Yeshua Prophecy: Mount of Olives

Prayer: A Challenge for Science

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<a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Priere.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="English: A group of women praying. Italiano: D..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" height="382" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Priere.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="283" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 283px;">English: A group of women praying. Italiano: Donne russe in preghiera. Lumbaart: Fònne che le dìs i pàter. Română: Creştine rugându-se. Kiswahili: Wanawake wakisali pamoja. (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Priere.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
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In Sophist, written in 360 BC, Plato wrote: 
 
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“My notion would be, that anything which possesses any sort of power to affect another, or to be affected by another, if only for a single moment, however trifling the cause and however slight the effect, has real existence; and I hold that the definition of being is simply power.”</blockquote>
 
Since ancient times, a strong and pervasive belief in the efficacy of prayer for the living and the dead reinforces the notion that consciousness is not limited to the physical body. Not only do traditions throughout the world share a belief that prayers may in some way help (or invoke help from) deceased ancestors, many cultures throughout history have believed that prayer can bring about changes in the physical circumstances of the living. 
 
If prayer affects things in the physical world, its effects should be measurable, and science should be able to investigate it. There is a very scattered literature on this, but when you bring it all together as Larry Dossey has done in his book, Healing Words (HarperSanFrancisco, 1993), you see there is quite a large number of interesting experiments with challenging results. Out of 131 controlled experiments on prayer-based healing, more than half showed statistically significant benefits. One of the best known is a double blind study of 393 patients in the coronary unit at San Francisco General Hospital. In this experiment, 192 patients, chosen at random, were prayed for by home prayer groups, the others were not. The prayed-for patients recovered better than the controls, and fewer died. 
 
In order to make sense of these data on the efficacy of prayer, science will have to change its underlying assumptions about the nature of causality. Currently, the standard view is still purely mechanistic- notwithstanding all the recent talk about chaos and complexity theory. When applied to the life sciences, chaos and complexity theory even with the help of highly sophisticated computer modeling still explain the world in terms of mechanical causes involving known physical and chemical processes. 
 
The data from empirical studies of prayer, as well as from the large literature reporting psi research in telepathy, clairvoyance and psychokinesis, seriously challenge the mechanistic view. Some other causal agent besides the mechanics of electrochemical interactions is required to make sense of the observed phenomena. 
 
Holistic thinkers generally divide into two main categories. The majority want to have holism on the cheap. They want a holism which doesn't conflict with science as we know it. Instead of exploring the possibility of new causal factors, they prefer to explain holism in terms of complexity and self-organization of conventional mechanical forces, modeled with sophisticated mathematics and the latest computer techniques. Nothing essentially different from physical and chemical interactions is considered to account for the properties of living systems. 
 
The other group of holists, a minority among which I include myself and Larry Dossey, think that there is more to it than just what we know about chemistry and physics and clever mathematical models. My view is that there are other causal factors in nature, processes that make actual differences causes in nature which bring about new kinds of effects that we have to take into account in order to understand our experience and the world. <a href="http://physic-spirit.blogspot.co.za/2016/09/rethinking-time-space-consciousness-and.html">These new causal factors are involved in things like paranormal phenomena, prayer and healing.</a> 
 
The whole thrust of my morphic resonance theory is to say there is more to nature than just the standard forces in physics. And what's more these other agents are at the very heart of the way things are organized in chemistry, in life, and in consciousness. 
 
Prayer and Mental Fields 
 
How might prayer fit in with the scientific view of things? I shall focus on two broad categories of prayer: petitionary and intercessory. In petitionary prayer we ask for something for ourselves; in <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercession" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Intercession">intercessory prayer</a> we pray to a higher power for the benefit of other people (either living or dead). 
 
In praying for other people and for ourselves we ask a higher power to bring about a particular result. For me, this is what distinguishes prayer from positive thinking. Positive thinking involves nothing more than ones own mind, ones own desires and wishes, but petitionary and intercessory prayer are put in the context of a higher power. For this reason positive thinking does not fit into the category of prayer even though it is often confused with it. 
 
Whether petitionary or intercessory, prayer clearly poses a challenge to the mechanistic view of the world. According to this view, there is no way that thoughts going on in your head, which at most create small electrochemical disturbances barely detectable a few inches from your head even by highly sensitive apparatus, could affect someone or something at a remote distance. 
 
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If you were practicing positive thinking or some of the more specifically directed forms of petitionary prayer, you could resort to explanations in terms of telepathy, or if it were a prayer affecting physical objects, you might say it was psychokinesis. But such explanations serve only to replace one set of explanations which lie outside the scope of modern mechanistic science with another set. There is nothing in mechanistic science that could allow mere thoughts inside my mind, whether cast in the form of prayer or as positive thinking, to affect things at a distance. It just cant happen. 
 
The key to understanding prayer as a scientific phenomenon requires, in my view, getting away from the idea of the mind as somehow inside the brain. <a href="http://physic-spirit.blogspot.co.za/2016/09/quantum-entanglement-and-esp.html">If we think our minds are confined to our brains the standard view then since what goes on in our brain occurs in the privacy and isolation of our own skull it cant affect anyone else.</a> However, I see minds being field-like in nature (part of my general view of morphic fields), and I see mental fields as the basis for habitual patterns of thought. Mental fields go beyond, through, and interface with the electromagnetic patterns in the brain. In this way mental fields can affect our bodies through our brains. However, they are much more extensive than our brains, reaching out to great distances in some cases. 
 
As soon as we have the idea that the mind can be extended through these mental fields, and over large distances, we have a medium of connection through which the power of prayer could work. We are no longer dealing with a purely mechanical system in the brain, with absolutely no way of connecting the brain and the observed effect for if that were the case the phenomenon of effective prayer would have to be dismissed as delusion or coincidence. With a <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_%28esotericism%29" rel="wikipedia" target="_blank" title="Energy (esotericism)">mental field</a>, however, we have a medium for a whole series of connections between us and the people, animals and places we know and care about with the rest of the world, in fact. When we pray, those extended mental fields would be the context in which prayer could work non-locally. 
 
Non-Localized Mind 
 
Clearly, this does not amount to a fully articulated scientific theory of prayer; it is highly speculative. But, I believe, it is also very clear that we need to have a much broader view of how the mind is extended beyond the brain. We need a theory of what I call the "extended mind" as opposed to the conventional scientific view of the "contracted mind" holed up inside the skull. This view of a contracted mind came from Descartes in the seventeenth century. It is a model of consciousness which separates our minds from the whole world around us into a small region in the brain a model of the mind which plainly contradicts direct experience. For example, when you see this page in front of you, you experience it as being outside you, not inside your brain. To say that this and all your other perceptions are located in your brain is a theory, not an experience. 
 
It is important, however, not to envisage the extended mind as some amorphous field, a kind of undifferentiated Universal Mind. I dont think we should make a large leap from the concept of a contracted mind to a boundless universal mind. Such a jump isn't helpful scientifically. 
 
My idea of morphic fields is that even though they are extended and non-local in their effects, they are still part of our individual and collective mind, but not to be equated with some ultimate Universal Mind. The morphic fields are not God. <a href="http://physic-spirit.blogspot.co.za/2016/09/scientific-understanding.html">They are non-local in the sense that they can spread out over immense distances</a> (as, for instance, gravitational fields do), so that if I were praying about somebody in Australia from my home in London the morphic field would carry the information and the prayer could work. But my mental field wouldn't usually spread out to Mars, for example, because there is nothing connecting me to someone on that planet. If someone I knew had traveled there on a spaceship, then there would be a link. For morphic fields to have a mental connection I believe there has to be something that links you to the other person. Even if you have never met the other person, I believe just knowing their name or something about them seems to be enough to establish a connection, though this connection is likely to be weaker than that between people who know each other well. 
 
You could picture it something like this: When two people come into contact and establish some mental connection (perhaps experienced as affection, love, even hate) their morphic fields in effect become part of a larger, inclusive field. Then, if they separate from each other it is as if their particular portions of the morphic field are stretched elastically, so that there remains a "mental tension" or link between them. There has to be something like this that relates the two people. 
 
