“Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants.”
Isaiah 24; Revelation 6:12-17
With the decline of lands, oceans, and skies; resources are stressed, countries destabilized, and global collapse ensues. Are we dancing on the Titanic or building our arks? Jesus said His second coming would be just like the days of Noah (global collapse of civilization) so we must be ready (Matt 24:37, 44).
Overview
Today, nations are fiercely independent and will fight against sharing or losing sovereignty. Today, if any government or man tries to take over another nation, a war ensues. Hitler trampled down 13 nations, and the world stopped him with one of the greatest death tolls in history.
What would it take for all the nations to willingly share their sovereignty and submit to one global order?[1] one global facilitator?[2] one global domination both economically and militarily?[3]
It would take a global crisis so harmful to entire populations of every nation and so destabilizing to every government threatening national security in uncontrollable turmoil that with the disintegration of global economy, global banking, global communication, global food, and global transportation that no one could control the chaos. If one part of a system goes down, it can usually be fixed or compensated for with relative ease. If several interdependent parts go down with cascading effects throughout all the interdependent parts, the system crashes. Sometimes a coming crash is not an obvious slow linear progression, but like a volcano, the problems grow internally and unseen—we tend to ignore the rumblings, the dying trees from SO2 leakage through the soil, the dying fish in lakes from acidification of the water–until the underground problems reach a critical threshold and produce a pyroclastic blast wreaking destruction everywhere. By then, it is too late. Consider what happened within the last decades to Syria after years of the worst drought in remembered history leading up to an explosive war and massive migrations leaking over into the Arab Spring toppling governments. Then apply similar ramifications and consequences to global warming, increasing populations, the eventual decline of life-sustaining resources, and the struggle for survival, to view near-future global upheaval. This picture foreshadows scientific predictions, national security agency’s fears, and Revelation’s prophecy of the destabilization of all governments.[4]
What can put nations in such turmoil? The first four trumpets and bowls of Revelation will tear down the land, oceans, waters, and skies of this planet reducing life-sustaining resources and threatening the existence of many peoples. The struggle for survival leads to population migrations, conquests, wars, famines, and massive death, the first four seals. At the center of this turmoil is global warming. The fourth bowl (“fierce heat”) has not yet come in full force, but it is revving up.[5]
The U.S. Intelligence Community
In January 2019, the U.S. intelligence community (including the Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, and directors of the FBI, CIA, and Defense Intelligence Agency) testified on the Worldwide Threat Assessment before a Senate Committee.
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testified before Congress on the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment [110]
They warned of the global threats that climate change and other processes of environmental degradation create causing high risks to global stability because they will “fuel competition for resources, economic distress, and social discontent. . . . Climate hazards such as extreme weather, higher temperatures, droughts, floods, wildfires, storms, sea level rise, soil degradation, and acidifying oceans are intensifying, threatening infrastructure, health, and water and food security,” stated the report, which is a consensus view of top intelligence officials.[6]
Six months later, a top Australian think tank, the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration, published a report concluding that human civilization could end by 2050 if climate change continues to accelerate. “The impacts of climate change “pose large negative consequences to humanity which might not be undone for centuries.”[7]
On January 15, 2020, top directors from NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) released scientific reports in agreement that this past decade “was by far the hottest ever measured on Earth, capped off by the second-warmest year on record.”[8] We have not reached a global crisis yet, but scientists say we will, if we maintain “business as usual.” Revelation says we will drive the planet into crisis; it is the judgment of God unleashing the forces of nature, heavenly hosts, and lawless humanity onto this world.[9]
The Antichrist
Who can stop the famines and wars? Desperate times will bring a desperate solution: unify the nations in order to reform global economy, banking, transportation, etc. and to control the chaos with military solidarity. Only one man will have the capability and the power; that “savior” will be the man of lawlessness, son of destruction, a monster (the beast of Revelation), the Antichrist.[10] He will dominate world politics, consolidate world economies, unify world militaries, and crush any who stand in his way–for “the greater good.”[11] Billions across the nations who have his mark will receive life-sustaining resources (water, food, medicine, protection, . . .). Millions who do not have his mark will hide or die. “It was also 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.” “The beast . . . will make war with (the saints), and overcome them and kill them.”[12] World population will drop. Resources per person will soar. “All [with the mark] who dwell on earth will worship him.”[13] Who will he be?
The Bible presents enough details describing the beast of Revelation to fill a page. To identify the Antichrist would require a man fulfilling every single detail given about him in Scripture. Every piece of the puzzle must fit in perfectly. However, four (4) of those pieces are so big that they will disqualify 99% of the candidates, leaving only one man out of a few across history that some suggest might be the coming monster. (1) He was one of seven kings (a “king” refers to any head of state; premier, president, chancellor, emperor, etc.) who each ruled over seven mighty empires. All of those evil empires oppressed and often tried to destroy God’s people (the Jews and later Jews and Christians). (2) He received a fatal head wound that killed him. (3) He is a man who comes up from the abyss (the lowest part of hell). This means that like the Son of God, he was born a man (comes out of the “sea” of mankind), died, later comes back from hell (the abyss), and is resurrected as the empowered “son” of Satan copying God’s Son. (4) He will be the eighth king ruling over the eighth empire (the world) that will seek to destroy Jesus Christ when He returns to earth and rules in Jerusalem. [For references, more details, and even a little speculation, see FN13A.]
Now we know how and why the destruction of our world (pollution, dwindling aquifers, overfishing, deforestation, global warming, etc.) is occurring–God is and will be removing life-sustaining resources and security of life from this planet as His judgment against the sins of humankind.[14] Instead of turning back to God to fix the planet, the world will vote in Revelation’s son of destruction (the Antichrist, the beast, the man of lawlessness).[15] This man will rise up to unify the nations against God.[16] He will succeed for a few years because he is empowered by darker forces.
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ
In time, Jesus Christ will return to earth “with all His saints” from heaven and rapture all the saints left alive on earth to gather them together with Him in the clouds where the resurrection will take place.[17]
1 Thess 3:13; 4:14, 17 At the coming of the Lord Jesus with all His saints . . . God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Christ [18]. . . We who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them [all the believers coming from heaven] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
The return to earth of Jesus with all of His saints in heaven, at which time all the saints left alive on earth will be carried up to the clouds by angels, will bring all the Christians from every nation throughout history together in the Great Gathering (2 Thess 2:1).
When Christ begins His rule in Jerusalem, the nations under the leadership of the man of lawlessness will be enraged at Him. God will pour out in full His bowls of wrath.[19]
Be Ready
Being prepared requires foreknowledge of what will happen. God has given us that knowledge for good reason. The first four trumpets, seals, and bowls in a vicious hurricane of global destruction against the Antichrist and the world that chooses him, will bring the collapse of civilization. These geophysical and geopolitical forces of destruction will occur both before and after the second coming; partial collapse before causing global destabilization and total collapse after Har-Magedon (the greatest world war of all time between the Antichrist and Christ to determine who will rule the world) causing global collapse of civilization.
How will we survive before His coming? There are two parts to preparation; spiritual and physical.
