Revelation 17 - The Final Rebellion

It has been years since I did an in depth bible study. Alas, the final three books of The Millennium Series required a return to Scripture to ensure the series culminated on strong biblical footing, and this week I dove back in.

One challenge in writing about the Millennium is the lack of text and commentary to draw upon. The Millennium is two steps forward in the Biblical timeline, and as a result most scholars focus on the Rapture and Tribulation, leaving the Millennium as a mere footnote. I found myself fascinated by it in 2015 and wrote The Millennium Bible Study. If you are unfamiliar with the subject, I encourage you to check it out.

Digging into Scripture for clues about the final rebellion at the end of the Millennium, I believe I have an interpretation of Revelation 17 that is both unique and doctrinally sound, surmising it is a Millennial prophecy. Most commentaries attribute the chapter to the Tribulation, understandable given the language, symbolism, and location in Scripture. However, a careful study reveals several key differences that set it apart.

The primary texts used in this study are: Daniel 2 & 7, Revelation 12, 13, 17, & 20.

I must admit after several years of writing novels, digging back into prophecy I was rusty. As such, a review of symbols and times became essential. With all the beasts rising, I found myself a bit cross-eyed, so here are some basic explanations of the terms:

1. Beasts - Kingdoms but also the Tribulation Trinity of Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet
2. Heads - Historical or coming kingdoms or kings
3. Horns - Kings
4. Diadems - Crowns
5. Mountains - Kingdoms
6. Seas/Waters - Multitudes of people, typically the unsaved Gentiles

Discerning the difference between Tribulation prophecy and Millennial prophecy required a study of beasts, heads, and diadems, which all denote Satanic Kingdoms, both past and future. A big shout out to the folks at Revelation Logic for doing a ton of the legwork for this post, and while some our our conclusions differ, their work is well thought out and organized.

Seven Kingdoms

We see in Scripture numerous references to the rise of evil kingdoms, both in the Old and New Testaments. Some are mentioned more frequently than others, but it is reasonable to extrapolate there will be seven Satanic kingdoms.

Revelation 12:3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.

Revelation 17:10 and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while.

I believe Revelation 12:3 is a depiction of Satan at the beginning of the Tribulation and Revelation 17:10 depicts his rise at the end of the Millennium, and I will attempt to walk you through the logic.

To get started, here is a list of the kingdoms in order:

1. Egypt
2. Assyria
3. Babylon
4. Persia
5. Greece
6. Rome
7. Tribulation Government

For my own edification, I mapped out the physical territory of the first six kingdoms, and while I am not a cartographer, the visual will give you the gist.

Egyptian Kingdom - First of the Five who have fallen

Assyrian Kingdom - Second of the Five who have fallen

Babylonian Kingdom - Third of the Five who have fallen

Persian Empire - Fourth of the Five who have fallen

Greek Empire - Fifth of the Five who have fallen

Roman Empire - The Kingdom "that is" at the time John wrote Revelation

Note, they become progressively larger. In Daniel 2, we begin with Babylon and the great statue of Nebuchadnezzar's dream:

1. Babylon - Head of gold
2. Persia - Chest and arms of silver
3. Greece - Belly and thighs of bronze
4. Rome - Legs of iron
5. Tribulation - Feet of clay and iron

Jack Kelly notes, "While each metal is less valuable than its predecessor, indicating a decline in the quality of its rule, each one is also harder and therefore stronger, showing it to be more powerful than the kingdom it replaced."

In Daniel 7, we see the kingdoms through a vision God gives to Daniel.

1. Babylon - First beast, a winged lion
2. Persia - Second beast, a bear
3. Greece - Third beast, a leopard
4. Tribulation Government - Fourth beast, unlike the others, more terrible than any before it

In Daniel 8, we see two of the seven.

1. Persia - The two horned Ram
2. Greece - The fast Goat

You may note that Egypt and Assyria are not listed specifically, but if we can include them in this list because they fit the profile and because they meet the criteria of "five have fallen", which means they must have predated Rome. 

What are the characteristics of a Satanic Kingdom?

1. Harlotry - both sexual and in worship, seductive, leading many astray.
2. Idolatry - worshipping beings or things as supreme other than God.
3. Hostility toward the Jews - they ALWAYS occupy Israel.
4. Great evil
5. Military power and conquests
6. Striking terror in the hearts of men
7. For a time, they seem invincible but crumble under the weight of their own wickedness.

Egypt and Assyria meet the above criteria.

The Phrase that Caught My Attention

My first novel, M1-The Black Key, opens with Revelation 20. After editing for three years, listening to the Audiobook a dozen times, and creating videos that included the Scripture, I can recite it in my sleep. But when I came across similar wording in another verse, it grabbed my attention.

Revelation 17:10 and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while.

Revelation 20:1-3 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

Looking up the original Greek, we see that while the English is translated the same, the original text uses different words.

1. Revelation 17:10 the word is Oligon, which translates to puny, neutered somewhat.
2. Revelation 20:30 renders the phrase mikros chronos, which translates to small, little, brief period of time especially in view of a sequence or succession of moments.

It struck me that the Tribulation is well defined in dozens of places, from Daniel's 70th week onward, we have a precise calculation of dates, durations, and markers, yet the most cataclysmic period on Earth is never rendered as a "puny" or "neutered" event.

Missing Crowns

The next thing that struck me as different was the lack of "diadems" in Revelation 17. 

Revelation 17:3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.

Compare the above to the rise of Satan at the beginning of the Tribulation.

Revelation 12:3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.

In Revelation 12, his is the great red dragon and his kingdoms have crowns. In Revelation 17, he is the scarlet beast and has been stripped of his crowns.

Endurance of the Saints

The next clue that Revelation 17 might be describing the final Millennial rebellion and not the Tribulation was the outcome and the domination of Satan against God's people. Compare these passages:

Revelation 13:10 If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Revelation 17:14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.

