Matthew 24, part 3 - Saved from Tribulation

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Rome destroys the Temple and the church beliefs

MATTHEW 24:1   And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

:2   And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

MATTHEW 24:3And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Question 1:   When will the Temple be destroyed?

Question 2:  What is the sign of Thy Coming?

Please note the disciples did not ask when He was coming. Nor should we.

Question 3:  the sign of the end of the world?

Question 3 is a difficult question to answer.

The great battle of Armageddon is the end of our world systems (our modern rotten civilization based on greed, corruption, materialism, and self-interest) but 1000 years later will come to Judgement Day and then the sea will explode and a new earth will be established. So which of these two events did they think will be the end of the world?

They probably meant the battle of Armageddon as John had not yet written the Book of Revelation. Thus they were most likely thinking of when this world system of religion, politics, and obsession with money will end so that the Kingdom of God would be set up when Jesus will rule in peace for 1000 years.

Jesus begins to reply.

Question 1:  When will the Temple be destroyed?

Jesus does not give a date. This is a warning to us all. Do not try to work out dates. Instead, He goes to the heart of the real problem which is unbelief in Scripture. All errors and all sin come from the Devil. So who is the Devil operating through?

Satan is the great deceiver. Consequently, instead of revealing when the Temple will be destroyed, Jesus finds it more important to reveal who does the destroying.

Seal 1 says biggest danger is deception in the church

MATTHEW 24:4

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

This is the first seal.

The white horse rider of religious deception starts his ride to conquer Christians and get them to leave the Bible and rather believe human leaders and their traditions.

In other words, the great deceiver of true Christianity will infiltrate the church and also destroy the Jewish Temple.

Who did destroy the Temple? The pagan Romans under their general Titus in AD 70.

So, this is the answer of Jesus.

He reveals that when the Temple is destroyed is not important. But revealing who the Destroyer is, is important.

The Destroyer is not just the enemy of the Jews but is also the enemy of the true church. The Spiritual deception that destroys Christians is the same enemy that destroyed the Temple. This Spirit will come from Rome. The Roman beast with its lust for power over people.

The unmatched brutality of the pagan Roman Empire would mutate to form one of the deadliest killing machines of all time, the Roman Catholic Church. Tens of millions of dissenters would be killed by them in the Dark Ages.

Why did Jesus not give a specific time?

Because the Temple's destruction that involved tearing down the building blocks and killing just over a million Jews in Jerusalem, was horrifically bad but worse was to follow. Soon that vicious bloodshed would just be a footnote in the blood-stained history of the Roman Catholic Church that conquered with its crusades, inquisitions, and its policy of the "conversion of the heathen by the sword". They ended up killing tens of millions of people.

Sadly, the horrific slaughter of the Jews in AD 70 would be overshadowed by a far bigger destruction of non-Catholics. From the 300s to the 1600s, church history would be written in blood when pagan Rome became the Roman Catholic Church and would have a relentless drive to kill anyone who was not a Roman Catholic. Untold millions of non-Catholics would be killed.

In the Old Testament, the Jews were saved as a nation.

The Jews rejected their Messiah at Calvary. God no longer dealt with them as a nation. Now, they had to accept Jesus as individuals, just like the Gentiles had to do. Years later their Temple was destroyed in a local tribulation of awful slaughter as blood, fire, and hate-filled Romans overwhelmed them. This horror of more than a million Jews being killed was the local tribulation that moved Israel off the spiritual stage. God had turned to the Gentiles.

In 1934 Hitler murdered hundreds of opponents in the infamous Night of the Long Knives. Then this murderer-in-chief held an election and won 85% of the German vote. The Jews voted for Barabbas, a murderer, and killed Jesus. Similarly, the Germans voted for a murderer, Hitler. Then in the second World War, using six major extermination camps in Poland, Hitler's Nazis gassed and slaughtered six million Jews.

This Holocaust was a preview of the 3.5 years of Great Tribulation that is to come. Natural dictators like Hitler and Stalin unleashed natural killing demons on natural Israel during World War 2.

These were the same vicious demons that had inspired the Roman soldiers to hate and exterminate the Jews in Jerusalem in AD 70. Now, these demonic hordes inspired the Nazis to destroy their hated enemy, the Jews.

The holocaust was a pre-Tribulation or amateur Tribulation of those days, the six years of World War 2 that swept through Europe. God left the Jews at Calvary in AD 33. In AD 70 in a firestorm of death and destruction, the Temple was left desolate in ruins.

