Beyond Deleting Cookies

Post 203

I sense this whole study is quickly growing too deep for most readers and am really wrestling with a desire to leave out a lot of this to stay on a more streamlined track, but where we are going in the next few posts will require more support than I think I can provide without leaving people behind in a thickening soup. It is important to constantly remember the point of prophecy is to expose us to the spirit of prophecy, which is the evidence given (testimony *1) of Jesus (Revelation 19:10), the same testimony possessed by the saints (Revelation 12:17), which gives them power to overcome Satan on earth (Revelation 12:11).
What does that mean? It is critical that the saints know the prophecy because through comprehending (spirit of) the prophecy, they know Jesus Christ in all that they see and experience. This is what sustains the saints.
Christians who don’t know the spirit of prophecy will be snared in the confusion and horrors of those days, wondering where God is in all that happens. We see this already a common question today; "if there really is a God, why..."
And so I seem to rabbit trail a lot while reaching the intended goal a bit more slowly, It is intentional as I am exposing the spirit of the prophecy we study.
* * *

It occurs to me that we humans really are represented by a computer.
The computer comes from the repair shop all purged and cleaned of viruses, old programs, corrupted files, and fragmented data. It now runs fast and efficient and trouble free. This is salvation.
But simply by the function of use alone, the problems begin to creep back in. The problems are not necessarily a result of going to “bad” sites, or doing “wrong” things, yet somehow the problems come anyway. Virus protection or not, “things” just somehow get through and bog our computers down. These are the cares of life (Luke 8:14, 21:34).
We put up with it as long as we can, by regularly dumping Cookies and keeping our virus protection program updated, and for the most part this keeps us going in good order. But after a time the signs begin to show that we really need to do some additional maintenance, but what?

Our own lives are no different and it is amazing the parallelism of each of these different but similar problems. Does defragging solve a virus problem or does deleting Cookies fix corrupted files? How do we receive a new file that our current configuration doesn’t recognize? Or how do we keep from receiving files that will damage our system? And how do we know the difference?
We see the evidence of the spiritual representation of these several various issues in Luke 8:5-8 *2, but in this passage we typically tend only to see the representation of non-believers *3 and so miss the application to how it affects believers *4,*5. Each of us believers at different levels of maturity has these various elements in our lives that react to God’s Word of Truth when it is introduced in specific soil of the unprepared portions of our lives, as evidenced by whom the passage is directed to, revealed in verse 18a: “take heed therefore how ye hear…” Jesus was speaking to his followers.
It is these undesirable elements of diminishing that creep into our lives by various use itself that affect how we hear. This parable warns us that hearing is not enough, we must hear PROPERLY; “Take heed therefore HOW ye hear.” This whole parable is really about the Christian’s various problems with hearing the truth in Gods Word; “take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have” Luke 8:18.

Yet many Christians tend to simplify the concept of faith to either “on” or “off” with an occasional superficial “Cookie dump” only when our computers (faith) are so affected it reminds us of our neglect. We don’t even recognize the variety of other problem areas let alone the cures; simple repentance is all we choose to know as “good enough”; “I am saved by grace alone through faith alone, there is nothing else to consider”. I liken simple repentance to deleting Cookies, and I am not mocking the need for that, but this passage warns us if we do not have what we seem to have, whatever we think we have but don’t, will be taken away.
This is made very clear by the example of Jews who thought they had God through the law, but having rejected the end of the law (Romans 10:4) that law which they thought they had was taken away. Now they have no more representational sacrifice because they trod on the blood of the actual sacrifice (Hebrews 10:29 which is really speaking of the same corruption in Christians) so is it not logical that such a Christian would also loose what he actually doesn’t have though he stands firm on what he thinks he has?
* * *

We get Cookies by sites we visit. We don’t ask for them and even try hard to block most of them, but the interaction with the sites of life automatically attaches a Cookie that helps our computer interact better with that site. This is called experience.
There are interactions with sites like our banks, credit cards and utilities that are greatly assisted by the Cookies, call this going to Church, bible study, Christian fellowship etc. but there are other sites visited that the Cookie does nothing but slow down the computers purpose; these are the cares of life and other legitimate but carnal interactions. Then there are the sites that we check out for knowledge and curiosity that we may never go back to but the Cookie attaches all the same, these are the often necessary involvement with mammon and such that should be very carefully regulated (Matthew 6:24+ Luke 16:9,16:11). And finally there is the “oh I shouldn’t have clicked that link” sites that by deceptive advertising or even our ignorant lust draw us to investigate, which have a supper Cookie with some awesome power of invasion, these are the sins of “missing the mark” such as unwise movies and activities and such. All these cookies in our lives are thoughts and concepts that we run across in our daily lives that stay with us, lying in the forgotten background but running in our program all the same. (I do not list blatant “no-no sites” here because they have a whole other category of virus that belongs in a different list with different issues as shown in Hebrews 10:26.)

Over time these hidden little programs have a cumulative diminishing affect on the ability of the computer as a whole. We have to regularly and intentionally delete the Cookies, this is regular repentance of I John 1:9, represented in Jesus washing the feet of daily road grime but not the need for a repeated entire body washing as described in John 13:5-10.
Salvation is the “body washing” of complete reboot from the shop, while deleting Cookies through regularly receiving a spiritual foot washing from living in the world, maintains our faith as current and updated.
But once in a while deleting cookies just doesn’t seem to have much affect anymore. There is a problem, but when we check, the Cookie folder has little in it.
So now what?
* * *

There is a whole other part of our programming that deals with fragmentation.
This is a mental (i.e. hard-drive) issue. This also happens not necessarily by wrongdoing but simply through normal use. Adding a new file, deleting an old one, and revising current ones all have the affect of jumbling up the lot and making confusion of the sense of them which causes weariness. The computer brain gets tired and labors hard to recall the many parts of fragmented data of a program we want to use for a designated purpose, trying to find the most recent updates in the plethora of old ones causes doubts to the legitimacy of what we find etc. After a time you wonder if the computer will every actually get it loaded and if left unresolved will eventually crash the computer (Daniel 7:25 as an example).
Before the crash, but as a result of the slowing function, we should remember to run the defragmentation program.
This operation simply reorganizes the data into proper files “prioritizing” the data bits as it were into groups of function. It doesn’t delete anything and doesn’t add anything, but it sure seems to as things just work a whole lot better!
This is accomplished when we step back to evaluate our life as a whole in an effort to make the data relative; we check our priorities and adjust our system to re-align everything under God’s perspective for life. Only the Spirit can do this defragging.
Christians are not immune to the need for a regular defragging, in fact because of the incredible data for very important programs, we need it more than most.
In the spiritual representation, Data is knowledge and defragging is spending time on our knees before God allowing him to organize the knowledge (data) to extract the prophecy (program) to run the purpose (spirit). The operation is the spirit (purpose) of the program and is what all the knowledge (data) is for.
This is why the wording of the passage; “The testimony (data) of Jesus is the spirit (purpose) of prophecy (program)” Revelation 19:10. Without the active spirit all the data in the world is just so much pointless files all jumbled up in a useless confusion of storage.
I liken this defragging as abiding under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91:1). This is also a regular maintenance issue, not a shop reboot.
Yet we are typically so busy downloading more data in the excited desire to fill up the hard drive capacity, it is easy to forget the whole purpose of the data is to actually run a successful program with an end result. If the program is already not running well, more data will not help it.

In my blog I have been presenting some very heavy concepts, and as we add them to the hard-drive wherever they seem to fit, it makes some data in need of an update and changes “priority” to others as we apply this new information. That is a bit unsettling as the result is a bit of fragmentation that needs some specific reordering of what we already have.

As a bit of defragging:
Sometimes we need to be reminded that more knowledge is not our salvation. We are not saved by how much we know and we are not lost by how much we don’t know. Our salvation is entirely found in a different file in the grace program, which should be always running as a covering virus protection carefully maintained as current in your life. But the virus software has to have something to protect. Thus the programs.
If this blog is stretching your mind and you feel a bit overwhelmed or uncertain, take a step back and defrag your data, remember the program of highest priority is your faith unto salvation resting on the complete work of Christ alone.
What we are covering now is that which bolsters your faith through comprehension of why things happen in reality here and now as they actually center on Jesus Christ and his eternal plan. Remember that the spirit of prophecy is directly related as it is the testimony of Jesus. Although it is necessary to show you the prophecy by giving you knowledge of prophecy, it is not the knowledge itself that is the testimony of Jesus; you must be absorbing the spirit of prophecy through the vehicle of knowledge. The spirit is the testimony.
The purpose of my blog is not to expound on the fantastical mystery of future events, but to lay concrete under the events in the days of confusion and uncertainty. That concrete is confidence in Jesus Christ. We need to learn now while the learning is still easy, how to rely on the truth of scripture when virtually nothing else makes any sense, or worse seems to make perfect sense in opposition to the scripture. Such an early and easily debunked, yet nonetheless powerful, example is Evolution. These lies against God will only continue to grow in strength and perfection of deception. Knowledge will not protect you from that destroying virus, only the Spirit behind the knowledge can do that.
This is why Daniel, that great man of God, found it necessary to earnestly pray three times a day as a seeming excessive defragging. If you are not likewise seriously defragging at least once a day but see no need, I contend you have not uploaded any new data for far too long. You are running old software.
“Who cares?” You ask, “as long as it works.”

