Tribulation Trivia

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● Rev 13:9 . . He who has an ear, let him hear.

This particular ear refers to paying serious attention rather than merely auditory
perception. For example:

● Deut 29:2-5 . . Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:

. . .Your eyes have seen all that The Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials
and to all his land. With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous
signs and great wonders. But to this day The Lord has not given you a mind that
understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.

In other words: Moses' people were attentive to God's providence; and at times
even took it for granted, but were indifferent to His counseling-- oftentimes His
words went in one ear and right out the other, so to speak. Samuel was just the
opposite.

● 1Sam 3:20 . . And Samuel grew, and The Lord was with him, and did let none of
His words fall to the ground.

During the awful circumstances depicted and described in the book of Revelation,
quite a few folks are going to wake up and begin looking to the Bible for answers.
I'm guessing it will be difficult, and dangerous, trying to locate copies as I suspect
the Beast will initiate something similar to Mao Zedong's cultural revolution and/or
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 to eradicate competing ideologies.

Nevertheless; just as certain agencies at the Federal level have failed to totally
suppress so-called misinformation relative to the Covid thingy, so the Beast will fail
to prevent every last ear from hearing.
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● Rev 13:9-10 . . If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone
kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and
the faith of the saints.

I think that just might be a reiteration of the perseverance and the faith of Job;
where it's said:

"In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." (Job 1:22)

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job 13:15

That of Habakkuk:

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor
of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off
from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in The Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Hab 3:17-18)

And that of the apostle Paul:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or
persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your
sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
(Rom 8:35-36)

It's generally agreed among conservative Christians that no saved person will enter
the Tribulation; but there will be a large number of lost souls saved out of it;
though at great cost to their welfare. They mustn't allow their misfortunes during
that era to persuade them that they've bought into a fraud.

* Believers are not a protected species; nor are they insulated from the slings and
arrows of outrageous fortune.

When there's a pandemic, they get sick the same as everybody else. When there's
war, they get caught up in it. When there are economic catastrophes like the Great
Depression and the housing bubble of 2008, they lose their jobs and sometimes
their nest eggs. When there are shortages of goods and services, they have to
make do with what there is the same as everybody else. When the weather
becomes disagreeable with tornadoes, hurricanes, and flooding, they lose their
homes right along with non believers. Wild fires in California burn the homes of
believers the same as everybody else's homes. Believers get cancer, they get in car
wrecks, they get taken by crime, nature drops tree limbs on them, and the
postman delivers their mail to the wrong address, etc. etc. etc.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you
will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say:
It is well, it is well, with my soul.[/size]
(Horatio P. Spafford, 1828-1888)
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● Rev 13:11 . . .Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two
horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.

This particular beast will be, from all appearances, a seemingly harmless individual,
viz: he won't have the look of a menace.

For example; German SS officer Heinrich Luitpold Himmler had the look of a classic
Mr. Milquetoast; but underneath that facade was an unbelievable capacity for
cruelty, subterfuge, and murder on a grand scale. In other words: you couldn't tell
at first glance that Himmler was a monster in whose opinion human lives are
inconvenient.
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● Rev 13:11-17 . . .Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth . . . and he
performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from
heaven to earth in full view of men . . . he deceived the inhabitants of the earth and
ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast . . . He was given power to
give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who
refused to worship the image to be executed.

The dimensions of the image aren't given but I should think it will be large enough
to be imposing.

For example: side by side statues of former North Korean leaders Kim Il sung and
Kim Jong-IL, located on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, are 22 meters (72+ feet) tall. If
one of those statues ever came to life, it would make quite an impression because
something that big would be very difficult to fake for even a top-notch magician like
David Copperfield.

* The Greek word translated "beast" refers to dangerous animals as opposed to
peaceful critters like goats, sheep, prairie dogs, and squeaky little gerbils.
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● Rev 14:6-7 . . And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every
nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, announcing with a loud voice: Fear
God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him
that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

The everlasting gospel is a bounce from the very first chapter of Genesis; and
reiterated at Ps 19:1-4 and Rom 1:19-20. It's very elementary; pretty much all it
says is:

1) There's a supreme being.

2) People should not take Him lightly.

3) He deserves to be honored and respected.

4) There's a reckoning looming on the horizon.