In the 1900s God was starting to return to the Jews. Satan tried to stop this return with a massive and unparalleled national industrial-scale slaughter of Jews in World War 2. One-third of the world's Jews were exterminated. Then it took a brutal war against five Arab armies to win their homeland back in the 1948 War of Independence. The Jews are now back where they can expect the Messiah to return. Thanks to President Trump, Jerusalem is now the recognized capital of Israel. The Golan heights have been restored to Israel by him too. God is turning to the Jews after 2000 years and that means He is turning away from the Gentiles.

Deception by anointed preachers who lack Scripture

I am Christ. I am anointed. Say the deceivers who lack Scripture for their beliefs.

MATTHEW 24:5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

The First Seal had a white horse rider, a religious deceiver.

REVELATION 6:1   And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

:2   And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

This was the rise of the Roman Catholic church. This religious-political system would kill tens of millions of non-Catholics. Each Christian is a living stone in the spiritual Temple of God that God has been building up for over 2000 years. This is God’s real Temple.

I PETER 2:5Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

And Rome has killed millions in her attempts to tear down the spiritual Body or Temple of Christ. And many millions more have been destroyed because they were fooled into believing Catholic doctrines and traditions instead of Scripture, and thus despite their sincerity they never allowed themselves to be part of God’s Temple. Man-made commandments cannot save anybody.

The pagan Roman Empire of the Caesars destroyed Jerusalem.

The Papal Rome of the Popes has endlessly tried to destroy those Christians who disagree with her and try to believe the Bible.

Rome is the nerve centre where Bible-error has been built up into such a powerful religious system. The first title of the Pope is Bishop of Rome. The second title of the Pope is that the Pope is the Vicar of Christ (which means "in the place" of Christ) and this gives him great credibility.

The Pope stands in the place of Christ say the Catholics. Message-people accepted that same spirit when they claimed that brother Branham is the Voice of God. The Voice of God was never promised in the New Testament.

Consider the pagan decorated trees of Jeremiah Chapter 10 that gained great credibility amongst Christians when they were called Christmas trees. Despite the fact that the word "Christmas" is not in the Bible. The date 25 December is also not in the Bible.

Also, the Bible never asked us to celebrate Christ's birth.

JEREMIAH 10 : 2

Learn not the way of the heathen…

: 3   For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest….

: 4   They deck it with silver and with gold….

: 5   They are upright as the palm tree…

Today millions of Christians have Christmas (Christ’s mass) trees in their homes and shops.

Christianity has merged with and been thoroughly married into paganism.  We should not call this hybrid "Christianity". We should call it Churchianity.

Seal 2 speaks of wars as politics enters the church

Political power in the church results in ongoing wars. Seal 2 shows the ruthless ambitions of church leaders.

MATTHEW 24:6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

This is the Second Seal.

REVELATION 6:3   And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

:4   And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

Why is it mentioned? Because Jesus is telling us how error got into the church and why it became so embedded that people cannot forsake it. Politics is a craving for power. The church entered politics and became addicted to this power over people.

First, it was unscriptural teachings that are simply religious deception.

Then it was the church getting involved with political power which gave the Pope far more power. He now had the use of armies from the nations that could kill the non-Catholic "heretics". Politics is ruled by the Devil. So Truth was dying out.

The Roman beast represents the pursuit of power by religious deception and then maintains that power with political force.

Politics is all about securing supreme power for the leader of a group. Politicians strive to rule and dominate.

Damasus, Bishop of Rome from 366 - 384 was given the title of Pontiff in AD 382 by his nephew who was the Roman Emperor Theodosius. This gave him great prestige in the eyes of the pagans as he had a bad name amongst Christians having got his followers to murder about 300 supporters of his rival, during the election to choose a Bishop of Rome. That slaughter of his rival's supporters enabled him to be elected as Bishop of Rome.

The Bishops of Rome, to increase their popularity amongst the pagans, accepted their pagan beliefs by modifying them a little to make them sound Christian. To make Christianity acceptable to the pagans, the Roman church dressed up paganism in the Christian language.

As one historian said, "The Roman Catholic Church is baptized paganism".

The birthday of the sun god on 25 December which was established by the pagan Roman emperor Aurelian in AD 274 became the birthday of the Son of God, Jesus. Despite the fact that Aurelian himself was a vicious persecutor of the Christian church. He killed the Bishop of Rome on 22 December, a few days before he made 25 December the birthday of the sun god.

The goddess Ishtar was claimed to be born from an egg on the Euphrates river. This became an Easter egg.

Bishop Siricius (384-399), who followed Damasus, was the first Bishop of Rome to assume the title, Pope.

By AD 450, Leo I was accepted as the Pope by most people.

The emperors used their armies to enforce the Pope’s decrees.

Tens of millions of non-Catholics were killed during the Dark Ages.

MATTHEW 24:7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

Wars are part of fallen human nature and religious wars are doubly vicious because people think they serve God by killing others. The church entered politics and became a killer of its opponents.