Spiritual Preparation
Salvation in Jesus Alone
Salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important thing in our lives no matter when we walk this earth or what the planet is going through. Salvation is the paramount priority for preparation for the end of the end times. The good news (the gospel) message about salvation is so simple that a child can understand it, so complicated that libraries on the subject could circle the globe. Let us review to make sure we all know Jesus, because without Him, nothing else will matter. Here is the gospel, the good news of Jesus (Mark 1:1):
God is love.[20] Love edifies.[21] God is holy, perfect, pure moral light in His character and all He does, so no sin or darkness will abide in heaven in His very presence.[22] His love is manifest in beautiful laws found in the Bible to build us, our families, and our society up.[23] All of His laws can be summarized in one word, “love.”[24] Love builds up.[25] Breaking God’s laws tears down and is called sin.[26] Every person who has ever lived has sinned, except Jesus, the Son of God.[27] Jesus is God who took on flesh to walk with men and women on earth so we could know Him.[28] Fortunately, He came “full of grace,” otherwise our sins would defeat us.[29]
The punishment/payment for sin is death.[30] The first death is this physical death on earth and the second death is the soul burning in hell.[31] Jesus–the perfect Lamb of God–died on the cross to pay for the sins of anyone who believes in Him.[32] True belief knows the truth, accepts the truth, and commits to the truth. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”[33] He is the only way to God, the only truth about what will happen to us in life and in death, and the only trustworthy promise of eternal life. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”[34] For those who believe in Him, death is only the first physical death while life is for the soul (you; your thoughts, feelings, will, . . . everything that makes you a person) in a new spiritual body lives on fully conscious in the spiritual dimension called heaven where Jesus, the angels, and other Christians who have gone before us reside.[35] The human body dies. The human spirit flies.[36]
Everyone will die physically. Everyone goes into judgment in heaven.[37] Those who did not believe in Jesus during this physical life then go down into the earth to Hades to pay for their own sins.[38] After a just punishment for sin in Hades, they go into the lake of fire.[39] Those who believe in Jesus are given their citizenship to heaven and the free gift of eternal life bought and paid for by Jesus Himself (and a whole lot of other cool stuff).[40] Jesus died on the cross to pay the death penalty we deserved in hell for our sins.[41] Since the sins of anyone who believes in Him are washed away by “the blood of Jesus” (metaphorical speech for His death on their behalf to take their place) the Holy Spirit of God comes to live inside of the believer’s body with his or her own spirit.[42]
Multiply by myriads the greatest love you will ever have for another human, and that is how wonderful the Holy Spirit is. He begins a new work in you (called sanctification) to slowly and gently re-create you into the image of the Son.[43] He replaces the weakness of depression with the power of peace, the darkness of deception with the light of truth, the insecurity of fear with the confidence of control, the poison of hatred with the health of love, the emptiness of meaninglessness with hope and understanding . . . . God’s work of perfection in you will progress and culminate in the heavenly realm where Jesus is enthroned.[44]
Then one day, the trumpets will sound across heaven. All the angels and all the saints (you! and every other believer across all the nations from all of history) will start the awesome journey with the Lord Jesus from heaven back down to the clouds of earth.[45] (Did I mention that your spiritual body in heaven can fly like the angels?[46]) In those clouds, in the twinkling of an eye, your heavenly spiritual body will be clothed with a fantastic new physical body–two in one (a spiritual body and a physical body[47]) so that, like Jesus, you can live and interact in both the physical and spiritual dimensions–through the resurrected body.[48]
Why did God tell us about all the fantastically wonderful cool stuff He is going to do for us and give to us? One of many reasons was to help us get through the hard things on this fallen planet as He slowly does His good work in us to give us total victory in Christ and to glorify Himself.[49]
Being saved is the first and greatest part of preparation, “What must I do to be saved?” “Believe in the Lord Jesus.” Then “you will be saved.” [50] “Lord” means you follow Him. “Savior” means He gave His life for you to save you from the poison of sin, the sting of death, the fires of hell, and the nihilistic separation from God. You trust Him. He loves you. If you want the gospel in one word, it is “Jesus.”[51]
If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, God is no longer against you, but for you.[52]
Share the Good News
Knowing what God does through Jesus His Son for our salvation and is doing on this planet today for judgment against sin and telling others is the second most important thing in preparation. Prepare our unbelieving friends and families, neighbors and strangers, with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Prepare Christians for much more, for they will be walking through fire. Every truth from the Bible will strengthen their soul. Every falsity against God’s word–even the smallest–will weaken them. So let us take a moment to consider in truth just two of God’s many great and wonderful gifts God has promised that not only wow my kids, but many an adult. These gifts strengthen us with joy-filled hope against anything that might assail us.
The First Great Gift: Heaven (and Not Hell)
One of those gifts is our citizenship in heaven. Citizenship gives the right to live there. “Our citizenship is in heaven.”[53] It is our home where we reside whenever we want: When the earth melts with intense heat as our sun turns into a red giant engulfing the inner planets in a blazing maelstrom in about 5 billion years, the spiritual heaven will be our home until we transition to another planet.[54] When Hubble’s ever-expanding, ever-accelerating universe portrays the work of God “stretching out the universe like a curtain” and the Big Rip eventually shreds space and time ending in the obliteration of all galaxies in a violent, universal fission bomb that could happen in a mere 22 billion years, the heavenly Jerusalem will still be our home.[55] Even when humankind finds a new planet with new skies, heaven will still be our home, our vacationland, or whatever we need (like U.S. citizenship, always there for us) providing rights, privileges, protection, and opportunities.[56] Heaven is eternal. This universe is temporal. Eternal beings need an eternal home, even if we come and go across planets and galaxies.
God’s glorious heaven is our home. Paul said, “I prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”[57]
Our citizenship is in heaven. Our home is in heaven. Here are a few clear direct verses on the spiritual realm of heaven where the angels and human families of God abide:
Phil 3:20 our citizenship is in heaven
Matt 5:11-12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great.
Matt 6:20 [You have] treasures in heaven.
Mark 10:21 Treasures in heaven
Eph 3:15 [You have a ] family in heaven.
2 Cor 5:6-9 Absent from the body . . . is at home with the Lord.
Luke 15:17 Joy in heaven.
Col 1:5 [You have] hope laid up for you in heaven.
Heb 12:22-23 You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect. [All this is in heaven.]
1 Pet 1:3-5 [You will ]obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.
Rev 19:1 A great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God. [Only saints praise God for salvation; angels are not saved by the blood of Christ.]
There is another destination for those who do not believe Jesus.
I recently heard a sermon about a man who was telling his brother about Jesus. The brother responded, “I know I am going to hell, and I am okay with that.” It seems the Christian fell silent. Don’t. This unbeliever has no idea what hell will be like and probably believes in deceitful jokes like “all my friends will be there; we’ll have a party.” There are a lot of verses in the Bible describing hell; they are there for a reason. They tell him explicitly what he is choosing, and it will beyond Stephen King’s worst nightmare. No person in hell would ever want a friend to come down there. If it were possible, he would do anything to warn friend or family to stay away.[58] For the man who is okay with hell, start with Jesus’ story about the rich man who went to Hades.
