I told you I would write a second installment. Took me longer than I expected, but here it is.
So, I know I probably blew a lot of people’s eschatological views out of the water with my last post. I will likely burst a few more bubbles today. I really don’t enjoy offending people’s pride. It just comes naturally, I suppose. Ha. I’m just kidding.
In truth, I am just like all of you. I had no clue that the end times would look like this. I had no clue that America would be so instrumental in God’s plan, yet here we are. It is a difficult thing to have your beliefs shaken to the core. But that is what this current tribulation is for, trying us and revealing the purity of our faith.
Just the other day, I said to a friend, “It may very well be pre-Trib, just not the pre-Trib that everyone’s expecting.” In other words, the Rapture of the church might very well happen before the seven-year Tribulation, but there will be events that happen before the Rapture that are not part of the Tribulation even though everyone expected that they would be part of the Tribulation.
Wow. That was confusing. Allow me to explain.
First of all, the doctrine of a pre-Tribulation Rapture is heresy. That might seem to be a strong word, but it’s the harsh truth, and I say it not because I know when Jesus is coming back, but because Jesus actually promised us tribulation. “In this world, you will have tribulation” (John 16:33b). Thus, there is no such thing as “pre-Trib.” No believer is immune from sifting and shaking. Promising your congregation a pre-trib life is not only heresy, but it is also dangerous.
I am, quite honestly, furious with the countless pastors who have led God’s flock to believe that tribulation is not part of the believer’s experience on Earth. They have not prepared the people to face what is coming. Whether or not this is the Tribulation, a worldwide tribulation is coming the likes of which humanity has never endured. Because they were not properly prepared, some Christians will not be able to handle it. Moreover, some will be irreparably crushed because they have not learned to love the truth, and that just breaks my heart.
Do you know what’s funny, though? I have heard pre-Trib believers say that it takes more twisting of Scripture to believe in post-Trib, and I have heard post-Trib believers say the exact same thing about pre-Trib. So, what is the truth? The truth is that we see in Scripture what we want to see. If you want to see homosexuality as acceptable, you will contort the Word to fit your narrative, regardless of the fact that the Bible explicitly labels homosexuality an abomination.
The point is that you will see what you want to see in Scripture, whether it be theology on sin, salvation, or end times prophecy. My flesh wants to see a pre-Trib Rapture and a life without tribulation. My Spirit wants to see the truth about the end times regardless of how much it offends my flesh. At the end of the day, my Spirit will win the war because I want the truth even if it hurts. Do you?
The church has been so preoccupied with debating pre-Trib, mid-Trib, post-Trib that we have lost sight of what really matters. What matters is whether we are prepared for anything. What matters is that we truly know God and allow Him to make us fireproof.
I feel that I am an anomaly in Christendom. One—I am not so prideful that I think I know everything or that I cannot ever adjust my thinking or that I cannot bear being proved wrong. (I really do try my best to be humble and pliable.) Two—my biggest concern is that my loved ones and I are not deceived by antiChrists or the antiChrist. The first characteristic leads me on a continual search for the Truth. The second leads me to the conclusion that the wisest approach to the end times is to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best.
Unlike those pre-Trib and post-Trib supporters would have you believe, you have to do some twisting no matter what eschatological timeline you want to draw from the scriptures. I actually prefer to use the term puzzle-solving rather than twisting. The Lord organized the book of Revelation and every complimentary end times prophecy like a jigsaw puzzle. He doesn’t want to just give away His secrets; He wants His children to search them out. “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter” (Proverbs 25:2).
And like I said before, no one has been able to completely decipher what the end of time will look like because God has not allowed it (see Daniel 12:9). I am no exception to the rule. I might be one of the few who figured out that the Babylon the great prophecy of Revelation is being fulfilled right now, but even some of my expectations and beliefs were upended when I stumbled upon this discovery.
This is one reason I think people will be totally blindsided when the Babylon prophecy comes to pass. I don’t think anyone expected that the 17th and 18th chapters of John’s Revelation would be fulfilled before earlier chapters. As impossible and mind boggling as that seems, it is true. And I’ll show you in just a moment how the fall of Babylon actually precedes the antiChrist.
