Isaiah 23 and Revelation 18

Ezekiel’s prophecy called Tyre the home of Lucifer,

“Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; …: Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee…. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.” (Eze. 28:2,3,13-17).

It shouldn’t be confusing to interpret Tyre as both the papacy and the devil in charge of it. We learn that Revelation’s Beast did not operate alone, but, had a higher guidance and inspiration for its acts of terror—the dragon, “Satan” (Rev. 12:9). Just as other enemies of God were not on auto-pilot, but had an overlord, i.e. Persia and “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” (Dan. 10:13). Likewise, Greece and “the prince of Grecia” (vs. 20), and so has every city-sate/empire. Isaiah 14 speaks of the king of Babylon, but then describes Satan. Could the same be said of New York City or Washington, DC? Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Moscow, Beijing, Berlin, London, etc.? One day, could the same be said of America, Russia, China, Germany, England, etc? Didn’t Satan say, “All this power [‘all the kingdoms of the world’ (vs. 5)] will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me…. ” (Luke 4:6).

Isaiah’s chapter 47 prophecy against Babylon was one of Christ’s templates for John’s prophecy of the final world empire. The other was Isaiah 23 against Tyre, which has a time prophecy and is more chronologically descriptive. So, we will look at that today.

What more can we learn about events that will happen during the exaltation of the abomination of desolation? How can Tyre reveal the mysteries of the apocalyptic Babylon of Revelation 17, 18 that describe the world before Jesus returns?