5) The cosmos-- all of its forms of life, matter, and energy --is the result of
intelligent design.
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● Rev 14:9-12 . . A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: If anyone
worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the
hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full
strength into the cup of his wrath.

. . . He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and
of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no
rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who
receives the mark of his name.

The holy city depicted at Rev 21:9-27 will never experience nightfall nor darkness.
On the basis of that, some have proposed that Rev 14:9-12 is entirely symbolic
because it says that the folks assigned to the burning sulfur will be given no rest
day or night in a place where supposedly there will be no night.

However "in the presence of" doesn't necessarily mean the site of the burning
sulfur is located inside the city's walls, mostly because Rev 21:27 says: "Nothing
impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful,
but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." And also Rev
22:14-15 which says: "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have
the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are
the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the
idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood."

Though there will be neither day nor night inside the city that doesn't preclude the
possibility that there will be day and night outside. At an rate; I think we have to
expect there will be no breaks in the torment but that it will be perpetual 24/7/365
with neither intermission, nor interruption, nor time off for good behavior. That will
be an awful scene; yet quite possibly a rather ghastly tourist attraction. (Isa 66:23
24)

● Rev 14:12 . .This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey
God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.

People will find themselves caught in a sort of Catch 22, so to speak. If they follow
the Beast, they'll be safe from execution but end up in the sulfur. If they follow God
and His son Jesus, they'll be safe from the sulfur but end up executed.

● Rev 14:13 . . .Then I heard a voice from heaven say: "Write: Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their
labor, for their deeds will follow them."

One of the deeds sure to follow those folks is their decision to remain true to God
and His son Jesus instead of following the Beast. (cf. Matt 10:22)
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● Rev 16:3 . .The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into
blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.

Fresh blood is tolerable as far as odor goes, whereas the blood of a dead man is in
a state of putrefaction; and then adding to that the carcasses and the stench of
dead fish, and everything else, will make for quite a chowder to behold.

The Mediterranean is notable in the Bible; but whether that's the sea spoken of
here is uncertain. However, in Gen 1:10 "sea" pertains to the entirety of Earth's
oceans.

A rather curious sea is located at 1Kings 7:23-26 which suggests that any
accumulation of water, whether in an ocean or on land, can be called a sea, e.g.
ponds and lakes.

● Rev 16:4 . .The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of
water, and they became blood.

The two passages tell of water pollution on a scale quite a bit more severe than that
of Egypt because this is global rather than limited to one specific country. Even so;
Egypt's was pretty bad because there was no clean water anywhere for either
cooking, drinking, laundry, hygiene, or sanitation. (Ex 7:19-20)
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● Rev 16:13-15 . . Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came
out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth
of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and
they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the
great day of God Almighty.

. . . Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his
clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.

There is much disagreement in our day as to signs indicating the extraction
described by 1Thess 4:16-17, but the events depicted in Revelation are neither
vague, typical, nor debatable. When all that stuff begins coming to pass, smart
ones will be on the lookout for a really big surprise.

● Matt 24:27 . . For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to
the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.

WHAM; on scene, locked and loaded.
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● Rev 16:21 . . And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone
about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of
the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

* Talents were gross units of gold weighing from 75-100 pounds. That would be a
preposterous amount of gold to own in our day when it's current market value is
like $2,000 an ounce, but not so bad back there when it was strictly money instead
of traded as a commodity. Gold coins were common, but try to find one in
somebody's pocket today.

Dropping a hail of boulders that size from the sky all over the globe will be like a
deadly implosion smashing, bashing, and crushing most everything it touches:
homes, barns, super markets, strip malls, sports arenas, theaters, forests,
pastures, crops, vehicles, etc.

The natural world will surely experience significant damage among the critters who
live above ground, e.g. hogs, deer, elk, ducks, geese, turkeys, cows, mustangs,
monkeys, gorillas, lions, tigers, hyenas, elephants, giraffes, butterflies, moths, and
tortoises, etc.

Just imagine being caught out in the open when that hail starts. Finding adequate
shelter from such a bombardment of ice will be very difficult and no doubt
frightened people will be shrieking and screaming in mortal panic.

Curiously, numbers of people will know the hail is from God but it won't persuade
them to consider making peace with Him, instead; the hail will just make 'em
angry.
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● Rev 19:19-21 . .Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies
gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the
beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the
miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had
received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.