The invention of gunpowder enabled man to kill his fellow man in greater numbers. Arms and ammunition would spawn a whole industry of death. History is full of endless wars.

Famine in the 3rd Seal due to selling the Word of God

Preaching only if paid, church leaders with their insatiable love of money starve the people for the truth.

MATTHEW 24:7

and there shall be famines,

The third seal, the black horse rider weighing out the bread of life.

REVELATION 6:5   And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

:6   And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

By not teaching the people to be Scriptural, the people are starved for Truth and in their hunger, they happily eat any spiritual "junk food", any error.

The Protestant churches, having introduced salvation by faith alone, thanks to Martin Luther, soon drifted away after Luther's death and became full of unscriptural ideas.

Communion or the Lord's Supper is taken in the morning as if it is the Lord's breakfast.

Peter said, "Repent, and be baptized". But somehow baby baptism crept in despite the fact that babies cannot repent.

Denominationalism developed, despite being an unscriptural word.

Churches got involved in politics. Human leaders were elevated above the congregation. Each leader had his own opinions and the Protestant movement kept splitting and splitting like Daniel's Gentile image that split into two legs and then split further into ten toes. Churches were full of opinions and traditions but sadly lacking in Scriptural accuracy. Church people were starving for Bible truth.

Endless wars were also devastating the countryside and natural famine was thus far too common.

The 4th Seal of pestilence pandemics and earthquakes

In 2020 - 2021 we lived through the pestilence of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Much harm was done to physical health and mental health. Economies suffered causing people acute financial anxiety and stress.

After all the wars of the last 110 years as well as the brutal man-made famines caused by unspeakably cruel communist dictators that killed over 70 million people, we then got hit by the coronavirus pestilence. All this was prophesied. Next come earthquakes. What kind of damage will they do if earthquake-prone places like Los Angeles sink into the sea. That will wreck the economy of California which will wreck the economy of America. Especially, since President Biden has driven up the debt level of America to combat the losses due to the coronavirus pandemic.

MATTHEW 24:7

and pestilences  and earthquakes, in divers places.

The fourth seal. This is the 7^th church age which started about 1906.

REVELATION 6:7   And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

The Eagle-beast inspired William Branham to reveal the mysteries of Scripture.

The Sixth Seal represents great Tribulation. This opens with a massive earthquake.

REVELATION 6:12   And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake;

Then Revelation 6 verse 8 introduces the 3.5 years of great Tribulation.

:8   And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Pestilences are pandemics (global epidemics). They are like plagues that reduce a person to a pale corpse colour before killing the person. The bubonic plague known as the Black Death wiped out almost one-quarter of Europe. What makes plagues so deadly (like AIDS and Ebola) is that they are due to mutations and modifications when the original germ or virus is modified. AIDS has spread around the world since the 1960s and killed about 40 million people, so far. One and a half million people seem to die from it each year. Scientists are fortunately limiting its effects.

In 1918 a pandemic of Spanish Flu killed between 65 million to 100 million people during the three years 1918 -1920.

There were two billion people on earth in 1918 and nearly half of them were infected.

So the fourth Seal opened in the 7^th church age with the Spanish Flu which had the greatest three-year death toll in recorded history from this pestilence.  Bill Gates says that the biggest fear that he has, and the cause that he really donates heavily towards, is trying to prevent an outbreak of some deadly virus.

Then in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic called COVID-19 ran rampant across the earth from China, through Europe, to America. Health and the economy suffered as this vicious virus reminded us that we are in the age of pandemics.

The pale horse is a mixture of black, red, and white. The three evil influences of religious deception, political corruption and power, and the demonology of Big-Money are uniting into the church system today.

What is the biggest source of error today?

Taking a Scripture and then modifying it into some tradition that suits us, especially if it is a pagan tradition.

For instance: church-goers believe that Adam and Eve ate an apple,  and that the serpent in the garden of Eden was a snake when it spoke to Eve. But snakes don't talk and argue. The serpent was the top beast, somewhere between the man and the ape, it was not a reptile. God would not have explained His curse to the serpent if it was a snake.

Church-goers believe that Jesus was born on 25 December. No Bible proof for that. That it is okay to legally marry, divorce, and remarry. They claim that  God is a Trinity and that the pastor is the head of the church. None of these statements is written in the Bible. Thus they are spiritual mutations that are deadly because they are so easily believed and thus infect people’s minds and so are extremely difficult to let go of.

MATTHEW 24:7

and earthquakes, in divers places.