We know from Revelation 20:9 the final rebellion is not a long protracted war... "and they did go up over the breadth of the land, and did surround the camp of the saints, and the beloved city, and there came down fire from God out of the heaven, and devoured them."

Basically, at the end of the Millennium, the Lord runs out of patience for this nonsense.

Who Was, Is Not, About to Rise - The Eighth

Revelation 17:8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.

The above text is quite definitive, and I believe provides the key to anchoring Revelation 17 at the end of the Millennium. "Who was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit," to a Millennial audience, Satan was once on the Earth, he has been banished (he is not), and is about to rise from the bottomless pit. Satan is bound in the bottomless pit during the Millennium, not before.

Revelation 17:11-12 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour, together with the beast. 

The above indicates that Satan attempts to establish a final kingdom, an eighth, but he is unable to attain former dominance and the ten kings give him power for "one hour" in the final rebellion. Compared to the Tribulation, we know exactly how long it will last. Using Daniel's 70 week timetable, one hour could be as little as 30 days.

It also appears that unlike the Ten Kings during the Tribulation, the Millennial Kings see the folly of their ways. Revelation 17:17 for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

The Great Prostitute

It is quite interesting to note that the only "female" character in Revelation or Daniel is the Great Prostitute, Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations. And while neither she nor the scarlet beast wear a crown, she arrays herself in gold, jewels, pearls, and royal robes. Most scholars agree this character represents the false religions born out of Babylonian worship, and I agree with this interpretation.

Consider, of the seven kingdoms, six will fall to utter defeat, yet one endures, one survives, one morphs and changes: Rome.

In Revelation 17:10, it is the kingdom "that is", and in Revelation 17:18 John clearly identifies her, "And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth." Note the use of the present tense in the verse, not will have, has dominion.

Finally, we see her fate Revelation 17:16 And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, 

The kings AND the beast hate her and turn on her in the end because God has put it in their hearts to do so.

And Then The End

Revelation 20:7-10 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

A fitting end, don't you agree?

I would be remiss, not to invite you to visit my new website, Alanthia.com, if you are so inclined to go on an adventure, I promise you will not regret it.

Maranatha, my friends.

The Great Deception

Have you ever been fooled?  Have you ever fallen for a trick?  Have you ever believed a liar?  Once the deception was revealed, didn't you feel stupid for falling for it?  What if there is a lie coming that is so great it will fool most of mankind and damn your soul to Hell?  

2 Thessalonians 2:9 This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. 11 So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for not believing the truth and for enjoying the evil they do.

What does the above Scripture mean?  It means that once the church is Raptured and the Antichrist is revealed there will be a great deception to all men who have previously heard the gospel and rejected it because they loved sin more than truth.

WOW!  That is going to be one big whopper, which is no surprise, for Satan is the Father of Lies.  What kind of lie do you think he could make up and have the whole world buy it?  For many years, the Evangelical community has been putting forth the theory that it will be an alien themed deception.

Picture this:  The world is thrown into chaos after the Rapture of the Church.  I believe that is why the US is not mentioned in the End Times Prophecies, I think we are wiped out when the church is gone.  The huge power vacuum that exists in the world after a US collapse will set the stage for the rise of a One World Government and enigmatic ruler.  Add an alien presence in the sky and a Catholic Church that has already prepared new doctrine based on an alternative gospel and you have the framework for the great deception.

We have been being prepared for an alien invasion for decades.  TV, movies, and books have pervaded our culture.  There is a recent survey that says that more people believe in aliens than in God.  In many circles, belief in aliens (Scientology and Mormons) are considered enlightened while belief in Jehovah is considered backward.  A decade ago, people were skeptical about aliens; no longer.  We have been fed a steady diet of aliens, space travel, and post apocalyptic/end of the world stories.

There is credible evidence to support UFO's.  There are hundreds or thousands of sightings a year by normal folks.  There are stories of police and military chases with hundreds of witnesses to these unexplained events.  There are monthly compilations of UFO videos on YouTube.

Many Evangelicals believe that these UFO's are real, but we do not believe they are aliens from another planet.  We believe they are fallen angels and demons that are coming under the guise of aliens.  Satan and his demons are called the Prince in the Power of the Air.  For we wrestle, not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities in high places.  So in Scripture we are told that Satan rules the skies.

He's not going to drop out of the sky with a pitchfork, horns, and a tail.  He is going to come as an angel of light. It is entirely rational and conceivable that the stage for the great deception is set, don't be fooled.

Satan as an Angel of Light

There are two schools of thought on whether or not people who have heard the Gospel can be saved after the Rapture.  I tend to lean toward the school that says if you have heard it and rejected it, you will be given the great deception.  Your soul is lost for eternity.  For we are saved through our belief and faith in the atonement, death and resurrection of Jesus; it takes very little faith to come to Christ when all the believers are gone.  That is why I am so desperate about my friends who are unsaved, because what is coming to you is beyond horrible.  I urge you to accept the gift of grace, love, and salvation before it is too late.

(Originally published August 4, 2013)

The Dominoes are Set

"After witnessing how Reuters just blatantly cooked the presidential election polls this week to favor Clinton and how the mainstream media is so terrifyingly biased in favor of Clinton that the very foundation of democracy is now in crisis, it’s time to tell you something that perhaps a lot more people are finally ready to hear:

EVERYTHING IS RIGGED.

Every institution in America is sold out, corrupted and politically rigged to favor Big Government and Big Business. “America is a lost country,” explains Paul Craig Roberts. “The total corruption of every public and the private institution is complete. Nothing remains but tyranny. And lies. Endless lies.”" (source).

