.  He uses those who are willing to share in his mission of love and redemption.  And he breaks down barriers that once stood in the way of his delivery.

John continues in verse 8 … “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”  The second angel carries a warning based on a lament.  The news of Babylon’s fall is not proclaimed as gloating, or in triumph, or celebration.  It is instead sad news.  What was once hoped to be a pinnacle of knowledge, of social order, of prosperity – has corrupted itself.  Original ideals have been trampled under the foot of self service, greed, and avarice.  Instead of being the golden head and jewel of the earth, Babylon has fallen.  And as she has fallen, she has taken all the nations down with her.  She in fact “made all nations drink” or participate in her fornication and angry deeds.  Heaven does NOT rejoice at the rejection of love and freedom from self, when it is chosen.  Instead Heaven grieves at the rejection of love.  This lament is repeated with tears and great sadness … “Babylon is fallen, is fallen”.  This is a sad announcement and proclamation.  It is a declaration to the world, that what was once a great hope, has become corrupted, and has led the world into sharing in this corruption.

So the question is posed, who is Babylon?  Traditionally the Catholic church of the dark ages was held to be this symbol, because of the corruption of the gospel that occurred in those dark years.  The word was withheld from the people.  Salvation was for sale through indulgences.  Works of art were made to be worshipped.  The special day of worship with God established at creation was altered by the power of the church.  And worst of all, dissent was not tolerated, punishable by death utilizing the power of the state to achieve these goals throughout the world.  What might have been the great hope of Christianity was corrupted by greed and avarice, and became a blight on the history of the delivery of our gospel.  Forever stained would be gospel of Christ, as it was advanced at the point of a sword, rather than with an unconditional love that could see evil end.  Indeed to understand the sadness that must have occurred as the church bearing the name of our Lord declined during these ages must have been a cause of great lament throughout the heavenly courts.  But to adopt this interpretation at the exclusion of others may perhaps be too limiting.

Consider for a moment, the timing of these angel’s messages.  They occur AFTER the third beast has been identified and come into prominence.  In fact the next angel will discuss the issue-of-the-day with the mark of the third beast in just the next few verses.  The proclamation of the downfall of Babylon is a current event.  It does not indicate that it reaches back into history to find its fulfillment, but rather in the modern times in which this angel makes his proclamation.  He is the second angel.  He follows the worldwide proclamation of the gospel.  Christianity was NOT worldwide during the dark ages, it was largely centralized in Europe and north Africa.  China, the America’s, Russia, were areas largely untouched by the gospel during the dark ages.  However, in our age, the gospel has a very real ability to be heard worldwide.  While China is not too fond of Christian missions, it has not forbid them altogether.  Doors are opening that were once shut to the gospel.  So if this message of the fall of Babylon is occurring AFTER the worldwide proclamation of the gospel, and just prior to the mark of the third beast.  That would make its proclamation timed to … NOW!!

Another aspect of the message of the lament of Babylon’s fall is its identification as “that great city”.  In the time of John, there were very few nations, and nearly all revolved around the prominence of a City State.  Babylon in fact was a city, whose armies under Nebuchadnezzar had swept over the then known world.  To interpret the fall of Babylon as pertaining only to a church, whether historical, or current seems a bit limiting given the natural association of Babylon as a “great city” rather than as a woman who might better represent a church.  Babylon of old influenced a great degree of the lives of those around the world, particularly around the world that contained the history of those who followed the true God.  If these messages are to find relevance in the time of the end, then it would be more likely to have Babylon represent a nation whose influence is great upon the world, particularly on nations where there are a great number of those who follow the true God today.