One of the signs of the times is earthquakes. Earthquakes and undersea earthquakes that cause tsunamis now occur very frequently. This is a sign that we are near the end. Being an end-time prediction, we can probably safely predict that earthquakes will continue with their destruction. When the big earthquake hits Los Angeles then the United States of America will be in trouble, and because they are such a big portion of the world’s economy this will drag many other economies down with them.

The above map shows a serious earthquake fault line (in red) that runs down the west coast of America.

The green portion will be enlarged, shown below.

Los Angeles will one day sink beneath the sea because it is between the sea and the San Andreas earthquake-causing fault line.

In 2014  Earthquakes seemed to increase in frequency. This is however a random pattern. But these earthquakes can be regarded as part of the Earth’s birth pains as the Earth labours to produce the Millenium reign of Jesus and His Bride.

"Divers places" mean different places. We keep hearing of earthquakes from different parts of the world. The crust of the earth is taking the strain. We no longer live on a safe planet. Tectonic plates crunch into each other and earthquakes happen as a warning sign. The Lord is Coming.

MATTHEW 24:8All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Jesus has quickly shown how the horse rider of error took over the minds of Christians.

Jesus described the history of the church up to the last church age. But all those problems are just the beginning of sorrows.

Nothing that we have gone through will compare in horror to the 3.5 years of great Tribulation that is coming.

REVELATION 6:7  And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

Jesus has got up to the first verse of the fourth Seal which is the Eagle age where we have to prepare to withstand error in order to be ready for the Coming of the Lord.

The voice of the seventh angel has to teach us to understand the mysteries of Scripture in order to withstand the combined flood tide of evil and error that sweeps across the churches like an infectious virus.

The main problem now is not all the evil that is in the world.

Our biggest concern is the unscriptural errors that have undermined the churches.

End time sign is the internet and rejecting Jesus name

Violence, suffering, and sorrow sweep the world in a time of turbulence as we approach the end.

But the internet is able to cross borders and individuals in remote areas can hear the truth.

Jesus begins to answer Question 2:

MATTHEW 24:3what shall be the sign of Thy Coming?

His answer seems to indicate that there will be turbulent conditions just before His Coming.

But the conditions just before the Second Coming are described as the beginning of sorrows.

So things are going to get very difficult and people will be unaware of what is wrong. And our seventh church is going to end in great Tribulation where the sorrows are obviously going to get a lot worse.

So the 7^th church age fades out with a rejection of the Truth. The rejection of the name of Jesus Christ in water baptism.

This is what things will look like just before the Lord comes:

MATTHEW 24:9Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you

Christians have been endlessly subjected to persecution. The 7^th church age opened with a massive persecution when in 1915 the Ottoman Turks began a systematic slaughter of more than 1 million Christian Armenians. The word genocide was born. Today, in over 40 countries Christians still face persecution from mainly Muslim people, and on average about 180 Christians die for their faith each month. Islamist extremists like ISIS killed many Christians in Iraq and Syria.

Then rejection, shunning, and condemnation of Bible believers by the church people will also increase.

In addition, message people tend to shun and reject those who disagree with them. Denominations do the same. Intolerance reigns.

In an age of quotes, message people oppose those who try to be Scriptural. Christians no longer believe that the King James Version of the Bible is perfect. They condemn this Bible as being a flawed translation in certain parts. Thus they claim that the Bible is not the Absolute. People are no longer killed physically but character assassination is just as effective a way of silencing a critic.

MATTHEW 24:9   : and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

Baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ as commanded by Peter in Acts 2:38 produces a violent dislike in most church circles. Then mention that the Name of Jesus Christ is the Name of God, and Trinitarians don’t want to know you.

MATTHEW 24:10And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

11    And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

Christians hate those who can contradict them with Scripture. They want nothing to do with them.

Preachers splice quotes together instead of proving the quotes from Scripture. People follow human leaders because they do not want the hard work of checking their beliefs with the Bible.

Message preachers misinterpreted a quote of a beautiful but cruel woman (probably the Roman Catholic Church) who will rule America. They claimed that meant Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 American election. She lost. So much for predictions based on misunderstood quotes. Many of those message preachers used the same quote to prove that the world was ending in 1977. Gentiles have short memories when it comes to their personal failures.

MATTHEW 24:12    And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Because so many people do the wrong thing (like living in sin and dressing in worldly and revealing clothes) people then say it is okay.

They know that the New Testament never put a pastor as the head of a church. But this error has become a habit.

Brother Branham never said that the seven Thunders have uttered. But message-preachers major on that theme as well as claiming to know the new name of Jesus.

But no man knows that name.

REVELATION 19:12  ... and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 

They know that they are wrong, but they have to know the new name if the Thunders have uttered.

Iniquity means people know it is wrong but they do it anyway.

People believe in doctrines that are based on a few quotes. This is accepted by the majority.