The above article does an excellent job of outlining and compiling the institutional corruption that has pervaded our country and our world.  As a Christian, we must read this article as a point of hope for all things have aligned for the next chapter of Bible Prophecy to unfold.  It's as if the entire board is set and only needs a Heavenly Finger to flick the first Domino.

The Dominoes are Set

If you are not familiar with how the end plays out, here's a brief run down.

Dreams of a Dying Church

I dreamed last night that I was dying.

I was in a hospital bed and the doctors told me that I could no longer live without life support and asked if I wanted to turn off the machines.  I told them I was not afraid to die and to turn off the life support.  I expected to immediately die and when I did not I complained that there was too much pain, I needed something to take the pain away.

I lay there for a while waiting to die but realized that I did not want to die in a hospital, so I went to the movies.  I sat in a chair and waited to die and while I felt my body fading, I was still alive.  I went to the restroom and it was the filthiest locker room you've ever seen, water leaking everywhere, rusted faucets, men and women together.  I did not want to die in there.

I went to the beach and after walking along the sand went to my hotel that was on the second row.  Standing in the parking lot with other people someone screamed and pointed to the sky.  There was a giant red apartment building flying through the sky and landed in the ocean.  As people screamed and cried, a large concrete hotel on the first row collapsed.  I'd been near it just moments before.  Then a small building that looked similar to the one I was at flew over our heads and landed with a thud.  The people in the building exited like commuters at a crowded subway platform.  They were safe while all around us was chaos.

Interpretation - it is the true Christian that feels like the church is dying with the world.  Many congregations are old and ineffective, many are on life support.  The body of Christ is not afraid of the Rapture but living in the Last Days hurts more than we expected.  The movie theater and the bathrooms represent the culture wars and Christian faith trying to die in those places.  The flying buildings are judgement and the tribulation to come.  The small second class hotels represent the ineffective and poor church that is Raptured by the Lord.

I Can Not Believe We Are Still Here

I must repeat that phrase five times a week.  "I can't believe we are still here."  When this life becomes absurd, we will shake our heads in wonder, look up to the sky and sigh.

Largely, we've become numb to the craziness surrounding us, we don't process earthquakes, famine, or super storms.  We've stopped being shocked by falling meteors, groaning earth sounds, or strange cities appearing in the Chinese sky.  UFO's are passe.

Ghost City in China

The absolute insanity of the culture does not even phase us.  Idea of gender fluidity is so sick and twisted it can only come from the pits of hell.  Yet society feels Christians are the ones with the problem because we recognize the mental illness behind such a thing.

A devout Communist is running for President and the lost among us flock to his rallies.  What has become of us?

The moral compass is spinning out of control.  Since the secular have no firm foundation for right and wrong, the whims of society dictate their thoughts and feeling; they are becoming more and more deranged.  They tolerate no opposing views or speech and react with violence and bullying if you dare to disagree.

Violent Left Wing Mobs

All of the dominoes are lined up for the fulfillment of prophecy, everything.  Look at the 30 Days of Birth Pangs from August/September 2015, these things haven't stopped, they've accelerated.  Yet we remain.  

The underpinnings of the Tribulation are everywhere:

The war on cash sets up the Anti-Christ's system of economic control (Revelation 13:17)
The war on gender fits in with Satan's hatred of humans as God's imagers (Genesis 1:26)
The normalization of LGBT behavior with elevate the Anti-Christ as he is described as not having a desire for women (Daniel 11:37)
The merging of world religions have begun in earnest (Revelation 13:15 and Revelation 14:9)

Interfaith - Chrislam

The destruction of Syria is right before our eyes (Isaiah 17:1)

Damascus in Rubble

In the end, we must abide and hold the faith.  We must remember that God is not slow in keeping his promises but is patient and wanting all to come to repentance.  (2 Peter 3:9).

Jesus Speaks of the Rapture

Abigail and Dolley readers some skeptics will say that they do not believe in the Rapture because the Lord never mentions it but is that true?  Let's look at some compelling Scriptures and you decide for yourself:

First let's lay out two primary Scriptures on the Rapture:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 because the Lord himself, in a shout, in the voice of a chief-messenger, and in the trump of God, shall come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are living, who are remaining over, together with them shall be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in air, and so always with the Lord we shall be.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52  lo, I tell you a secret; we indeed shall not all sleep, and we all shall be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, in the last trumpet, for it shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we -- we shall be changed:

Basics - if you are dead, you are raised first and then those who are alive will go to meet the Lord in the air.

The Blessed Hope

Words of Jesus:

John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, `I am the rising again, and the life; he who is believing in me, even if he may die, shall live; and every one who is living and believing in me shall not die -- to the age;

The above says that the dead in Christ are raised and those that are alive shall not die.

John 14:1-4 `Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God, also in me believe;  in the house of my Father are many mansions; and if not, I would have told you; I go on to prepare a place for you; and if I go on and prepare for you a place, again do I come, and will receive you unto myself, that where I am ye also may be; and whither I go away ye have known, and the way ye have known.'

This is Jesus promising to come again and receive us unto himself.  So there you go folks, short and sweet but a significant study and point to be made. (Originally Published 4/9/15)

Counterterrorism in the Spiritual Realm

Have you ever considered that evil has a full armor?  Since we are told in Ephesians 6 that we struggle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness in high places, then logically, the armor we are told to don is exactly opposite of what the enemy wears.  To wear the armor as purely a defensive barrier is perhaps an underestimation of the battle.  If you watch martial artists fight, you recognize that the sword is not the only weapon.  You also realize that the expression that there is no armor for your back is a misnomer, because the belt and the helmet cover your back.

(Note this blog was originally published in August 2013)

Pastor Mark Bilitz of El Shaddai Ministries puts forth a compelling argument that the armor of God is not patterned after a Roman Soldier but after the robes of a Jewish Priest.  That hypothesis resonates with me on a very deep level in my soul and has caused me to rethink this important part of Scripture. It is with fresh eyes and an open heart I would like to take a look at the weapons of warfare and those of our adversary, I think the church needs to employ some counter-terrorism strategies.