So if not looking backwards to find the fulfilment of Babylon, or at a minimum, not only looking backwards – where do we find its only fulfillment in our age?  I submit only one power is global in nature and scope; and would fit the image of hope that has been lost.  The United States of America alone fits this description.  We were founded on the ideas of religious freedom and tolerance.  We were the location in the earth that opened to help the woman fleeing into the wilderness.  We had grand ideals of democracy rather than autocracy.  We evolved, some would argue too slowly, to finally realize the ideas that ALL men were truly created equal by our Creator, regardless of the color of their skin, or national origins.  We brought prosperity to the whole world.  We brought Christianity to the whole world, taking the seeds of Protestantism sown in Europe and spreading it worldwide.  We stopped the spread of fascism.  We won the cold war.  We give when others are in need.  We were once the golden jewel of social order, of knowledge, or prosperity for all of our citizens.  Our middle class was once the envy of the world.

But Babylon is fallen, is fallen.  What was once great, has become corrupted by avarice and greed, and the nature of man to serve only himself.  Now, our richest one percent dictate the fates of the remainder of the entire world.  They have no inclination to share anymore, but only to become even more rich.  We pollute now with impunity.  We deny the reality of global climate change because we profit from the status quo.  We cause the rest of the world to acquiesce to our financial requests and systems, or risk losing the wealth we are responsible for creating.  We back up our “requests” with the might of our military.  And we have begun to embark on the course of compelling the conscience of others.  Whether from the far left, or far right, the compulsion to think like I think, or believe like I believe is ever more entering the landscape of our media, and our reality.  We have all but destroyed privacy and the expectation to have freedom from publicity.  Everything that is said, whether intended to be private or not, is available for public consumption.  And the problems associated with our downfall as Babylon are NOT limited only to issues of our government or corporate structures.  They have infected the church as well.

Christianity in our age, in our nation – conjures up its first images as “hate speech” or judgmental-ism.  We are not known for our love first, but too often for our love as our last identifying characteristic.  Too many pastors who minister through television are concerned first about the “financial support” of their ministry, ahead of the needs of their parishioners.  Too many members give tithes and offerings only when it is expedient, or too often not at all.  Our hearts are not touched with feelings of empathy for those in desperate need who crowd our streets and overfill the mental hospitals who can care for them no longer.  We believe the poor have earned their condition.  If they were more motivated to work, they would not be poor.  So we harden our hearts, close our doors, and deny love to those who would need it most.  The thought of visiting the sick, or those in prison, never so much as enters our minds.  We are too busy.  We are too busy working to support ourselves, pay our bills, and minister in our local churches where it is safe and comfortable to worship.  Our ministry wanes.  Our personal testimony becomes corporate testimony, it has lost its uniqueness.  We espouse the ideas of salvation, not the personal impact of salvation upon us.  In short, Babylon is fallen, is fallen.  Our nation and our church are not what they once were.  Both our government and our corporate religious institutions are not what they once were.  And so the lament rings through the courts of heaven.  Babylon is fallen, is fallen.

So what is revealed about Jesus Christ through the messages of the first and second angels?  First, that the good news of the gospel is to be preached to ALL the world, for the time for this world is nearing its end.  Second, that while it may yet be great, and may have been founded in ideals and hopes with highest expectations – Babylon has fallen.  Whether applied to the largest Christian church of the dark ages, or to our nation as it sits today, starting out great does not guarantee that the finish remains that way.  Self-interests can corrupt even the finest institutions, whether corporate or individual.  Our government, the pillars of our economy, the backbone of our corporate churches, and the man in the mirror are ALL subject to the corrupting effects of self-service.  Only Jesus Christ can free us from this condition of slavery we have embraced.  The lament of heaven is real.  The condition it declares is designed to lift our self-deception.  We have fallen.  But there remains hope.

And the third angel’s message is about to be delivered …

Seven Trumpets [part four] ...