Nested Sets of Morphic Fields 
 
Morphic fields are organized in nested hierarchies (see below). For example, there are morphic fields surrounding the atoms in our bodies, which are within the higher level morphic fields of molecules, organelles, cells, organs and limbs, all of which exist within the morphic field associated with the entire body. The body field, in turn, would be within the field of relationships that constitute a family, within a larger social group. Societies, in turn, are embedded within ecosystems, and ecosystems within the planetary system, "Gaia". And by extrapolation, we could extend the series of nested morphic fields until we reach out beyond planetary, solar system and galactic limits to encompass the entire universe. 
 
Even Einstein's space-time field of gravitation is a universal, cosmic field holding everything together and linking the entire universe, in fact, making it a uni-verse. It does the same thing as the World Soul or Anima Mundi of neo-Platonic philosophy. It embraces the whole cosmos. There are levels upon levels of morphic fields within fields, within which we are embedded. Human life is embedded in vastly larger fields of organization. To what degree they are conscious still remains in the realm of speculation. But I would assume that higher-level fields are not less, and probably more, conscious than we are. I would think they are more conscious than we are not simply because they are larger in size, but because they are more inclusive, contain more complexity, and encompass more possibilities. 
 
I think that is one way of interpreting traditional doctrines about super-human intelligences, or cosmic intelligences, usually thought of in Christianity as the hierarchy of the angels. The word "angel" normally conveys the image of a good-looking youth with wings; but that's simply a pictorial representation. The traditional doctrine behind that image, however, is of a super-human intelligence. And if the solar system and galaxy have intelligence, then one might be an angel and the other an archangel. In some traditional Christian doctrines there are, for instance, nine hierarchies of angels or levels of intelligence. And I would see these as equivalent to intelligences, minds or organizing fields at different levels of complexity. The galactic angels, for instance, would embrace or include those of solar systems, which in turn would include those of planets. 
 
This is a description of a cosmos which has intelligence at every level, not a view that sees consciousness as something that emerged from unconscious matter. Conscious intelligence was there to start with. The place to look for it is not going to be in atoms or quanta (although there may be some kind of consciousness there), but in solar systems and galaxies and in the whole cosmos. There may be all these different levels of imagination, intelligence, and mind throughout the whole of the cosmic organization. All traditional doctrines that I know of have recognized something of that kind. 
 
Notes & References 
 
1. For an extended discussion of these theories, see R. Sheldrake, A New Science of Life: The Hypothesis of Formative Causation (Tarcher, 1981), and The Presence of the Past: Morphic Resonance and the Habits of Nature(Vintage, 1988). 
 
Opening Up To The Numinous 
 
As a scientist I wasn't always interested in prayer. In fact, in earlier days I believed it was all nonsense. I was an atheist; God had no room in my scientific education. After graduating from Cambridge, I thought I had outgrown childish belief structures like religion, and that rational science was the way forward. I had a typical secular-humanist atheistic worldview for a long time, well into my thirties. And this, of course, is the worldview that most of my scientific colleagues still have. They regard religion as a relic from a superstitious age. In that context, prayer is completely meaningless, except insofar as people believe in it they may derive some psychological benefit a kind of "placebo effect". 
 
Then in 1968 I visited India, and all the materialist assumptions I took for granted just didn't seem to work any more. What struck me most was the experience of being immersed in a culture that worked in an entirely different way to what I had been accustomed. In this exotic culture, the idea of what we might call "other realms" the supernatural or spiritual was simply taken for granted by practically everybody. There was a palpable sense of another dimension to life, everywhere you looked, and everywhere you went. 
 
As an atheist, of course, my initial reaction was to think they were deluded in their beliefs. Yet on the other hand, these beliefs produced a fascinating culture. <a href="https://yeshuaprophecy.blogspot.co.za/2016/09/the-didache-teaching-of-twelve-apostles.html">Even people living in the extremes of poverty seemed to have more joy in their lives than most people I knew who lived in the lap of plenty.</a> I was touched deeply by the natural human warmth, and the quality of the people and of their way of life. According to the materialist beliefs I had, poverty equaled misery; wealth and good medical attention meant, if not happiness, then at least a much better quality of life. In India I saw it wasn't as simple as that. The people there were poor beyond the comprehension of most Westerners, yet everywhere they walked about with the most radiant smiles. Walk along a street in London, Paris or New York and you see mostly harried, worried faces. That difference impressed me very deeply. 
 
The contrast between the sense of inner joy and peace I experienced all around me in India compared with the tense way of life in the West was so striking that I decided to investigate meditation. For about four years I did various forms of Hindu practice. This didn't conflict with my scientific attitude because meditation didn't challenge my whole scientific worldview. On the contrary, I could approach my study of meditation in a truly scientific spirit. Its appeal is that you do it and see if it works. It's empirical. You sit, you calm your breath and you observe what happens. I started with Transcendental Meditation which sounded scientific in that it was supposed to lower lactose levels in the blood, have beneficial effects on the circulation, and calm brain activity. I found that meditation did indeed work. I experienced within myself that calm I was seeing all around me in India. 
 
As a scientist I wasn't troubled. I could understand meditation by explaining to myself that it wasn't opening me up to other realms of consciousness, but that it was simply changing the physiological state of my brain. To say that breathing in a particular way and doing a particular kind of mental activity could affect my mental and physical state did not challenge my worldview. 
 
Nevertheless, although I could follow Hindu practices, India was such a completely different civilization and culture that there was no way I'd ever be an Indian. I began to have a sense that I would need to recover my own tradition if I were to share in the deep perceptions and peace that I saw in the people around me. 
 
Furthermore, after living there a while, I also saw the shadow side of the Hindu tradition, which I hadn't seen in my earlier brief visit. There is a fatalistic lack of concern for other people that was alien to me. That view was at variance with my more optimistic, progressivist Christian culture. 
 
In India I came face to face with the realization that rooted in the Christian tradition is the sense that you can, and should, help other people; we can aim for some better state of affairs on Earth, for the whole of society. When I talked with my Indian friends and colleagues, it became very clear that I had this view deep within me. I realized that this sense didn't come from Hindu philosophy, nor from my atheistic outlook. Instead, I saw it came from a deeply embedded Christian view of the world that I carried with me unwittingly. In fact, I realized this partly because in conversation with my Indian friends they would frequently point out that so much of what I was expressing was a Christian view. The repeated revelation of this, even to an avowed atheist, was difficult to ignore. 
 
I spent some time living in Father Bede Griffiths ashram, and I found that coming back to a Christian path made sense to me. I began praying and discovered that it was more helpful to me than meditating. I would say that meditation involves a kind of separation between the practice and the rest of ones life; it is going into another space altogether. You could say that contemplative prayer would have the same effect. But for me, ordinary petitionary and intercessory prayer, such as the "Lords Prayer", links the events of my daily life directly with my practice. I pray about what I've done that day and whats coming up the next day. It's a matter of bringing the very fabric of one's life -relationships, work, and personal concerns into the context of the spiritual life. 
 
How Do Mental Fields Work? 
 
My hypothesis of morphic resonance and morphic fields has grown out of the notion in developmental biology of "morphogenic fields". This idea dates back to the 1920s in the work of biologists A. Gurwitsch and Paul Weiss. In modern developmental biology these fields are usually regarded as heuristic devices, or as mathematical abstractions with no causal effect. By contrast, I interpret them to be causal fields with an inherent memory given by morphic resonance; in other words I regard them as one kind of morphic field. Other kinds of morphic fields include behavioral fields, responsible for coordinating instinctive or learned behavior, mental fields, responsible for organizing mental activity, and social fields, responsible for organizing social groups. 
 