“So you want to go to hell? Hey, I know about a man who went there. This is what he said, . . . .”[59]
After sharing the condemned man’s reaction to that place, then ask the brother if he wants to face pure justice for every wrong he has ever thought, said, or done while burning in flames drowning in utter weakness or does he want to rise up greater than Superman?[60] In hell, there is weakness and suffering.[61] In heaven, there is healing and power. In actual reality, there are only two places to go after death.
Most of my nonchristian friends would say, “I just don’t want to believe in hell.”
I respond, “This is America. You can believe anything you want. Thousands of people have thousands of beliefs. However, all our fictional thinking stops at death. Only God’s thinking will count. He created this universe. He will determine where you go after death.[62] He has clearly written to you in the Bible how He decides. He lays before us two paths; the path to hell and the path to heaven.[63] With the first path, you go your own way, make up your own rules, live in your own reality for this short life. No matter how good you are, God is holy and His standard is absolute perfection. He commands us to be holy and perfect like Him. The Bible says that “all have sinned” by breaking His laws from time to time. [64] Not one sin can abide in heaven with a holy God. No one has ever reached God’s standard of perfection on his or her own, except Jesus.[65]No one deserves to abide in heaven with God. So doing it our own way with our own beliefs always ends in death and hell. The only way to get on the second path to heaven–with the free gift of eternal life and forgiveness of all sin paid in full by Jesus–is through Jesus. It’s that simple: Your path or Jesus’ path.” One leads to hell. The other leads to heaven.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” [65A]
After describing the consequences of the rich man’s choice that landed him in burning flames, describe Lazarus’ choice; he was a sinner, but he ended alive and awake in heaven with Abraham. Do not shy away from describing the wonderful gifts God has placed in our stellar dreams; dreams that can only come into reality through Jesus–eternal life, new powerful and immortal body, true friends, exciting adventures, flying with the angels in a city of wonderful people with streets of gold and gates of jewels, surrounded by a beautiful country in a wonder-filled universe. Sometimes wounded people learn to love the Giver through His gifts. God gave this knowledge, use it. Eventually, the greatest gift will be intimacy with God, our heavenly Abba Father, His beloved Son, and our wonderful Holy Spirit who is pure love.
I teach my kids about the joys of heaven. I get back, “Can I skip school today and go to heaven instead?” They like school, but they love heaven. (I even get, “What can I do to die today so I can go to heaven faster?” They are not afraid of death! But I tell them to trust God’s timing; He knows best.) I weave stories into scriptural facts of what we will be like when we return with Jesus (distracting them from nonexistent superheroes like Harry Potter or Spiderman that storm millions of children’s minds and leave their lives in darkness and the empty futility of non-reality. This is in my series of realistic novels on the lives of simple Christians who after the resurrection become More Than Conquerors. Envisioning the future is part of getting ready and not being afraid.) I know that if death came for them, they would be ecstatic, “Wow! Heaven, here I come!” Like Paul, they would rather be there than here.[66] Whole congregations of churches should have this glorious vision. God has placed in our hearts the “hope in heaven,”–the place where Jesus Himself lives today; to be at home with Him–we must pass on that hope.[67]
For those who do not believe in heaven or hell, remember some do not believe a man walked on the moon. How do we know he did? We apply the laws of truth to discern truth. Who is the expert on death and the afterlife; the religious leader in his grave, Mom, the scientist who cannot save himself from death, or the Man who was murdered, locked in a tomb, and conquered death rising in life three days later? Jesus is the greatest expert in all of humanity across all of history on the subject of death. He is the only man who conquered death permanently, not only for Himself, but for anyone who believes in Him. “Whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”[68] He proved His promise. He said He would be killed and rise again three days later. He was. He did. His words were true because they became reality. Jesus is the greatest expert in all of humanity across all of history on the subject of death. His resurrection is the proof of that truth.
As five-year-old Seth said after I asked him the definition of truth, “Truth is what really happens.” A lot of other religions and personal belief systems have made up their own after-death stories, but they are fantasies without the power to do what they say or the proof that their ideas are true. When Jesus says you have a choice between heaven and hell and it depends on believing Him or not, that is the truth. He raised others from the dead.[69] He raised Himself from the dead.[70] He can and will raise anyone who believes in Him from the dead.
The Second Great Gift: The Resurrected Body
Jesus faced one of the most excruciating deaths of all time, not only because of the torture, but because He stood between you and me and all the forces in hell battling to bring us down. He took upon Himself all of our sins, died in our place, and went down in death in utter defeat for everyone who believed in Him (for three days). He knew all this horror was coming, and yet “for the joy set before Him, (He) endured the cross, despising the shame.”[71]
What was that joy? Jesus rejoiced in our salvation, the destruction of the works of the devil in our lives, His coronation, and the coming resurrection–first, His resurrection claiming victory over death, sin and Satan; and second, our resurrection.
Of this great and glorious story, only two of many important aspects will be considered for our joy: When does the resurrection occur and what will our new bodies be like? These two are important for a tenacious hope in the face of demonic adversity and global collapse.
When does the resurrection occur?
“When” is simple. Simple if we believe Jesus’ clear direct words on the subject. Unfortunately, many Christians (such as me for many years) have been taught by beloved religious authorities the exact opposite of what Jesus said. The vast labyrinthine theological explanations used to contradict the Lord’s plain and simple words are mind boggling. (Eventually, in New Post, I’ll put up one of my apologetic papers defending the face-value words of Jesus on this topic.) The consequences of contradicting Jesus put us and our families in harm’s way; it would be as dangerous as Noah believing God’s words, preaching God’s words, but never picking up a hammer to get ready by building an ark according to God’s words.
Here are Jesus’ simple words in Mark 13. The “four winds” is symbolic for “everywhere.” Gathering all Christians from earth into the clouds is called the “rapture” (aka the “gathering” [72]).The events with sun, moon, and stars are symbolic for the catastrophes destabilizing the planet (as seen in the OT as well [73]). His “elect” are all Christians throughout history [74].
Mark 13:24-27 “After that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken [OT language for cataclysmic catastrophic destruction as in the first four trumpets and bowls]. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from THE FARTHEST END OF EARTH [the rapture from earth up to clouds] to the farthest end of heaven” [Christians living in heaven flying down to the clouds of earth with Jesus].
At one time, one event–one second coming–Jesus will gather together all the born-again believers living in heaven and living on earth to meet with Him in the clouds for our resurrection (getting our fantastic new bodies that can function in both heaven and on earth). All of the elect from heaven (you and I) and from earth (those raptured) gather with Jesus in the clouds of earth where we receive our new, resurrected, immortal bodies so we can return to earth with Him at His second coming. This is the second great gift. Jesus says it happens “after that tribulation.”[75]
In preparation for what is coming on this planet (God’s judgment and widespread death), God has wonderfully provided us with a lot of goodies to get us through those dark days.[76] Let us look at the second fantastic gift bought by the blood of Jesus, which is going to be a stellar blast for everyone who loves Him. The trumpets and Olivet Discourse herald hard times ahead with massive loss of life. [77] We may be martyred–many Christians will lose their lives, but at the end of the night is a glorious dawn! This super gift is going to make it all worth it.