Apocalyptic Prophecies of Revelation	The  Humbling,  Local Prophecies of Tyre	Explanation Of Apocalyptic Prophecies	Explanation Of  The Humbling,  Local Prophecies	Extra Explanation
Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.  Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.  Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; Rev 12:15  And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.  Rev 12:16  And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.	Eze. 28:2,3 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God.). Isa 23:6  Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle.  Isa 23:7  Is this your joyous city [Tyre], whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn [the inhabitants will travel into captivity on foot].  Isa 23:8  Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?	Protestant America conquered the Catholic Papacy’s control of the world’s wealth through free trade rather than through despotic provincial/monarchical aggressor action. Protestantism would maintain its dominance over Rome, “the joyous city”, “the crowning city”, from 1800 to 2000, the length of the Protestant American empire. But, after 70 years of Jesuit suppression, in 1773, a major change would take place in Protestant thought. They have been granted a 200+ year probation in their refuge continence, rejecting the Lord’s messengers John and Charles Wesley’s message of distinct steps to salvation, Samuel Morse’s warning of papal inroads through the St. Leopold Foundation, William Miller’s message of apocalyptic prophecy, and finally Ellen White’s message of sanctification and the sealing. In essence the Protestant churches rejected their holy Bible. They were too intent on living for this world. 1843 was the 70 year point after the Vatican retired the Jesuits. Satan’s response: Jesuit assassination of the pope and change of name from Jesuit to Illuminati, France’s Reign of Terror, Austria’s totalitarian king/Jesuit’s St. Leopold Conspiracy against America, America’s Civil War, WWI and WWII, Russia’s Communist Bolshevik Revolution, Germany’s Hitler, Communism in China, dictators in Spain, North Korea, North Viet Nam, Cuba, Argentina, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Uganda, movements in Europe and  North America for socialist governments, a soon WWIII	Nebuchadnezzar conquered the whole land of Canaan, Egypt, and Lydia (modern day Turkey, the home of the Assyrian empire). Tyre was in Canaan, and was reaping its portion on the Fertile Crescent at the far end of from Nebuchadnezzar’s home, Babylon. By attacking and occupying Tyre’s position on the Mediteranean, he gained both profits from the world-wide traffic passing overland through the Fertile Crescent. “Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he [Nebuchadnezzar] brought it [Tyre] to ruin.” (Isa. 23:13).This would continue for the 70 year life of the Babylonian Empire.	Why was Tyre (and Babylon) called “the joyous city”? Why was Nineveh, destroyed at the same time as Tyre, also called by a similar description, “the rejoicing city”? “This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me.” (Zeph. 2:15). And Jerusalem seems to be destroyed for the same condemnation of Tyre. “I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.” (Zeph. 1:12). “But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.” (Isa. 57:3). The Jews were the sons of Jerusalem (see Isa. 51:17,18), and were called the children of Jerusalem, the sorceress also being called Tyre, (see 1Ki_11:5; 1Ki_11:33; 2Ki_23:13.
	Isa 23:8  Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth?  Isa 23:9  The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth.	Tyre went from “joyous city,” (Isa 23:7) to “thou oppressed virgin”. “Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin” (Isa 23:12 ). “Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength [Tyre] is laid waste.” (Isa. 23:14). The Lord raised up Protestant America to stain the pride of every high priest of the Vatican and to use peace and liberty to bring the world’s wealth to America. The USA became the mart of the nations—the New York Stock Exchange, and the city of refuge to woo the despotized people from around the globe. We have garnered as many caches of gold as had Neo-Babylon. But, today we are following the same decline as it did anciently. We are no longer the head of gold because we have lost Nebuchadnezzar’s heart of gold. “Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.” (Isa. 23:16). Symbolic Tyre is already singing again and calling to all her former merchants to again traffic her wares, i.e. not only the world’s products and services, but “the slaves [‘bodies’], and souls of men” (Rev. 18:13), and carving up America for gain.	The Lord raised up Nebuchadnezzar to stain the pride of every proud and great one of personage in Tyre, and to bring into contempt all the wealthy magnates ruling the shipping lanes between Zidon, Chittim, and Tarshish in the Iberian peninsula (that became Spain). He controlled all the wares from the British Isles through the Mediterranean and over the Fertile Crescent to the Orient. “Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength [Tyre] is laid waste.” (Isa. 23:14). Has protestant America achieved the same power and wealth by the blessing of Jehovah, to rob Satan of his favored earthly political power of the most ancient times, and his beloved Ashtoreth? Is this why the Vatican so desires to have back such wealth and power?	Nah 3:1  Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not;…  Nah 3:4  Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts. (Nah. 3:4, cf Rev. 2:22,23)
	Isa 23:10  Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is [Tyre has] no more strength.  Isa 23:11  He stretched out His hand over the sea, He shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof.  Isa 23:12  And He said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest.	In 1798 with the Catholic Papacy and, again after probation closes, the New Age Jesuit Papacy + the United States of Christian America Law Enforcement for the New World Order, dries up. “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.” (Rev. 16:12).		Nah 3:5  Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.… Nah 3:15  make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.  Nah 3:16  Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth, and flieth away.  Nah 3:17  Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day…. Nah 3:18  Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them.  Nah 3:19  There is no healing of thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the hands over thee: for upon whom hath not thy wickedness passed continually?
and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.   Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.  Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.  Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; …  Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast,	Isa 23:15  And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.  Isa 23:16  Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. Isa 23:17  And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.	So, yes, the papacy went down hard because the Lord raised up Protestant America. But after civil America and apostate Protestantism run their course, in Belshazzar fashion, then “the LORD will visit [a Protestant-Rome papacy let out of the bottomless pit in the fifth and sixth trumpets], and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.” Despotic Christendom will sing again and gather in all the ill-gotten wealth and power that the Lord took from her. “While they [Protestants] are bent upon the accomplishment of their purpose [in the work of Sunday exaltation], Rome is aiming to re-establish her power, to recover her lost supremacy.” GC 581.1 “They [Protestants by securing for themselves the institutions and usages of the church the support of the state] are opening the door for the papacy to regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she has lost in the Old World.” GC 573.1	Isa 24:16  But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.  Isa 24:17  Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.  Isa 24:18  And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.  Isa 24:19  The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.  Isa 24:20  The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.  Isa 24:21  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.  Isa 24:22  And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.	Jdg 18:7  the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.  Tyre existed also from ancient times. “Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days?” (Isa 23:7).
Rev 18:1  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.  Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.  Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.  Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.  Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.			Isa 24:16  From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.  Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.  Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.  Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:  Rev 18:12  The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.  Rev 19:12  His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.  Rev 19:13  And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.  Rev 19:14  And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.  Rev 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.  Rev 19:16  And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.  Rev 19:17  And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;  Rev 19:18  That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.  Rev 19:19  And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.  Rev 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.		Luk 21:25  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;  Luk 21:26  Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.	Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:  Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night,	Isa 24:1  Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.  Isa 24:3  The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.  Isa 24:4  The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.  Isa 24:5  The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.  Isa 24:11  There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone.  Isa 24:12  In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.  Isa 24:14  They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea.  Isa 24:15  Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
Rev 21:3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  Rev 21:4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.  Rev 21:5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.	Isa 23:18  And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.	Dan 2:34  Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.  Dan 2:35  …and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. Isa 25:2  For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.… Isa 25:6  And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