We are about to begin investigating the next level in the confusion of the evil in which we are now in, but don’t even see it yet. This next phase will shake many to the core of their belief because what they thought they knew which is foundational to much of their faith, will be found to be very unstable ground. That is ok as long as you have your priority programs defragged and virus software updated and running, this information will simply expand your comprehension which should validate God’s actions in your still confused mind asking "Why?".
Hang on to your hat for a shattering examination of The Lie as you never even imagined it to be, and then an updated response to how it applies in your faith.
* * * * * * *

*1 testimony 3141 marturia; from 3144; evidence given (judicially or generally).

*2 Luke 8:5-8a “A sower (Jesus) went out to sow his seed (Gospel of Truth): and as he sowed, some fell by the way side *2b; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold…”

*3 Luke 8:11-12 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Those by the way side *3b are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.”
Take a moment of quasi-defragging to identify corrupted files and notice in the combination of parable and explanation that the seed is NOT primarily the believer who is to reproduce his faith in others as is commonly interpreted, nor is it primarily speaking of unbelievers. The seed is the Word of God as it is planted in us the recipient believers through hearing, to grow in us until it produces the sustenance of life for us; i.e. the plant of belief for the fruit of salvation. This whole passage is speaking to, about, and for believers as the Word of God is applied to us. According to this perspective validated by the difference between hear, believe, and saved. All three words are used in this verse to identify the process. The hearers in this mindframe of “way side” will not reach salvation as what they have heard will be taken away by two avenues before it can take affect; trodden down by godless men (Matthew 7:6) and snatched away by the natural Godless events of this world as arranged by Satan himself (Matthew 6:26, Luke 8:5,12).

*3b Way Side:
The first seed fell not on the path of life but in the ditch BY the way side. So where exactly is the wayside so that we can understand where BY the wayside is?
Being two words in this Greek use lets first take a short adventure of investigation and note that the OT uses the conjunction of these two words as “Wayside”. How does the original OT Hebrew use this conjunctive word in two verses with similar applications as our NT verse in question?
“…Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside (3197,1870) watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God…” I Samuel 4:13. Here we see Eli BY the wayside, exactly where our NT verse indicates some seed falls.
* *

(1st ½) Wayside 3197 yak; by erroneous transcription for 3027; a hand or side. Yakowl. See 3201, yekowneyah. See 3204.
3201 Yakowl; or (fuller) yakowl; a primitive root; to be able, literally (can, could) or morally (may, might).
3204 yekonyah; and yekonyahuw; or (Jeremiah 27:20) yekowneyah; from 3559 and 3050; Jah will establish;
Wow is this getting interesting! Already we see a lot of deep meaning given to this word Wayside, and we have only touched the surface of just half the word used. This half of the word indicates; “by the power of God.”

(2nd ½) Wayside 1870 derek; from 1869; a road (as trodden); figuratively a course of life or mode of action, often adverbial.
1869 darak; a primitive root; to tread; by implication to walk; also to string a bow (by treading on it in bending).
In otherwords; “the specific course of action with intended destination or result.”
* *

Ok, adding together these two halves of the word “wayside” we now have a significant understanding of the actual deep meaning of this specific word as it is used in this specific event recorded: “The specific course taken as directed by the power of God for an intended end.” Simply put, “The way of the believer.”

But the wayside is NOT where Eli sat.
He sat BY that wayside, and he sat there because he was afraid for the spiritual (what might happen to the ARC). His was a religious confusion of fear for a moral purpose or focus in relation to the possible outcome of opposing events of life; He was wrongly afraid for the ARC.
Interesting.
He had no business as a believer, let alone a priest, to be sitting BY the wayside. He belonged IN the wayside where such fear is not found. But he had not left the wayside behind as if rejected, he just established (sat) in the place BY that way. He was the double minded man that James 1:8 speaks of as “unstable in all his ways”.
This passage is testimony to the danger of hanging out attached to, but not actively in the wayside of the faithful. Was his fear for the ARC perhaps one of the nets spread by the wayside of the next passage we will discuss? Most probably.
* * *

Now we have the second OT use of the word wayside with slightly different meaning, again a combination of words:

“The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside 3027, 4570; they have set gins for me. Selah” Psalm 140:5.
* *

(1st ½) Wayside 3027 yad; a primitive word; a hand (the open one [indicating power, means, direction, etc.], in distinction from 3709, the closed one); used (as a noun, adverb, etc.) in a great variety of applications, both literally and figuratively, both proximate and remote.

So why would the Eli verse erroneously transcribe this meaning? That is a whole ‘nother rabbit trail (we won’t be taking). But here this “wayside” partly means; “the obvious, unhidden reason for doing”.

2nd ½) Wayside 4570 magal; or fem. Magalah; from the same as 5696; a track (literally or figurative); also a rampart (as circular).

So this part of the word means; “the predictable and regular way.”
* *

Therefore in this passage of the proud laying a variety of hidden traps, this place we find the net laid is NOT in the obvious and declared means of our regular and predictable course of Faith, but by it.
In otherwords we can expect to be targeted in and through our own Christian nature by 1 of these distinct 4 entrapments; snares, cords, nets and gins, when we step out of the wayside but don’t depart entirely. The nets are laid by our wayside, and they won’t be obvious without extreme attention.... of which if we had, we would not have left the wayside.
This is profound in our effort to survive as Christians. This should remind you of the study instructing us our safety is found as we dwell under the shadow of the Almighty. We can now see that by slothfulness of faith, the shade moves but we remain seated unprotected as Eli and suddenly find ourselves by the shade but not in it. Once he found himself in this place the net had already entangled him and he was "frozen" in fear. Here is where the verse says some seeds of the Word of God fall but is trodden down and snatched by the birds of Satan so that we never receive it though we heard it.

“And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember?” Mark 8:17-18

They had all the data, but it was so fragmented by a lack of spirit that they could not successfully run the program. This is the place where the traps are laid to take away even what we think we have. This was the physical fall and death of Eli as he sat by the wayside representing the spiritual event of having ears but not hearing.
* * *

Now getting back to the Greek interpretation of the words “way side” in our NT verse in question:
Luke 8:5 “A sower (Jesus) went out to sow his seed (Gospel of Truth): and as he sowed, some fell by the way side…”
Since this is not used as a conjunction of words we must look up each word individually;
Way 3598 hodos; apparently a primitive word; a road; by implication a progress (the rout, act or distance); figuratively a mode or means.
Side 3844 para; a primitive preposition; properly near, i.e. (with genitive [case]) from beside (literally or figurative), (with dative [case]) at (or in) the vicinity of (objective or subjective), (with accusative [case]) to the proximity with (local [especially beyond or opposed to] or casual [on account of]).

Case: […to fall, happen.] …Grammatically: One of the inflectional forms of a noun, pronoun, or adjective that indicate its sense relation to the other words, as that of subject, object, attribute, etc.; also, this sense relation often indicated by word order.

In this NT use we see this wayside is the place beside the way. The way being the correct way that man should go, the side being a diversion of that way.
Very similar meaning with a slightly different configuration of words between Hebrew and Greek.
Now with the added comprehension of the OT wayside as the obvious and declared path we walk as Christians, we understand this passage to mean in scattering his Word of truth, Jesus let some fall even in that place attached by proximity to, but not in the way of Christians.
“Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved” Luke 8:12.
So we see that this is the very same place as the OT location identified.
OT “By the wayside” is the NT “way side.”
This passage is speaking of the hearts determined path. “What does the heart love?” as opposed to “what it says it loves”.

*4 The next seed of truth fell not on hard soil but on un-penetrable rock.
Luke 8:13 “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away."
Unlike the wayside seed only heard but not received, these of stone, receive but don’t stick.
In this case it is not Godless associates or the devil himself that takes away the seed before it can germinate nor is this those with untilled hardpan soil. These are solid rocks! Yet here we are told even a rock can receive the word of God, and the word of God actually grows in them for short time. Are these then not believers? They must be to some degree. But since there is simply no soil in which the Truth of God can grow, they cannot root and the moment the normal temptations of life come to challenge their faith, they fall away. These very simple believers never grew their faith enough to even know the savior because there was simply no place in their stony heart for faith to grow. So who was closer to God, those near the way but not quite in it, or the utter stone with virtually no soil in which to grow the seed of faith? This passage tells us the Rocks are closer but not close enough. This does not speak well of the pew warmer that is attached but not actually in the active faith!
The point I am making is to realize we are not safe from personally applying these parables just because we are “believers”. Even these stony hearted people believe until tested. Do you perhaps fall into this potential danger from un-rooted faith in a stony heart, or might you be a data collector that doesn’t even know how to defragment your hard drive but don’t know there is a problem because you never actually try to run a program since the dang thing always crashes when you simply try to play solitaire? in otherwords are you by the wayside?