So someone who tries to prove a doctrine by just joining Scriptures together is rejected. They know that rejecting a person for wanting to be Scriptural is wrong, but they do it anyhow because then they stay in the cozy comfort of their church. That is much easier than trying to read the Bible and doing the hard work of proving a doctrine from Scripture.

MATTHEW 24:13    But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

He speaks of an individual, not a church group.

Saved from great Tribulation. Endurance cannot save us from hell. We were saved from hell when we repented.

But we have to endure. Endurance means a struggle. There is no easy or comfortable path.
PHILIPPIANS 2:12   .... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

"Your own salvation". Paul is speaking to individuals.

In the end, it will be individuals rather than big groups.

This is not being saved from hell. You cannot save yourself from hell.

This is saved from the oncoming Tribulation by being caught up to meet the Lord in the air. You have to disagree with your own church and especially your own church leader. Have you got the courage to do that?

MATTHEW 24:14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

The Gospel must reach throughout the world. Missionaries have done a great job. Radio and TV programs have gone out on the airwaves. Now even more information can be spread and contacts can be made thanks to the interNET.

The internet has opened the entire world to the Gospel.

Anyone with a cell phone and there are billions of those, can read the truth on a website even if no-one else in their vicinity is interested.

The modern-day ZOOM program allows small groups of people to interact with each other and discuss Scripture even when they are in different parts of the world.

MATTHEW 24:14   “and then shall the end come”.

This answers Question 3.

The fourth seal has two verses. The first verse (Revelation 6:7) speaks of the Eagle age that shows us something that we need to know to escape the Tribulation.

REVELATION 6:7   And when he had opened the Fourth Seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

Those who can use brother Branham's quotes to interpret Scripture will be ready for the Coming of the Lord. They will then be caught up to Heaven. Thus the Bride escapes the end of the world that happens in the devastation of great Tribulation.

REVELATION 6:8   And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

This second verse (Revelation 6:8) shows Death riding in to cause great Tribulation.

Death can only ride in when Life has left.

So the majority of saved Christians, as foolish or fooled virgins, will move into great Tribulation except for the few wise virgins who listen to the eagle-inspiration of revealed Scripture. The foolish virgins meet their end in great Tribulation which ends at Armageddon.

Armageddon is the end of this world system.

MATTHEW 24:14   “then shall the end come”.

Great Tribulation represents the final destruction of our modern world-system that comes to its end in the massive battle of Armageddon.

So the end of the world, as we know it, will come three-and-a-half years after the Coming of the Lord.

Jesus has explained to us Christians how difficult and deceptive it is to be a Bible-based Christian in the flood tide of denominational Churchianity. He points out some of the major errors that we must avoid if we are to escape great Tribulation.

Rome destroys the Temple and Jerusalem in AD 70

Now, having advised Christians on how to avoid great Tribulation, Jesus goes back to the destruction of the Temple. He gives guidance to the Jews as to what they should do in order to escape the local tribulation of the Roman destruction of their Temple. It is going to be an awful time for them and He offers them sound advice.

MATTHEW 24:15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

The words in brackets mean that this "abomination that makes desolation" is difficult to understand.

Brother Branham said that today the Mosque of Omar (there is no Moslem of Omar) stands on the Temple site. Jesus calls it the abomination of desolation.

The Mosque of Omar is actually about 500 metres away from the Temple Site. The Dome of the Rock is in the middle of what is called the Temple Site.

61-0618 REVELATION  CHAPTER  FIVE.2

... and the abomination that maketh desolation (which the Moslem of Omar stood on the temple grounds the day when they burnt the temple)...

Not correct. Nothing was built on the day of the Temple being destroyed. Titus burnt the Temple in AD 70.

After AD 136 the pagan Roman emperor Hadrian built a pagan temple to Jupiter on the Temple site.

Only in AD 692 was the Dome of the Rock built on the Temple site by the Moslems.

61-0618  REVELATION  CHAPTER  FIVE.2

And the Moslem of Omar was right... built on the same grounds and stands there to this day.

Here is a picture of the Dome of the Rock with its golden dome, in the green oval. The Dome of the Rock is not a Mosque.

The red rectangle at the bottom is the Al-Aqsa Mosque, built in AD 705.

If the big rectangular wall around the two buildings and the trees, is the original Temple site (some people disagree because there is no source of water on this site for washing all the animals and the blood of the sacrifices) then the Dome of the Rock is likely the spot where the Temple once stood. The Rock is thought to possibly be a large foundation stone of the original Temple.

The next map shows the Mosque of Omar about 500 metres to the left of the Dome of the Rock.

So the Muslims have played a long role in keeping the Temple site desolate of truth.