If fields are the medium of mind then what you have in the brain is an interface between one kind of field and another kind of field. All organization in the body has morphic fields underlying it. Morphic fields in the brain interact with electromagnetic (EM) fields in the brain. However, the nature of this interaction is indirect. Rather than morphic fields working directly through the electromagnetic field, they interact through both affecting the same thing in this case, physical activity within the brain. 
 
I am not saying that there is a linear-type causal relationship between brain-electromagnetic-morphic fields. I regard mental fields as one kind of morphic field that affects the brain, shaping its activity, and this affects the EM field associated with the brain. 
 
Here you've got fields acting on fields: morphic fields surrounding all the cells, tissues and organs of the body, as well as in molecules and cell membranes, and indeed in quantum-matter fields. This is contrasted with the more usual view of the spirit-matter dichotomy where mechanical matter and ineffable spirit interact in some kind of quasi-miraculous way. If you say that the spirit acts on the EM field, you've got a problem of miraculous intervention. 
 
On the other hand, if everything in nature is organized by fields, and if mental fields are a more subtle kind of field, you've got no sharp dichotomy- you've got fields acting through fields at all levels of reality. So the mind-body problem ceases to be a sharp dichotomy. 
 
Noetic Sciences Review, (Summer 1994), 30 4-9 
by Rupert Sheldrake 
 
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English: A group of women praying. Italiano: Donne russe in preghiera. Lumbaart: Fònne che le dìs i pàter. Română: Creştine rugându-...

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Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..

17 October Sheeple 0

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There is a multitude of verses concerning the Lord’s return and even an admonishment from Him saying, “Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that you do not discern this time?” That one verse should be proof enough that we should know, but He is not just going to plainly spell it out lest the wicked should understand. 
 

Here are only a few of many verses telling us that God will teach us all things; He will show us things that are to come which includes the return of His Son; And God says and He will show His servants things that must shortly be done. In Daniel, We are given a definite sequence of years that can now be understood. Just being able to understand things that have been a mystery for centuries should be a huge clue to us that time is short and approaching when all things will be finished. 
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 John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.</blockquote>
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Revelation 22:6   And he said unto me, These sayings [are] faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.</blockquote>
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Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret [things belong] unto the LORD our God: but those [things which are] revealed [belong] unto us and to our children for ever, that [we] may do all the words of this law.</blockquote>
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John 14:26   But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.</blockquote>
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Thessalonians-1 5:4-5   But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.</blockquote>
The Word of God uses Prophets to talk to His people. We find that approximately one third of the Bible is dedicated to these servants of the Almighty, warning us and translating God's plans. Besides the Bible, there are many nations who have recognised prophets that were not recorded in the biblical Canons, yet delivered Inspired word from the Creator. So, What characteristics constitutes a prophet? 
 
The true Prophet of the Lord predicts that, which does come to pass. If the Prophet's predictions fail, they are not of God: 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
 Deuteronomy 18:21-22, "And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."</blockquote>
 
The true Prophet of the Lord will receive visions or dreams from the Lord 
 
 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Numbers 12:6, "And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream."</blockquote>
 
They honor the Law and seventh day Sabbath with an upright heart. A true Prophet keeps God's Law, and abides by the testimony of the Bible Prophets as well. If a Prophet does not agree with the Bible Prophet's or does not keep God's Ten Commandments, he is a false Prophet. 
 
 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Isaiah 8:20, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."</blockquote>
 
A true Prophet will show good works, and have identifiable fruits of a Christian. 
 
 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Matthew 7:15-20, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."</blockquote>
 
They love the church and long to see its full restoration realized. 
 
 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1 Corinthians 14:3-4, "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church."</blockquote>
 
They love the Father and the Son and desire to worship Him in spirit and in truth. 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
 1 John 4:1-3, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."</blockquote>
 
They possess the Holy Spirit. They are soldiers fighting a spiritual war, they have renounced every form, figure and fashion of replacement theology – by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. A true Prophet newer gives his private interpretation. He only shares what the Lord reveals. The Holy Spirit defines Scripture, not man. 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
2 Peter 1:21, "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."</blockquote>
 
They love to call upon the Father and the Son by Name. 
 
<h3>
The Prophets warned us: The end is near: We are at this threshold today, approaching the 120 th Jubilee year (6000 yrs), the time of the restitution of all things.</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Acts 3:19-21 "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."</blockquote>
 
To illustrate an example, we turn to Ezekiel. 
 
<ul>
<li>He was commanded by God to lie on his side for 390 days (one day for each year pertaining to the exile of Israel). </li>
<li>God said He would give Israel 7 times punishment if they refused to obey. </li>
<li>This gives a total of 2730 years (390 x 7). </li>
<li>Israel was carried away captive to Assyria in 720 BCE. </li>
<li>From 720 BCE, to 2730 years later brings us right back to the year 2010.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Genesis:</div>
 
 
<ul>
<li>God said in Genesis that He would not strive with man forever because he is yet flesh, saying that man’s days shall be 120 years. </li>
<li>Consider the Jubilee years (one Jubilee = 50 yrs). </li>
<li>(One Jubilee X 120 Jubilees = 6000 years). </li>
<li>From Adam (around 4000BC) to the present day (2000 AD) also equals 6000 years. </li>
<li>God told us in Psalms and in Peter that one day is as 1000-yrs. </li>
<li>God creating everything in six days and resting on the seventh day, it is the same as to say, after six-1000 year days (or 6000yrs), </li>
<li>He will also rest on the 7th-1000 year day (1000yrs), called the Millennium Rest.</li>
</ul>
 
 
The last three Jubilees were:  
 
<ol>
<li>1867 (The final emancipation of the Jews in Austria and Hungry), </li>
<li>1917 (The 400 yr Ottoman rule ended - Balfour Declaration), and 1967 (The Six Day War - Jerusalem was re-united); </li>
<li>It's pretty easy to figure out the next Jubilee year (1967 + 50yrs = 2017). </li>
</ol>
 