*5 Luke 8:14 “And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.”
By this time in the parable we can now understand he is speaking to and about believers in an ever increasing degree of acceptance of the word of God as the seed.
The seed fell, these heard, and then “go forth”. But the seed of truth is strangled by what is not seed of truth. Since this is after all a parable of farming, we can easily understand the mentioned cares and riches and pleasures of this life are weeds that grow up with the good seed of truth. Therefore the weeds must be deception (Hebrews 3:13). So what went wrong?
The wording “go forth” is the scriptural meaning “to minister”. As it is used in this verse we get the impression that because these people’s soil is full of cares and riches and pleasures of this life, they are unprepared to properly receive the seed, so when it falls by hearing they immediately run with it into ministry, it is a mindframe. This mindframe simply does not allow the seed to quietly and patiently grow strong before the weeds of their fast paced unprepared soil choke it out. The verse does not say the plant from the seed dies, it is implied that it even produces fruit of a sort, just never produces mature fruit. These are the struggling Christians of America today that have faith but can never seem to get it to work right. This is not a "modern" problem as we see that Jesus commanded his disciples to “tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Now you may think “ok, no problem”, but this was right AFTER Jesus “opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures” only 3 verses previously. What a trial it must have been to sit and dwell on all they were shown while waiting for who knew what. They were waiting for the spirit of prophecy which is the testimony of Jesus. The heart which is actively growing weeds is not the heart that can sit around while the word of God germinates and grows. This is why Jesus said “take heed therefore HOW ye hear…”
But remember, these weeds are not external as in the daily grime of travel in life in need of footwashing, these are weeds growing right along the good seed and therefore these weeds are where the good seed is.
Where does the Word of God dwell within us? It is seeded in our heart (Psalm 119:11), and it is our heart where we also grow the weeds of love for the “things” in life. The stuff of life is not the problem, it is our allowing them to grow in our heart that is.
“Keep (weed) thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23
And now we are back to confirming the previous posts regarding the heart; beginning with post 165 “Beyond Salvation” and running several posts following up how to control it. The heart must be controlled because this is where the Word of God is seeded, it is where the issues of life spring forth meaning it has the power to prioritize the attention given to things as evidenced in the next verse:

*6 Luke 8:15 “But that (which fell) on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
Where are the weeds in this heart? Do these people not live in reality too? Don’t they have cares? Are they committed to poverty as some form or righteousness? Do they abstain from all pleasure in this life? No, they simply have their files unfragmented and the cookies of mammon are purged from the heart as weeds from a garden.
The trick to avoiding weeds in your heart that will choke the word of God, is to guard your heart from growing unacceptably attached to these things (I John 2:15). Those things growing OUTSIDE your heart yet still in your life are fine. It is when they creep into your heart that they create a danger to what is supposed to be growing there; the Word of God:
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” I Timothy 6:10
The “ability to possess things” (money) in their lives is not the problem. But the ability (money) has crept into their heart; the seat of where they love. And now the love of “can do” IS the weed that chokes the Word of God, and as the passage tells us, unless these weeds are pulled, they will dangerously affect the faith so that it never produces mature fruit. As Luke 8:15 and Psalm 27:14 tells us; patience in attending to God is what these people lack due to their love of “can do” which creates the weeds.
Since the fruit is the whole purpose of the plant; i.e. nutrition for life, we can understand the purpose of the word of God is what feeds us after it matures. These temporal attachments fill our lives with so much attention, and activities, and demands, that the Word of God simply has no place anymore. We don’t pull it up with intent; it just gets choked out by the weeds.

And now we are back to the OT application:
As we Christians conduct our lives with the well known determination of our way, we continue in the strength and power of God. but over time we become less careful to stay on the wayside and without paying attention we end up sitting on a bench on the side of the way, “just to take a break”. It is here that by the ignorance and lack of alertness (that got us here in the first place), we will surly find ourselves caught in the net laid by him who would destroy our faith by choking the Word of God in our hearts.
As a wolf trapper this has very great meaning to me in the example of my mission. Ignorant, un-alert wolves are very easy to catch. The Old Salts are a real challenge because they maintain an uncanny intuition.
In all honesty how diligent are you in your faith as you walk parallel to the way, but not fully in the way, among the variety of traps laid by the master trapper?
Is it God’s fault if you get caught and your faith is wrecked? Do not be deceived God only keeps those who do not allow His word to become choked by weeds unpulled; “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck;” I Timothy 1:19.
“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” Luke 13:24. The words of Jesus himself.

“For thus saith the LORD… Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart… lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.” Jeremiah 4:3-4

This OT passage now has significant new meaning as it also directs us not to sow among thorns. Now we know exactly what is meant by this, and we are provided further information concerning our hearts soil. These weeds that are sure to choke the word of God from your heart grow there because your hearts soil is untilled and become fallow. Weeds grow real well in fallow ground while good seed struggles to survive. There is nothing wrong with the soil but a lack of maintenance. The weeds in your life are not the problem, they are only a sign of the problem. The problem is you are a lazy farmer and have not tilled your soil. And as any farmer will tell you, this is not a one-time event. Nature itself turns the ground fallow. It is the farmer’s job to till it up before planting a new crop. But in today’s mentality of socialism, we would rather complain about things then labor to make them better. We have become slaves in both mind and spirit and now simply wait for the event in body. This verse tells us unless we change our minds of perspective and act, the event in body is guaranteed to come.

This post is not a side issue to our investigation of the 4th diverse beast of Daniel 7 as we view it rising in Revelation 17:8. We are learning to identify the nature of that very beast as it endeavors to capture us in the here and now in the short space between the 2nd and 3rd trumpets in Revelation 8.

“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” Luke 21:34
*

The Fifth Dimension

Theory
Post 202

More Than Four Dimensions:
In the act of the angel casting the censor to earth in Revelation 8:5, was Satan cast to earth as the hail and fire and blood, or as the mountain on fire, or not until the falling star? If the seven trumpets blow because Satan is cast to earth then how does he not actually come until the star?
This passage is a wonderful revelation showing the kingdom of God in a realm not constrained by time while still interacting with our earthly realm that is. This is the reason for the symbolism.
Each of the trumpets blow in their order as each event in the concept occurs on earth in our temporal timeline, but all seven trumpets are simply the concept of the seventh seal: Satan being cast to earth. I propose “Concept” is perhaps the fifth dimension *1.
Concept is not constrained in time. Thought can be at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ in 33AD one moment and at the same time be observing the falling star of Satan crash to earth breaking open the bottomless pit still in the future of our temporal timeline. From God’s perspective outside our timeline all this was accomplished as the angel cast the censor to the earth as revealed in Revelation 8:5 which is just the Seventh Seal of the book in the right hand of God described in Revelation 5:1. If the events of the past 2000 years is only one seal on the back of the book to be broken before the book can be opened, What must be in the book!?
* * *

Before the first trumpet:
While we have the ability to look back in history in a limited way, our perspective of reality as we know it today is hard to set aside in contemplating that things have not always been as we know them. Since we now know that Satan was cast to earth in the fire and hail and blood represented by the Roman GDE, then we should see in history a significant change in the world before and after the rise of Rome.
So what do we see?
Before the GDE of Rome, all the records show that from a human perspective, among the nations the Jews were treated no differently than any other nation; as is common to mankind one nation rose up and conquered other nations, some were led into captivity while others were incorporated into the latest empire through taxes and treaties. To the rest of the world the Jews were just another people group on the planet. Battles were just a necessary evil in the establishment of governments.

But something happened at the rise of Rome.
Suddenly for no apparent reason the Jews and Christians became the unexplainable target of murderous hatred. What is the actual reason that Nero burned a multitude of Christians on poles as streetlights? What makes an entire sophisticated society gather in mass in a football stadium type building to watch other humans being torn and consumed by lions? What horrible thing did the Christians do to bring on such incredible hatred with no cause?
What great evil did the entire people group of Jews do to Germany that would make Hitler design the specific camps for the purpose of tormenting and incinerating literally millions of them? It must have been a very evil thing indeed to warrant such treatment. What could possibly be the purpose for Gorillas of the world to storm villages of utter poverty just to decimate the helpless for no reason; hacking off limbs and worse but not mercifully wiping them out entirely? Since the rise of Rome there has been a new spirit of unexplainable, unjustifiable murder and torment that has consumed the world.
The scriptures tell us why:
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him… Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” Revelation 12:9,12.
Of course short is relative. From the realm beyond our time constraint, Satan's time is limited to the concept of one seal on the book to simply be broken open while to us, constrained by time and limited to very small allotments of it, we see this as a long time of 2000 years.

Jesus makes more clear to us exactly when this transition of ages took place;
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” Matthew 11:12
and he goes on to explain it even further;
”For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” Matthew 11:13

Did you ever wonder why God waited thousands of years after Adam to send his Son to save the world? This is the reason for the specific timing. From the fall of Adam to the cleansing flood of Noah and from the new start unto the arrival of Satan, the law was acceptably adequate to deal with the iniquity of man as he strove to worship God. But after Satan arrived there was a whole new strain of Evil that mankind could not deal with. The law was not enough.
This is found in the verses couched between those of the previous concept:
“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death” Revelation 12:10-11. The word “for” after the colon tells us why Jesus came at that time.
It was no accident that Jesus came as a Sacrifice at the time of Rome; the beginning of the great and diverse beast of iron: the first young GDE kingdom of Satan on earth. And it is no accident that Rome was the tool used by the confused rebellious Jews to kill that sacrifice.