What does the Bible say about gun control?

“For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.” (Isa. 9:5).

America has an amazing system of government. The U.S. Constitution is a document like no other for balance of power, disconnection from religion, for rights of the people, for power of government residing in the governed.

The second amendment of the Bill of Rights gives the people the right to bear arms, or to carry a fire-arm. The purpose of this freedom wasn’t for the right to hunt—that was already a right. Much more than today, hunting was a staple in the 1700s. The second amendment was for protecting the people from a run amuck dictatorship government. Everyone had guns in those days, and the right to carry a weapon would create a real discouragement for a dictator to send armies throughout the land. Even today, a dictatorship doesn’t come about in any country until the dictator removes all weapons from the masses. The dictatorship would be entrenched in a stalemate against the people if the people had fire arms and ammunition. But, the second amendment is under fire now, and I suspect one day it will be rescinded. Not too long ago some government department ordered a million rounds of ammunition.

https://offgridsurvival.com/dhsammopurchase/

“The Department of Homeland Security has placed yet another solicitation for millions of rounds of ammunition. Late last year we outlined a number of large ammo purchases from DHS, including one for 750 million rounds of high-power ammunition and another large-scale procurement of 450 million rounds of .40 caliber hollow point ammo from Alliant Techsystems.

The newest bid for ammo requests 10 million .40 caliber 165 Grain, jacketed Hollow point bullets; 10 million 9mm 115 grain, jacketed hollow points; and 1.6 million 9mm ball bullets. That means in the last 10 months, the department of Homeland security has requested over  1.625 billion rounds of ammunition.”

Such a situation shows how a constitutional right can remain in place, yet due to a political maneuver, that right can be essentially nullified.

Should the issue of Constitutional gun rights vs. government undercutting gun rights be of concern to a Christian? Should a person fight for that right who is looking for and hastening the coming of the day of Jesus Christ in power and great glory? Pardon the pun, but this is probably a loaded issue full of incendiary filibusters.

Nevertheless, the Bible has much counsel for this subject.

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light: 

Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” (1Pet. 2:9-11).

Before we look more closely at this text, just as an aside, might the phrase, “shew forth the praises of Him” hark back to 2Chron. 20:15,17? “Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s…. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.”

So what did Jehoshaphat do? With great comfort and confidence from the words of Jehovah’s prophet, he did an astonishing thing. He put singers, instead of archers, in front of the armies of Israel.

“And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. 

And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high. 

And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper. 

And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for His mercy endureth for ever.” (2Chron. 20:18-21).

What else does Peter say that might steer the Christian away from gun use? Wouldn’t “a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” give the strong impression that we have been called out of darkness to function as priests, holy and different from the rest of the common world?

I’ve had this discussion with a friend and he objected with Luke 22, verses 36 and 38.

“Then said He [Jesus] unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one^(G3162). 

For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in Me, And He was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning Me have an end. 

And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords^G3162. And He said unto them, It is enough.” (Luke 22:36-38).

I am surprised to find that the swords Jesus apparently approved of were the same size weapon that the Roman soldiers carried as they policed the whole empire.