We continue our examination of the seven trumpets from part three of this series.  One woe is past, two are yet to come.  The sounding of the sixth trumpet is to correspond to the second woe poured out upon the earth.  The first woe that emerged from the darkness was so thick it inspired a desire for death, rather than to endure the poison of the scorpion locust army that tormented those men who had not the seal of God in their foreheads for a period of 5 months (or 150 years, if we apply the day for a year interpretation).  A darkness so terrible as to inspire a wish for death that would not come, should be enough to give us pause.  Have we embraced the poisoned doctrines of secular atheism that would deny us our meaning and our worth?  Or have we embraced the poisoned doctrines of self-created salvation that would offer us the lie of perfection within our own grasp by simple choice and will, absent the need for a savior?  Indeed the fifth trumpet sounding was to wake us from these woes, but the sixth trumpet is ready to sound, what is the message it carries?

John continues his revelation of Jesus Christ in the ninth chapter and verse 13 writing … “And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, [verse 14] Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.”  The reference to an altar that is “before God” implies another similarity between the original worship system defined for the Israelites who wandered the desert and the heavenly archetype it represents.  Similarly, while the need for the altar and continued sacrifice is no more, having met its fulfillment in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as our Lamb of God, it remains a reminder of what was done in order that you and I might be freed from our slavery to self.  It stands as a memorial to what it took, what Love was willing to pay, to see your value realized, to see your meaning realized, to see your freedom realized. 

The message given from the altar is to the sixth angel to go and loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.  The idea conveyed that something, or some event had up till now been restrained that is about to be loosed and allowed to work its course.  Often the forces of evil are restrained by God, and kept in check.  If this were not the case, evil would overwhelm the world and kill everything in its path.  Evil has no mercy.  Evil has no restraint.  Evil has no sense of enough; it has only a hunger for more.  When once, the slavery of serving self is embraced, its end cannot be found in any other path but death.  It is why our Savior is needed to alter this course, and see us find life, instead of the highway to death our choices would otherwise result in.  The wages of sin being death is not the result of a judging God, but rather the consequence of a hunger that will only deepen until death offers it a final release.

John continues in verse 15 … “And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. [verse 16] And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.”  The first element to the work of the four angels bound in the river Euphrates who were now loosed was that of the time of their work.  The preparation they had made, or the time they were allotted, was an hour, a day, a month and a year.  The second element uniquely identified to this woe is the number of horsemen being an army of 200 million.  The original scorpion locust army had no such designation in numbers, only thought of as swarms that appear without end.  While the central point of origin is here identified in the region of the river Euphrates, also associated with this woe, is a specific amount of time, and a specific amount of participants.  Also identified here was the goal, to slay the third part of men.  Yet another result being associated with the “thirds” as outlined in the earlier trumpets sounding.

John continues in verse 17 … “And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. [verse 18] By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. [verse 19] For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.”  Very similar to the original scorpion locust army these were horsemen.  They had similar characteristics but to these were added the issue of smoke and fire out of the mouths of these horsemen.  Gunfire is the most apt application for this symbolism were we to look for a more literal association.  But as with the original scorpion locust army, the power to hurt men was still in their tails, in the poison of the doctrines of their mouths, the doctrines of serpents with heads, that cause pain.  And their result was the death of the third part of men they had prepared to kill.  Great is this woe.

John now records the effects of what has been unleashed as he continues in verse 20 … “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: [verse 21] Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”  In the days of Israel of old, God would remove His protective hand from them when they used His blessings on themselves, believing they could worship whatever gods they wanted, and perform any acts of selfishness that brought them pleasure, while still claiming to be God’s people by right of birth.  It was when Israel strayed so far, indulging self, and self-passions, that they rationalized it was acceptable to throw the unwanted offspring of adultery with temple prostitutes into the fires of Moloch, or Baal, that it was time for an intervention by our God.  Likewise in the times of this trumpet the forces of the four angels bound in the Euphrates are unleashed upon the earth in order that the evil choices and doctrines embraced by those who claim to serve God might be revealed for the folly they are.  The intent of these interventions was to cause us to see the results of our choices and our embrace of selfishness.