The Resurrected Body
The newly resurrected follower of Jesus will fly down from the clouds onto a world having suffered the holocaust, into the throes of the worst-case scenario of global warming, to face a global tyrant empowered by Satan himself, into nations mobilizing for Har-Magedon, into the soon-coming wrath of God decimating the planet beyond recognition. How ever does the returning Christian not just survive, but stand victoriously? [78] The resurrected body!
In the “flood” of God’s judgment on earth, the saint (according to the Bible, “saint” is any and every believer in Jesus) has an ark; the resurrected body! This new body–“for you do not sow the body which is to be”–is immortal, powerful, and pure.[79] We will have a resurrected body like Jesus’ body: “When He appears [at the second coming] we will be like Him.” “The Lord Jesus Christ . . . will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has.”[80]
What is the resurrected body of Jesus like? He could fly.[81] He could interact with both the spiritual and the physical worlds–talk to angels and talk to men. He has spiritual and physical senses: eyes to see and ears to hear angels and men. He can pass between both worlds, vanish from one and step into the other.[82] We will have resurrected bodies like His.[83]
Wow! WOW! This is not Marvel Comics figments of imagination. It is far better. It will be the marvelous, fantastic, awesome reality of God’s creation in us!
Most people do not know that the fiction character of Superman was based on biblical characters, especially Jesus.[84] Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel created the quintessential fiction superhero whose name was Kal-El, which is Hebrew for “vessel of God” (his middle name was Joseph), but who was known to the public as Superman. His pretend origin was from the house of El (the house of God). His early life was copied from Moses; both babies–Superman and Moses–were placed in small capsules, sent out by a parent(s) to escape certain death, adopted by kind Gentile parent(s), and both became types of saviors.[85] Where did Shuster and Siegel come up with Superman’s powers? The Psalms say we will fly.[86] Sampson had incredible strength. Elijah outran King Ahab’s horse.[87] Elisha’s special eyes saw into the spiritual world.[88] Samuel’s special ears heard beyond normal men.[89] Moses, Joseph, and many biblical heroes were bountifully good, saving others. These Bible characters were real people in true stories.[90] Their amazing powers not only glorified God, but were foreshadows of the resurrected body. How do we know? Jesus could and will do all of these things and more (like not die or suffer injury) and so will we.[91]
Yet, down through the decades of imaginary superheroes who might have reminded us of what we once had in the first Adam and will one day regain–even surpass–in the second Adam, Jesus Christ, fallen men fell asleep in fantasy forgetting fact. God “set eternity in the heart of men.”[92] I believe He also set the desire to be strong again, to be smart, to even fly; a desire to have a body that surpasses this failing frame which is “fading” and “withering” with time.[93]After the end of one’s life, how horrifying to realize that God could have made our most fantastic dreams (set in our hearts by Him) come true, but without Jesus, only the descent into weakness trudges on to its mortal conclusion.[94] In a resurrected body, we will be “more than conquerors” in Christ.[95] We will have bodies greater than Superman’s. When Christ returns, we will return with Him, with bodies like His, and hearts after His own heart. [96]
For the millions of Christians who will die as the planet disintegrates or will be martyred in the great tribulation, remember even the smaller of the great things God has promised us (like a new body surpassing Superman’s). “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”[97] Walk in the steps of Jesus “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross.”[98] He knew that after temporal defeat a glorious eternal victory was coming.
Our “ark” through this flood of catastrophes that is coming upon this earth is a place of safety and victory. It includes:
1. Our salvation in Jesus
2. God’s promises to us of the spiritual heaven where Jesus is enthroned and myriads of angels fly, Christian families live today, eternal life, and the resurrected body
3. Biblical truths like knowing what happens to you and where you are going after death–giving great meaning to life–God’s will, word, and way for us whether we are in the body or “at home with the Lord.”[99] It includes sharing those truths with others to offer them hope.
4. Building a practical ark, like Noah “for the salvation of his household.”
Before that glorious day, before the second coming, even before “we fly away,” today, we must build another type of “ark” as well; a temporal, practical ark in order to increase the probability of physical safety for our family, neighbors, church, and ourselves. We must get ready for the first four trumpets, bowls, and seals that are going to devastate this planet and eventually bring civilization to its knees.
Noah prepared in practical ways. “By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household.” Jesus said, “The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah [global collapse of civilization] . . . For this reason, you also must be ready.”[100]
Practical Preparation
Let us begin with Location, Life-sustaining Resources, Material Needs, Social and Governmental Support Systems, and Spiritual Needs in Extreme Hardship. I’ll start. You finish. A brief definition and a few examples of each should ignite ideas, but they will be different for everyone. It will be up to you to investigate your location and situation, to brainstorm, to plan, and to build that ark for the coming global “flood,” for yourself, your children, or perhaps your grandchildren. [101]
Location
How are the first four trumpets, bowls, and seals going to affect you; where you live and what you can do to prepare? Here are a few examples to encourage us to start thinking seriously in these areas, if we have not already.
Fire Areas
If you live in California, Australia, or other dry, fire prone areas, here are a few brain-storming ideas:
1. Monitor weather reports and fire-danger indexes on a regular basis.
2. Set up a telephone chain line for warnings among friends, church, and community. Be sure to look out for the more helpless people in your neighborhood. (What you do to them is what you do to Jesus (Matt 25:40-45).
3. Sell your house and rent.
4. Have bags or backpacks ready at all times.
5. Have escape routes with predetermined places to go, family plans for emergencies, survival, and relocation.
6. Back up computers, file important documents in several safe places, some far away.
7. Always carry first aid kits, water, food, tools, and other necessities in the car. Take first aid and CPR courses.
8. Take a course in urban and wilderness survival. If you have to drive long distances to get out of harm’s way, you might not end up where you expected.
9. Simplify the stuff in your life. The more you hoard, the more you lose. Put your time, treasures, and talents into things and plans that can go through “the fire.”[102]
10. Always have a Bible. (I carry a small zippered one with me at all times.) Let the living words of God speak to you wherever you go.[103]
Coastal Areas and Major Rivers
1. Refit “Fires”1 through 10 to apply to floods.
2. Be aware of what cities like Miami, London, and Tokyo are doing today (spending millions of dollars fighting off storm surges, rising tides, receding shorelines, and building up streets in ordinary neighborhoods where flooding from the ocean is occurring). They are learning that rising waters may not just come down the street, but flood sewer lines, make fields salty, or eat away underground rock and soil creating caverns and sinkholes. Study the history of Sandy, Katrina, and other extreme weather incidents to understand what can happen to you. (If you climb into the attic to get away from rising water, can you get out of that attic onto the roof? If your escape route is located on a flood plain with levees, do you have an alternate route?)
3. Take swimming lessons, buy life vests, buy a blow-up boat, buy wetsuits, carry a whistle in your purse or pocket. (Actually, young adults who are good at swimming can teach swimming, get into search and rescue, learn first aid and CPR, or get into police. Coast Guard or military organizations that have these specialties. It would be good to have one or more people in the family who are experts in the water. This will be a booming job market! So will carpentry, electricians, plumbing, . . . rebuilding after disasters as well as EMTs, nurses, and doctors.)