“For he [the ruler/magistrate] is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword^G3162 in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” (Rom. 13:4).

But, my question about Luke 22:36 is, Why then did Jesus say in Luke 22:35 that when He sent the disciples out during His ministry, they were not to take a sword? Did a sword misrepresent His mission as the Holy One/ Messiah? Would carrying swords have given the wrong impression to a nation that had long been chomping at the bit to rise up against the Roman soldiers and to overthrow the empire?

“At the time of the birth of Christ the nation was chafing under the rule of her foreign masters, and racked with internal strife. The Jews had been permitted to maintain the form of a separate government; but nothing could disguise the fact that they were under the Roman yoke, or reconcile them to the restriction of their power.” Desire of Ages, p. 30.

Wouldn’t swords have forced the Roman military to suspect a rising sedition and to promptly end Christ’s ministry? Howbeit, Christ never needed a sword for His work, and never resorted to earthly weapons. His weapons of war were not “carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (2Cor. 10:4,5).

Neither did Jesus “wrestle … against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph. 6:12).

Given all of the above, swords need to be out of the question during Christ’s ministry to reconcile the hallowed Father and the unholy human race. When one looks at the grand theme of redemption from Genesis to Revelation and takes in the scope of a heavenly sanctuary for the dispensation of the Spirit of God for our rebirth, where does an earthly toy have a place in the continuing work of the Messiah, the God of His grand universe, and the great controversy between Christ and Satan?

From heaven’s perspective, what changed between Christ’s two ministries, His 3 ½ year earthly ministry and His 2,000 year heavenly ministry since He ascended to the heavenly sanctuary? Should earth’s perspective of warfare enter into the equation? If Jesus taught His disciples that he who saves his life shall lose his life, then, after Jesus left the earth, should His disciples have renounced that lesson, and donned swords?

“Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.” (Matt. 16:24,25).

Should the above principles cease to be central to the gospel?

“Likewise also the chief priests mocking Him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.” (Matt. 27:41,42). What if Jesus had saved Himself? Would there be any hope for the human race? No. He could not save Himself because His single greatest desire was to save us from our sins.

Jesus could have called on 12 legions of angels, none bearing their swords in vain. But that would have ended the plan of salvation and given Satan the victory over the human race.

Then, why did Jesus, the God of the Old Testament, authorize Israel to bear a sword.

“They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.” (Neh. 4:17,18).

“Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: my goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and He in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.” (Ps. 144:1,2).

“It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. 

He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places. 

He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.” (Ps. 18:32-24).

But, the next verses shows that David wasn’t a warmonger.

“Thou hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation: and Thy right hand hath holden me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me great.” (Ps. 18:35).

“Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar! 

My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. 

I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war.” (Ps. 120:5-7).

Joab couldn’t conceive of such an army of war and peace, of deterrence being the motive for war. He was a warmonger and thrived on killing, finally ending his long career as destroyer by an early death. See 1Kings 2:30-34.

Solomon knew his father, and the mixture of truth and grace in his father’s heart that enabled David to make correct international policy and right decisions in state and religion matters.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:... 

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;…

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;…

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.” (Ecc. 3:1,2,3,5,8).

Yet, even with Solomon’s balance of justice and mercy, there was an extra leaning to the side of mercy. Being that we have all been “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3) and all naturally tending to vengeance, we would all do well to adhere to this bit of wisdom:

“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” (Prov. 16:32).

Sword bearing was seen in godly men such as the judges of Israel, even by Samuel when Saul lost the ability to render due justice upon the malicious Amalekites.

“Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.” (1Sam. 15:32,33).

But, is Samuel’s use of justice and vengeance different from the cry we hear today of a potential, future run a muck dictator that would require a need for the second amendment? Is today’s defense of the second amendment along the same lines of the work that Oliver Cromwell did in England to free his Protestant nation from popish rule? Samuel’s dispensing of justice was an act of the state, not of an individual. Do you have the qualifications for the act of executing an enemy that Samuel had. How many of the present generation of baby-boomers and gen-Xers have his qualifications? Our Protestant nation is fearfully corrupted and weakened, and swaying, soon to fall over drunken.