Why did Jesus come?
We quickly reply; "To save the world" and that is indeed right in part, but how? What reason did Jesus himself give for his coming in the flesh to this earth?
"...To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, That I should bear witness unto the truth...." John 18:37

The arrival of Satan on this earth created an environment where truth was no longer knowable through the law. Jesus came to earth at that time for the purpose of bringing the witness unto the truth. Only through “seeing” his witness in his life will the world be able to know truth (Romans 10:14).
The kingdom of Satan is a progressive confusion that unless God shorten the days even the very elect could be deceived, if such a thing was possible (Matthew 24:24).
This is a new era, and we are now entering the third and final stage of the kingdom of confusion *2. Jesus came to tell us the truth in a world of deception. Go through the book of John looking for the number of times this concept appears!
“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” John 12:48.
Jesus IS the truth (John 7:28+8:16=14:6) as the Word of God (John 1:1) which spoke everything into existence (John 1:3), Therefore if we reject what he spoke we reject reality itself. The word of truth is what judges because truth is that which relates to reality *3 (as the old dictionaries stated *4). This is made clear by the rejection of his word that He made all things and so we go about imagining how things came to be without him, ending up with the “fact” of evolution though “the Big Bang”. Our perspective of all reality follows this same trend as we reject his word of truth.
* * *

Who's world is it?
If the Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8:2-14:20) are the several elements of Satan falling to earth as the Seventh Seal (Revelation 8:1), And if the Seven Seals (Revelation 6:1-8:1) are the authority that lawfully binds what is contained in the book in the right hand of God (Revelation 5:1), And if as evidenced by Ancient Jewish custom; the book (scroll) is a title deed by the evidence of the writing on the back (open), with the seven seals (closed) as exampled in Jeremiah 32:11-12, Then the book must be that thing identified whose ownership is declared as the only one lawfully able to open the book by breaking the seals (Revelation 5:2-4). The book then is title of purchase as is the deeper representation of that of Jeremiah 32:14 “…that they (the documents of title) may continue many days (before being brought forth and applied)”.

Why did John weep much just because a book could not be opened? What is the big deal? John’s much weeping perhaps represents the sorrow of the book in hopeless bondage of the seals that must be broken before the book can be lawfully possessed by him who frees it from the previous claimant. The breaking of the seals is positive proof of ownership by purchase.
But none was found that could break the seals…. until the Lamb came and was the owner able to break the seals by reason of his purchase; the purchase of his blood (Revelation 5:6-8).
The scriptures repeatedly refer to “the event” called “the end” (Matthew 24:3,6) as arriving after birthpags of a woman in labor (Matthew 24:8, Revelation 12:2). These labor pains are again the seven seals as they are broken open.
The earth is the book, the betrothal of redemption was at Christ’s sacrificial death after which the groom departed to make them a home (John 14:2-3), The marriage will take place in heaven during the first 3-1/2 years of tribulation by Satan on earth (I Thessalonians 4:14-17, Revelation 19:9), the breaking of the seals is the prenatal labor, the tribulation is the rushing to the hospital as the event of delivery is the Great Tribulation that follows, when the Lord returns at the end to claim possession of what is born.
What is born is a world unto Christ and his bride the saints (Revelation 5:10); the proven lawful owners of the book by verification of his ability to break open the seven seals (Revelation 5:5-10).
Without the seven seals, anybody that comes along can claim ownership of the book. But with the seals, as is the popular analogy of “the Sword in the Stone”; only the rightful king can break the seals and possess the book being no longer disputed as king.
* * * * * * *

*1 I propose that “Concept” is the fifth dimension.
Not just any concept of imagination but the concept of reality.
When your wife becomes pregnant you become a father; the thing that makes you a father is done. The fact that you don’t get to hold it or feed it or change its diaper or even the duration of its life does not change the fact that you have made a life and that makes you a father. The other things are simply events in the timeline of the child’s life including but not limited to the events of birth and marriage. If the child dies before it is married does that mean you were not a father? No. Neither does the death of the child before it is born. These are simply events in the maturing process constrained to an order in our time-domain.
We are only constrained because until the event actually occurs, our thoughts of the event are merely imagination. Only after the event is spoken into existence by the creator are we able to look back in reality.
God is not thus constrained. He can look back and forward with equal conception of reality that has been and will be because we are but a thought of God spoken into existence by his Word Jesus the Christ (Genesis 1:1,3, John 1:1-4,9-14).
In Revelation 5:1 God sits on his throne holding a book in his right hand. This is a moment in time only because John was given the vision to describe in our timeline of reality. The book of Revelation is a mysterious look into another dimension from our dimensionally constrained perspective describing the events not contained in the book in the hand of God but just leading up to opening the book! Our entire existence on this earth in this universe has not yet even gotten past the title on the outside! *1b.
Now please read Revelation 4 and the first eight verses of chapter 5 with this in mind.

Only when we understand this fifth dimensional perspective of what we are reading can we understand that the lamb that was slain and therefore worthy to break the seals and open the book here in chapter 5, but was not yet in our timeline slain until the 7th seal of chapter 8. This is verified in scripture by confirming that Jesus was slain from the foundations of the word (Revelation 13:8), which foundations we are now discussing. Therefore the book shown in God's hand is the history of the world, and the seals on the back are it’s foundations before the book is even opened!
Since we have identified our present existence in time as between the second and third trumpets of Revelation 8:8-9 we know that the history of the world is still in the pre-natal stage before it’s book is even opened to begin the real reading of its post natal life after the foundations are established.
Have you ever wondered what is to be born at the end of these “birthpangs” Jesus mentioned in John 16:21-22, Revelation 12:2, Matthew 24:8,21,32 and ending in 33; “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door.”
What is IT? The birth of the world unto Christ: in otherwords the kingdom of Christ on earth (Daniel 2:34-35,45,7:26-27, and more later).
This concept is played out in Galatians 4:19 “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,” (see also I Thessalonians 5:3)

*1b What is in the book?
Remember the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven? (Revelation 3:12, 21:2), and the new heaven and new earth? (Revelation 3:13,21:1). These are contained inside the book. But that is yet a long ways into the future according to our timeline (II Peter 3:8 + Revelation 20:2-9). There are many events yet to pass before the coming of the new heaven and new earth.

*2 The Truth Project:
If it has been a while since you viewed "The Truth Project" DVDs dig it out and take a look at the very first lesson. Del Tackett has done an unsurpassable job of systematically restructuring our mind built on the foundation of truth. Now with this concept of the kingdom of confusion what Mr. Tackett has to say in that very first lesson takes on yet a whole new level of comprehension! If you have not seen "The Truth Project" series, do whatever you can to get it!
Join a group The Truth Project or buy it

*3 The entire conflict on earth is the battle between The Truth and The Lie.
"This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall..." Are these the words of Jesus?
Note it is his words they refuse to hear, and the lie of their imagination which they follow. But no, this is not even the New Testament! This is Jeremiah 13:10.
Are they Jesus' words? You bet they are!

"And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?..." Jeremiah 16:10.
These poor hopeless people (The Jews of that narration and therefore Christians today) have no idea why God should be so frustrated with them! Is that not our people today? We simply have no idea what we might be doing that should make God mad enough to destroy us, so we reject the idea as preposterous!
This is also the mind of those to whom Jeremiah was sent:
"Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshiped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;" Jeremiah 16:11
Well that doesn't seem right. Why should we be punished for what our fathers did?
The semi-colon tells us the thought is not finished but that the fathers choices are what create the environment that brings on the judgment:
"And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:" Jeremiah 16:12
Again we see them following after their imaginations that do not conform to the truth (what relates to reality). Their hearts are now evil and successfully "programed" by the choices of their fathers, not to head what God says. This is indeed the fault of their fathers choices but that does not remove the burden of responsibility from them for their choices, nor us from ours.
But how is what the children are doing, worse than what the fathers did?
It is all about the mindframe of evil imagination.
The fathers indeed did wrong by worshiping other gods, but they knew the difference. Therefore there was hope of correction by the rebukes of life. But the next generation no longer knew what was true. They grew up in this lie of following things other than God and so never knew God. They honestly believed there was nothing more worthy of consideration than their own evil imagination; "If it feel good, do it."
This is the generation of today's America. This is the generation now running our governments, teaching in our schools and are our scientists and media. This is the generation of evil imagination because our fathers have turned from their father's God and worshiped profit and pleasure and stuff. Sure it is their fault we have the mindframe we do, but we are the ones who pay the price for our own ignorant conduct (Jeremiah 32:18).
Now to step back a bit and see how your understanding has changed to this point, go back to post 077 Washington’s Slaves (July 2010) and see how much more you understand of the wise mindframe of our founders, of the principles of God, and how it applies in reality as we used to understand these things that blessed our nation but now do not and so pay the price.