4. Have a few weeks to months supply full of food and fresh water in your house at all times.
5. Buy a life raft.
6. Other areas affected by the first four trumpets, bowls, and seals include the following. If you, family, or friends live in any of these areas or might end up there, analyze survival strategies like we did above.
Drought Areas
Hurricane Areas
Tornado Areas
Earthquake Areas
Blizzards
Urban Areas with Complicated Infrastructures, Crime, Heavy Pollution, Large Populations, and Limited Resources
Rural and Wilderness Areas with Limited Resources, Potential Exposure
Heat Wave and Water-Shortage Areas
A heat wave is defined as three or more days above 90°F in the shade. The survival rate is dependent on a number of factors. According to NOAA, heat waves are the most deadly of all extreme weather killing 130 people each year in the U.S.
Life-Sustaining Resources & Material Needs
Survival can be measured in 3s to determine how fast you will die:
3 minutes without oxygen (water or fire can limit O2)
3 hours in extreme cold (without shelter or in water)
3 days without water
3 weeks without food
When lost in the wilderness, “the first few decisions that you make will determine life or death,” according to my wilderness survival instructors.
When stranded in the cold wilderness, the first thing you do is to build a shelter. In a fire or flood area, the first thing you do is evacuate. In a mega-drought area, sell your cattle. (The Southwest U.S. is now officially in a mega-drought.) In pollution areas with high rates of cancer in the population, move.
How vulnerable is the water, food, and energy (for heating or air-conditioning, cooking, and freezing food) in your area? What can “touch” it in your area? Earthquake, hurricane, tropical storm, flooding, migrant invasion, tornado, fires, energy blackouts? What can touch you? Lyme, locusts, covid-19, PCPs in water, polluted air leading to lung disease, mosquitoes, heat stoke, hypothermia?
Maybe your area feels safe–New Englanders don’t worry about fires or floods, droughts or earthquakes. However, when central California burns and Florida drowns there go fresh fruits and vegetables for everyone. When American’s breadbasket is scorching in the day and sweltering at night, there go wheat and corn for everyone. When another ocean dead zone emerges, there go fish. (I can rarely afford beef in our stores, much less anything but swai.) What else are we depending on that is enmeshed in the global economy, global transportation, global food, and global communication that when another part of the world gets hit, we too will suffer?
Do you or someone near you have a little land to grow your own food? Can you raise a few chickens in your backyard without the raccoons getting to them first? Do you have a store of peanut butter, vitamins, and water in the pantry to last you a month or more? (Peanut butter is close to the perfect food.)
If this is not important to you, it may be for your children. Can they learn farming skills, survival skills, organizational skills for moving quickly and settling temporarily?
Start brainstorming possible catastrophes and plans for survival by determining whether you will store up three weeks of food and water; have a small cabin or friends’/family home to take you in (make sure they have supplies); know FEMA emergency plans for your area; grow your own vegetables; save seeds; check out local churches, synagogues, mosques, schools, or libraries to see if they would welcome you in an emergency.
Carry life-sustaining supplies (food, water, medicine, first-aid, cool or heat rescue materials such as sleeping bags, tents, extra shoes and socks, matches, flashlights, hand warmers, etc.). P.S. Don’t forget a bottle of multivitamins.
Are You Ready for Life-and-Death Decisions and Actions?
What if you don’t face months of slow starvation, but only have days or hours to make life-and-death decisions?
I took a course on wilderness survival and more training on map, compass, and orienteering with first aid, CPR, and EMT. Eventually, I led rescue groups along side of police and rangers depending on what state I was in. This was a hobby. My supplies were condensed for carrying and considerable for survival and helping others. Everything from waterproof matches and a handful of dry fire-starting material to a camel pack for water, dry socks, dehydrated food, and safety pins to make a tent with a waterproof sheet . . . . I also trained dogs for search and rescue. One thing for certain–most people who died did not think in advance or prepare for a new environment. With global warming, environments everywhere are undergoing radical changes: In 2003, 70,000 died in Europe from a summer heat wave. In 2005, 1,833 died in Hurricane Katrina.
If you drive away from a fire or flood, do you have what it takes to survive overnight, a fortnight, a month? If you run out of gas or were forced out of your car, could you survive on foot?
Are all your bank records in that one little town? Spread them out.
Do you have at least two cloth diapers for the baby–in case you need to use a stream for laundry? Professional SAR workers always bring along an extra pair of socks.
I know at least one of you is smiling and thinking, “A credit card will do.”
And I’m thinking back at you, “You still don’t understand the extent of destruction that Revelation and science agree is coming.”
“Ahh,” you retort back, “not in my lifetime, not to me, not today.”
“Wow,” I’m thinking back, “you must start reading the news. I have boxes of files with scores of categories how towns and cities are being wiped out, torn down, desolated, burned, shaken to bits, evacuated, plagued, poisoned, and polluted in an ever-increasing rate in our country and Canada (much less across continents . . . Australia is burning; Bangladesh is flooding), over the last few decades! And it is getting worse! I’ll bet most of those people said, ‘Not me . . . not today.’ Then that day came for them.
And we haven’t even started on a global plague like Covid-19 with 76,000/day catching it and close to 1,000/day dying from it (7/20/20). What this plague does to health, families, churches, jobs, social structures, financial crises from individuals to the nation . . . is but a shadow (Luke 21:11) of the reality to come (Rev 15:1)–a tap on the shoulder, a wakeup call, a distant trumpet in the night sounding alarm of coming destruction at dawn.
“By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household.”[104] Noah believed without seeing the storm clouds and he picked up a hammer. He prepared for one hundred years. We can see the storm clouds. Who believes? Answer: The one who has “a hammer” in his or her hand.
Unfortunately, there are many false prophets who say, “Peace, peace, nothing will happen to us,” just like Hananiah said to the people against the words of Jeremiah.[105] God was not happy with him for he “made this people trust in a lie.” So “Hananiah the prophet died in the same year.” Jeremiah’s words from the Lord of the coming catastrophe came true–came into reality–just as God had forewarned; some listened and avoided much agony. Many were not prepared and suffered along with their families far, far worse because they did not believe God and get ready by doing what He said.
Social and Governmental Support Systems
In the case of catastrophe (the new norm), what do you and your family, neighbors, town, and church need to do to survive? Can a couple of people or the whole family have group meetings to set up plans with backup contingencies? Has your town done this?
Pastors, teachers, family leaders you should be leading the exodus; preparing your people to leave a life-style of comfort and be ready for a life-style focused on survival–if not for this generation, for the next. Teach them the Scripture and the science so they have knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Help mobilize think-tanks, planning teams, support groups. Do courses—not only for your congregation, but for the town—on Red Cross First Aid, Orienteering, Urban and Wilderness Survival. Would you know what plants and bugs in the forest you could eat and what to avoid? Set up Bible or Christian history lectures and courses on what God’s people did to survive during great loss, stress, or challenges (David, Elijah, or Moses alone in the wilderness; intense prayer; Paul living through prison, lean times, or persecution).
If you are leaving solutions to governments, you are cutting out 90% of your survival options when a natural disaster or unforeseen catastrophe occurs. Please look at what happened during Katrina and how many days it took FEMA (five days) to get water to rescue stations with thousands of people stranded. (I called 911 one time and they took 10 minutes with four phone transfers to figure out who to send to me. Later, I squawked about the delay! They revised the system across my state!)