. . .The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest
of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the
horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

The potent weapon proceeding from that person's mouth is speech; which causes
me to wonder why more people weren't afraid of Jesus back in his day because if
by speech he could cure leprosy then by speech he could've caused someone to
come down with leprosy; and if by speech he could energize a crippled man's legs,
then by speech he could've put somebody in a wheel chair; and if by speech he
could restore someone's corpse to life, then by speech he could've made people
drop dead to the floor; and if by speech he could cure blindness, then by speech he
could've put people's eyes out; and if by speech he could multiply loaves and
fishes, then by speech he could've caused famine; and if by speech he could calm a
storm, then by speech he could've caused a hurricane, a typhoon, and/or a
tornado.

David's combat with Goliath was an encounter that was possible for David to win;
but I see no chance of anybody's success in a fight with Christ when he has at his
disposal all the miraculous abilities of the supreme being who, according to the
book of Genesis, created a fully functioning cosmos-- all its forms of life, matter,
and energy --by nothing more than His voice.
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● Rev 20:1-2 . . And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that
old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.

● Rev 20:7-9 . . And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed
out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four
quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the
number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the
earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire
came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

The Old Testament describes the quality of the millennium as an era of unparalleled
justice, equity, peace, and prosperity. I really have to wonder exactly what it is
about Messiah's administration that will dissatisfy the Gogs and Magogs enough to
try and overthrow him. And how will the Devil manage to persuade them it's even
possible?

Back in my days as a kid, there was a saying going around that went like this:
"That man is so convincing he could sell refrigerators to the Eskimos". Well; I would
be very interested to know how the Devil is going to pull off something very similar
to that in his campaign to convince folks they'd be better off with their own selves
at the helm instead of Christ.

But you know, what it really all boils down to is control. There are folks who just
simply don't care to be governed by the likes of God; as it says in the 2nd Psalm:

"Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth
take their stand, and the rulers gather together against The Lord and against his
Anointed one. Let us break their chains-- they say --and throw off their fetters."
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● Rev 20:11 . .Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.

Him seated on the throne is of course Christ because God delegated His son to
handle Heaven's legal affairs.

● John 5:22-23 . . The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the
Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.

● Acts 17:31 . . God has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the
man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from
the dead.

Christ's crucifixion factors into justice for believers so that they need not fear "the
man" especially since it was himself who endured the cross for their benefit.

● Rom 8:34-35 . . Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus who died? More than
that: who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God, and is also interceding for
us.

So then; were believers to stand before the great white throne, Jesus would be
conflicted because his obligation to them in a court of law is defense rather than
prosecution. Well; if he steps down to defend, then who's to preside on the bench?
No; I think we may safely assume that if believers come to that event at all, they
will come as spectators rather than defendants.

● John 5:24 . . I assure you: those who listen to my message, and believe in God
who sent me, have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but
they have already passed from death into life.
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● Rev 20:13 . .The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave
up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he
had done.

Death and Hades are paired together in Rev 6:8 where death consists of folks
losing their lives by reason of war, starvation, fatal encounters with wild things,
plus other causes, e.g. accidents and common ailments, e.g. cancer, stroke, heart
attack, pneumonia, kidney failure, and diabetes, etc.

Hades is translated from a Hellenistic word for the afterlife where everybody goes
when they pass away regardless of age, race, gender and/or religious preference:
even Jesus spent some time there. (Ps 16:8-10, Acts 7:25-31)

In other words: folks in Hades are there in a non physical form for now but later
will be reunited with their bodies to face justice at the great white throne event.
This of course would include the folks whose bodies were claimed by water, viz: the
sea.

How many folks are we talking about? I don't really know because the numbers will
include everyone all the way back to Cain; and that was a pretty long time ago. But
just for fun; we'll say ten million.

Well, if each individual's judgment takes only thirty minutes each; we're looking at
570+/- years of time in court to complete; and that's for only ten million
defendants. I'm guessing there will be considerably more people than that seeing
as Christ said many are called but few are chosen. In other words: the majority.
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● Rev 20:14 . . Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire.

* When this comes to pass, Hades will be vacant seeing as how its contents were
all subpoenaed to face justice at the great white throne.

FAQ: How does one put Death to death?

REPLY: This may be accomplished ceremoniously seeing as Death is on track to be
abolished. (1Cor 15:26 and 2Tim 1:10)

FAQ: According to Jonah 2:2, Jonah 2:6, and Luke 16:19-31, Hades is a spirit world
located somewhere deep underground. How will it be taken out of the Earth and
moved to the lake?