 
Now, turning our attention to Daniel: 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Daniel 9:24   "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."</blockquote>
<ul>
<li></li>
<li>SHABUWA (shaw-boo'-ah); Noun Masculine, Strong #: 7620:  seven, period of seven (days or years), heptad, week; Feast of Weeks (Shavuot)</li>
<li>In the original Hebrew, Shabuwa is in plural form; meaning FeastS of Weeks rather than only one Feast of Weeks. This verse reads: “Seventy Shabuwas or Shavuots are determined.” Shavuot is one of the feasts call “The Feast of Weeks” ( known as Pentecost in the Christian churches). There is only one “Feast of Weeks” per year. To extend the clarity to the fullness of the verse, it literally reads, “Seventy Feasts of Weeks” (or 70 Yrs) are determined from some starting point unto God’s Rest.</li>
<li>The angel sent to him told Daniel to understand, so lets see what we can understand beginning in Daniel 9:23:</li>
<li>Daniel 9:23   At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show [thee]; for thou [art] greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.</li>
<li>The simplicity is astonishing. We are going to read it just like it literally is presented, and apply it to a graph. Beginning with Daniel 9:24 we will plot each verse individually. Daniel is now told that 70 weeks are given to make an end of sin and to anoint the most Holy. With both accomplished, (1) no sin and (2) the Most Holy anointed, it can only mean one thing; from some type of a starting point there is a 70 week period until God’s rest starts:</li>
<li>The above verse (v.24) may be one of the most sought after verses to understand in the scriptures. Men have tried to apply this in all kind of ways hoping that it would reveal its secret. Maybe it just wasn't in God’s timing for it to be understood before now, because the literal understanding of what it really describes is very plain. The word weeks was translated from the Hebrew word Shabuwa meaning a period of Seven and also Feast of Weeks, one of the seven Feasts of the Lord:</li>
<li>Now that we have verse 24 plotted correctly, we simply continue to the next verses in the Daniel sequence and plot all of them all to understand.</li>
<li>In verse 25 we are told that from the going forth of a commandment to restore will be seven week, threescore and two (69 Yrs) unto the Messiah. Now God has now revealed the starting point is a commandment to restore Jerusalem. From the time this commandment is given to restore until the Messiah’s return will be a total of 69 years:</li>
<li>Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand, [that] from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.</li>
<li>Next, in verse 26, Daniel is told from this same starting point (commandment to restore) the years will come and go until 3 score and 2 weeks have passed (62 yrs). Sometime after this 62yr period has passed, the sanctuary will be destroyed by the prince of the people (the antichrist). Notice the period left from the 62-year marker to the 69-year marker just happens to leave a remaining 7-year period:</li>
<li>Daniel 9:26   And AFTER threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.</li>
<li>This means the difference between the 62yr prophecy and the 69yr prophecy shows us the beginning of a 7-year period that is known as Daniel’s prophetic week. In the midst of this prophetic week (7 yr period) two major things happen as recorded in verse 27 below; he, the antichrist, will cause the altar to be shut down and the abomination that makes Jerusalem desolate:</li>
<li>Daniel 9:27   And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.</li>
<li>*The Temple DOES NOT have to be completely rebuilt to fulfill Dan 9:27 prophecy. If a corner stone is set, the court can be measured to establish the location of the altar. Then, with the altar up and operating, this prophecy is satisfied. This was the same procedure used to rebuild the Temple in ancient times too. The walls were restored AFTER the altar was operating.</li>
<li>Now that we have the whole Daniel “week” prophecies plotted in a chart form, all that is necessary now is to discern what the starting point is. Yeshua referred to Daniel concerning the latter days. He said when we see the abomination of spoken by Daniel, for those who are in Judea to flee into the mounts, for then shall be great tribulation.</li>
<li>Matthew 24:15-16   When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:</li>
<li> Matthew 24:20-21   But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.</li>
<li>Yeshua spoke of the fig tree parable and a generation that will not pass. Most everyone on this planet knows the fig tree is Israel. One generation is an average of 70 years not 40 years. The average age of those who were afraid to go to war and take the promise land was about 30yrs old; plus 40 more years for that generation to die in the wilderness equals 70 years.</li>
<li>Matthew 24:32-34   Now learn a parable of the fig tree (Israel) When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves ye know that summer [is] nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, [even] at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation (ours) shall not pass (70 years), till all these things be fulfilled.</li>
<li>Many times God works and speaks through His creation, prophets, and even enemies to perform His will. One perfect example is when God hardened Pharaoh’s heart that He might judge Egypt. He used Pharaoh that He might perform many miracles when He brought the children of Israel out with a high hand. It is no different today; God still works through any of His creation in which He chooses to perform His will.</li>
<li>As written in Daniel 9:25, the spoken commandment starts the 70yr count. Using the United Nations (no matter whether they are an enemy or not), that verse was fulfilled of God on November 29, 1947 (UN Resolution No. 181) purposing the fig tree nation, Israel, to be restored as a nation again which came to pass in 1948. Now just fill in the years:</li>
<li>Just below is a special morning edition of the Eretz Israel - Palestine daily newspaper dated 11/30/1947 announcing the UN decision (Resolution #181) to establish a Jewish State bringing forth the BIRTH OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL.</li>
<li>This is a very important historical document that bears record to the 100-fold fulfillment of Daniel 9:25, saying from the going forth of the commandment (the spoken word not 1948) to restore Jerusalem, unto the Messiah, shall be 7wks 3score and 2wks (69yrs); and also the parable of the fig tree spoken of by our Lord in Mat. 24:32-34 saying this generation will not pass till all be fulfilled.</li>
</ul>
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Christ Gabriel Garden of Eden God God the Father Holy Spirit Holy Spirit (Christianity) Jesus Mount of Olives Prayer Psalms Sword of the Spirit Syria Yahweh Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..

There is a multitude of verses concerning the Lord’s return and even an admonishment from Him saying, “Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the f...

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All of this will be fulfilled in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.

16 October Sheeple 0

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<a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jerusalem%2C_Mount_of_olives_3863.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:right;"><img alt="English: Mount of Olives." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" height="263" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Jerusalem%2C_Mount_of_olives_3863.JPG/350px-Jerusalem%2C_Mount_of_olives_3863.JPG" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="350" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 350px;">English: Mount of Olives. (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jerusalem%2C_Mount_of_olives_3863.JPG" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
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Zechariah Chapter 14 shows, in relation to Israel and the land there will be a restoration, before the second Advent of our Lord. The Jews will make a pact with a false messiah known as the foolish shepherd or Antichrist.The seven year covenant will be established. This is the time of the tribulation. In the middle of the covenant, Antichrist will break his treaty with Israel and require the worship of him alone. During this time, the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled. 
 
When Israel refuses to worship of him alone, the armies of the world will gather to do battle, climaxing in a great siege of Jerusalem. As the nations gather against Israel there are only intensified hatred by these confederated hosts against this land and people. Jerusalem will be so overcome by the enemy that the spoil will be leisurely divided in the midst of the city. Half of the remaining population in the city will be dragged into captivity, and there will be but a small and wretched remnant left. 
 
 
 
This atrocity then triggers the wrath of God against the world and the Battle of Armageddon. 
His majesty, “the Lord my God shall come”, suddenly and unexpectedly, in the person of their long rejected Messiah. Jesus will literally return to the Mt. of Olives, located east of the Kidron Valley. It was from this mountain that Jesus ascended and it will be the same place where “Jesus will return in the same manner as he was taken.” and He will return precisely to the same location he ascended from. Not only the Messiah, but the myriads of His holy angels, His saints, who are also called holy “ones”, and who shall have been caught up to meet the Lord in the air. When Jesus returns to earth the second time with all of His holy ones, that day shall be an extraordinary day beyond the normal course of nature that differs from the natural, the lights in the world will go out, and be replaced by the light of Christ’s glory. Even at evening time it shall be light. 
 
Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations and overcome those that shall make war with him. The mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the East, shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west which will afford a haven of escape for God’s people, the remnant of the city. A valley running east and west will be created as the mountain is pulled northward and southward 
 
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<h2>
 
 
Thy Kingdom Come</h2>
 
Jerusalem during the millennial period shall emerge from the catastrophe. Living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half toward the Dead Sea (east) and the other half to the Mediterranean Sea (west): in summer and in winter shall it be. great physical changes will take place in Palestine and the whole land, but particularly the position of Jerusalem will be greatly altered and transformed. The very desert shall be transformed by them, and the stagnant waters of the Dead Sea healed. It will be the source whence the living waters of God’s grace and salvation are to issue in all directions, and therefore every obstacle which might hinder their flow shall be changed and turned into a plain. 
 
There will be only one religion in the entire world during the millennial reign of Christ. This will be the ultimate fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant providing a Jewish people, the nation of Israel, and the land given to Abraham; the Davidic Covenant which promised a king from the tribe of Judah and the line of David; and the New Covenant which held out the hope of spiritual redemption for Jew and Gentile. All the kingdoms of this world shall then become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever. 
Isaiah and Micah, as well as Ezekiel announced that “it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted about the hills. The literal fact will at the same time be symbolic of a great spiritual truth. The entire land, from Geba 6 miles to the north to Rimmon in the south, would be leveled to become an Exalted plain upon her own rubble or mound, as Jeremiah expresses it. Like the well-watered and fertile lowlands of the Jordan Valley, causing Jerusalem to be will be exalted in both place and purpose, the prominent royal city containing the temple of God and the throne of Jesus Christ above the land. All nations shall look up to it for instruction and guidance, and therefore it must be lifted high. It must be literally understood, and that it is of Jerusalem and Palestine that the prophet Zechariah   primarily speaks. 
<div>
 </div>
<h3>
Detailed analysis:</h3>
 
The chief importance of these local and topographical details in this great prophecy is the proof which they afford that it must be literally understood, and that it is of Jerusalem and Palestine that the prophet primarily speaks. 
 
It seems from Scripture that in relation to Israel and the land there will be a restoration, before the second Advent of our Lord, but that restoration will be of very much the same state of things as those which existed at the time of His First Advent, when the threats of God’s dealing with them nationally were finally dropped, not to be taken up again “until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled. 
 