*4 Truth: "Conformity to fact or reality: exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be... 'We rely upon the truth of the scriptural prophecies.'" - Noah Webster Dictionary 1828

[Post 214 The Fall of Satan is the next post that follows this topic, but has been lost in the blog order, please use this link to find it: (http://when-did-reason-die.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-fall-of-satan.html)].
*

Pre Three woes - Part 2

Line By Line - Revelation 8:1-13
Post 201

We just examined the first trumpet from the temporal earthly perspective while allowing a spiritual understanding based on the pre-Three Woes, but before we move on to the next trumpet and the second woe we need to back up and understand the same events from a different angle; this time with a spiritual perspective allowing for the temporal one. To do that we need to re-configure our thoughts and comprehension of the genesis of the whole seven trumpets part of the story of Revelation.
Lets start again at the beginning of the seven trumpets to see this from God’s angel of eternal things:

Revelation 8:1 “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”
In the desire to stay on topic we cannot here go back further to the genesis of the seven seals, so lets just note that the seven trumpets is a whole segmented detail of the seventh seal. Viewed here at the beginning of the trumpets we see that the genesis of the trumpet portion of history is reason for a silence in heaven that lasts ½ hour. Knowing that heaven is eternal and so ½ hour is irrelevant to heaven, this period of time is a temporal noted delay in events. Heaven is noting “a moment of silence” as a memorial of temporal events before continuing with the “next phase”.
Why? I suggest because the next phase is a bad one and the silence is like taking a big breath before starting a great exertion. We will understand this better when we grasp the actual cause of the collection of seven trumpets.

Revelation 8:2 “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.”
Not just seven angels standing around, THE seven angels standing before God. We have spent several past posts understanding the seven eyes/ seven flames/ seven Spirits of God and I propose these seven angels are directed by those same seven Spirits; The seven parts of the Holy Ghost himself. Why is this significant? Because like the four carpenter/wind/spirits that are sent to fray the spirit princes of the four diverse Gentile GDEs that rule the earth through history, these seven angels blowing their seven trumpets show that the events that occur are simply God’s opera playing out precisely on time as written. The trumpet is the voice of the conductor loosing the actors to play out their parts on cue. So how much independence does the dragon really have though what he does is of his own will? Remember post 090 Life is a Story? It is for the spiritual domain as well.
These angels are given their trumpets at this time because of something significant in the narrative that transpires; What is that?

Revelation 8:3 “And another angel came and stood at the alter, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints *1 upon the golden alter which was before the throne.”
Remember this part of the vision shows events that happen in heaven before the throne of God. Here we see another, a different angel load his censer with the prayers of all the saints and an appropriate amount of incense to mix with it. How much? Much!
Now as this mixture of sweet odor wafts up to the throne of God lets ask the question; “Why do saints pray prayers that burn with incense?” The answer is found in the events played out. Incense creates a desirable odor only when heated to burning, thus the purpose of a censer. And so we see that the prayers in the mix put into the censer result in a sweet odor to God only when heated to burning. Again the question; “What makes saints pray?” Answer: An environment of burning hot circumstances.
Now before you jump to wrong conclusions; do we value or cherish the heat that burns the incense which we enjoy? Of course not. We care nothing for the fire, we simply like the odor.
And so it is with God. The torment of the saints is not what pleases God, thus the incense mixed with them. God’s pleasure comes from the prayers to him by the saints. He loves his saints and he loves to receive their prayers. But as is the nature of incense, man seems to need great heat before we turn our voice to God in earnest…. So heat is provided. That’s it.
Once humanity learns how to pray to God in earnest without heat, the heat will be eliminated (Revelation 20:10).

Revelation 8:4 “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”
Again we are shown the control of the events. This is not a raging fire out of control, this is an apothecary angel carefully hand balancing all the elements to produce just the right flavor of odor for God *2.

Revelation 8:5 “And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the alter, and cast it unto the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.”
Here there is a change that takes place. Although the events are still sourced in heaven, the subject has changed. The same angel with the same censer is done sending incense to God, he now reaches into the coals of flame from the alter that caused the burning that released the prayers, and fills the censer with those coals. And he casts those flaming coals to the earth.
That’s what happens spiritually and from God’s angle of things that brings about the seven trumpets. The fire that once was sourced from the incense alter in heaven is now cast to the earth to now burn from there (Revelation 12:10,12). That is a substantial change in things!
I will show that this has already happened in history.

Revelation 8:6 “And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepare themselves to sound.”
Now we understand the significance. There are seven phases or events that result from this flaming sensor cast to earth… perhaps as a star like a lamp? (Revelation 8:10)
With this spiritual perspective as seen from heaven against the temporal perspective of the same story, we begin to comprehend that we are actually being told an eternal multi-dimensional story in our four dimensional world *3. Although the events do track simplistically and orderly in our temporal realm, the concepts God is showing are not as easy to constrain temporally. We are actually getting a glimpse into events of a multi-dimensional reality. This is why we see first hail and fire and blood, then a meteor, and finally Satan himself falling as a star; they are simply accelerating degrees of the same 3rd trimester birth pangs of the censor fallen to earth.

Revelation 8:7 “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.”
This IS the coals of the censer of fire falling to the earth in a very real and yet also spiritual way.
While people may actually flee from the falling elements, with spiritual eyes we know this is the physical representation of the hot coals of bad circumstances that cause the saints to cry out to God in prayer. And so begins the temporal period of the seven trumpets of a particular fire.
I am intentionally ignoring the burning of the grass and trees because honestly I don’t know what they mean spiritually but to note this falls on the "earth" meaning the domain of mankind in general, and temporally it needs no further explanation.

Revelation 8:8-9 “And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.”
There has long been a desire by scholars to spiritualize everything to the point of eliminating the temporal events entirely. We have already seen that prophetically mountains represent significant ruling kingdoms and the sea represents the volume of the masses of humanity symbolized as waters, therefore we can easily understand this verse to mean that a great ruling kingdom falls on 1/3 of humanity in a sea like region and kills 1/3 of the peoples of the sea... but why does the verse seem to add an obvious statement? "That had life"? What creatures in a sea DON'T have life? When viewed spiritually it comes clear that Christians are those who have life, so this is speaking of salvation; Therefore meaning the kingdom kills 1/3 the Christian/Jews of the region, i.e."sea". I submit this sea represents the Middle East.
And since we know in the next verse that this lifeless burning meteor is but a prototype of the living burning star to follow, and since we know the star is the kingdom of Satan himself, then we can conclude that the meteor is a satanic like power that precedes the kingdom of Satan.
Remembering the three parts of the Iron kingdom Empire of Daniel 2:40-43 shown as legs of only iron and feet of iron and clay, we can understand then that the preceding hail and fire and blood represents Rome of iron while the meteor represents the Islamic Caliphate of man and the star represents the similar but more intense second Islamic Caliphate of Satan himself (Speckled of Zechariah 1:8). All three are of the burning fire that causes His saints to pray. This is the fourth diverse beast of Daniel 7:7-25.
But just to ensure that we DON’T spiritualize away the temporal real events, we are shown destroyed 1/3 of the ships in the sea. Spiritually I don't know what this might mean but to make sure we know this is a real event coming on the earth (Maybe Commerce?).
Don't miss the point that by this interpretation we can now identify ourselves in history as existing between the second and third trumpets. The first Woe is only six verses and one event into our future!

Revelation 8:10-11 “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”
At this point the spiritual and temporal events are now so mingled they cannot be easily categorized. The very spiritual entity called Satan actually comes to earth in a temporal way and establishes his spiritual/temporal kingdom on earth. But since we are spiritualizing things in this post we can understand that because of this demonic kingdom called bitterness, many men (not described as waters) are killed by the men who are, because those men identified as waters are made bitter by the star that fell. This describes Islam as the spiritual waters through the bitterness of being rejected from the Abrahamic promise, kill many men who are not of their persuasion.
I submit that this persuasion falls on only 1/3 of all mankind but compromises all the religions of earth here called springs. This is the confusion I suggest is now coming upon the Christians as well.

Revelation 8:12 “And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.”
In the last post while thinking temporally we saw how this is actually possible. But here we need to consider the very real spiritual implications as we realize that in proportion to Satan’s domination, reality is actually darkened.
It is still hard to grasp that the spiritual and the temporal are not compartmentalized, it is one in the same reality. Therefore there will actually be a thick inky smoke blanketing the skies over the middle east, the seat of Satan’s kingdom on earth, 1/3 of the earth will be covered by it as 1/3 of humanity will be made bitter by his persuasion.
But don’t miss the point that as the earth rotates and the cloud blocks the sun, that the entire earth will fall in the shadow for one third of the day or night depending on where you are geographically located. In this way we can understand that although sourced in the Middle East, this darkness will have a very real effect on the entire world. And likewise for 2/3 the day the rest of the world will have an affect on that region too as some sunlight slips under the cloud.
We see this conflict in the passage of Revelation 13:8 “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, (....) whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

Revelation 8:13 “And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, which are yet to sound!”
Until now the events that transpire at the sounding of the trumpets are all setting up the kingdom of Satan. The remaining trumpets sound events of woe upon humanity as a result of that establishment.
Woe indeed!
* * * * * * *

*1 The prayers:
It should be noted the specific wording; “…with the prayers of all saints…” Revelation 8:3
It does not read; “…with all the prayers of saints…” what’s the difference? We read in Revelation 5:8 that the prayers of saints are contained in at least 24 vials. Therefore I suggest this specific censor contains a specific kind of prayer from every saint. Since this seal is that of great suffering I believe these specific prayers to be those of suffering (II Timothy 3:12).