Garments of a High Priest

If we gird our loins with the belt of truth, the enemy must seek to wrap us with their chains of lies.  We discern lies in our guts.  Jesus says that Satan is the Father of Lies and that every word from his mouth is a lie and that when he lies he speaks his native language; he was a liar from the beginning.  Thus, the first area of attack begins with a lie.  We are faced with lies in the public arena everyday.  The adage of Lenin that if you repeat a lie long enough people will believe it is being played out in spectacular fashion today.  When trying to discern the truth of anything, the first thing you must do is discover the lies that have perverted what you are studying.  (ie if you are looking to astronomy, you have to deal with the lies of astrology.)  Imagine if our belt of truth was similar to Wonder Woman's lasso of truth... what if in warfare we periodically tie the belt of truth around the mouth of the prevaricating enemy?

We put on the breastplate of righteousness, which is the righteousness of Christ - the enemy tries to hang the millstone of sin around your neck.  Knowing we have no righteousness in ourselves we valiantly try to lift our heads but our past keeps our heads bent to the ground.  We can only see the shadow of sin before us, our hearts break and it becomes impossible to breathe the breath of life.

Instead of walking in the shoes of peace, we roll out of bed and put on the slippers of fear.  Our steps are dogged by every type of fear the enemy can throw at us.  Our hung heads watch our fearful feet trudge along the dark paths of our past sins.  Think of the powerful weapon that the shoes of peace are on the body of a skilled martial artist; when you are walking in fear throw a few roundhouse kicks at your enemy, you will feel the fear lift, and your path will once again be one of peace.  In John 14:27 Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

The enemy would have us armed with a shield of doubt and disbelief that is but a holey piece of Swiss cheese.  It is not an impenetrable force field of faith, it is not a dome of covering, it is a flimsy excuse of a weapon that does nothing to protect the wielder.  The "Name It and Claim It" false Gospel has been brilliant in disarming Christians for decades of their shield of faith.  By urging baby Christians to "believe God for things" they destroy the fragile and innocent faith new converts bring to bear.  Many folks continue to believe God for the big things of salvation and eternity but fail to have faith that He cares for them.  The twisted gospel takes admonitions of prayer and asking and perverts them into ways to control God.  The wreckage they leave behind is an abomination to God.

The poor warrior who is now chained with lies, with a millstone of past sins hanging from their neck, walking on the path of fear flanked by doubt and disbelief is now crowned with the vise grip of suffering and defeat.  The helmet of salvation and deliverance that would protect the brain and the ears is stripped away and messages of failure, hopelessness, and pain are heaped upon the believers head.  It is indeed a dark and scary walk at this point.

Lastly, instead of the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, we are given the Wisdom of the World.  Everything is backwards in the Bible, look at how you are suffering when those that follow the enlightened path of the World prosper in all they do.  Worldly wisdom, common sense, and "the way things are done" bury the warrior; most submit.

In the depths of the battle, you may find yourself valiantly trying to follow Ephesians 6 and in the end having done all you can, to stand.  Use the weapons that God has given you to fight the enemy.  Recognize the tactics and respond with the correct piece of armor.  In the end, ask God for what you need, even if it is to fall in battle and ask Him to rescue you and fight on your behalf.  God who is faithful and just will hear your prayers and deliver you from the hands of the enemy.  In our weakness, His Grace is made perfect.

No Weapon Formed Against Me Shall Prosper

The Time Span of the Bible - Millennial Bible Study Part 1

Hi Friends!  The Lord has seen fit to lead me into a few insights recently.  I attempted to compile them all into one post but it was a discombobulated mess that seemed to go on for days!  Most of this is new territory for me and perhaps it will be for you, so I've decided to break this up into bite size parts.  Hopefully, this will allow us to spend the appropriate time, reference the applicable Scriptures, and let the Word of God accomplish what it will in our lives.  I'm excited to explore ideas, avenues and truths that are not your common Bible study fare and have not been exhausted, even among eschatology enthusiasts.  I will try to site Scriptures where new ideas are represented or to provide interesting context, I won't go into an exhaustive study on the basic doctrine.

(Note, these posts were originally published from March 1, 2015 forward.  I've amended the dates of the posts so that they will appear in order under the Millennial Bible Study Tab)

The Period of the Bible:

Have you ever wondered about the war in Heaven when the Devil and his angels fell?  Have you ever wondered who or what demons are?  Have you ever wondered what we are going to be doing for eternity?  Have you ever contemplated why we don't have that information?

Here is a clear spiritual truth:  The Bible is specific to this 7000 year period of man on Earth.

That's it, no more, no less - we don't know much about what God was doing before the Earth was created and we don't know much about eternity after the Millennium.

Before Creation:
The Lord does give us some info and primarily seems to give us information about the enemy.  Here's what we do know:

We see that the angels were witnesses to the Creation (Job 38:4-7), so we know that they were around before the Earth.

Psalm 8 appears to be written from an angel's point of view, right after the Creation because it states that God walks with man (Psalm 8:4).

We do not know the timing of Satan's rebellion but we do know that by Genesis 3, he was already the enemy of God.  We know how the rebellion began in Satan's prideful heart (Ezekiel 28:17) and we know that he sought to exalt himself above the Most High (Isaiah 14:13-14).

Jesus says that he saw Satan thrown down from Heaven like lightening (Luke 10:18) but we are not quite sure when this took place!

Eternity:
In addition, we are not told much about eternity, except the most salient point which is the assurance that the church will be with the Lord always (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Revelation 22:14-15 is totally confusing if you try to study it through the "eternity" filter.  Sin?  Unsaved people?  How can that be in eternity?