Chapter 14 is an amplification of 13:8-9. Prior to Israel’s national conversion, seen in chapters 12:10-13:1, the Jews will make a pact with a false messiah known as the foolish shepherd or Antichrist. In the middle of the seven year covenant, Antichrist will break his treaty with Israel and require the worship of him alone (Dan. 9:24-27; Matt. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:3-4). 
 
<div style="text-align: right;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
When Israel refuses, the armies of the world will gather to do battle, climaxing in a great siege of Jerusalem and the Battle of Armageddon (Rev. 19:11-16), will come the full restoration of Israel as anticipated in Hos. 14:4-7, Joel 3:18-21, Amos 9:13-15, Mic. 4:1-3 and Zeph. 3:14-20.</div>
</div>
 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Zechariah 14:1 “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.”</blockquote>
 
“A day of the Lord cometh”: The “Day of the Lord” is a technical term for God’s wrath unleashed against sinners. Here, Zechariah is looking at the Day of the Lord when His wrath is unleashed against the whole world of sinners, which results in the establishment of the Lord’s millennial reign on earth. 
 
See note on Isa. 2:12 and introduction to Joel. 
 
“Spoil … divided in the midst of thee”: Jerusalem will be so overcome by the enemy that the spoil will be leisurely divided in the midst of the city, illustrating how completely Jerusalem will be overthrown. 
 
Israel’s enemies march in triumph through the land and they easily tread down all opposition. And then the enemy in overwhelming force and irresistible fury attacks Jerusalem, which is soon at his mercy. 
 
The city is taken, and the “spoil” or booty leisurely “divided in the midst” of her, without any fear on the part of the enemy of interruption or molestation. This illustrates how completely Jerusalem will be overthrown. This atrocity then triggers the wrath of God against the world in the “Day of the Lord”. 
 
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Zechariah 14:2 “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”</blockquote>
 
“I will gather all nations”: God Himself will gather the nations, using them to purge, refine, and judge (Rev. 16:13-14, 16). Their presence results in an unprecedented time of national calamity. This is the climax of “the time of Jacob’s distress” (Jer. 30:5-7). 
 
As the nations gather against Israel there are many scenes of cruel brutality, lust and horrors, which usually accompany the sack of cities by enraged enemies. In this case, they are only intensified by the accumulated hatred of these confederated hosts against this land and people. 
 
Half of the remaining population in the city is dragged forth into captivity, and there is but a small and wretched remnant left, which probably, in the intention of the enemy, are also devoted to destruction. 
 
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Verses 3-4: “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives”: To prevent the eradication of His remnant, the Lord will personally intervene to fight against the gathered nations.</blockquote>
 
Just as He fought for His people in the past, so He will do in the future as the ultimate Warrior-King. Jesus will literally return to the Mt. of Olives, located east of the Kidron Valley, just as the angels announced at His ascension (Acts 1:11). 
 
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Zechariah 14:3 “Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.”</blockquote>
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"Then shall the Lord go forth": Out of his place in heaven, either in person, or by the display of his power; that is, the Lord Jesus Christ. Whose name is called the Word of God, and is the King of kings, and Lord of lords, described as a mighty warrior (Rev. 19:11).</blockquote>
 
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"And fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle": The Targum adds, "at the Red Sea"; when the Lord fought for, Israel against the Egyptians (Exodus 14:25). </blockquote>
 
Afterwards against the Canaanites, when they entered the land of Canaan under Joshua. 
 
Thus Christ shall judge, and make war in righteousness, and overcome those that shall make war with him; and with the sharp sword that goeth out of his mouth shall smite nations, and with a rod of iron rule them, and cause them to tremble with fear (Rev. 14:14; see Ezek. 38:21). 
 
Though it is a day which begins with calamity and judgment to Israel, this will be the day of Jehovah, the day set apart and appointed by Him. 
 
Not only for the display of His majesty and the vindication of the righteousness of His character and way, but it is the day of the manifestation of His Divine might and glory in the destruction of Israel’s enemies, and the salvation of His own people. 
 
To prevent the eradication of His remnant, the Lord will personally intervene to fight against the gathered nations. Just as He fought for His people in the past, so He will do in the future as the ultimate Warrior King. 
 
The Jewish Targum and many commentators who regard the reference: “as when he fought in the day of battle” as being the conflict between Jehovah and the Egyptians at the Red Sea.” 
 
Verses 4-5: The violent topographical changes predicted here will afford a haven of escape for God’s people. It the splitting of the mountain will be caused by an “earthquake,” it is interesting to note that a recent geological survey in the area has verified the presence of a prominent fault running “east” to “west” through the southern section of the “Mount of Olives. 
 
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Zechariah 14:4 “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.”</blockquote>
 
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst”: A valley running east and west will be created as the mountain is pulled northward and southward (Mica 1:2-4; Nahum 1:5; Rev. 16:18-19).</blockquote>
 
Our Lord returned to heaven from “the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:11-12), and He will return precisely to the same location. 
 
When the feet of Jesus touches the Mount of Olives, there will be a tremendous topographical upheaval, perhaps an earthquake. A phenomenon which is not uncommon when God announces His coming in judgment (Mica 1:2-4; Nahum 1:5; Rev. 16:18-21). 
 
This mountain that has been so clearly defined and located in this prophecy is already associated with many events and crises in Israel’s history. It was from this mountain that Ezekiel saw the glory of Jehovah finally taking its departure. (Ezek. 11:23) 
 
It was from this mountain that He, the living personal revelation of the glory of Jehovah, took His departure from the land, after He had been rejected by the nation of Israel. 
 
And it was on the foot of this mountain at the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus shed tears of sorrow over Jerusalem. The mountain which witnessed His agony and bloody sweat as He talked with the Father and asked if "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." 
 
It was from this mountain that Jesus ascended and it will be the same place where “Jesus will return in the same manner as he was taken.” 
 
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Zechariah 14:5 “And ye shall flee [to] the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, [and] all the saints with thee.”</blockquote>
 
“Azal”: It is best understood as a place east of Jerusalem, marking the eastern end of the newly created valley. Though exact identification is unknown, it is possibly the Valley of Jehoshaphat or Valley of Decision (Joel 3:12, 14) which will be for judgment of the nations and for the escape of the half who were not captured (verse 2). 
 
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“All the saints with thee”: This term could refer to angels, Jewish believers or Gentile Christians together (Rev. 19:14).</blockquote>
 
This same mountain in verse 4 shall be split in two from east to west where half of it will move to the north and the other half to the south, thus forming “a very great valley”. This is done by an earthquake similar to the one found in the book of Amos more than two centuries before this prophecy and was still fresh in the minds of the people. 
 
“Ye shall flee” (The Hebrew text reads: into My mountains). The lofty precipitous sides of this newly formed chasm or valley and are being called His mountains, because they were formed by an act of His power. 
 
This may, in a sense be regarded as a parallel to the passage through the Red Sea after it was divided by the power of God. And “the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on the left.” 
 
They flee partly because of the fear of the destroying enemy and the terror inspired by the earthquake, but most of all “for fear of Jehovah and the glory of His majesty, when suddenly and unexpectedly “the Lord my God shall come”, in the person of their long rejected Messiah, “and all the holy ones with thee”. 
 
This means not only the myriads of His holy angels, but His saints, who are also called holy “ones”, and who shall have been caught up to meet the Lord in the air. 
 
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Zechariah 14:6-7 “And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the light shall not be clear, [nor] dark:” “But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, [that] at evening time it shall be light.”</blockquote>
 
As these Jews are fleeing through this newly created valley, the lights in the world will go out (Isa. 13:9-10; 24:23; Joel 2:10; 3:14-16; Matt. 24:29-30; Rev. 6:12-14) and be replaced by the light of Christ’s glory (Isa. 60:19-20). Only the Lord knows the fullness of the plan for that day when the lights go out and are lit again in the millennial kingdom (Isa. 30:26; Mal. 4:2). 
 