Summarized in these two verses are again a call to love God, and worship Him only, our Creator.  Also is contained the basis of loving each other.  Sound familiar?  When Christ summarized the Ten Commandment law He referred to both of these principles in order.  Love God first, for without this no other love is possible.  After having chosen to love God, we can then begin to learn what it truly means to love each other.  Here in verse 20, is a reference to our love of the real God, having gone astray to instead loving “the works of our hands”.  Whether those works are made manifest in idols of gold or wood, or stone; or whether they emerge as large corporations, or large homes, or large personal accomplishments – what remains the same is our tendency and natural desire to worship what we do, and who we are.  This common thread unites secular atheism, with the Catholicism of the dark ages, with the practices of Islam – the tendency to rely upon self, our actions, and our will, to see us saved from evil.  But again John records the calling out of our loss of the love of the true God.  And he again records the results of what happens when this love is lost.  We begin to think killing is ok, or good.  We begin to think we can substitute sorcery for the power of God.  We begin to think fornication is good, and theft is only natural.  Our conscience towards other men is dulled, by our desire to see self praised and worshiped ahead of any God or any idea of God.

To carry the seal of God, is to know loving Him first, and through gentle submission to Him, find ourselves learning to love like He does.  God does not love and show love to Himself.  Instead He shows it to us, freely, and without restraint, as we allow Him to do so.  The darkness that the four angels unleash continues the woe begun in the sounding of the fifth angel’s trumpet.  That warning went unheeded and now the stakes are raised.  Instead of mere torment, the third part of men find the destruction their actions and beliefs have led to.  Instead of embracing the repentance this woe was designed to illicit, men only deepen in the darkness they have embraced.  They add to their crimes, an embrace of dark supernatural influences in the form of sorceries.  It appears this final warning is to go unheeded as well. 

If we look to interpret this sixth trumpet from a spiritual context in a message to the church we might find several interpretations.  First, it might be found in the rise of the kingdom of Babylon which is predicted to occur right before the second coming of our Lord.  Babylon, and the darkness of self service, combined with a denial of any God, is surely on the rise.  Atheistic leanings invade the church as many believers begin to doubt the miracles outlined in scripture which give example to the power and supremacy of our God.  Creation is doubted, and evolution is theorized instead.  Noah’s ark is considered fable and allegory.  Virgin birth is denied.  Before you know it, the Bible is reduced to story-telling of morals designed to scare or guilt its readers into submission.  And many within Christianity embrace some level of this poison from the scorpion into what they believe, never seeing the pain it will bring, and the results is will bear. 

A second interpretation from a spiritual context might be found in the Time of Crisis that begins in the 1800’s and extends to the final second coming of Christ.  Our faith has long suffered the effects of looking at self to find salvation from evil.  We have perverted texts that discuss the evidence of our transformation from submission to Christ as witnessed in what we do when we are in harmony with Him; as instead pre-requisites we are able to perform by our own sheer will.  We put the deeds ahead of the reason and motives for the deeds.  We claim faith without works is dead, as if works could illicit and inspire faith, instead of the other way around.  The devil has introduced this sophistry to confuse and bewilder, and ultimately depress the believer with the truthful realization he is “not good enough”, and “nor will he ever be”.  Our own actions and will power is simply not enough to see us rid from sin.  We fail repeatedly, until the tempter inspires us to give up, and give in.  But we fail, not because it is impossible, but because it is impossible for us doing it the way we do – of our own strength.  It was never intended to be so.  It is ONLY through submission that we find His perfection worked within us.  It is ONLY through submission that we are brought into harmony with His laws, and learn to love like He does.  The work of our perfection belongs to Him, not to us.  The poison of looking to self for salvation, has stunted the growth of the gospel, and our own Christian experience.  We have no victories to claim, and live like our contemporaries, because we do not allow ourselves to be transformed by His power.  We do not allow Him to change what we want, fearing to lose those things we desire.  We fear His true transformation of who we are, as if we would lose something that actually matters when it does not. 

