Lesson 7 - A Time of God's Wrath (part 1)

Technology and Bible Prophecy

Technical Insights for

Bible Prophecy

by

Dwight Wickersheim

2018

Lesson 7 – A Time of God’s Wrath (part 1)

God’s Plan for a Great Harvest

o   God will pour out His spirit on all mankind at the time of the first nuclear war (end of WW III).

o   Joel 2:28  "And it will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions.

o   Joel 2:29  "And even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

o   Joel 2:30  "And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.

o   Joel 2:31  "The sun will be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

o   He will protect surviving Christians from fallout radiation, chemical, and poison effects for 3 ½ years - (Rev 7:3, 9:4; Mark 16:18; Luke 21:18; Isa 33:12-16; Psalms 91, Dan 9:27).

o   Mark 16:15  And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

o   Mark 16:16  "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

o   Mark 16:17  "And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;

o   Mark 16:18  they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

o   All believers in Christ will have miraculous gifts for healing sick people (Mark 16:18, Mal 4:1-3, John 14:12, Rev 12:10).

o   Christians will use their power and authority as a testimony of the gospel to the whole world (Rev 11 & 14, Mat 24:14, Mark 13:10, Luke 21:13-19).

o   God will reap a great harvest of believers in the final days before Christ is revealed (Rev 14, Mat 13, Mark 13).

o   God will grant military authority to Christian Nations to prophesy and protect Israel and they will rule in the Middle East for 1260 days during their testimony (Rev 11; Dan 7 & 12).

Satan’s Plan to stop the Christian Harvest

o   Satan’s Beast Kingdom will makes war with the witnesses, saints, holy people and Jews.

o   From Revelation:

o   Rev 13:7  And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.

o   Rev 12:17  So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

o   From Daniel:

o   Dan 7:21  "I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them

o   Dan 7:25  'And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.

o   Dan 12:7  And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.

 

o   Specific details of this war are provided in Rev 11.

o   Rev 11:3  "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."

o   Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.

o   Rev 11:5  And if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and if anyone would desire to harm them, in this manner he must be killed.

o   Rev 11:6  These have the power to shut up the sky, in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

o   Rev 11:7  And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.

Who are the Two Witnesses fighting the Beast?

o   Using a literal interpretation, many people assume them to be two people.

o   Two Bible prophets  – Elijah and Enoch or possibly Moses.  John saw both Elijah and Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration with non-human bodies (Matt 17:1-8).  However, if the witnesses were Elijah and Moses, John would have identified them since he saw them with Christ.  How could they get physical bodies and be killed? Flesh and blood cannot enter heaven, 1 Cor 15:50.

o   An old Testament prophecy says that Elijah will come (Malachi 4:5). However, Christ said that John the Baptist is Elijah who was to come (Matt 11:12-15, Matt 17:12, Mark 9:13, Luke 1:17)

o   They seem to have the same powers as Elijah (stop the rain) and Moses (plagues); however, these powers are a result of their military might and nuclear power (John’s first 4 trumpets in Rev 8).

 

o   These Two Witnesses are symbolic of powerful Christian Nations that defend Israel from the Russian/Muslim attack.  They may be related to the same 3 Kings the antichrist removed from the world Beast Kingdom when he came to power (Dan 7).

o   Their powers as described in Rev 11: 5-6 are the same world effects resulting from the nuclear retaliation depicted in the first four Trumpets, Rev 8: 4-12.

o   The text indicates they are nations and they prophesy (Rev 10:11; 11:2,3; and 8:13).

o   They are symbolic because fire does not come out of a real man’s mouth (Rev 11:5).

o   Two individuals do not make war with the Beast kingdom; nations and kingdoms make war.  Even when Christ returns to battle the Beast kingdom, His armies come with Him (Rev 19:14).

o   Other scriptures identify them as saints, holy people, and those who hold the testimony of Jesus (Rev 12:17, 13:7, Dan 7:21-23 and 12:6,7).

o   They are symbolic because the text identifies them as symbolic lampstands (these are the two olive trees and the two lampstands , Rev 11:4).  See also Rev 1:12, 13, 20, and 2:1.

 

o   In the prophecy to the seven Lampstands (Rev 2 & 3), there are only two Lampstands (Thyatira and Philadelphia) that are told to hold fast until Christ comes (Rev 2:25, 3:11).

 

Great Mysteries of the Bible

o   The Mystery of Dreams and Visions to understand future Events - Dan 2:27-28.

o   The Mystery of when Israel (Jews) will be saved from their sin - Rom 11:25-27.

o   The Mystery of Christ and His wisdom and knowledge- Col 2:2-3

o   The Mystery of our redemption (including Gentiles) and faith through Christ - Eph 1:7-9, Eph 3:6.

o   The Mystery of Lawlessness which comes from Satan’s activity (2 Th 2:7-10).

o   The Mystery that God’s wisdom comes through the Church; and the Church reveals  God’s plan and wisdom to heavenly rulers (Satan) - Eph 3:8-10.

o   The Mystery of the Seven Stars and Seven Golden Lampstands

o   Rev 1:20  "As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

o   The Mystery of Babylon the Great and the Beast that carries her.

o   Rev 17  And the angel said to me, "Why do you wonder? I shall tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.

o   The Mystery of the Resurrection

o   1 Cor 15:51-52  Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

o   Rev 10:7  but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets

The Preaching of the Gospel is Finished

o   At the end of the battle with the Beast Kingdom, there is no more repentance.

n   Rev 9:20  And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;

n   Rev 9:21  and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.

o   Christ returns from heaven clothed in a cloud and pleads with the Father not to delay any longer.

n   Rev 10:1  And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire;

n   Rev 10:2  and he had in his hand a little book which was open. And he placed his right foot on the sea and his left on the land;

n   Rev 10:6  and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, WHO CREATED HEAVEN AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE EARTH AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE SEA AND THE THINGS IN IT, that there shall be delay no longer,

n  Mat 24:22  "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

o   The final mystery of God is finished, the world sees witnesses resurrected and go up into the cloud.

o   Rev 10:7  but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets, Dan 12:1,2.

o   The Preaching of the Gospel is Finished.

o   Rev 11:7  And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.

o   God breathes life into the bodies of the witnesses killed in the battle with the Beast and Christ calls them up into the cloud where He is waiting.

o   Rev 11:11  And after the three and a half days the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were beholding them.

o   Rev 11:12  And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them.

o   World War IV is finished and Christ begins His Kingdom reign on earth at the seventh and last trumpet.

o   Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

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