The Arab people have also spent a long time persecuting and attacking the Jews.

But long before the Muslims took over the Temple site, the Romans stood there.

They burnt the Temple and then ripped the stones apart in AD 70. Then they built a pagan temple to Jupiter on the ruined Temple site. So Rome is also the abomination of desolation that left the Temple site desolate.

One meaning of desolation is that it is a journey to nowhere.

Few things are more desolate than thinking you are traveling to heaven and discovering at the end that that is not where you are going. So Roman Catholic doctrines that are based on rituals and pagan beliefs (Mystery Babylon) have made desolate the faith of their followers as they offer them empty promises like praying to Mary. For hundreds of years, they were fooled into paying money to get people out of purgatory and have their sins forgiven.  These indulgences built the Sistine Chapel and Saint Peter's Church before the indulgences were finally scrapped in 1567.  But in 2000 Pope John Paul 2 allowed indulgences again if people made charitable donations.

Spiritual desolation is offering people ideas and doctrines that are not in the Bible.

MATTHEW 24:15“stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)”

What must we understand?

Only God is holy. When He was in the Temple then it was the holy place. His Presence made Jerusalem the holy city and Palestine the holy land.  But God left the Temple when Jesus died and the veil in the holiest of holies was torn. Then the Romans destroyed the Temple. Thus we must understand that the Temple was the holy place while Jesus was talking to them, but then it would be destroyed and God would no longer dwell there anymore.

On the Day of Pentecost God came down to dwell in the hearts of men and women. So now there are holy people if God is in them. God is no longer focused on a holy place, He is focused on the hearts of holy people.

In Revelation Chapter 4, Jesus dwells on a throne in Heaven, surrounded by four beasts.

REVELATION 4:7   And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

The four chambers of the heart represent the four beasts around the throne.

Thus Jesus feels at home down on earth only when He rules from His throne in the hearts of repentant men and women.

Rome is the abomination that makes desolation

But there is something else to understand about the abomination that makes desolation.

Before the Romans conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple, it was taken over and polluted by Jewish zealots and robbers who were not allowed, according to the Law, to enter it. The ordinary people were scared to enter the Temple. So the zealots used it as a safe base from which to go out and kill and rob the Jewish citizens. They killed the high priest. People had to escape quickly from Jerusalem because the zealots then began to guard all the roads out of Jerusalem, killing those who tried to leave. The zealots closed the city gates to stop anyone from leaving. So Jewish zealots and robbers first polluted the Temple, making it a spiritual desolation, long before the Romans ever broke through the city walls and destroyed the Temple, making it a physical desolation. Thus the zealots were the original abomination that makes desolation by polluting the Temple that they were not allowed to be in.

But the zealots were killed and captured by the Romans so they are not a threat to the church.

(But that is a warning to us. Zealous message-preachers have twisted quotes into unscriptural beliefs which hold their followers in bondage to error, long before Rome takes over those churches in the 3.5 years of great Tribulation.

Quote-Zealots cause much harm today as we wait for Rome to take over the world economy and set up a one-world church).

Then, after the Zealots had polluted the Temple, the Romans took over that title of abomination that makes desolate when they besieged Jerusalem and built a wall of earth around the city. They cut down every tree that was within 11 miles of the Temple, making the countryside a desolation. Then they crucified any Jews who tried to escape. Finally, they demolished the Temple in AD 70, and then, after the Bar Kokhba revolt ended in AD 135, in AD 136 they started to build a pagan temple to Jupiter Capitolinus on the site.

But pagan Rome was destroyed by the barbarians in AD 476 and then resurrected back to life as the Roman Catholic church. Thus this abomination has always been a threat to the true church because Roman Catholicism has infiltrated its pagan beliefs into the Christian church. They ignore, or contradict, or change the Scriptures which leave a spiritual desolation that can save no person. Thus Roman Catholicism can destroy both there body and the soul of a person. Roman Catholicism is the only enemy of truth that has been present in all seven church ages. Its denominational system of a centralized organization with a human head-of-the-church is thus the biggest threat to Bible believers. Church leaders become dictators by eliminating opposition and promoting yes-men.

Then the Muslims took over the title of Abomination that makes Desolation when they conquered Jerusalem in AD 638.  Caliph Omar built a small prayer room on the Temple site before they built the Dome of the Rock on what they thought was the original Temple site in AD 691 - 692.

The Muslim-Muslim civil war in Syria which started in 2011 has left much desolation as is shown in this photo. They are still fulfilling their part of the prophecy, making a desolation that they call peace.

But the Muslim faith is outside the church and as such does not undermine Christian beliefs. Muslims can kill Christians but cannot harm their souls.