*2 Apothecary incense ordained: Exodus 30:25, 27:29. Incense was established as a memorial odor of love II Chronicles 16:14.

*3 Four Dimensions: Length, Width, Depth, and Time.
*

The First Woe

Post 200

(Please read this post with your bible open)

As promised by Revelation 17:7, the beast is proving to be a significant mystery that is very hard to crack though I am making good progress. In an attempt to identify the several mysterious elements in the beast, I find it necessary to complete my study of the third Woe. Therefore this might seem out of order but it lays important ground before we can move on.
* * *

Three Woes
are identified in Revelation 8:13; “And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.”
This tells us that whatever came in the first four trumpets are only “pre-Three Woes” (post 196), They are comparable with early labor pains only later identified as but mere cramps. At the event of their sudden coming they are significant, but they can hardly even be called labor pains by comparison of what is yet to come! Woe is a word used in scripture of very terrible things to come.

Woe 3759 ouai; a primary exclamation of grief.
* * *

The First Woe
begins in Revelation 9:1 by the blowing of the fifth trumpet.
The event of woe is identified as locust type creatures coming out of the bottomless pit (9:3) that torment all mankind with scorpion like stings. Only the saints of God who have his mark in their foreheads will be unmolested (9:3-5). Now we all know of the mark of the beast shown in Revelation 13:16-18, But here we are shown God’s preemptive action taking up that space with his own signature on his specially purposed faithful 144000 *1 (Revelation 7:4). Remember post 097 “Tattoo”?

At this point we can no longer view any life as independently undirected by the supernatural *2 as we have for so long. The corruption of Pantheism: god in everything; trees, rocks, animals, water, etc. is a perversion of the reality that the spirits of God do influence all things to His will. We began to see this in the Four Winds of post 175.
Here in Revelation our mind is seeing things spiritually and so we easily accept these as demons incongnito but neglect to see them as real. But in reality, as in all reality, these will just be bugs flying from a pit opened in the earth spewing black smoke as burning oil. It will be perfectly natural though unexplainable by science "until it is studied".
I imagine the scientists, so desperately looking for life in space, will immediately jump to the theory that these creatures came in on the burning meteor, but does it really matter to the events faced at the time?

So how does the pit get opened?
Revelation 9:1 tells us: “I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.”

Again, because we are mentally ready to read this as supernatural from the book of Revelation, we mentally dislodge this thought from reality. But in reality we see that like the winds, like the horses, like the spirits that aid or resist kings; This “star” might easily be the burning comet we saw fall only a few verses earlier in the third trumpet of Revelation 8:10 whose striking so perfectly targeted in the oil fields might result in the bursting of the earths oil reserves there causing an enormous fire of burning oil creating such inky smoke as to fulfill the events of the fourth angel of verse 12.
“And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.”
This seems probable as the fulfillment of Matthew 24:22 to protect mankind from the increased intensity of the sun (Revelation 16:8 and hidden in Matthew 13:6) and not the more commonly thought shortening of the number of days of the event of the end which are clearly numbered exactly (Revelation 11:3, Daniel 12:11-12).

The 1/3 scientific problem:
Again I want to remind you this is only speculation. It is a possible explanation of the meaning of this passage, but it really makes sense. We see that the star strike is only significant enough to affect 1/3 the earth's atmosphere not the global “nuclear winter” effect Hollywood and science has us convinced would happen, but with global winds as we know them it would indeed be utterly impossible that such an event would not spread around the globe and affect the whole planet nearly equally regardless of the actual degree of affect.
But remember, only one chapter previous the angels stopped the winds from blowing; "...I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree" Revelation 7:1-3. By our study we know these four winds are the three circulation cells and the Jet stream. Now we understand the plausibility of such a strike only affecting 1/3 of the global skies with undissipated inky smoke. In this way we finally see the possibility scientifically that as the earth rotates with a "blob" of thick smoke over an isolated 1/3 the heavens obliterating the sunlight for 1/3 the day while the other 2/3 of the day remains all but unaffected once the cloud rotates out of obstruction each day. The same goes for 1/3 the stars and 1/3 the moonlight. Scientifically I believe this is the only answer and so my speculation becomes a very real hypothesis.

So is the falling star *3 a living being identified as a “him” and given a key? temporally I don’t think so. Physically the key simply refers to such a direct hit with the necessary power to burst the pit open. Out comes the smoke naturally as a great furnace, and with it a strange bug never before seen by science. This is no impossibility; science today is finding hundreds of new species of insects every year, and those are living in our own readily accessible realm of the earth's surface!
"But bugs living on oil in the depths of the earth?"
Why not? Science has only recently found many impossible creatures living in the impossible depths of the ocean, in the impossible heat of the earths undersea vents feeding on poison to all known living creatures!
We know by scripture that these locust like creatures come out of a cavern in the earth opened by a falling star. Perhaps they were feeding on oil and only driven out by the smoke of the fire created. This is not a stretch. I will eventually show the entire Middle East will become a perpetual burning. I believe this is how it begins.

But before we completely remove the supernatural element to the event, don’t misunderstand my point.
All of life's existence is not an either or; It is not nature OR God, it is nature OF God. If you really look at life with an honest eye, you have to conclude that EVERYTHING is a miracle! These creatures are no different even though they will sure have a demonic like nature to attack man with aggression like killer bees. These bugs are only called locusts because of their similar appearance and mode of travel. They sting with the affect of scorpions, they eat no vegetation, and are described with wonderful detail in v.7-10 showing a design with iron like plates suited for such an environment.
9:11 then tells us this cloud of creatures has a king over them, and that king is the angel of the bottomless pit. I don’t see this as any different than the chariot drivers of the horse winds that cover our globe (Zechariah 6). Unlike locusts who have no king, this king is a spirit that directs them to act as they do, but man will only see it as strange instinct from a strange bug and so it is.
It is this instinct that will allow them to travel independently covering greater distances with fewer numbers.

More spiritual than that:
In Revelation 8:10 this falling star is described as “burning as it were a lamp” . Why as a lamp? To describe it’s reddish color; a muted flame unlike a regular brilliant star.
What if by happen chance this star that falls to earth opening the bottomless pit, creating a smoke that blots out 1/3 the stars.... happens to be red?
Does that ring any bells?

“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon… and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:…And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels (spirits of the locusts) were cast out with him” Revelation 12:3-4, 12:9.
Like the swine of Matthew 8:30-32, these locust bugs might now be living peacefully in their cavern and only become violent-natured when the demons cast out of heaven find a new home in them. Instead of running into the sea to drown, these swarm to loathing violence.
These pieces are fitting rather well turning a hypothesis into a genuine theory!
* * *

What’s in a name?
This Revelation 8 star has a name: “And the name of the star is called Wormwood…” Revelation 8:12

Wormwood 894 apsinthos; of uncertain derivative; wormwood (as a type of bitterness, i.e. [figuratively] calamity).

The Revelation 9 angel of the bottomless pit also has a name in verse 11; two of them: “And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.”

Abaddon 3 Abaddon; of Hebrew origin [11]; a destroying angel.
Note: [ ] (brackets), in the rendering from the KJV denotes the inclusion of an additional word in the Greek.
11 Abraam; of Hebrew origin [85]; Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch
85 ademoneo; from a derivative of adeo, (to be sated to loathing); to be in distress (of mind).
Sate: 1. To satisfy or gratify to the full, as a desire. 2. To gratify to the point of weariness or loathing; satiate.
Apollyon 623 Apolluon; active participle; a destroyer (i.e. Satan).

WOW! The angel of the bottomless pit that rules over the conduct of the locust type creatures is a destroying angel of the Abrahamic claim but with a distress of destroying to gluttony; Satan.
If that does not nail Allah perfectly, what does?

Revelation 9:5 and 10 tells us that this plague of creatures will only last 5 months, but in those five months the stings will drive men to wish to die! Can you imagine horse flies that sting like scorpions actually driven to their work by demons?! WOE!

Revelation 9:12; “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.”
* * *

But if you think 5 months of stinging bugs is the first woe, given greater significance than all the global winds not blowing, or two great celestial object impacting the earth, or the resulting plume of smoke so great it literally blocks 1/3 the light of day.... then your missing the point of the woe!
What exactly makes this the first woe?