“In that day”, is when Jesus returns to earth the second time with all of His holy ones. That day shall be an extraordinary day beyond the normal course of nature that differs from the natural. This is the day spoken of as “no one knoweth the day nor the hour except the Father.” 
 
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Joel 3:15 “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.”</blockquote>
 
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Isa. 24:23 “Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.”</blockquote>
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Isa.13:9-10 "Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." "For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine."</blockquote>
 
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Mark 13:24-26 "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light," "And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken." "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory."</blockquote>
 
It shall not be day, for the natural sources of light will be withdrawn; but it cannot be like the darkness of night, for there will be the light of the glory of the Lord, and the myriads of His holy angels, and of the glorified saints reflected on the earth. 
 
The blessed issues of the solemn events of “that day,” as set forth in the first seven verses, are described in the verses that follow: 
 
Zechariah 14:8 “And it shall be in that day, [that] living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.” 
 
The highest elevation of the temple mount in Jerusalem is more than 300 feet lower that the Mt. of Olives, but the topographical alterations described in verses 4, and 10 will allow the spring to flow toward the Dead Sea (east) and the Mediterranean Sea (west), see notes on Ezek. 47:1-12. 
 
It will not dry up in summer, as most Palestinian streams do, but will flow all year, making the desert “blossom like the crocus” (Isa. 35:1). 
 
Because of the great earthquake spoken of in verses 4-5, and other convulsions of nature which are immediately to precede and accompany the visible appearing of the Messiah, when His feet shall stand in the day upon the Mount of Olives, great physical changes will take place in Palestine and the whole land, but particularly the position of Jerusalem will be greatly altered and transformed. 
 
A stream of water flows up from underneath the temple (Joel 3:18), going East to the Jordan, then curving South through the Dead Sea area. Its origin coincides with Christ’s Second Advent arrival on the Mount of Olives, which will trigger a massive earthquake, thus creating a vast East to West valley running through Jerusalem and allowing for the water flow (see Ezekiel 47:1-12). 
 
The former sea is the Dead Sea which shall then be healed by the streams of fresh or living water which will flow through it. The hinder sea is the Mediterranean Sea. These waters will never run dry as the streams in the south are apt to do now. Neither summer drought shall lessen them nor winter cold bind them, but they shall ceaselessly flow in both summer and winter. 
 
To these perennial waters flowing from the “river of God”, see Psalm 46:4, primarily so called because it is formed as it were, by a direct act of His power. 
 
There are many references in the prophetic Scriptures regarding this. 
 
Isa. 30:25-26 “And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers [and] streams of waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.” “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. 
 
Joel speaks of the time when Jehovah shall manifestly dwell in Zion, and “Jerusalem shall be holy,” into which nothing that defileth shall enter, says: 
 
Joel 3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim. 
 
In Numbers 25:1 Shittim was the last encampment of the Israelites before crossing the Jordan into Canaan, the barren valley of the Jordan above the Dead Sea. Shittim means acacias, which grow only in arid regions, and the words of the prophecy imply that even the arid desert shall be fertilized by the waters issuing from this fountain. 
 
The Psalmist beholds in vision: Psalm 46:4: “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy [place] of the tabernacles of the most High.” 
 
Jerusalem during the millennial period shall emerge from the catastrophe described in the first verses, when the earth shall “be removed”, or “changed,” and the “mountains shaken into the heart of the seas, and the waters roar and be troubled. 
 
The allusion in all these scriptures, which speak of the river of living waters dividing themselves into streams flowing in different directions, is probably Genesis 2:10 which reads: 
 
“And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.” Which are: Pison is in the land of Havilah; Gihon is in the land of Ethiopia; Hiddekel is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria and the fourth river is the Euphrates. 
 
Since for beauty and fertility, and as the earthly center of God’s dwelling and worship, point to, as it were, to the garden of Eden, there is again the River, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, and flowing thence fertilize other parts of the earth. 
 
Consider for a moment this “river of God”. Its source is God Himself. Isaiah 33:21 "But there the glorious LORD [will be] unto us a place of broad rivers [and] streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby." 
 
And John puts it this way in Rev. 22:1 “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” 
 
Yes, and of the Lamb, for though God is the Source, the Eternal Fountain of this pure Water of Life, the Lamb slain is the channel through which it flows. 
 
 As the “living water” is abundant in quantity, so also is the healing life giving of the living waters wonderful. The very desert shall be transformed by them, and the stagnant waters of the Dead Sea healed. 
 
Zechariah 14:9 “And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.” 
 
“There be one Lord … and his name one”: Rev. 11:15. There will be only one religion in the entire world during the millennial reign of Christ. Ruling with a rod of iron (Rev. 19:15), Christ will have done away with all false religions spawned by Satan. 
 
This will be the ultimate fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant providing a Jewish people, the nation of Israel, and the land given to Abraham; the Davidic Covenant which promised a king from the tribe of Judah and the line of David; and the New Covenant which held out the hope of spiritual redemption for Jew and Gentile. 
 
<h2>
All of this will be fulfilled in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.</h2>
 
Here is the answer to the “Lord’s Prayer”, “Thy Kingdom Come”. The Lord here is referring to Jehovah. Jehovah shall be King, but according to the united and harmonious testimony of the prophetic scriptures it will be Jehovah in the person of the Messiah. 
 
Jehovah-Jesus, Immanuel, He whose feet shall in that day stand on the Mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the East, who will thus set up His Kingdom and rule on this earth. 
 
While the holy hill of Zion shall be the seat of His throne, and Palestine, with restored and converted Israel, the center of His blessed rule, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth”. 
 
All kings shall fall down before Him, all nations shall serve Him, for all the kingdoms of this world shall then become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever. 
 
“In that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.” Jehovah will be recognized and acknowledged as the “God of the whole earth,” and the false gods of the nations, to whom even Israel was tempted in former days of apostasy to render worship, shall be “cut off”, and all idols utterly abolished (terminated with prejudice). 
 
Zechariah 14:10 “All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and [from] the tower of Hananeel unto the king's wine presses.” 
 
“All the land … turned as a plain”: The term “plain” pictures the Jordan Valley, extending from Mt. Hermon (elevation 9,100 feet) to the Gulf of Arabah. 
 
Here the entire land, from Geba 6 miles to the north to Rimmon in the south, would be leveled to become like the well-watered and fertile lowlands of the Jordan Valley (Gen. 13:10), causing Jerusalem to be exalted above like a solitaire diamond on a ring. 
 
Jerusalem, having been rebuilt according to these dimensions, will be exalted in both place and purpose, the prominent royal city containing the temple of God and the throne of Jesus Christ (Ezek. Chapters 40 – 48). The locations of these landmarks would be the equivalent of meaning “all Jerusalem, east to west and north to south.” 
 
And the land shall be turned means the land shall be changed. This is the meaning of the announcement in the 10th verse: “All the land shall be turned” or “changed,” so that it shall become as or like the Arabah.” 
 
The area to be transformed is more closely defined, namely, “from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem”. 
 
This entire district “from Geba to Rimmon” is to be changed and become “as the Arabah”. This word, translated “plain” in the American Standard Version bible, is the proper name of the Jordan valley, that remarkable depression which runs from the slopes of Hermon to the Red Sea, known as the deepest depression in the surface of the globe. 
 
The Sea of Galilee situated within it being 652 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, while the Dead Sea, which is also included in its course, is 1316 feet below that level, or the level of the Red Sea. 
 
Parts of this valley were distinguished for their luxurious vegetation, but the reference here is not to its fertility nor to its deep depression, which probably will itself undergo modification in that day of great physical as well as moral upheavals, but to the fact of its being a plain. 
 
The whole hill country specified shall be leveled or become a plain “and she” (meaning Jerusalem) “shall be lifted up” (or “exalted” “and shall dwell” (or “become settled”) “in her place,” literally, “upon that which was under her,” upon her own rubble or mound, as Jeremiah expresses it. 
 