True, the U.S. Constitution is already in the throes of being overthrown. We have already lost half of the Bill of Rights, haven’t we? Should we take up arms, take over the government, and clean up our society and government actions in Cromwell style, who said, “Keep your faith in God, but keep your powder dry”?

Should we turn our farm implements into weapons and bring on Armageddon?

Would that really fix our problems as happened for the early judges and King David, or would we end up worse off than the later Israel did under the supposed “holy” Maccabean Revolt—with a Roman crackdown such as we have never seen?

When a people are no longer worthy to defend their constitution

“How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!” (2Sam. 1:27).

“For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood.” (Isa. 9:5).

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 

And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. 

And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.…

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 

And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” (Gen. 6:5-7,11-13).

Anarchy, chaos, violence, cruelty, self-indulgence, selfishness, self-exaltation, giant intellect for committing the greatest evil and calculating the most grievous of tortures. These are the words that describe the end of the pre-flood race of Adam made in God’s image.

“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 

They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 

But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 

Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” (Luke 17:26-30).

Jesus prophesied of a repeat of the antediluvian giants of evil.

Americans have a Bill of Rights. It contains special liberties guaranteed to every citizen. Those freedoms have exalted America in the world. It has made us a powerful nation with a powerful draw to the people every other nation, especially from the Jesuit created, despotic countries. But, freedom is a privilege that God gives to those who obey Him. Obedience to God leads to self-sacrificing love for Him and His family. His privileges go to a nation that has His Law written in their hearts, to a people who have suffered for His name, and have surrendered to His condemnation and grace. Thus, they receive His gift of a new heart and of His Spirit newly quickening their dead spirit. They receive the “Spirit of His Son”, crying, “Abba, Father.” (Gal. 4:6). They receive the Word made flesh, Jesus in Spirit, through His holy Writ. The principles of righteousness are imparted and infused into their characters. They rise to walk in newness of life. They represent Him in all that they think and say and do. They glorify God through their Lord Jesus Christ, individually, and especially in a group.

“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Prov. 14:34).

But, few among Protestant America have really had this experience, and the remnant of Protestant America is growing very small. Therefore, but few today are worthy of the privileges promised to the sons of God. Protestant America is definitely repeating the history of ancient Israel.

We, as a nation, have betrayed our God of the Reformation. We have left His righteous Law and religion and Holy Scriptures, and have followed after the ways of the heathen, especially Catholic Europe. God is no respecter of persons or of nations. If His people fail to uphold His righteousness in the earth, then He takes away their privilege of self-government. That is what He did in the past, and it is what He is doing today to Protestant America.

His warnings to the northern kingdom of Israel:

“Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 

And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 

What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 

And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 

And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.” (Isa. 5:1-7).

“And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 

Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 

Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 

And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. 

But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.” (Isa. 6:9-13).

“The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria. 

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 

And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.” (Isa. 7:17-19).

His warning to the southern kingdom of Judah:

“The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew Me not: the pastors also transgressed against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. 

Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children’s children will I plead. 

For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. 

Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but My people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. 

Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. 

For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.…

Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that My fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts….

Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto Me? 

For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me, saith the Lord GOD.” (Jer. 2:8-11,19,21,22).

“The LORD said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king, Hast thou seen that which backsliding Israel hath done? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. 

And I said after she had done all these things, Turn thou unto Me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 

And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 

And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 

And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto Me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.” (Jer. 3:6-10).

“For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against Me, saith the LORD…. 

Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. 

Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. 

And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.” (Jer. 5:11,15-17).

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” (Dan. 9:24).

Both northern and southern kingdoms of Israel were severely punished, and eventually cut off. Yet, for centuries the Lord Jesus remonstrated with each kingdom. With mercy He anew set the old boundaries again and again. But, to no avail.