The mistake stems from Rev 21:1, the new Heaven and the new Earth.  This looks like eternity but it's not.  Like 42% of Revelation, it's taken directly from the Old Testament: Isaiah 65:17 and Isaiah 66:22.  Taken in context this is clearly the coming age of Israel - the thousand year reign of the Lord on the Earth; the Millennium.

Once we understand that the Bible was written for yesterday, today, and tomorrow and that tomorrow only goes as far as the end of the Millennial Kingdom, we can study the Scriptures with increased discernment and understanding.

Two Jerusalems? - Millennial Bible Study Part 2

Long term Abigail and Dolley readers will know that we love Bible Prophecy here.  We need to encourage one another and reassure our troubled souls that these days might be dark but there is a plan and there is a God and we do not lose.  But let's be frank, have you ever thought, "What the heck is going on at the end of the Book of Revelation?"  I have!  Our basic text for this will be the last two chapters of the bible, read Revelation 21 and 22 to get started.

Here's today's spiritual truths:  In the Book of Revelation, there are two cities named Jerusalem.  They both come down from Heaven and the city we know as Jerusalem is largely destroyed.

Like York and New York, they are different places!  New Jerusalem and Jerusalem aka the Holy City and hereafter referred to as such are not always specified in the text which is which, so the reader has to know the context and the differences to determine which place is being referred to in which passage.  Understanding the similarities and differences make that task easier.  So here goes:

How are they alike:

• They are both physical places
• God dwells with His People in both of them (Rev 21:3 and Rev 22:1)
• They both shine with the Glory of God (Rev 21:23 and Rev 22:5)
• There is no night in either place (Rev 21:25 and Rev 22:5)
• Both have 12 gates (Rev 21:12 and Ezekiel 48:30)
• Both descend from Heaven (Rev 21:2 and Rev 21:10)

How are they different:

• Jerusalem the Holy City is on the Earth (Rev 21:3, Ezekiel 40:2, Rev 20:9)
• New Jerusalem is above the Earth (See below for Scriptures)
• The Holy City is 1 mile square (Ezekiel 48:30)
• New Jerusalem is about 1400 miles square (Rev 21:16)
• People in physical bodies can enter the Holy City (Ezekiel 46:9) (Rev 22:14)
• No one in a physical body can enter New Jerusalem (Rev 21:27)
• The Holy City gives light to the region and its neighbors (Rev 22:5)
• New Jerusalem gives light to the Earth (Rev 21:24)
• The Holy City has a functioning and working Old Testament Style Temple (Ezekiel 45:13-15,17)
• New Jerusalem does not have a Temple (Rev 21:22)
• The Gentile Nations will come and bring sacrifices to the Holy City  (Zechariah 14:16-19)
• People in physical bodies, who keep God's commandments come and eat from the tree of life (Rev 22:14)

What happens to Jerusalem as we know it today?

• For all intents and purposes, the city is wiped out during the Tribulation. (Zechariah 14:2) (Isaiah 24:3 and Isaiah 24:12)
• Zechariah 14:4 describes the gigantic earthquake that accompanies the Second Coming touch down
• Fault lines have been discovered that run under Jerusalem
• The rubble falls into the chasm and is buried forever with the living water that flows from the new temple and the new city.
• Jeremiah 4:23-28 describes the condition of the Earth at the second coming, basically destroyed.
• Isaiah 24:19-20 confirms the utter destruction.
• The latter part of Isaiah 61 describes the Millennial Kingdom and speaks of rebuilding the desolate and destroyed cities (Isaiah 61:4). 

Now for what I believe is a new revelation -

Both Cities Come Down from Heaven:

Given that Jerusalem is in ruins, I surmise that both the earthly and the heavenly cities are made by God and both descend from Heaven.  No one disputes that New Jerusalem is made by God but I've never read any teaching that states that the earthly Jerusalem is made by God and descends from Heaven but here is my opinion:

Let's look at the Scripture: Rev 21:1-3 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and there was no more sea.  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying , Behold , the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

We must understand the new Heaven and the new Earth; the earth is wiped out after the Tribulation.  Also, this is a quote from the Old Testament: Isaiah 65:17 and Isaiah 66:22.  Taken in context this is clearly the coming age of Israel - the thousand year reign of the Lord on the Earth; the Millennium.  So we are talking about Israel here.  The next verse says she is adorned like a bride, not that she IS the bride.  Finally, God proclaims that his tabernacle is with men and that he will dwell with them.  We know men don't dwell in New Jerusalem.

In the same chapter, we move forward six verses to Rev 21:9-10 and the angel of the Lord takes John to another place to see the bride of the Lamb.  This is clearly a different place, a different city, yet both have descended out of Heaven made by God.

The Sheer Size of New Jerusalem make it impossible (well, nothing is impossible for God) for the city to be physically on the earth.  1450 miles square... this is equivalent to the entire east coast of the US to the Mississippi River.... Our atmosphere is only 300 miles tall, what would attaching a gigantic cube due to a perfectly balanced spinning planet?  How would the rest of the world receive light if the city was on earth? The below picture is not exactly to scale but you get the idea of how massive New Jerusalem is.

Jack Kelley put the resolution of this question quite eloquently:  With the differentiation of these two Holy Cities, the apparent conflict between Jewish and Christian eschatology is resolved. Israel was promised that one day GOD would come to Earth to dwell among them forever, while the Church is promised that Jesus will come to take us to heaven to live with Him there. Both promises come true.Since Ezekiel specifically quoted the Lord’s promise to dwell among the Israelites forever (43:7) and then described the new Holy City, while Jesus promised to return for the Church to take us to be with Him (John 14:1-3), they must have been talking about two different destinations. They were. Heaven is the New Jerusalem where we will dwell with the Lord forever, while the Holy City on Earth is Jehovah Shammah where God will dwell in the midst of His people Israel forever.. (source The Coming Temple)

(Note, we develop these ideas further in Part 3 but particularly in Part 4 where we show that Jesus makes both cities!)