It is only because the attack of the locusts is the first direct attack of Satan himself on the people of the earth. Satan is now among us as he arises from the bottomless pit in the form of the 12th Imam; a twisted individual of the Abrahamic lineage bent on insatiable destruction! (Revelation 17:8)
* * * * * * *

*1 What about the other believers? It seems that as with all the other wrath of Satan on mankind at this time, the believers are not immune to this blight either. Only the special ministering Jews whom God selects to do a special work will be immune. Why? So they will be free to continue the ministry of spreading the Gospel, but also as a sign from God that their message is true. (Revelation 7:3-4 + 9:4-6)

*2 We are all directed: "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" Romans 6:16

*3 A Star:
In the recent post “pre-Three Woes” I failed to adequately investigate the difference between a burning mountain and a burning star. What is a star?
Star 792 aster; probably from the base of 4766; a star (as strown over the sky), literal or figurative.
Because the scriptures make a point of identifying both these burning objects differently, we can understand by stating “star” for the one, it means something more than a burning object.
Star: …any self-luminous celestial body, exclusive of comets, meteors, and nebulae;…

Isn’t that curious. Satan’s very original sin and primary issue is his self-luminous desire: "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness..." Ezekiel 28:17 (also: Genesis 3:5).
Since we now know that the dragon Satan falls to the earth as a burning object, the scriptural use of the word star could not possibly be more accurate.
So while the first celestial body that falls into the sea in Revelation 8:8 might be nothing more than a burning meteor, the second celestial body of Revelation 8:10 is Satan himself that falls to earth as a burning great *3b star.
Just because science has not yet discovered a star of such miniature proportions that it would not utterly destroy the earth upon impact, does not mean that it does not exist!
I am going to stand confidently on scripture to say it will be an actual miniature self-luminating star that falls to earth as an asteroid does, and go further to propose that because of its lantern red color and ability to penetrate the earth to such a degree, it will be a red dwarf star (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_star).

*3b Great 3173 megas; big (literal or figurative), in a very wide application).
A very small star can still be none the less a giant object the size of a mountain. any object that size falling to earth by all means can rightly be called great, giant, or mega! but I rather think this has a secondary application as Satan was "great" indeed as THE covering cherub before he fell (Ezekiel 28:14-15).
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The 7th King

Revelation 17:10
Post 199

(For this post, please read the footnote as you go. It will help with your understanding.)

“And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.” Revelation 17:10

So who was the king of the 7th Gentile GDE?

Could this last part of the verse be identifying Mohammad himself as the “king” that founded the Islamic Caliphate? I don’t think so.
Mohammad lived from 569-632 which is 63 years (*1). That is not short enough to allow scripture to use the brevity as an identifier and in fact appears to be longer than the average man of his day.
But Isn’t Mohammad the great “king” or “power” of the 7th kingdom we now know to be the Islamic Caliphate? Many would assume so since he is the founder, and is believed to be the direct prophet of Allah very nearly deified. All the following rulers called Caliphs (*2), apparently are required to follow that which was set down by Mohammad and therefore are beneath the authority of Mohammad which is apparent by their required declaration of the faith: “There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger.”
This seems to present a conundrum in our verse of question.... until we come to the 12th Imam.
* * *

Caliph, Imam, 12th, Mahdi:
Now while a Caliph is the Islamic political leader which unifies the many factions of Islam, an Imam (*3) is the name of any of many simultaneous Islamic religious leaders (*4).
But there is only one divinely guided Imam in every age, (Think of this one Imam as the Pope, and the others as priests, and the Caliph as President and the Caliphate like the union of the United States through the Federal government.)
According to Islam doctrine there are only 12 ages, thus 12 Pope-like Imams until the world rests in peace under the rule of the 12th (*5,6) (After of course the Muslims kill or subjugate all unbelievers, [but wait for a bit before you start screaming foul, I have a surprise for you later].)
There have been 11 such Imams already come and go, and the twelfth followed the eleventh as expected.... But then suddenly disappeared; arguably hidden away by Allah to reemerge at the proper time.

“According to Twelver Shi'ite doctrine, he is an actual historical personality and is the current Imam [though still hidden] and the promised Mahdi, a messianic figure who will return with Christ. He will reestablish the rightful governance of Islam and replete the earth with justice and peace.” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Imams

I have heard more than one newscast of declarations by powerful men including the president of Iran, that the 12th Imam is now present and active. And I confess I have reason to believe that is plausible (*7), But what does this have to do with the second half of Revelation 17:10?
“…and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.”

Because the 12th Imam is expected to be of the lineage of Mohammad, father to son (or daughter?).
It is declared that the 12th Imam was a small boy named Muhammad ibn al-Hasan of the most direct line of Mohammad as the son of the 11th imam. But the boy disappeared (arguably into a well of Qom, Iran) at the age of five (*6) (this is important later).
The difficulty they face with the appearance of the 12th now, is the same problem we face expecting Jesus to fulfill the promise that king David would not lack a son to sit on the throne. But I digress.

Since the 12th Imam was the prophesied Messiah promised to bring peace to Islam and the world, This Imam has an unusual affinity with Allah as “the guided one” and therefore it must be concluded he is greater than Mohammad who did not bring peace. Whereas Mohammad (the first Adam?) began the Caliphate, it is Al-Mahdi (*9) (the second Adam?) that brings it to a fulfillment. It is this Imam who is the Al-Mahdi that is the ultimate long hoped for authority of the Caliphate Empire that continues to empower the Caliphate, though he disappeared at the age of five.
THIS 12th Imam was to be the greatest king of Revelation's 7th kingdom of the Islamic Caliphate, but he didn’t stay (continue) long; “and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.”
His early departure seemed to end all the hopes of Islam, and the Islamic empire broke up and eventually fell without seeing the promised end of peace under their promised Al-Mahdi (*8,9).
* * *

What does it all mean to us?
All this research and doctrine of Islam shows us that the five year old 12th Imam was the king referenced in Revelation 17:10, the king of the 7th Gentile GDE; the Islamic Caliphate (*10).

But that one fell and is gone…. Right?
Well not quite (more in following posts).
* * *

All that to say; The second half of Revelation 17:10 is speaking of the child Muhammad ibn al-Hasan as the 7th king that continued a short space… who will miraculously return as Al Mahdi in the next few verses of our scripture in discussion as the 8th!

But the complexities have just begun. There is still more involved regarding “the beast” that I will attempt to decipher in the following posts.
* * *

I know this post is short, but there is alot of research here I urge you to read and digest. We will continue the thought in the next post, this is profound information when viewed by our prophecy and has great significance to our further study.
* * * * * * *

(*1) Lifespan of Mohammad:
17 June 569 A.D - 632 A.D.
Total lifespan: 63 years +0 month+4days+6 hours or total 22330 days or total 535924 hours - http://informations-islam.blogspot.com/2010/09/muhammad-sallaho-alehy-wassalam.html

(*2) Caliph:
“When Muhammad died in 632, he left a political organization that was entirely centered around him. He was a political and military leader and he was the source of revelation. When political or social difficulties came up, not only would they center on Muhammad, but sometimes through revelation be mediated by Allah himself.
The central role of Muhammad left the growing Islamic polity with several difficulties. The first was the status of revelation itself—this became settled with the establishment of the definitive Qur'an . A more serious problem, though, involved the political and military succession to Muhammad. The only working model was an individual leader, but that leader had the authority of God behind him.
No-one seems to have thought very much about the succession to Muhammad before his death. No-one regarded Muhammad as divine or immortal, but no-one really considered what would happen after his death. The solution was cobbled together by the most powerful followers of Muhammad. There was disagreement—in fact, violent disagreement—between the Meccan followers of Muhammad who had emigrated with him in 622 (the Muhajirun, or "Emigrants") and the Medinans who had become followers (the Ansar, or "Helpers"). In the end, however, Muhammad's father-in-law, Abu Bakr, was named the khalifa or "Successor" of Muhammad. A new religion and a new circumstance had formed a new, untried political formation: the caliphate.” - Caliphate

“The Caliph (Turkish: Halife) is the head of State in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari’ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word Khalifah which means "successor" or "representative". Following Muhammad’s death in 632, the early leaders of the Muslim nation were called "Khalifat Rasul Allah", the political successors to the messenger of God (referring to Muhammad). Some academics prefer to transliterate the term as Khalfah.
Caliphs were often also referred to as Amir al-Mu’minin “Commander of the Faithful” Imam al-Ummah, Imam al-Mu’minn, or more colloquially, leader of the Muslims. After the first four caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan, and Ali ibn Abi Talib), the title was claimed by the Umayyads, the Abbasids, the Fatimids, and the Ottomans, and at times, by competing dynasties in Spain, Northern Africa, and Egypt. Most historical Muslim governors were called Sultans or Emirs, and gave allegiance to a caliph, but this caliph at times had very little real authority. The title has been defunct since the Republic of Turkey abolished the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924, although some individuals and groups have called for its restoration. (Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca and King of Hejaz, claimed the title briefly in 1924, and the Imams of Yemen had been using the title for centuries and continued to use the title until 1962.)” - Caliph

(*3) Imam:
“Arabic Imam, (“leader,” “pattern”), the head of the Muslim community; the title is used in the Qur’an several times to refer to leaders and to Abraham. The origin and basis of the office of imam was conceived differently by various sections of the Muslim community, this difference providing part of the political and religious basis for the split into Sunnite and Shi’ite Islam. Among Sunnites, imam was synonymous with caliph (khalifah), designating the successor of Muhammad, who assumed his administrative and political, but not religious, functions.” - Imam