Can you form a committee in your church to start talking, brainstorming, planning? How about your community, your mayor, the politicians, your pastors, priests, and rabbis who are suppose to be protecting you? Do you have a nurse, a plumber, a carpenter, a fireman, a forest ranger in the congregation? How would you all help each other in a crisis? Do you have neighborhood watch? How about watching the weather? How about neighborhood search and rescue? Has anyone near you trained a dog to search for lost or wounded people? (The Massachusetts State Police helped me train my dog! They were fantastic!)
Instead of playing charades at a church or birthday party, play “Survival.” One person stands up and presents a disaster scenario for their area. Two teams shoot out solutions–one solution at a time going back and forth. The teams with the most solutions (no matter how solid or silly, because brainstorming considers “crazy” ideas for extreme solutions to extreme situations) wins.
For kids into Minecraft, have them help you brainstorm how to rebuild your living space for survival whether it be a shelter in the woods when you are on the run, a new home that can float on rising waters (like they do in Holland), a place to live underground in tornado alleys, or mobile homes in fire areas. Make a year plan (if the catastrophe hit this year), a five-year plan, a twenty-year plan . . . or how to get the next two generations ready (in case our generation does not see it).
The power of music can teach some faster, better, and longer. I wrote a poem/song to teach children (and adults) about Revelation’s forewarnings of global disintegration. (“Revelation Rap” in New Posts. It’s free to use–my way of helping our kids and yours to understand and remember what God has said is coming.) Just like in the song found in the movies of “The Hunger Games,” strange things–extreme things, horrible things, things most will not expect or understand–are coming. However, they are also the prelude to the greatest event in modern history, the return of King Jesus.
What technical or college education would help your child and family to survive his or her adulthood at the end of this world and the commencement of another without the blessings of God?
Spiritual Needs When in Extreme Hardship
If your house burns to the ground, your town washes away, your food withers or water dwindles, you lose your job . . . meaning your life falls into extreme hardship, is your spiritual community ready? Are you ready for extremes, trials, tribulations, persecutions, and out-of-the-ballpark challenges?[106]
Has the mother church been training pastors, teachers, helpers, rescuers, and preparing for small house churches? Do you have a Layman’s Seminary where solid doctrines at a seminary level are taught to men and women whose hearts are stirred by God so that they might serve in the house churches? Do you have underground railroads, Corrie-Ten-Boon secret rooms, a church with open doors to sleeping bags. Are you mobilizing all spiritual gifts in the power of the Holy Spirit?
Have evangelists set up evangelism support groups to continue learning about the hundreds of alternative belief systems that have come into our country, how to reach them, witness to them, always praying for one another as they storm the front lines.
When Bibles are burned, do you have a secret stash?
When Bibles are outlawed, have you memorized biblical stories, verses, and principles to continue spreading the Good News as the darkness descends, to protect yourself, your family, your friends, even strangers with the truth of what God is doing? Can you give real hope, show extraordinary courage, and keep loving even those who betray you–neighbors who take the implant to buy or sell, church leaders who lead an apostate church, or family members who sell you out?
Do elders in your church greet you by name in church with caring conversation, visit you, call you, care for you, protect you, pray with you and for you regularly, ask you what your spiritual gifts are and try to set you up for success in a ministry, even now, while the tree is still green? Do they treat you like Jesus treated His disciples? If they don’t now, what will happen when the tree is burning? (Luke 23:31; Rev 8:7)
Keep a small Bible with you at all times. Pray at all times. Meet regularly with even one other believer (like Jeremiah and Baruch; Jer 36:26).
Remember the great truths God gives you. Practice the truth. It will cost, but follow in the footsteps of Jesus who declared to His enemy, Pilate, “I have come into the world to testify to the truth.”[107] He died for the truth. Do we love the truth more than our lives? our jobs? our popularity, prestige, or personal gain? Have we studied God’s words to prepare us for such times to stand in the truth?
Psa 46:1-2 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea . . . the nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered . . . the Lord of hosts is with us. Come, behold the works of the Lord, who has wrought desolations in the earth.
Isa 24 Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants. . . . The world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. . . . a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.
Rev 16:19 The cities of the nations fell.
Rev 6:15-17 The kings of the earth . . . (and all their people great and small) hid in caves.
Heb 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world.
Matt 24:37, For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah 44 . . . For this reason you also must be ready.
God’s judgment is spreading fast. And everyone, including Jews and Christians, rich and poor, young and old, are in its path because the Revelation of Jesus is global. He has forewarned anyone who reads His words in Revelation. You cannot stop the prophecies of Scripture and the predictions of science, so ‘You must be ready!’ to minimize the harm to those you love and to yourself. It is the difference between dancing on the Titanic and building an ark.
Noah had a hundred years to prepare for global judgment. We have less.
NOAH NOW!
Summary
1. Are you saved in Jesus?
2. Are your friends and family saved in Jesus?
3. Are you and those you love prepared for death, no matter when it comes, with great hope in God and all He has and is doing for you, hope in heaven, and even in a fantastic new super body? If this temporal body faces fire, flood, earthquake, extreme wind, or murder, can you make the transition from earth to heaven singing praises to God for the joy He has set before you? (You might want to get your song ready. When heavy crisis hits, I usually regress to “Jesus Loves Me This I Know.”)
4. The first four trumpets, bowls, and horsemen of Revelation are going to bring worldwide judgment; the global collapse of civilization. Governments will disintegrate and kings will hide in caves (Rev 6:12-17). How will your area be hit? Are you ready? How will the fall of distant areas affect you? If central California goes up in flames or down in floods, so will a quarter of U.S. vegetables and fruits. When more ocean dead zones appear, more fish will disappear. When the Amazon forest is gone, and the Antichrist returns, will you be ready to see Jesus?
Revelation is now–we must be ready!
[1] A pact of all nations under the leadership of one man, the Antichrist.
[2] Rev 13:7-8, The beast will have authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation and everyone not chosen by God will worship him. Rev 16:13-14, Yet, the beast must use demons to convince the kings of the earth to go to war with Him against Jesus Christ ruling over Israel from Jerusalem. So he is not a world dictator, but so powerful in persuasion and deception that the world will agree.
[3] Rev 13:4, “Who is able to wage war with him?” This is a rhetorical question. If any nations rebels against him (such as Israel under the rule of Jesus Christ), he will turn the other nations against the rebel. No one dares to defy him, except Jesus. He turns the most powerful against Jesus (Rev17:12-14; 16:13-16). Rev 13:17-18, No one can buy or sell without 666–global economy has been consolidated.
[4] Rev 16:19, “The cities of the nations fell.” Rev 6:15, The kings hid in caves (governments dissolved).
[5] Rev 16:8-9 is the fourth bowl declaring that humankind (Revelation is global) will be scorched with fierce heat.
[6] Neela Banerjee, “U.S. Intelligence Officials Warn Climate Change Is a Worldwide Threat,” January 30, 2019. “Retrieved from https://insideclimatenews.org/30012019/worldwide-threat-assessment-climate-change-intelligence-agenies-national-security.
