When the worst time known to man (Mat. 24:21,22) appears on the horizon and church people by the multiplied millions find themselves facing it, the False Prophet, whom I believe will be the reigning pope, will come on the scene with signs and miracles (Rev. 13:11-18) and will identify the First Beast, which I believe to be the revised Roman Empire which is today called the European Union, as the promised Biblical Messiah. This federation of European states will be led by the Antichrist, a Hitler-like character whom the False Prophet will proclaim to be the long-awaited Messiah sent by God to save the world. The prophet will perform various miracles as proof that the Antichrist is indeed the Christ. Revelation 13:11-18 warns that the prophet will exercise all the authority of the Beast government and its leader and will cause the entire world to worship him and his government. The False Prophet will make an “image” of the Beast and cause the image to “speak.” He will then force the world to worship the image (vss 13-15). Using miracles, he will deceive the world into taking the Beast’s “mark,” without which one cannot buy or sell. Only Sunday Sabbath believers will take the “mark” and be allowed to conduct commercial business. The “mark” will identify them as Beast worshipers and Sunday Sabbath keepers. God’s people will refuse to take the “mark” and will be put to death for their dedication to Him.

Because Satan has prepared the world for the universal adoption of the Sunday Sabbath by having his church system observing it since the fourth century, it will not be difficult to convince the world to make the Sunday Sabbath official. The effort has already begun. The United Nations is considering making the Sunday Sabbath mandatory for all nations within its purview. The European Union is in the process of doing so, having made Catholicism–the originator of the Sunday Sabbath and the rapture theory–its official religion as stated in its constitution.

The False Prophet, having convinced the world’s masses that he himself is the “Elijah who is to come” just before the return of Jesus Christ (Mal. 4:5/Mat. 17:1), will convince them that the Antichrist is the Biblical Messiah. But the reign of the False Prophet and the Beast government will be short (Rev. 17:10). Not long after the appearance of the Beast and the False Prophet Jesus Christ will return to earth to set up the Kingdom of God. At that time the False Prophet will turn the world against Him by accusing Him of being the Antichrist who has come to destroy their supposed messiah. It is at that time that the “battle of Armageddon” will supposedly take place. This “battle” is another of the church’s “facts” that has no basis in Scripture. The Bible says nothing about an end-time battle of Armageddon. The Valley of Megiddo is simply the staging area where the world’s two remaining armies will join forces. From there they will travel some 55 miles to Jerusalem where they will attack Jesus Christ and His resurrected saints. Hundreds of thousands of attackers will be slaughtered by the Lord in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (judgment) located just outside the city’s wall where, God says, blood will rise as high as a horse’s head (Rev. 14-20). There will be no “battle of Armageddon.”

In the midst of the Great Tribulation masses of people, many of whom will have been members of the Counterfeit Church, will realize that they have been deceived by Satan and will turn to Jesus Christ. Their refusal to take Satan’s “mark” will face the wrath of the False Prophet who will have them beheaded by the Beast government (Rev. 20:4).

In the meantime, God’s people will have been taken to a “place of safety” called “her place” as recorded in Revelation 12:6,14. Like Noah and his family during the flood, Lot and his family during the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, baby Jesus and baby Moses during the slaughter of Israelite male babies and the placing of Christians in Pella during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., God’s saints will be kept alive and protected during the Great Tribulation. Revelation 12:13-16 tells us that God’s church will be persecuted by the world-ruling powers during the time leading up to their being taken into the “wilderness” to “her place” where she will be protected. The way to the place of safety is through God’s “strait gate” and along His “narrow way” which “few” will “find” (Mat. 7:13,14). Those who choose Satan’s “wide gate” and “broad way” (Catholicism/Protestantism) will find themselves in the throes of the Great Tribulation and at the mercy of the False Prophet and the Beast government. Those who supposedly have been taken to heaven will not be looking down on the proceedings–no “rapture” will have snatched them up just in time. The rapture is a false, Satan-inspired church doctrine that has no Biblical foundation. In the following posting we will study the Words of Jesus and John to show that at no time is there a recorded “rapture” that will save the Institutional Church from the coming tribulation. Only God’s people are promised such protection. To be continued. L.J.