The Latter Rain

The below is contributed by my friend and guest blogger, Abigail.  I know you will enjoy this insight.

"Jesus Will Come To Us Like Rain"

The Pre-tribulation Rapture in relation to The Feasts of the Lord.

Joel 2:23 "Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month."

This tells us our Messiah will come as the former rain (Spring feasts) and again as the latter rain (Fall feasts). The prophet Joel tells us this events will occur in the first month.

***The month of Nisan is the first month of the religious calendar.
***The month of Tishri is the first month of the civil calendar.

Spring Feasts/Former Rains (First month of the religious calendar)
1. Passover Nisan 14
2. Feast of Unleavened Bread Nisan 15-21
3. Feast of First Fruits Day after Shabbat of unleavened bread
4. Shavuot (Pentecost) 50 days from the same Shabbat

***These first four feasts have been fulfilled by Jesus.

Warning Signs

About 6 months after we moved into our neighborhood, the city put speed humps on the main drag.  I voted against them, but when my side lost I had to admit that in spite of careful intentions I did find myself going a lot faster than I should.  Since it was a familiar stretch of road, my mind would go on autopilot.  After a long day at work and a hellish commute, I would fly through the neighborhood in a hurry to get home.

The first day the road humps were there, it was a shock.  Had I not been paying attention I might have done some serious damage to my car.  The jet black humps stood out from the faded gray asphalt but the city crew did not paint the white arrows on the humps for several days.  Thankfully, there was a warning sign posted in the neighborhood and later that week the white arrows were painted.

Missing the Warning Signs

As the years have gone by, I don't notice the road humps any more.  The warning signs are obscured by tree branches and the dark black of the new asphalt has faded to nearly match the gray of the original road.  We putz through the neighborhood, going the speed limit and slowing for the obstacles automatically.  In many ways, I am thankful for the speed humps, they slow me down and have kept my neighborhood safe.

There is a lesson in these speed humps for every Christian.  Before the speed bumps and warning signs, we fly through life in a hurry to get home.  We know we should be slowing down and obeying the laws but we forget, get distracted, and end up going way too fast.  We don't want laws or rules to make us do those things but once they are there we realize they were for our own good.


When we first see the signs, we have to look carefully - they appear to be part of the road but we know there is something up ahead.  We cautiously approach them, testing their impact and slowly make our way along the path, recognizing the signs that God has put in our midst.  Preachers may begin to teach on these humps and the white lines of warning are painted on them.  In the beginning, we note the signs and the evidence of the obstacles.  We discuss them with our neighbors.  While they may appear to some as part of the road we recognize them for what they are.

After years though, the signs and the evidence become part of the journey.  The black asphalt fades to almost the same color of the road and we no longer pay attention to the signs.  As a body, we in the Church are used to the signs.  They are part of the road, part of the world, and we don't even notice them anymore.

The shame of this is that while the Body of Christ lies sleeping, the King is approaching.  Instead of shouting an alarm to the lost, we hunker down with false prophets and teach about "health and wealth", we condemn the lost instead of reaching out, or worse yet, we blaspheme and fall away in an apostasy that is astounding.

The vacuum left by the Body of Christ will be filled with something!  The world is lost and confused.  The believers in aliens see the imminent return.  The environmentalist believe the Earth is trying to tell us something because of climate change.  The fringe chemtrail, Nibiru, Lizard People believe the End is Near!  Even the folks that don't prescribe to any of these theories see what is going on around us and shake their head because something is going on....

The World sees these signs and they are trying to interpret them, all great lies from the Devil have grains of truth in them!  "Aliens" are showing themselves, but they are not what they claim to be.  The Earth IS groaning but not because of Global Warming.  There ARE strange things in the sky and many ARE controlled by "lizard people", but they aren't lizard people, they are ancient evil.

Everyone believes and sees the world through their own filter, everyone believes they are right.  Empirically, the Church has it right.  Not because we are smarter, or better, but because we base our worldview on the Bible, a 4000 year old book that has NEVER been wrong, it doesn't change, and it is a solid foundation for which man has governed himself and the world since Creation.  The Bible gives us the clear signs, it is up to us to point them out to each other and to explain them to the world and THAT my friends is what I have been trying to do.  Blessings to you and yours, In Christ! "Dolley".

Days of Awe

In the course of my research on Rosh Hashana, I learned about the Days of Awe.  This is the period between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur where tradition states that people whose name has been written in the Book of Death can seek God's mercy and forgiveness and have their names moved to the Book of Life.  The concept of Books is not merely traditional, the Scriptures hold many references.  Revelation 20:12 says, "I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books."  

I have discussed before that there are two schools of thought concerning those who will be saved after the Rapture and those who will receive the Great Deception and be lost forever.  One school says if you have heard the gospel and rejected it before the Rapture you are damned forever.  The other school says that each person has a chance after the Rapture, it's the last hope for all of eternity.  The Left Behind Series by Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins takes the view that people that have heard the gospel and not accepted Christ will have an opportunity to be saved.  This is what Scripture says:


2 Thessalonians 2:6 And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. 11 So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for not believing the truth and for enjoying the evil they do. 

So breaking this down in a time line:  the restrainer of the Anti-Christ, I believe, is the Holy Spirit living inside the Church or the Bride of Christ.  Once the Church is Raptured, the time of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit will be over and the Anti-Christ will be revealed.  Satan puts on his dog and pony show and fools those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them.  The Anti-Christ will put forth the lies but God sends a great deception.  There may be a time between the Rapture and the Anti-Christ revealing himself that all people have the opportunity to embrace the truth.  