“What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? 

As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. 

Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. 

But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, 

And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour’s wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman, 

And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment; 

He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man, 

Hath walked in My statutes, and hath kept My judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.” (Eze. 18:2-9).

“If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things, 

And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour’s wife, 

Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination, 

Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? He shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.” (Eze. 18:1-13).

“But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 

All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. 

Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?” (Eze. 18:21-23).

We, Protestant Americans, were a righteous nation during our difficult colonial days. We grew up on the King James Bible. An abundance of idiomatic expressions from that Version are, to this day, still used in our conversations: Job’s “skin of my teeth”; the prodigal son home again, “safe and sound”; Balaam falling “flat on his face” before the angel with drawn sword; Jesus in the garden praying “a stone’s throw” distance from His disciples; etc. Although so many millions of atheists hate to acknowledge it today, these phrases are a witness against them of a holier time in American history.

The Lord rewarded the Protestant colonialists with peace and protection. Have we recognized that divine act of love? Or have we done like atheistic Israel in the past? The reward of peace and protection has continued down to our generation not due to our cleverness and technology, but because of the faithfulness of our forefathers to the living God.

“For the LORD’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. 

He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. 

As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: 

So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. 

He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; 

Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.” (Deut. 32:9-14).

But, the whole tone turns after the 14th verse of Deuteronomy 32.

“But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation….” (Deut. 32:15).

“When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.” (Eze. 18:24).

That curse that was pronounced upon Israel is about to be pronounced upon America.

 “But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 

They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they Him to anger. 

They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. 

Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. 

And when the LORD saw it, He abhorred them, because of the provoking of His sons, and of His daughters. 

And He said, I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. 

They have moved Me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked Me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. 

For a fire is kindled in Mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. 

I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend Mine arrows upon them. 

They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. 

The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. 

I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men.” (Deut. 32:15-26).

When a nation no longer orders its operations aright then it can no longer responsibly receive God’s gifts. Whenever a people that He has graciously brought to Himself and raised it up to be a blessing and to glorify Him in the world, and then their later generations find pleasure only in the gifts of God without being a blessing, then that nation no longer deserves the privileges and gifts of God. The priveleges come and go with the responsibilities. This doesn’t make them slaves to His every whim, because all that He asks to bring Him glory is to love each other and to respect and take care of each other.

This was the case with ancient Israel. Sacred history is plain for any honest soul to see that God took away every right even the right of national sovereignty. He took away every privilege and gift, even the gift of life. He removed their right to defend, their right to fight. The dispossessing of blessings was not an instant, out of the blue, event. Jehovah gave the people many warnings and appeals through men who endangered their lives to give those messages. Many prophets lost their lives. But, they were glad to pour out their heart that if it might turn their beloved nation back to their Creator and Redeeming King.

It took centuries and generations before the Lord brought His punishment against them. He removed their privileges slowly, always with many warnings of more privileges to go away. But, those warnings were very descriptive of the punishment that still lingered. And they were not empty threats. They always eventually arrived. In the case of Isaiah’s day, the ruthless Assyrians came down and took away the child sacrificing, wicked northern kingdom of Israel. A century later, after Jeremiah’s long ministry of condemnation and warning, the Babylonians came against the Jews for all the wickedness they copied from their northern brethren and their neighboring cousin nations. He calls it His strange act because it was long in coming and because punishment and desolation are not commonly His action, neither is it ever His pleasure.

“Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death [flagrant transgression of every holy statute], and with hell are we at agreement [spiritualism and necromancy]; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: 

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a Stone, a tried Stone, a precious Corner Stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. 

Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 

And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. 

From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. 

For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. 

For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act. 

Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth. 

Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.” (Isa. 28:15-23).

After Moses, almost a thousand years of grace passed before they had learned of Jehovah’s readiness to police His holy land.

“Ye shall keep My sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD. 

If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them; 

Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 

And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. 

And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. 

And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 

And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 

For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish My covenant with you. 

And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. 