This poisoned understanding of salvation, that we can do it for ourselves, or in a “partnership” with God, where we do all we can first, and then allow God to make up the difference; it is these poisoned ideas that keep us in a perpetual state of pain, guilt, and grief.  It does not present the freedom and liberation of the gospel to the world.  Instead it presents a picture of self-loathing and judgmentalism of others that offers no appeal, no lure, instead only alienates those who need His love the most.  We are no different than those we are attempting to witness to, because we have not abandoned self any more than they have.  We still want what they want, and do what they do.  We are not truly transformed by Christ into the new creation He intends us to be, because we refuse to rely upon Him to do so.  We look to do this work for ourselves and the poison of the scorpion remains within us.  Our crisis is self-created.  We could end it, with a simple recognition that submission to Christ brings real change, real reform, and a real freedom to love we have yet to truly experience.

To see this trumpet in a more political context could be found in the rise of the Ottoman Empire.  The first element of the prophecy, namely that of timing, (391 years applying the day for a year principle) corresponds to history from 1449 to 1840, or from 1453 to 1844 depending on which events one uses to measure it.  Much like its predecessor, the doctrines of Islam are the motivating influence behind the wars and the conquests that ensue.  And the opposition that fights against this expansion also fights from a misguided sense of spiritual motivation.  In either case the edict of toleration seems to mark the end of this period of work of the powers that emerged from the Euphrates region and swept across one third of the world.  Earlier studies of this trumpet marked the time down to the very day, which offers further evidence that perhaps this method of interpretation has merit.

To see this trumpet sounding in a more modernistic method is to presume another regional war is coming (or has been taking place in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Israel) for some period of time now.  Another Middle Eastern war is not out of the question as recent history has demonstrated.  Kuwait was only recently a victim of this.  Terrorism which while state-less, has its tentacles in nearly every Middle Eastern country could also be seen as factor towards a more modernistic interpretation.  Obviously to see this fulfilled in our day, a 391 day period would be more literal.  And the number of 200 million participants seems to sound more like populations affected, than the literal size of the military effort that might be undertaken in that region.  But who knows, how a future event of that size might transpire?

Again, the most salient and important question to ask regarding any potential interpretation of this trumpet sounding is, how do we see the redemption mission of Jesus Christ met in what is relayed?  From a spiritual context, whether as a warning against the rise of the Kingdom of Babylon, or as a rebuke to folly in the Time of Crisis that ends His second coming, it seems the trumpet is sounding to call us to repentance.  If we are to heed the warning call, we must return to loving God, instead of the idolatry of loving the works of our hands.  We must return to loving others, forsaking the sorceries that vie for our attention, forsaking the ideas that killing others in the name of any religion is anything more than fallacy, forsaking the theft that would indulge our self-service; and instead we should embrace the idea of truly loving others like He loves them.   To find His seal in our foreheads will require our submission to Him in order that He might bring us into harmony with His law, and His character.  We must abandon who we are, and seek for Him to re-make us, into who He would have us to be.

From a political context, the rise of the Ottoman Empire has had its day, another in the sequence of our empires.  Rome is gone.  The Muslim alternative remains only another part of the mix of clay and iron in the feet of the statue.  Our God calls us to find our salvation in our Savior.  We are not to look at the magnificent works of art of the great Cathedrals of our faith, and transfer our worship to the images of what they were made to represent.  Great works of art may be admired for their craftsmanship and artistry, but not as substitutes for what they represent.  God is not found in Cathedrals or Mosques, but in the human heart where He belongs, but only as we allow Him a position there.  If we are to be saved, we must be willing TO BE Saved.  One does not save themselves, they are saved by something greater than themselves.  This message is consistent in the sixth trumpet whether looking spiritually, politically, or even with a modern lens.

To find the sounding of the seventh trumpet we would have to jump ahead in scripture past 2 significant other prophecies.  So part five that will conclude this series will be delayed while the other 2 significant prophecies are examined for what they tell us in the meantime.  But there is one more trumpet left to sound …