So if the Rosh Hashana Rapture comes to pass the Days of Awe may come into play.  There may be a time period for which all men who have heard and rejected the Gospel of Christ will have a brief period to repent, accept the Lord and be saved.  I believe this will be the only hope for Americans left behind at the Rapture because unlike in most of the world, Americans are afforded every opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Bible says that God reveals Himself to all people so that no one has an excuse, for my fellow countrymen, this is doubly true.    Men choose Hell.  I know many who are perishing and if they don't change their hearts and accept the free gift of salvation they will be at the Great White Throne Judgement and hear, "Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire."

Days of Noah

Matthew 24:37 "When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah's day. 38 In those days before the Flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn't realize what was going to happen until the Flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes."

Serious prophecy buffs have delved deep into the "Days of Noah", perhaps so deep that we miss the easy meaning.  At the end of the day, Noah knew what was coming along with his wife, his sons, and their wives.  Eight people on the planet knew what was coming.  That's it, eight people.... From a percentage perspective that isn't many.

As I was walking today, I was praying, "Lord, why are you burdening me with all of this?  Why are you showing me all of these things?"  I am burning with a desire to DO something!  I now understand the street preachers who yell at people as they walk by, they are desperate to tell people, to help people, to save people.

My research has taken me to videos that are so compelling I want to shout it from the rooftops but who would hear me?  I look at the view count for these videos or my little blog, they are pitifully small.  This information is not made by crazy people nor are they nut job web sites, many are nothing more than compilations of news stories, like the one below:

There are hundreds of these types of videos, the odd behavior of the Earth has become so prevalent that many channels compile monthly chronicles of natural disasters.  World wide the planet is groaning, there are numerous stories of strange and unexplained sounds that seem to emanate from the ground or the sky, no one can tell.  There is some strong language on the video below, but it is freaky....

Let's not forget the UFO sightings.  Like the extreme weather, there are so many instances that they are making monthly compilations.  With the world armed with smart phones and video cameras, people are documenting UFO's at a rate of around one thousand per month.  Here's last month's compilation:

Our sun is behaving very oddly.  NASA has released tapes of major activity on the sun and this news cast from July 31, 2013 alarmed me... The analyst states, "Well, what you are seeing here is a weather map of the sun.  You'll notice that part of the sun is missing."  

So in the days of Noah, everybody was going about their business.  What do you want to bet that all Noah's facebook friends, oh I mean, his neighbors thought he had gone off the deep end....  This time we don't go out on an Ark, this time we go out with a trumpet.

The Rosh Hashanah Rapture

Abigail and Dolley readers it has long been speculated that the Rapture of the church will take place on God's Feast of the Trumpets.  The more I study, the more I am in agreement.  For modern American Christians, the first thought we have after reading the preceding sentence is, "No man knows the hour or the day..."  Until about three weeks ago, I thought the same.  Hang with me for a bit and perhaps we can look at this together.

Let's start with the Feast days. Leviticus 23:2-4 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the Lord, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts. ³ Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings. ⁴ These are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, which ye shall proclaim in their seasons.

These are fullness of God's appointments with man.  These are the days God set aside to meet and speak with his people. "Notice the phrase, "holy convocation". The phrase in Hebrew is mikraw kodesh, better translated, "holy convocation and rehearsal". In other words, God's appointed times are actually "holy rehearsals" set apart to reflect events in the Messianic era. God said to the people, "Pay attention! On this day I am going to do something! Wake-up! The Jews were to know and practice all of God's mikraot or holy convocations." (sited from Hebrew roots.org)

It's important to note that God says, these are HIS feast days.  Somehow in modern Christianity we have this idea in our heads that these are only for the Jew; nowhere in Scripture are they designated as belonging to the Jews only, these are God's days.  As such, we as believers need to come into an understanding of them. 

The Feasts are broken up by season, the Spring and the Fall.  The first coming of the Lord Jesus completed messianic aspects of the Spring Feasts: Passover (when Messiah is killed), Unleaven Bread (when Messiah is buried), First Fruits (when Messiah is raised from the Dead), and Pentacost (when believers received the Holy Spirit).  These feast days were fulfilled with perfect accuracy and in order.

The prophetic calendar is not random; the religious leaders of the day knew when Messiah was born, they knew the times of Daniel were being fulfilled, they were not ignorant of the celestial signs in the Heavens nor of God's timetable.  God did not want them to be ignorant then and He does not want us to be ignorant now.

There is a season in between the Spring Feast and the Fall feast: Summer.  This waiting time represents and correlates with the church age for which we currently reside.  Daniel's 69 weeks for Israel were completed, we await the final 70th week, given for Israel.  The long hot Summer will not last forever, we know that the cooler days of Autumn are coming.  2 Timothy 3 describes exactly where we are right now:

3 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. ² For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. ³ They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. ⁴ They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. ⁵ They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!  ⁶ They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires. ⁷ (Such women are forever following new teachings, but they are never able to understand the truth.) ⁸ These teachers oppose the truth just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. They have depraved minds and a counterfeit faith. ⁹ But they won’t get away with this for long. Someday everyone will recognize what fools they are, just as with Jannes and Jambres.

So to recap:

1. God makes appointments with His people
2.  The Feasts are Messianic dress rehearsals
3. The first coming of Jesus fulfilled the Spring Feasts in perfect order
4. Prophetic time tables were known to the religious scholars ahead of time
5. God does not want us to be ignorant and tells us to be ready
6. God is not random
7. 2 Timothy 3 perfectly describes the end times which we now live

So, if all of the above are true, they are applied to the first coming and the Spring Feasts then then we can apply the above truths to our discussion of the Fall Feasts and the second coming of the Lord.  (It is important to not confuse the Rapture of the Church and Christ's Second Coming - they are two separate events but will happen in the same "season".  When Jesus speaks of the End Times he is addressing Israel and warning of His Second Coming.  Paul tells the church of the Rapture.)