REPLY: Hades may be included in the ceremony suggested above; indicating that
never again will anyone be incarcerated in a place like that even though a section of
Hades is paradise-- but it's not an ideal paradise; there's a better one.

● Rev 20:14-15 . .This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

There's no coming back from the lake. If it's meant to abolish Death and Hades,
then I think it's safe to assume it's meant to abolish everything and anybody else
sent there. And besides; according to Dan 12:2 and John 5:28-29, there is only one
resurrection allotted per person which the dead will use up in order to face justice
at the great white throne event. In other words: the second death is not only
second, but also conclusive, viz: the dead's names aren't in the book of life because
as far as God is concerned, they don't exist. I cannot imagine a worse situation in
darkness than this.
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After all is said and done-- the bowls, the seals, the trumpets, the great white
throne scene, and the new cosmos is ushered in after obliterating the old, etc.
--a couple of interesting announcements will be made.

1) "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the
former things are passed away." (Rev 21:4)

That is very good news because it would be difficult, if not impossible, for folks in
Heaven to be happy while knowing some of their loved ones, their associates, and
their BFF didn't make the cut and instead ended up on the wrong side of things.

* I doubt the great white throne event will be a peaceful scene. I'd imagine that
people will be literally pale with terror, lips trembling, mouths too dry to speak;
screaming, shrieking, sobbing, bellowing and yelping like wounded dogs-- eyes
darting about looking for something, anything, to clutch and cling to as the awful
reality of their fate sinks in; and a powerful force they cannot resist drags them off
to a mode of death akin to a foundry worker falling into a kettle of molten iron. I
know of no one who would be happy with memories like that haunting them.

2) "Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to
be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy
continue to be holy." (Rev 22:11)

The people to whom those words pertain, will be stuck with who and what they are
with no chance of ever being any different.

That's good news for the righteous and/or holy because they'll never have worry
about doing something really stupid that results in their eviction from paradise;
whereas it's really bad news for folks who end up on the wrong side of things
because they will forever be unfit to be anywhere else except the lake of fire.
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[Messy]

2) "Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to
be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy
continue to be holy." (Rev 22:11)

Dutch translation:

11Let the wrongdoer do more wrongdoing. And whoever is dirty, let him become even dirtier. And whoever is righteous, let him be justified still more. And whoever is holy, let him be sanctified still more.

 

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● Rev 1:1 . .The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his
servants-- things which must shortly take place. And he sent and signified it by His
angel etc, etc.

The Greek word translated "shortly" tells us that the events depicted in the book of
Revelation will be completed within a relatively brief space of time.

The Greek word translated "signified" basically refers to indications: in this case, I'd
say they can be safely understood as a series of red flags. In other words: nobody
knows the exact day nor hour of Jesus' return to rule the world, but the events
depicted in the book of Revelation will serve as early warnings to alert folks that the
time has come-- sort of like the act-by-act synopses used by folks interested in
operas like La Boh?me, Hamlet, Madam Butterfly, Porgy and Bess, South Pacific,
and Don Giovanni.

If folks stuck in the Revelation era use John's letter like that; they'll have a pretty
good idea when to expect Jesus' arrival; and begin preparing themselves for it.

Speaking to his Jewish countrymen in Luke 21:28-36, Jesus said:

"When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because
your redemption is drawing near."

He told them this parable:

"Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for
yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things
happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near."

And then he said:

"I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these
things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never
pass away."

"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and
the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it
will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the
watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and
that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

FAQ: "this generation" passed away long ago and yet none of those things ever
happened. Why not?

REPLY: The Greek word translated generation is somewhat ambiguous. It can
refer to a current population, and also to a nation and/or an era. For example:
there was a generation before the Flood, there's the generation between the Flood
and Christ's return, and there will be another generation after that called the
regeneration (Matt 19:28) and then there are the Jews themselves; viz: they will
make it to the end in spite of all-out attempts to exterminate them.
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[Messy]

Oh I thought it was the generation that would see all these things, the WWII generation and those who saw Israel become a nation and see the growing Messianic movement .

32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that [e]it is near—at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.


And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for [a]all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, [b]pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

The end = the 2nd half of the trib, cause then ac sits in the temple and during the first part the uncountable multitude gets saved, revival.