The prophet Zechariah gives us also, a terse summary of the longer predictions of the former prophets; for already Isaiah and Micah, as well as Ezekiel announced that “it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted about the hills. 
 
Here, as in the case of the “living waters” in the 8th verse, the literal fact will at the same time be emblematic of a great spiritual truth. 
 
Zion in the millennial age will be the city of truth, “the habitation of righteousness and mountain of holiness,” and therefore will be raised conspicuously aloft in the view of all the nations; it will be the source whence the living waters of God’s grace and salvation are to issue in all directions, and therefore every obstacle which might hinder their flow shall be changed and turned into a plain. 
 
It will be the center of God’s governmental rule of the world, and the place to which “all nations shall flow” for instruction and guidance, and therefore it must be lifted high, and approach to it rendered easy. 
 
The second half of verse 10 concerns the bounds of the restored and enlarged city, which shall thus be “lifted up” and settled down to dwell safely “in her own place.” 
 
The gates and towers named here cannot with any certainty be identified. Benjamin’s gate is probably the same as “the gate of Ephraim” (mentioned in 2 Kings 14:13) was in the north wall of the city through which the road to Benjamin, and thence to Ephraim ran. 
 
The first or “former” gate, which no longer existed in Zechariah’s time is supposed to have been at the north eastern corner, and the “corner gate” at the north western corner. 
 
If these suppositions are correct, this line would describe the whole breadth of the city from east to west, while the town of Hananeel, which stood at the north or north east corner, and the king’s winepresses, which all are agreed were in the king’s gardens south of the city, would indicate the northern and southern boundaries. 
 
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<h4 class="zemanta-related-title">
Revelation chapter 18 - Commercial, Political Babylon is now in view </h4>
The destruction of religious Babylon described in Rev. 17 and commercial Babylon in chapter 18 will decisively rid the world of the major evils that have plagued the human race for about 5000 years. We have already seen the destruction to be unleashed on ecclesiastical or religious Babylon in the middle of the Tribulation period. But the destruction of the commercial and governmental systems will not take place, however, until the end of the Tribulation. Some Bible scholars do not distinguish between the destruction of chapter 17 and that of chapter 18, but mold them altogether. The following six reasons establish that they are not the same. 
"After these things" (Rev 18 v.1) This expression indicates that the events described in chapter 18 will not take place until after the events of chapter 17 have been fulfilled. 
"I saw another angel coming down from heaven" Events of chapter 17 were introduced by "one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls" (Rev 17 v.1). The angel referred to in chapter 18 is obviously not the same as the one who introduced the events of chapter 17. Therefore, we can expect the same sequence of events that have happened throughout the book of Revelation: When an angel fulfills his responsibility, another distinct judgment takes place on the earth. 
The names in the 2 chapters are different. The name in chapter 18 is simply "Babylon the Great". (Rev. 18 v.2) True, the Babylon destroyed in chapter 17 has the name, "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the whole Earth", (Rev. 17 v.5) but the only similarity is the location, Babylon. When both titles are used fully, the contrast of these two Babylons is clearly seen. Babylon the prostitute of chapter 17 will be destroyed by the kings of the earth. (Rev. 17 v.16) The Babylon of chapter 18 will be destroyed by the cataclysmic judgments of God. The kings who destroy the Babylon of chapter 17 rejoice. In the Babylon of chapter 18, the kings and merchants lament and weep for her (Rev. 18 v.9-15). If chapter 17 and 18 take place during the last days of the Tribulation, there will be no place for the Antichrist and the False Prophet to do away with all religions and substitute the worship of the Antichrist's image as described in chapter 13. 
Chapter 18 
18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 
Then John saw another angel coming down from heaven. Whether "another angel" is one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls we are not told. But it seems doubtful, for this angel is distinctive, with such "great authority" that he lights the earth with his glory. 
In the last lesson we saw that the beast, and his system, and the great whore were revealed.  Here in chapter 18, we will see the judgment that comes from God poured out on them. This "angel" in V-1 was sent from heaven.  This "power" spoken of here is power that God has endowed on this angel for the execution of this punishment. This "angel" has been in close association with the Light. We see here that this powerful Light of Jesus, even though second hand through the angel, still lightens the earth. 
18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 
The message of this angel who cries with a "mighty voice" is this: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!" Since chapter 18 seems to describe the destruction of a literal commercial city, the governmental capital of the world during the Tribulation, we naturally ask ourselves the question, "Where is that city?" Again, Bible prophecy students are not in agreement. Some suggest the city of Rome, and some years ago suggested New York City because he felt it was the commercial center of the world. Some who believe we should take the Scriptures literally whenever possible are inclined to believe that the city of Babylon will be rebuilt. 
In chapter 18 verses 10, 16, 18, 19, and 21 you find reference to this Babylon being a city. In verse 2 the angel cried mightily and said "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen". The literal interpretation would dictate that indeed this Babylon is a city. 
I do not believe this is so! If you read Rev. 17 v.18 you see: "And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the Kings of the earth." In reality the "woman" was the corrupt religious system and not a city. The same applies here. Commercial Babylon is a corrupt commercial, social and political system that will be destroyed at the end of the Tribulation. 
18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 
Remember in chapter 16 we saw the actual destruction of commercial Babylon. At the end of this chapter I will show it  to you again so you can make sense of what is taking place. The corruption may have had its beginnings at the city of Babylon, but believe me it has spread to every corner of the earth. It will not be until the earth is totally destroyed that this evil will be no more. Those who mourn are those who are loosing their ability to deceive the nations any longer. Looking ahead at what it says in chapter 18 verse 23: "for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived", so you see this is not a city but a very corrupt system that is being destroyed by God by his Judgment to prepare for the coming Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 
Come out of her, my people. This is a call for God's people to disentangle themselves from the world system. It may also be an evangelistic call to God's elect to come to faith in Christ and come out of Satan's kingdom. In both cases, the message is to abandon the system. 
Read 2 Cor. 6 v-14-17 for a good example of this 
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, you see, even though you are not committing sin, as such. You are committing sin by association. The Bible tells us over and over not to be unequally yoked with those of unbelief. If you do not remove yourself, you are guilty of her sin. In this verse, we read that her plagues will come to those people as well. The righteous God of the universe has not overlooked the sins of the elite power brokers who have used commerce and government for centuries to live luxuriously at the expense of others. The commercial, social and political systems of the Antichrist will receive double judgment for their sins. 
18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 
Babylon's sins will pile up like a new Tower of Babel, but unlike the ancient tower, her sins will reach as high as heaven. Then an angel states that God has remembered her sins. He will take note of them as He did that earlier monument to man's sinful, arrogant, prideful rebellion at Babel. 
18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. 
This reward her simple means will recompense or repay commercial Babylon according to her works. All of those who are involved and are guilty will suffer double judgment as the cup is filled twice for her for what she has done to the Saints. 
She will reap what she sowed. 
18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 
This is describing 3 sins she is guilty of. 
(1)   "She has glorified herself" meaning she was proud. 
(2)   "She lived Deliciously" meaning she pursued self gratification, and 
(3)   "I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow" meaning she was not only proud but boastful. 
That proud boast echoes that of ancient Babylon who said "I will be a queen forever" and I will not sit as a widow, nor know loss of children. Now read that boast in Isaiah 47 verses 7-8: 
"And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: [so] that thou didst not lay these [things] to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it." "Therefore hear now this, [thou that art] given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I [am], and none else beside me; I shall not sit [as] a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children." 
18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong [is] the Lord God who judgeth her. 
But these two [things] shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, [and] for the great abundance of thine enchantments. (Isaiah 47 v.9) This is saying that Babylon's destruction will not be progressive. The wicked city (system) will be instantly destroyed. Daniel 5 records a similar fate that befell ancient Babylon; the city fell the very night that God wrote its doom on the wall of the king's palace. Babylon's doom is certain and cannot be avoided. No one can change God's plans or keep Him from accomplishing what He purposed to do as Nebuchadnezzar discovered above in Daniel. Or in this case his grandson. 
18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 
This will no doubt include the 10 kings of the earth who rule Antichrist's kingdom under his authority as well as the rest of the world's leaders. The destruction of the Antichrist's political and economic power will strike a fatal blow to his empire. The fall of Babylon will be a symbol of the fall of the entire evil world system. And again Babylon is pictured as a harlot whose death causes her lovers to weep and lament over her. 
18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. 
This "standing afar off", could mean those who heeded and came out of her. It really doesn't matter where. It may be all of these cities and many more, or it might not be a literal city at all.  I really believe this is both an evil system and many evil cities, as well, being destroyed. 
The one hour simply means the judgment will happen rapidly just as verse 8 predicted. 
18:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: 
These mourners are the merchants of the earth who will weep and mourn over Babylon because no one will be able to buy their goods anymore. Whatever economy there had been will end and so will any semblance of normalcy on this devastated planet that was already in serious trouble brought on by the divine judgments of God. 
18:12-13 "The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble," "And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men". 
 