[7] “Climate change could pose ‘existential threat’ to humanity by 2050.” Retrieved from https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather-topstories-climate-change-ccould-end-human-civilization-by-2050-according-to-thingk-tank-report/ar-AACokQ3?ocid=spartandhp.
[8] James Hansen, “Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity,” (New York: Bloomsbury, 2009). Dr. Hansen is NASA’s best-known scientist for testifying before Congress in the 1980s about the coming danger of global warming. Washington Associated Press, Seth Borenstein, AP Science W, “Fever chart: Earth had its hottest decade on record in 2010s.” Retrieved on 1/15/2020 at https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/fever-chart-earth-had-its-hottest-decade-on-record-in-2010s/.
[9] Rev 6:12-17, the sixth seal. Rev 16: 17-21, the seventh bowl. Rom1:24-32, God stops hindering evil and allows us to destroy ourselves in sin. In Revelation 14:7, His judgment on this earth is both passive and active.
[10] A.k.a. the beast of Revelation (Rev 13); the Antichrist of 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; the son of destruction and man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, the fourth beast of Daniel 7:7, 19. Like Jesus, he has many names.
[11] Rev 13:4, The beast will stop the wars. Rev 13:17-18, The beast will unite the world economically stopping the famines. Only those with his mark can join his club for survival.
[12] Rev 13:7; 11:7.
[13] Rev 13:8.
[13A] Rev 17:10-11, 14; 13:1. The Antichrist comes “out of the sea” means “out of the sea of humanity”–he is human–since “sea” often means symbolically “peoples” (Rev 17:15). He received a mortal wound to the head that killed him (Rev 13:3). He went down to the abyss, the lowest part of hell. He was dead and rose again: He “was, is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss” (a copy cat of the resurrected Christ who was on earth, is not on earth at this time, and will come again (Rev 17:8-11)). Note that Satan sometimes petitions God for a “level playing field,” and God sometimes gives it to him (Job 1:9-12). The Antichrist also comes “out of the abyss” meaning out of the lowest part of hell (Rev 11:7). People were absolutely amazed that the head wound that killed him healed; he died and came back to life–he was not and now is– (Rev 13:3). This means that between his “first coming” and his “second coming” new generations recognized him. There had to be a lot of photos of him. The only man in history among a few that could fit that description (ruling one of the previous 7 empires for only a few years (Rev 17:10), tried to destroy God’s people (6 million!) and later all the saints from every nation (Rev 13:7); was killed with a head wound, (certainly went down to hell), comes back to life to rule the 8th empire during the return of Jesus Christ, and is recognized by the masses (lots of photos) — is Hitler. Whether Hitler is THE Antichrist, just one of many antichrists, or an antitype (like John the Baptist was of Elijah) remains to be seen.
If Hitler was to be the Antichrist, what might he look like? Would he have a new hairdo or different facial hair but still be recognizable? Here are three doctored photos and the original posted all over Germany in 1945 by the United States Secret Service in case he was still alive after the war. (Found on Wikimedia Commons, public domain, “Hitler without a mustache”)
The final proof is (1) whoever we suspect must fit every detail about the Antichrist given across the Bible and (2) when he appears, it will be obvious: “the whole earth was amazed [that he was alive again] and followed the beast,” (Rev 13:3).
[14] Rev 14:7, “Fear God . . . because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the (skies), the earth, the sea, and the springs of waters.”
[15] A.k.a. the beast of Revelation, the Antichrist of 1 John, the son of destruction in Thessalonians, the fourth beast of Daniel. Like Jesus, he has many names.
[16] Rev 13:7, 1 (blasphemous names against God).
[17] 1 Thess 3:13; Mark 13:24-29; Matt 24:29-31; 1 Thess 4:17; 1 Cor 15:51-54, 2 Thess 2:1; Rev 1:7.
[18] “Fallen asleep” is a metaphor for “people who died on earth.” The saints are alive and awake in heaven–the heavenly Jerusalem with myriads of angels (Heb 12:21-23) where believers receive the following: made perfect (Heb 12:21-23); citizenship in heaven (Phil 3:20); rewards in heaven (Matt 5:11-12); treasures in heaven (Matt 6:20; Mark 10:21); alive and conscious in heaven (2 Cor 12:2-4; Rev 6:9-10); hope laid up for you in heaven (Col 1:5); family in heaven (Eph 3:15); inheritance in heaven (1 Pet 1:3-5). As the Catholics misinterpreted “this is my body” making communion bread literal instead of figurative, the doctrine of soul sleep misinterprets metaphorical verses as literal. Why? Because both hyperliteral interpretations (the bread is Jesus’ body and the dead Christian is in a coma ward someplace–either still in corpse or up in heaven) and contradict too many other clear, direct verses on the subject. There is not one verse in the Bible that says the “soul sleeps.” Jesus said that metaphorical sleep represented a dead physical body (John 11:11-14), not a sleeping soul. John Calvin wrote a treatise against soul sleep. Simply Google “John Calvin” and “soul sleep” to read his arguments against this view.
[19] Rev 11:17-18, “You . . . have begun to reign. And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came.” Rev 16, the bowls of wrath.
[20] 1 John 4:7-16; John 3:16.
[21] 1 Cor 8:1.
[22] Rev 4:8; 1 John 1:5, “God is light.”
[23] 1 Cor 8:1. Edification of a person or people involves building up through His beautiful laws (like don’t steal, don’t kidnap, don’t murder, etc.) and tearing down lawless destruction (like stealing, kidnapping, murdering, etc.) Justice–based on a foundation of truth and law–encourages good and discourages evil. Sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4).
[24] Gal 5:14.
[25] 1 Cor 8:1.
[26] 1 John 3:4.
[27] Rom 3:23; 5:12; 1 John 3:5; 2 Cor 5:21.
[28] John 1:1, 14.
[29] John 1:14.
[30] Rom 6:23.
[31] Heb 9:27; Rev 20:14-15. The resurrected body of the wicked also burns (John 5:29).
[32] 1 Cor 15:3-4; John 1:29, 36.
[33] John 14:6.
[34] John 11:25-26.
[35] 2 Cor 5:6, Heb 12:22-24, Absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord in the heavenly Jerusalem with the myriads of angels and the church. 1 Cor 15:44, the spiritual body.
[36] Psa 90:10; Eccl 12:7.
[37] Heb 9:27; Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10; Matt 25:32, 46.
[38] Matt 11:23; Luke 16:23; Rev 1:18; Rev 20:14 (Hades and the lake of fire are different. The lake of fire is the final destruction according to Matt 10:28.)
[39] Rev 20:12-15.
[40] John 3:36; 1 John 5:11-12; Phil 3:20; Rom 6:19-23.
[41] 1 Cor 15:3; 1 Pet 2:24; 3:18; John 1:29; Eph 4:9-10.
[42] 1 John 1:7; 1 Cor 3:16.
[43] Eph 2:10; Phil 1:6; Rom 8:29.
[44] Heb 12:23.
[45] Matt 25:31; 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-27; 1 Thess 3:13; 4:13-17. The word “asleep” is metaphorical for “those who died on earth but are awake in heaven.”
[46] Psa 90:10; 2 Cor 5:1-4.