(*4) Twelve Imams:
“The Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in the Twelver or Ithna-‘ashariyyah branch of Shiah Islam. According to the theology of Twelvers, the successor of Muhammad is an infallible human individual who not only rules over the community with justice, but also is able to keep and interpret the Divine Law and its esoteric meaning. The Prophet and Imams' words and deeds are a guide and model for the community to follow; as a result, they must be free from error and sin, and must be chosen by divine decree, or nass, through the Prophet. It is believed by Twelver Shi'a Muslims that the Twelve Imams were foretold in the Hadith of the Twelve Successors.
It is believed in Twelver and Ismaili Shi’ah Islam that ‘aql, divine wisdom, was the source of the souls of the Prophets and Imams and gave them esoteric knowledge called hikmah and that their sufferings were a means of divine grace to their devotees. Although the Imam was not the recipient of a divine revelation, he had a close relationship with God, through which God guides him, and the Imam in turn guides the people. The Imam was also guided by secret texts in his possession, such as al-Jafr and al-Jamia. Imamate, or belief in the divine guide is a fundamental belief in the Twelver and Ismaili Shi’i branches and is based on the concept that God would not leave humanity without access to divine guidance.
According to Twelvers, there is always an Imam of the Age, who is the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law in the Muslim community. ‘Ali was the first Imam of this line, and in the Twelvers' view, the rightful successor to the Prophet of Islam, followed by male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah Zahra. Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam, with the exception of Husayn ibn Ali, who was the brother of Hasan ibn Ali. The twelfth and final Imam is Muhammad al-Mahdi, who is believed by the Twelvers to be currently alive, and hidden until he retruns to bring justice to the world.” - the Twelve Imams

(*5) The 12th Imam of the past:
“The Mahdi in Shi’ite and Sunni (the two main sects of Islam) traditions are somewhat different as to the exact identity of al-Mahdi. The Shi'ites believe that al-Mahdi was the 12th Imam (leader) of the Shi'ite sect (the fourth Caliph, Ali, was considered the first Shi'ite Imam, followed by his sons Hasan, Hussein, and their descendents, etc). This 12th Imam, who was then a small boy, was said to have disappeared and went into occultation around 260 A.H. (874 A.D.). The Shi'ites believed that in the Last Days, he will reappear and rule the earth. In contrast, the Sunnis believe al-Mahdi to be someone to appear in the future, and do not necessarily have any special connection to the 12th Imam of the Shi'ites. Nevertheless, this is not important in our study, as our focus is on the Mahdi that is to appear and his characteristics and exploits. In this respect, there is essentially no difference in Sunni and Shi'ite versions of what he will be and what he will do.” - al-Mahdi

(*6) The 12th Imam of the past and future:
“Muhammad ibn al-Hasen al-Mahdi (born c. July 29, 869; 15 Sha’ban 255 AH) is believed by Twelver Shi’a Muslims to be the Mahdi, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imam of the Twelve Imams. Twelver Shi‘a believe that al-Mahdi was born in 869 and did not die but rather was hidden by God (this is referred to as the Occulation) and will later emerge with Isa (Jesus Christ) in order to fulfill their mission of bringing peace and justice to the world. He assumed the Imamate at 5 years of age. Some Shi‘ite schools do not consider ibn-al-Hasan to be the Mahdi, though the mainstream sect Twelvers do.” - Muhammad al-mahdi

“What your looking at in Tunisia, in Egypt, in Yemen, in Jordan, in Libya, in Bahrain, and soon, very soon in all the nations of the world, and even sooner to take place in America… is a sign that the great Mahdi that the Muslim world has been looking for is present in the world. That the Christ that you hoped for… God is stimulating the rise of the masses, and soon it will come to these shores, indeed it has already begun.”
- Lewis Farcon public speech before 18,000 people February 27, 2011 (transcribed from video of speech now scrubbed from the internet.)

(*7) Mahdi here now?
We are now hearing an ever growing number of clerics declaring that the Mahdi is now here (*7b). The fact that he is or is not, is not proven by the rise of Muslims around the world, or the many nations now falling, though these events lend to the plausibility that he is now here. My curiosity lies in another place, his first arrival;
“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.” Revelation 12:3
This verse means nothing but strange metaphors until we learn the meaning of the previous two verses;
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” Revelation 12:1-2
We have long accepted that this passage somehow represented the birth of Jesus the messiah. But only recently was it discovered by using star charting programs, that this passage describes the positioning of the stars in heaven at the time of Jesus conception, (see Post 144 "Christmas Star 2" http://when-did-reason-die.blogspot.com/2011/01/christmas-star.html).
Therefore we can use the one wonder in heaven to project meaning to the other;
Satan’s man, the Islamic Messiah, the man who came as a child but was taken away before he could complete his great work, That man the Mahdi like our messiah Jesus the Christ was granted the same kind of sign which Jesus got.
Why?
Because since the beginning Lucifer has wanted to be like God;
“For thou hast said in thine heart, …I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” Isaiah 14:13-14
God then in fairness will grant Satan all the equal opportunity to try and be like God.
In Job we saw Satan complain to God for not giving him a fair try in bringing down Job;
“Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?... But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power…” Job 1:10-12a
We see the nature of Satan is to whine about unfairness, and the nature of God to remove the obstacles in the assurance that Satan’s failure will be his own.
Satan is attempting to be like God, and he has his own version of a messiah in his Mahdi. He was granted an arrival and early departure, and a second arrival after many years, Just like Jesus. He is granted to do miracles and have prophecies, and any other comparable events he desires to ensure Jesus the Christ did not get some unfair advantage in his claim to be the King of mankind.
This is why I believe the Revelation 12:3 passage is prophesying a sign in the stars declaring the arrival of the Mahdi at his own conception back in about November 868AD [8/29/14 miscalculation corrected from 870AD] (nine months before his birth in late July 869AD, just as the stars of Revelation 12:1 declared the coming of God’s Messiah. - “The Star of Bethlehem” DVD by Rick Larson - a must have!
But we must remember; these stars of the prophesied sign came nine months before Jesus was born, and many years before his public work, and nobody was aware of them until now!
Therefore because of the timing of today’s events, I believe the signs declaring the arrival of the Mahdi have already come, but they too have been missed.
Having no star charting software I wait for someone to do the research and find the signs declared in Revelation 12:3 as I expect it to be a flaming red comet near the month of November 868, (yes I know this imagry describes a real event).

(*7b) “WASHINGTON - While most of the reporting and analysis of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at the U.N. focused on what he had to say about the West and specifically the U.S., his chilling closing remarks were lost on most listeners - and apparently all reporters...
The last two paragraphs of his remarks revealed his steadfast and driving conviction, as previously reported in WND, that a messianic figure, known as the "Mahdi" to Muslims, is poised to reveal himself after an apocalyptic holocaust on Earth that leaves most of the world's population dead. (Iran leader's U.N. finale reveals apocalyptic view, World Net Daily, Sept 21, 2006)” - Islam’s coming world leader


(*8) Mahdi:
“In Shia and Sunni eschatology, the Mahdi (Arabic: ISO 233: mahdi / English: Guided One), also Mehdi ( English: One of the Moon) is the prophesied redeemer of Islam who will stay on Earth for seven, nine or nineteen years (according to various interpretations) before the Day of Judgment (yawm al-qiyamah / literally, the Day of Resurrection) and, alongside Jesus, will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice and tyranny.
In Shia Islam, the belief in the Mahdi is a "powerful and central religious idea" and closely related to the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, whose return from occultation is deemed analogous with the coming of the Mahdi.
In Sunni traditions, there are several hadiths referring to the Mahdi.” - Mahdi

(*9) Al-Mahdi:
A bit confusing but the long awaited Al-Mahdi is the Islamic Messiah and not to be confused with the former Caliph also named Al-Mahdi 775-785 who followed Al-Mansure and preceding Al-Hadi; though my research has revealed confusing contradictions and factional variations; “Historically, there have been many Muslims who have claimed to be al-Mahdi.”
“Al-Mahdi is considered a Major Sign of the Qiyamah. This title means "the Guided One," i.e., he will be guided by Allah. It can also mean "the Gifted One," obviously in reference to the various gifts he will possess. There are many hadiths recording Muhammad's teachings about al-Mahdi. Many Muslims have also written about al-Mahdi and the accompanying signs of his coming. On the internet, one can find many articles related to his coming.
In essense, the hadiths speak of al-Mahdi as a character that is expected to appear in the Last Days, unite the Muslims and with the help of Isa (Muslim version of Jesus), conduct jihad (lit. struggle, more commonly, referring to warfare in Allah's cause) against the rest of the world. He is expected to be victorious and to usher in a new era of Islamic Caliphate. The Caliphate is the jurisdiction of the Caliph. Muslims expect this Islamic Caliphate to eventually cover the entire world as the entire world comes under Islam. He will rule for seven years, bringing in an era of "justice and equity". This is an age that many Muslims look fondly towards:” - wikipedia Al-Mahdi

(*10) Who is whacko?
We learned that the majority of Muslims are not as religiously whacked as the minority Shi’ite Twelvers who believe this guy will actually come back after hundreds of years, (as if that’s possible!) The majority are more realistically looking for their next leader whoever he turns out to be. But while we might be prone to mock them for their impossible beliefs, don’t we “serious” Christians believe the same thing of our Messiah? So the confusion continues to escalate!
Be very careful not to mock the faith you do not follow lest you find yourself mocking your own. The truth in reality will become evident in its own time, but until then we should use reason to address the issues for the purpose of challenging the perceptions of the earnest but misguided.
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[Hassane, Thank you for your comment, Please see my answer on Post 288 "A Reply" (http://when-did-reason-die.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-reply_1.html).]
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