MATTHEW 24:16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

:17    Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

:18    Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

:19    And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

:20    But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

Jesus was speaking to the Jews here.

They would need to escape from the Jewish zealots and the Jewish robbers at first, and then from the more formidable Roman army that surrounded Jerusalem in AD 70.

Jews were not allowed to travel on the sabbath, Saturday. Winters were freezingly cold.

So, Jesus was never born around mid-winter on 25 December because shepherds could not be out in the fields during the freezing nights.

It was a tough time. In AD 66 the Romans attacked Palestine under general Vespasian. As they closed in on Jerusalem, the emperor Nero died in June AD 68. Vespasian had to stop fighting until he had permission from the new emperor Galba who knew nothing about Palestine and ignored Vespasian's request for permission to attack. Galba was killed after 7 months and the next emperor Ortho only lasted 3 months. The Romans did nothing in Palestine during this time.

Meanwhile, the zealots lived in the Temple, murdering and plundering the city and not allowing anyone to leave. The Romans had to wait nearly a year and a half before they could actually attack Jerusalem.

Three new emperors after Nero had each lasted a few months. Finally, his troops declared Vespasian emperor and in AD 70 he went to Rome to take up the position and left his son Titus to besiege Jerusalem. So the Romans went up against Jerusalem again, found it strongly defended, and decided to starve the Jews into surrender.

When they first saw the Romans coming in AD 68, many Christians remembered what Jesus said and they quickly ran away from the city. The Romans did nothing because Nero had died. But the zealots sealed off the city to stop anyone from escaping. If people had not escaped quickly, they were doomed. In AD 70 the Romans returned. The zealots had to stay inside the city walls. There were a few dangerous chances to escape from the city until the Romans rapidly built an earthen wall right around the city. After that, no Jews could escape.   1100000 Jews perished.

The destruction of Jerusalem was one of the most horrific massacres in history. At the battle of Stalingrad during the second world war, about 1200000 Russians died. I do not know of any other city that ever had such a huge death rate since the massacre at Jerusalem.

So the Jews began the Fifth Seal with the awful local tribulation of AD 70 because they had rejected Messiah. Then, almost 2000 years later, the Jews will come back into the Gospel and accept the Messiah during great Tribulation.

In that same great Tribulation the final Pope, as the man of sin, will rule the world and destroy all the saved foolish virgins who had been fooled by the church systems and their church leaders. But the horror of those awful 3.5 years will shock them out of their denominational and church beliefs. Resisting the final Pope will be their death sentence. But on Judgement Day they will be spared as they were saved before Jesus left the mercy seat to come down and rescue His Bride.

REVELATION 6:9   And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

REVELATION 6:11   And white robes were given unto every one of them;

Jews have their own testimony for serving God. The Old Testament istheir Word of God. They were killed just for being Jews.

Christians have the testimony of Jesus Christ. He alone can save them and help them through this life.

The Jews who have been killed during the seven church ages, just for being Jews, have been given white robes in Heaven.

6th Seal of great Tribulation as the Jews return to God

When the church is caught up to Heaven, then the world goes into great Tribulation.

MATTHEW 24:21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

The saved Christians who rejected the revealed Bible mysteries will perish as the final Pope takes over.

The beast is Roman Catholicism.The image of the beast is the confederation of the non-Catholic churches that fall under the control of the final Pope.

The saved foolish virgins who were fooled by unscriptural doctrines will oppose the brutality of the final Pope and perish. This horror will destroy their faith in their church leaders and church systems.
REVELATION 13:15   And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

The time of great Tribulation is the time for the Jews to return and accept Jesus. Jesus cannot advise the Jews how to avoid great Tribulation because they need the horror of great Tribulation and the great power of the two prophets who are able to interrupt nature, to turn them back to Jesus.

But this great Tribulation, described in the Sixth Seal, will be a time of unimaginable horror.

A great earthquake is the introduction to the 3.5 years of great Tribulation.

REVELATION 6:12   And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

:13   And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

:15   And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

:16   And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

:17   For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

The churches had introduced a reign of error as unscriptural ideas dominated their thinking. Human leaders dominated the churches and produced Satan's superman, the final Pope. He introduces a reign of terror which destroys all those who oppose him.

Jesus now turns His attention back to the eagle-beast of the fourth Seal of Revelation 6: 7.

This is the 7^th church age which happens during the Fourth Seal, just before great Tribulation starts, which completes the 4^th Seal.

MATTHEW 24:22And except those days should be shortened,

there should no flesh be saved:

but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

Jesus must cut the seventh church age short.

Otherwise, unbelief, human opinions, pagan traditions, and perversion of brother Branham's message will be so widespread that

there will be nobody saved from going into great Tribulation.