[47] 1 Cor 15:44, 48, “Also” is the key word. First there is a natural (physical) body, then a spiritual body is added to it, so that we have two in one. Then–like Jesus–we are able to exist and interact in both the spiritual realm of heaven and the physical realm of earth.
[48] 1 Cor 15:40-58.
[49] 1 Cor 15:57-58; Matt 5:16; Rev 15:4.
[50] Acts 16:30-31.
[51] Mark 1:1.
[52] Rom 5:6-10.
[53] Phil 3:20.
[54] 2 Pet 3:10. David Appell, “The Sun Will Eventually Engulf Earth–Maybe,” Scientific American, August 18,2008. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-sun-will-eventually-enjulf-earth-maybe/
[55] Isa 40:22; Psa 104:2; 2 Pet 3:10-12; The rate of expansion was precisely determined by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope and published in October 2012. Credit: NASA/JPL–Caltech. “Space itself is pulling apart at the seams, expanding at a rate of 74.3 plus or minus 2.1 kilometers (46.2 miles plus or minus 1.3 miles) per second per megaparsec (a megaparsec is roughly 3 million light-years.) . . . And it’s getting faster all the time.” That is a speed of 283,320 mph in all directions; or about 6,800,000 miles per day (24 hours). Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Assistant Managing Editor, “Speed of Universe’s Expansion Measured Better Than Ever, October 3, 2012. www.space.com/17884-universe-expansion-speed-hubble-constant.html. C.f. “Fate of the Universe,” Hubblesite. http://hubblesite.org/hubble_discoveries/dark_energy/de-fate_of_the_universe.php.
[56] Isa 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1.
[57] 2 Cor 5:6-9. “Cross (Representing Jesus) in the Clouds (Representing Heaven)” Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay.
[58] Luke 16:27-28, The rich man who went to Hades, begged that none of his family would follow him.
[59] Luke 16:22-31.
[60] Luke 16:22-31, The man in Hades did not want anyone he knew to go there, it was so horrifying. Isa 14:10, In Hades (Sheol in the Hebrew) even the greatest sink into abysmal weakness. Those who go to heaven will eventually receive a new body “raised in power.” When you try to imagine power, think of God’s example of strength given in Samson, then multiply that strength. Matt 5:22, 29-30; 10:28; Mark 9:43-50; Luke 12:5.
[61] Isa 14:10; Luke 16:22-31.
[62] Eph 1:4, “God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,” but like Lazarus whom Jesus resuscitated from death (John 11), the person often needs a calling (“Lazarus, come forth”) to get him off the slab. Evangelism is that calling. The rebirth is all God’s work (John 3).
[63] Matt 7:13-14; John 10:1-9; 14:6.
[64] Lev 19:2; Matt 5:48.
[65] Rom 3:23; 6:23.
[65A] Rom 6:23.
[66] 2 Cor 5:6-9.
[67] Col 1:5.
[68] John 3:16.
[69] John 11:1-44; Luke 7:11-17.
[70] John 2:19-22.
[71] Heb 12:2.
[72] 1 Thess 4:15-17, “We who are alive [on earth] and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep [“asleep” is metaphorical for physical death, as in John 11:11-14. But the Christian (aka the soul in a spiritual body, 1 Cor 15:44) is alive and awake in heaven)]. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ [coming from heaven] will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air [the rapture].” 2 Thess 2:1-4, “The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” 1 Thess 3:13, “At the coming of our Lord Jesus will all His saints.”
[73] Isa 13:10-12, Sun, moon, and starts symbolize God punishing “the world for its evil . . . I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold.”
[74] “Elect” is defined by Rom 8:33; Luke 18:7; Matt 24:22-31 all referring to Christians from any nation.
[75] Mark 13:24-27; Matt 24:29-31.
[76] Rev 6:8-9; 7:9; 8:11; 9:15, 18.
[77] Matt 24 and Mark 13.
[78] Mountains will fall. Oceans will rise. Cities will be wiped off the map. The earth will be laid waste. Manmade governments will cease to exist. (Isa 24; Rev 16:18-20; 6:15-16)
[79] 1 Cor 15:35-57; 2 Cor 5:1-9.
[80] Phil 3:21; 1 Cor 15:35-57; 2 Cor 5:1-9.
[81] Matt 24:30; Mark 13:26.
[82] Luke 24:31, “They recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.”
[83] Phil 3:21; 1 Cor 15:35-57; 2 Cor 5:1-9.
[84] Larry Tye, Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero, book summary published in “Five Things You Never Knew About Superman,” (Washington, D.C.: The Magazine AARP, June/July 2013) 10.
[85]Ibid.
[86] Psa 90:10.
[87] 1 Kgs 18:44-46.
[88] 2 Kgs 6:17.
[89] 1 Sam 3:2-19.
[90] Spiritual ears (1 Sam 3:8-10); spiritual eyes (2 Kgs 6:17; incredible strength (Jdgs 13:24; 14:5-6; 1 Kgs 18:42-46; flight (Psa 90:10; Matt 14:25, 29; 24:30; Mark 13:26; 1 Thess 3:13; 4:14, 17; 1 John 3:2).
[91] Phil 3:21; 1 Cor 15:35-57; 2 Cor 5:1-9.
[92] Eccl 3:11.
[93] Psa 90:6; 37:2.
[94] Isa 14:9-10, “Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come; it arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth; it raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones. They will all respond and say to you, ‘Even you have been made weak as we, you have become like us.'”
[95] Rom 8:37, KJV.
[96] 1 Sam 13:14; Psa 119:97; Heb 8:10; Rom 2:15. In God’s heart are His values, His thinking, who He is in His character which emanate into His laws. To love God is to love His laws (John 14:15). To obey His laws is to love and edify others (Gal 5:14). Ezek 11:19.
[97] Col 3:2.
[98] Heb 12:2; 1 Pet 2:21.
[99] 2 Cor 5:6-9.
[100] Heb 11:7; Matt 24:37-44.
[101] “Flood” is metaphorical for a global holocaust caused by the Abomination of Desolation (the man of lawlessness, son of destruction, Antichrist, beast of Revelation). Dan 9:26-27, “Its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.”
[102] Matt 6:19-21. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.”
[103] Heb 4:12. “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.”
[104] Heb 11:7.
[105] Jer 28.
[106] Mark 13:24-27; Matt 24:29-31; 1 Thess 4:16-17.
[107] John 18:37.
[108] “The Ark” by Jeff Jacobs on Pixabay.
[109] “The Second Coming of Jesus Christ” by pixundfertig on Pixabay.
[110] Official portrait of the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, March 10, 2017. Found on Wikimedia Commons.
[111] “Children Running from Fire” Image by Ria Sopala from Pixabay. “Three Cars in a Flood” Bingley Floods, Bingley, Bradford, UK by Chris Gallagher (@chriswebdog) from Unsplash.com. “Tornado” in Wyoming, U.S. by Nikolas Noonan on Unsplash.com. “The Curse of Heat and Drought” by Tumius on Pixabay: climate change, drought, environment, desert. “Apocalypse; Industry” Image by icheinfach from Pixabay
[112] “Praying Boy with Bible” Image by StockSnap from Pixabay