It appears that these are classed in several types: 
  1.  Personal items of jewelry 
  2.  Articles used for furniture 
  3.  Nice smelling and tasting things 
  4.  Food 
  5.  Animals 
  6.  Souls of men 
 
What significance this has, I do not know; unless, it means worldly things. Most of these are things a person could do without if hard times came and you had to, even maybe the food for awhile. This "souls of men", is one of the more interesting. In the days of the old Roman Empire, they sold people as you would animals. Perhaps that is what is meant there.  They thought no more about selling a person than they did a pair of shoes. It appears to me, in all of this that trade has just about ceased, period. Probably, all the plagues and wars have just about stopped everything. 
18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. 
And the merchandise that was available before are now gone and will never ever be available again. The commercial system is completely shut down and that reality is about to be made manifest. It will probably be a time when it will be next to impossible to even find enough to feed your family. Even if you did find enough for them to eat, it would probably take all you could possibly make just to have even bread for your family. This is probably the time when a loaf of bread would cost a whole day's wages.  There will be no money at all left for niceties. 
Even if you have a tremendous amount of money, there will be great shortages of real items necessary to live on not to mention the things the rich consume will be entirely unavailable. 
18:15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 
Here, we see such great fear from these merchants who used to sell their merchandise at tremendous, outrageous profits. Like today when many get rich from oil by taking advantage of those who can't afford the inflated prices. And that includes the government who adds very high taxes to every gallon of gas. When this horrible punishment comes, it will put the fear of God on those looking on. It is about time that someone begins to fear. 
These merchants weep because their materialistic passions can no longer be fulfilled. The weeping that begins then will last for eternity in hell. 
These greedy merchants are a classic illustration of those in all times who gain the whole world only to end up forfeiting their own souls. 
18:16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! 
These items were common commodities in the ancient world and were the source of great immense financial gain. Those materialistic, unrepentant people mourn as God brings His judgment against Babylon, knowing these items will never be found again. 
18:17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, 
In one Hour: The destruction will come suddenly and quickly. The world's pagan economic system will collapse. They cast dust on their heads as a sign of mourning and sorrow (v.19; Job. 2:12; lam. 2:10; Ezek. 27:30). God hath avenged you on her: God at last judges the Babylonian system for its treatment of God's people, particularly those who are martyred during the Tribulation (Rev. 6:9-11). 
18:18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What [city is] like unto this great city! 
The people cry and are amazed as they see this destruction taking place before their eyes. 
18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. 
Casting dust on their heads is a typical ancient expression of grief. These last few scriptures state sailors, but could mean any system of transportation and delivery systems of today such as planes, trains, trucks ect. All of these services would be immediately shut down if the commercial system was destroyed including banking and computers. 
Consider what would happen if there was no more electrical system available. 
18:20 Rejoice over her, [thou] heaven, and [ye] holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. 
God has taken vengeance on the ones who killed his prophets and apostles and even his blessed Son.  Finally, all of those martyred by these have been avenged. 
The long awaited moment of vindication, retribution and vengeance for which the martyred tribulation believers had prayed for in chapter 6 verses 9 -10 and for which all the redeemed have hoped, that time has arrived. 
These final verses picture from within the results of the collapse of the Babylonian system. The finality of its destruction is shown by the six fold repetition of the phrase "no more at all". The stone cast into the sea depicts the violence and permanence of the destruction. The Babylonian system began in Genesis 10, and has continued uninterrupted in one form or another to the present day. But one day it will suddenly "sink," never to return. 
In verses 23b, 24, three reasons are given for the destruction of Babylon: 
(1) its arrogance, 
(2) Its deception of the nations, and 
(3) its persecution and martyrdom of God's people. 
18:21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast [it] into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. "sea" sometimes means masses of people but I do not believe that is the meaning here. Whether this is only a real city, (rebuilt Babylon) or a sinful commercial, social and political system that corrupts the entire world which is being destroyed here, this is speaking of total destruction. More than likely both this is speaking of both as the two can be easily associated. This millstone here is similar to the one spoken of as being around a neck and thrown into the sea. 
In the light of this Scripture, this is a really bad punishment. I believe this illustration is to show the finality of this judgment of God. We must remember Babylon is destroyed by God Himself, not by the devil. 
18:22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft [he be], shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; 
Literally everything grinds to a halt everywhere. 
Babylon will be completely and so thoroughly destroyed that it will never rise again as predicted by the Old Testament prophets. Isaiah in Chapter 13 verses 19-21: "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah." "It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there." "But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there."The Prophecies of Jeremiah and Isaiah Indicate That Babylon Will be Suddenly and Totally Obliterated - "Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed" says the prophet in Jeremiah 51 v.8. And Isaiah 13 v.19 states, - And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' Excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom & Gomorrah. 
18:23-24 "And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." "And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." 
Three final reasons are given for Babylon's judgment. 
Notice that the merchants are mentioned as the great men of the earth. That's why this is talking of a commercial system as well as a political system. They are not from the city of Babylon, but from all parts of the earth. 
First, they use their wealth to ascent to positions of power, prominence and influence. The abuses of the proud, arrogant rich are well documented in scripture. James, Isaiah and Amos condemned the rich for their self aggrandizement and maltreatment of the poor. 
Second is all the nations were deceived by her sorcery. Sorcery is from pharmakeia, the root word of the English words "pharmacy" and "pharmaceuticals". The word is used in the New Testament to refer to magic and occult practices. (Gal. 5 v.20) 
Babylon's hold on the world will not be entirely due to her military and economic power, but also to her occult influence. 
A final reason given for Babylon's judgment is her murderous slaughter of God's people. 
Now let's go back and read the end of chapter 16 starting with verse 17 through verse 21. 
This is starting when the Angel pours our the seventh vial or bowl judgment which is the last of the 21 plaques of Revelation right before the second coming of Jesus and the battle of Armageddon. 
16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 
16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, [and] so great. 
16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 
16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 
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. 
Notice that not only Babylon fell, but also the cities of the nations as well, v.19. 
Also don't forget the earth is already reeling from the thunders and lightnings not to mention the biggest earthquake the world has even know. 
Then the great hail that weight about a talent each (100 pounds each). This hail is totally capable of destroying cities with no problem at all. 
And verse 20 tells us that every island fled away and the mountains were no longer found. This is the worst plague of the 21 by far as it completely destroys the political, commercial system called Babylon the Great from off the earth. Not to mention that this is the end of the earth as we have known it as it now has been completely leveled and is ready for the renewal process that's coming. 
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All of this will be fulfilled in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Abraham Christ God God the Father Holy Spirit (Christianity) Jerusalem Jesus John 3:16 Mount of Olives All of this will be fulfilled in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.

English: Mount of Olives. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Zechariah Chapter 14 shows, in relation to Israel and the land there will be a ...

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