And I will set My tabernacle among you: and My soul shall not abhor you. 

And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people. 

I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.” (Lev. 26:2-13).

A beautiful picture painted of the children of Israel and of colonial America! But, would they, would we, hold the beginning of our confidence in Jesus steadfast to the end? Is Protestant America keeping faith today? No. We have broken our covenant with Him. Therefore, the curses from the past abide on our heads.

“But if ye will not hearken unto Me, and will not do all these commandments; 

And if ye shall despise My statutes, or if your soul abhor My judgments, so that ye will not do all My commandments, but that ye break My covenant: 

I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 

And I will set My face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. 

And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. 

And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass: 

And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. 

And if ye walk contrary unto Me, and will not hearken unto Me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. 

I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate. 

And if ye will not be reformed by Me by these things, but will walk contrary unto Me; 

Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. 

And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of My covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 

And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied. 

And if ye will not for all this hearken unto Me, but walk contrary unto Me; 

Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. 

And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. 

And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. 

And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours. 

And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. 

And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. 

Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. 

As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. 

And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth. 

And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 

And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 

And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. 

If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against Me, and that also they have walked contrary unto Me; 

And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: 

Then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. 

The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised My judgments, and because their soul abhorred My statutes.” (Lev. 26:14-43).

It is not without a massive storm of punishment from our old enemy from the Dark Ages, who proved itself the enemy of Jesus. We have returned to the enemy of God, thus making ourselves God’s enemy. What will God do with His sworn enemy? He will let that enemy on the banks of the Tiber River take over the country that He gave us for the Protestant faithfulness of the 16th century. We have for a long time warranted punishment such as Judah and Israel received from the Lord’s hand. Protestant America is the descendant of the mighty and holy people of the Bible, “remnant of her seed” (Rev. 12:17).

“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.

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. … 

 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. 

And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” (Rev. 12:1-3,5,6).

“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 

 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 

And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 12:14-16).

But, before Jesus would come, Protestant America’s hold on God would be severely tempted during the 150 year first woe. A few years after 1844, the ground zero for faith Bible truth would be attacked, the seal of God would be given to Protestants or the mark of the Beast, while fifth trumpet would blow. And then the Jesuit locusts would continue its blitz of corruption against every facet of life for Protestantism’s full and final departure during the sixth trumpet, second woe. The sign of the mark would be the fifth trumpet’s torment, and the sixth trumpet’s fire and smoke and brimstone, the wrath of God.

“And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.…

These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. 

And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 

And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.” (Rev. 11:3,6-8).

Because of our infidelity with our God, we are dead of faith and dead of righteousness. Unbelief, atheism, has left us tortured in mind, body, and soul, even in the churches. Every kind of over-the-counter or under-the-counter substance has been tried to remedy our loss of God’s Spirit, “the Spirit of His Son, whereby we cry Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6).

We are no longer blessed of God.  We are no longer authorized to fight our enemy because God has is raised up our enemy for correction.

“For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.” (Hab. 1:6,7).

“Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.” (Hab. 1:12).

But only those who will not fight will not die.

“He that abideth in this city [instead of surrendering to the Babylonian army] shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.” (Jer. 21:9).

“Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.” (Jer. 38:2).

“For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.” (Jer. 37:10).

Such a message to the stiff necked  people of Judah was anathema.

“Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.” (Jer. 38:4).

“Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you. 

Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.” (Jer. 38:5,6).

So, all the men died who fought Nebuchadnezzar’s mighty army, and the rest were taken captive, and enslaved. But, difficulty of the Lord’s correction was providentially tailored to each Jewish heart’s surrender to His punishment. Some ended up in the court of Nebuchadnezzar.

How will we choose? Life being preyed upon, or death? Remember the words of Jesus:

“Though ye had smitten the whole army of the [Vatican/Jesuit shadow government] that [fights] against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this [United States of America old world order] with fire.” (Jer. 37:10).

“And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of My covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 

And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.” (Lev. 26:25,26).