Would it surprise you that I do not fall under the traditional categories of pre-, mid-, or post-Trib? I’m not some heretic either who believes the Second Coming has already happened. It hasn’t. I actually believe that some of the events described in Revelation predate the seven-year Tribulation. Do you better understand what I said earlier? “There will be events that happen before the Rapture that are not part of the Tribulation even though everyone expected that they would be part of the Tribulation.”
I’m sure that would have some bigwig Bible scholars flipping their lids. And no, I can’t give you my timeline for this or explain how this theology perfectly fits into Scripture. You find me just one person who has perfectly forecasted what we are experiencing, and I will show you Father God who knows the end from the beginning. I am merely observing the signs of the times and doing my imperfect best to put the puzzle together. Nobody but God knows it all. So, please don’t act like a little know-it-all and arrogantly shove my insight aside.
I personally do not believe the fall of Babylon is part of the Tribulation. I believe it precedes and sets the stage for it, or it might possibly mark the beginning of it. I don’t know for certain. What I do know is that we are in a time of unprecedented shaking.
On that note, let us go to Revelation 16 and read verses 17 through 21. Take note of the heading.
“Seventh Bowl: The Earth Utterly Shaken
Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.”
You might already be disputing me because you don’t see how the seventh bowl can be happening right now. What happened to the first six bowls? Well, turns out, the bowl judgements do not happen in chronological order. WHAT?!?! But that’s impossible! Actually, no. It isn’t.
Very rarely does God deliver words to His prophets in the exact timeline they will be fulfilled. This is the same with John’s vision. Don’t believe me? Fine. Here is what the commentary in the Spirit-Filled Life Bible has to say about the book of Revelation:
“The recurrences of the after these things (for example, v. 1; 7:1, 9) and such phrases as “and I saw …” (10:1), “Then I was …” (11:1), and “Now a great sign …” (12:1) refer only to the sequence of John’s receiving them. This is the same as is commonly found among all biblical prophets, who report when they saw a vision (for example, Is. 6:1; Jer. 25:1; Ezek. 20:1). The order in their reporting the prophetic vision is not necessarily intended to suggest a sequential order with the occurrences of fulfillment” (p. 1966).
How do we apply this understanding to the bowls of wrath? Well, it is made clear to us that the first six bowls of God’s wrath are poured out during/after the reign of the beast. For example, John records the first bowl: “So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image” (Revelation 16:2). Who would have ever guessed that the seventh bowl actually precedes all of the others? It does, and I will prove this to you with three separate scriptures in Revelation.
In Revelation 16:19, God remembers great Babylon and renders judgment on her. So, the seventh bowl includes great Babylon’s fall. In Revelation 17:9-13, the angel gives John a glimpse into the various evil characters on the world stage at the time of Babylon’s fall. Reading this passage, we discover that the antiChrist (beast) does not come to power until sometime after the events of Revelation 17 and 18.
“There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast” (Revelation 17:10-12).
Did you catch it? “The beast that was, and is not.” The beast is not on Earth at the time of Babylon’s fall. This description of the beast clearly differs from verse eight, which tells of the future time when the beast will reign on the earth, “And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is” (my emphasis). And we also see from Revelation 17:12 that the ten horns (ten kings) that will reign with the beast have not yet been given authority.
If you want even more proof, let us read Revelation 14:8-10, “And another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’ Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.’”
Yikes. Now, if we simply take these two events to be in chronological order (“a third angel followed”), then it is quite clear that Babylon falls before the beast arises and that the seventh bowl is poured out on the earth before the first six (which are poured out on those who have the mark of the beast).
There is so much more I wish I could share with you now, but I promised this one would be shorter. Maybe I’ll try to make this a three-part series.
I am truly convinced that we are in the time where the seventh angel is pouring out his bowl of judgment on the earth. That means more than just Babylon falling. It also means the earth is going to be utterly shaken. It seems that many of the elements that are associated with the seventh bowl are actually figurative rather than literal. For instance, I doubt that literal hail weighing as much as a talent will fall on the earth. (Although, I don’t doubt God’s power and ability to perform such an awe-inspiring event.)
Think about it. The gravity of what will be revealed about the cabal (Babylon) and its evil deeds will utterly rock the world. Not one person, not one “mountain” of society will be unaffected by the earthquake and its aftermath. And the enormous weight of this news will crush men’s souls, almost as if great hail had fallen on them.