Because when Jesus returns He will find almost nobody who wants to be strictly Scriptural.

LUKE 18:8   Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

ROMANS 10:17   So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Now that He has mentioned Great Tribulation, Jesus again advises us at the end-time how to prepare so that we can escape it.

He told the Jews how they could escape from the horrific massacre of AD 70 by literally running away from Jerusalem. When the zealots and robbers desecrated the Temple, some Jews left. But soon afterward the zealots would follow the fugitives and kill them. Thus they had to move fast which pregnant women would struggle to do. It would also be very difficult to flee into the countryside in the freezing cold and rain of winter.

Now Jesus tells us how we can escape the even worse massacre of the Great Tribulation.

Things are going to get worse and error is going to be so rampant that eventually, it will virtually be impossible to be a Bible-believing Christian.

By 2017 there were already about 45000 different kinds of denominations and churches. There are over a hundred different translations of the Bible that all have different meanings. Churches are dominated by human pastors and as such, they are limited by the areas of their pastor's ignorance.

In 2020 God closed the churches down with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. That was God's opinion of the churches. Only fit to be closed down.

So how does a person find Truth? It is getting harder and harder.

Each bit of Truth that a person does find will be strongly condemned by the denominations and churches.

Message believers will not take quotes back to Scripture and prove them from Scripture but will rather twist up the quotes into some bright idea and then hang onto their own invention as if that is Truth.

Rev 3:14  "The church of the Laodiceans" where the people in the last church age make up their own beliefs in their futile attempts to impress God with their cleverness.

Message believers have now become critics of the King James Bible (KJV), claiming that it has faults in the translation.

They believe that the KJV is not the Absolute and now claim that brother Branham is the Absolute and that he is infallible.

62-1007 THE  KEY  TO  THE  DOOR

... they're preaching that men should leave their wives and hunt for their spiritual mate, and that I am perfectly infallible. That there's nothing... And, oh, some of the awfullest things you ever heard.

Never refer to brother Branham as being infallible.

That is a Catholic spirit as they claimed in 1870 that the Pope is infallible.

Brother Branham is not Jesus nor is he the Voice of God

It is a huge error to call brother Branham Jesus. Claiming that brother Branham is the Voice of God is just not in the New Testament.

The early church never believed either of those ideas and we have to be restored back to what they believed.

Message-people have started to deify William Branham as the Voice of God and place his quotes above Scripture.

They will claim that he is infallible and cannot make a mistake.

This is just what the Roman Catholics say about their Pope.

63-0630   THE  THIRD  EXODUS

Listen to the Bible, the Voice of God

calling to you in this day.

Each church, of either Message or denominational variety, will be an island unto itself that claims that they need no help from outside their own ranks. Each church thinks that they alone have the truth and as such, they have need of nothing.

So eventually a new believer will find it is almost impossible to find the Truth which alone can save him from great Tribulation. So God must cut our age short while there are still some people who want to only believe the Bible and are not interested in any human opinion, nor in having a pastor as their head. But there are not too many of those people around.

EPHESIANS 5 : 23Christ is the head of the church

Thus no pastor, nor bishop, nor Pope can claim to be the head of the church.

MATTHEW 24:23

Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

People will claim that Christ has come. Do not believe that. You do not have to go to some place to find Christ.

Jesus is happy to dwell in the hearts of men and women wherever they happen to be.

If you have faith, Jesus will come to you just like He came to John the Baptist, and then He came to find the disciples where ever they were.

MATTHEW 24:24    For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Only those who insist on being strictly Scriptural will be the elect. Move away from the Bible and you will be easily fooled by some plausible error or propaganda.

False Christs. False anointed ones at the end time. The anointing is genuine but the seed within them is not the Word of God.

Spiritual gifts and callings are without repentance.

The fact that God has given men great gifts does not always mean that these people are right with God.
ROMANS 11:29  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Judas, Balaam, Jannes, and Jambres are Old Testament men who could perform miracles or prophesy. But they were all evil men. None of them stayed with Scripture.

MATTHEW 7:22   Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

::23   And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Doing miracles does not mean a person is right with God.

Only if the Seed of God's Word is in your soul are you right with God.

The power of the Holy Spirit can only water your soul which is like a garden.

Whatever types of seeds that are planted in your soul will germinate when the water of the Spirit is poured on them.

So, make sure that only the seed of God's Word is what you believe and water in your soul.

So performing great signs is meaningless unless the person remains strictly Scriptural.

Check what you hear with Scripture, otherwise, you will be fooled.

Run every belief through the Bible, do not just base it on one or two Scriptures nor on some quotes.

MATTHEW 24:25 Behold, I have told you before.

We have been warned of the key errors that will deceive many.

If we are fooled, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.