The first of the Fall Feasts is Rosh Hashanah, Leviticus 23:24 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation.

The Primary focus of this holiday is acknowledging God as our King.  Men and women seek to make God the king of their lives.  It is the first day of Creation; "Let there be Light and there was Light.  Jesus is the Light of the World and shines in all the darkness.  It is the Jewish New Year but it is not the beginning of the calendar, it is the beginning of the seventh month.  Seven is complete.  So it marks the beginning but also the completion of a Sabbath.  Rosh Hashanah is a day of Remembrance and marks the day when Abraham was to sacrifice Issac.  Prophetically, Abraham and Isaac are a foreshadowing and a type of a Father sacrificing his Son.  It was a ram who served as the substitute sacrifice that day and hence the blowing of the ram's horn in remembrance. 

Rosh Hashanah is a day of Judgement, where God records the names of those in the Book of Life and those in the Book of Death.  The verdict is not final until Yom Kippur, there are ten days of mercy that those in the Book of Death can repent and believe. It begins a period where men search their souls and repent of their sins and seek forgiveness from God and man.  Teshuvah (literal means Returning) is the process by which a sincere Jew seeks forgiveness, it is a foreshadow of the process of Salvation:  "First one must recognize that they have made a mistake and genuinely desire to change for the better. They must then seek to make amends for their actions in a sincere and meaningful way, and finally demonstrate they have learned from their mistakes by not repeating them. When a Jew is sincere in his or her efforts at teshuvah, it is the responsibility of other Jews to offer forgiveness." (sited from About.com).

The Feast of the Trumpets; we are told that the Rapture will be accompanied by the trumpet of God.  1 Corinthians 15:52 it indicates it will be the last trumpet.  "The blowing of the shofar announces and reaffirms God as ruler of all mankind. The "trumpet-like" sound of the shofar also serves to stir the soul of all Jews, to awaken the Jewish people to the omnipotence and omnipresence of God and the chance to receive his mercy through prayer and repentance." (sited from how stuff works.com)

Okay, so now we have to address the "No man knows the hour or the day of the coming of the Son of Man, only the Father knows."  Did you know that is an idiom for a Jewish Wedding?  If I say to you as modern American Christian, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..."  You know I am talking about a wedding.  The same is true for "No man knows the hour or the day."  In Jewish marital customs after the betrothal the groom returns to his Father's land to build his new bride a home.  He was not released to go pick up his bride until his father said the house was ready.  When people would ask when he was returning to his bride he would answer, "No man knows the hour or the day only my Father knows."

It is also a phrase that refers to the uncertain nature of exactly when Rosh Hashanah will occur.  Since it is a Lunar Holiday, the task of setting the date fell to the religious rulers of the day based on the testimony of two witnesses.  Rosh Hashanah is the only feast that occurs on the first of the month, thus the determination of the day was extremely important.  The phrase, "No man knows the hour or the day" is also specific to Rosh Hashanah. When Jesus said this to his disciples THEY understood that he was talking about Rosh Hashanah!

To use the proofs established for the Spring Feasts, we can apply to the Fall feasts in like manner.

1. God makes appointments with His people, the next Messianic appointment is Rosh Hashanah
2. Rosh Hashanah is a dress rehearsal for Israel's acceptance of Jesus as King
3. It is a time of repentance, remembrance, and forgiveness
4. Prophetic time tables are known and the prophetic Scriptures have all been fulfilled
5. The Church is the Bride of Christ and Rosh Hashanah is mentioned by Jesus as his time of returning
6. God is not random
7. Feast of Trumpets and Trumpets of the Rapture

The weight of the evidence is substantial and supports the belief that the Rapture of the Church will occur on God's next appointed time.  Where people get in trouble is trying to name the year - that my friend, as of this writing, is still a mystery.  Could be this year, the year after, or the year after... it could be 25 years from now.  I am not naming dates, just simply trying to do my little part in getting the Church ready.

Falling on Grace

I don't accept help comfortably or well.  Fiercely independent and self sufficient, "By myself!" was one of my first sentences.  I have never been still.  My family tells me that while I was a loving child I would not sit on anyone's lap and cuddle, unless they had a book.  I wanted my own apartment at 13 and constructed, what I believed to be, an extremely compelling argument for the merits of such an arrangement.  I have accepted as little help as possible my entire life.  I prefer to be the giver:  the big sister, the loving wife, the generous mother, the benevolent boss, the helpful daughter, the faithful friend.  Those are roles I prefer to play.

My colleagues gave me a baby shower before my son was born and I do not know if I have ever been so uneasy in my entire life.  A faithful colleague commented, "Dolley is not used to having people do for her, look how uncomfortable she is!"  Perhaps that was the first time I ever registered that thought and for me, it was a source of pride.

God broke me in 2011 and in most ways I am still broken.  There is a beautiful country song called, "Glass" that resonates with me.  The refrain says, "We are fragile, we are human, we are shaped by the light we let through us, we break fast, we are glass."  In spite of the brokenness, I am still not comfortable asking for help.

Recently, the Lord has shown me I was not made to be self sufficient.  Today, He revealed that I am even uncomfortable receiving from Him.  My prayers are often prayers of mercy; I ask Him to take things from me but not DO things for me.  I am under such intense spiritual attack at this point in my life, I am humbled to ask for help.  I can not walk this path alone, I can not pick myself up when I stumble, I have to hold my hand up and take the help that is offered.

One of the most profound talents of our time was the singer Rich Mullins.  He walked a very deep spiritual path and I identify with him.  His song, If I Stand, followed me on my walk today and I realize that bruised and battered as I am no longer capable of standing, so I will fall on the grace.