Scripture says that people will blaspheme God “because of the plague of hail.” I take this to be both the wicked who are angered over the loss of Babylon and the average everyday person who is purely distraught because of the tribulation. It is quite easy to see how some will blame and curse God for the wrath they are forced to suffer, and even a number of Christians “who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” will turn on God in resentment and anger (2 Thessalonians 2:12).
On the bright side, the difficulty of this season will surely lead many on a search for comfort and truth, and this, I believe, will spark the Third Great Awakening.
I must say that while I do believe we are entering into the greatest revival ever to touch the world, I do not agree with anyone saying we will have 1,000 years of peace. Such individuals are missing a yuge point. In order for the Millennial Reign to happen, the beast must emerge first and force humanity to take his mark or be executed.
Revelation 20:4 reveals this truth unequivocally: “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” You would have to do a lot of blatant, heretical twisting to get around this prerequisite for the Millennial Reign.
So, unless you want to assume that the beast is the cabal and the vaccine is the mark of the beast, then we cannot yet experience the 1,000 years of peace spoken of in Revelation. That attempted explanation in itself is a deceitful teaching because the Bible explicitly says the beast or antiChrist will be a man, not a system (e.g., see 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
Since we’re already on this topic, yes, the church of Jesus Christ will be here on the earth through the time of the antiChrist. I would never claim to know the day or hour of our Lord’s return, but I do know without a doubt that the Rapture will not happen before the antiChrist proclaims himself to be God. The apostle Paul explained this in no uncertain terms to the Thessalonian believers.
“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-5).
My flesh wants to find a way around this, but my Spirit refuses to be deceived. You do not need ten other Scriptures to try and interpret this passage. It means what it says. It is unmistakable to those who have ears to hear. The Day of our gathering (Rapture) will not come unless the antiChrist is revealed, sits in God’s temple, and claims to be God. This is a simple, yet hard-to-swallow truth.
The church has not preached the truth because it does not sell. It doesn’t tickle the ears of carnal Christians who are only here for their free pass to Heaven. I think it’s about time someone spoke truth and pierced through the black cloud of deception hanging over the American church.
I said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’m different than most. I will offend a few carnal Christians with the truth if it means that one person will be saved. One word of harsh truth is worth eternally more than ten thousand comfortable Christian clichés.
Ultimately, the timing of the Tribulation is irrelevant to me. Who cares if it doesn’t happen how or when we expect? God knows best, and only God knows the day and the hour. If this statement crushes a few toes, then I am right to say the church’s priorities are out of whack. What matters to me and what should matter to all of us is not stubbornly clinging to personal pet theologies, but valuing the truth, recognizing when God’s Word is coming to pass, and being prepared for what is to come.
For the Kingdom come,
Morgan
P.S. So, it seems my last blog ignited some fiery criticism. Isn’t it so satisfying to find out you are over the target? I just love when the enemy’s attacks backfire and actually give you greater confirmation of the next steps you feel the Lord is leading you to take. Thanks for the help, haters!
Hey, if you want someone else to criticize, try prophet Johnny Enlow on for size. He was on Elijah Streams on April 8th. Guess what his message was. “BABYLON THE GREAT IS FALLEN!” Interestingly, the title of the video is written and stylized exactly like the title of my last blog. Did he steal my idea? Nah, I’m just kidding again.
I heard about this other new prophecy, too. The Lord gave Donna Rigney’s husband a dream that tanks would roll into D.C., and our military would go to the Capitol building, the White House, and the Supreme Court to arrest all of the criminals and traitors. That is another possibility of how the “one day” Babylon prophecy will be fulfilled.
Not only that, but this dream confirmed something I had already written in my Bible. I was reading Jeremiah’s prophecy about Babylon, and this particular verse popped out at me.
“They lay hold of bow and spear;
they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;
they ride on horses,
arrayed as a man for battle
against you, O daughter of Babylon!” (Jeremiah 50:42).
I underlined the verse and wrote the word “tanks” in the margin beside it. How would God describe a tank to someone in the ancient world? By using imagery from their own time, right? You could say that an army of tanks sounds like the “roaring of the sea,” that tanks are ridden like one would ride a horse, and that tanks are armored in the same way that Persian horses were armored for battle. Right there is even more evidence if you need it.
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Not for the Faint of Heart 