Lucifer’s Furious Frenzy
All who watch end-times developments presently flowing in confluence, as Jesus commanded, know that antediluvian-equivalent evil is building toward Tribulation-level corruption. If not for the comfort we find in God’s Word about prophetic utterances of gloom, the fear factor would be raging, even among the most Spirit-controlled believers.
Sadly, few folks within God’s family during these times have a clue about the rapidly metastasizing violence and wickedness in today’s world. That is, few Christians within this generation even think about the evil that is building toward the time Jesus spoke about here:
“For then shall be great tribulation such as was not from the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21).
However, the comfort God promises believers turns the fear factor into absolute assurance that the raging corruption, lawlessness, murder, and immorality will one day—perhaps at any moment—no longer concern those in God’s family:
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
And the proof that this promise is for the comfort of believers of our generation is given in the next thing the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write:
“Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18).
Another sort, an entirely different kind of proof, if not for the above promise, would, if people truly understood what’s going on, terrorize and torture to the point of heart failure. But the proof I’m referring to can’t be seen with our physical eyes. It must be discerned only through spiritual eyes that can peer into the dimension inhabited by the powers and principalities of Ephesians 6:12.
A recent email I received from a friend who posts regularly on Rapture Ready News, and who stays in touch to provide me with news of possible prophetic import, gives significant insight. Mark, who has such spiritual eyes for discerning these matters, speaks, indirectly, to a prophecy that will, at a time during the Tribulation, greatly accelerate the serpent’s final assault on God’s chosen nation and on all of humanity left behind after the Rapture of the Church.
The world is not yet in that horrendous era but is heading toward that time of Daniel’s seventieth week and Jacob’s trouble at breakneck speed.
Here is what is scheduled during the middle of that Tribulation.
I refer to Revelation 12, where we read that Lucifer–Satan—is ejected from the heavenlies for the final time. He comes to earth, the prophecy says, with great fury. The prophecy further says, “Woe unto those who inhabit the earth, because he knows he has but a short time.”
We often note in these commentaries that we are not yet in the time of Tribulation but are witnessing the stage being set for it.
Mark, I believe, has correctly surmised exactly the situation we’ve witnessed in the unbelievably evil attack that was launched on Israel on October 7 and the world’s sudden turning against the attacked, Israel, rather than the attacker, which is comprised of many of the nations of Islam.
Mark writes the following:
“As I peruse all the stories online about hatred of the Jews and its insane intensity against them, I must say that I’m appalled by the level of Satanic ferocity being displayed against them, especially in Europe and the United States. And particularly at institutes of higher learning.
It is as though Satan himself has become unhinged in his preoccupation with his desire to kill every Jew in the world. I do believe that part of his insane rage is due to the “restraining” by the Restrainer and the Adversary not being able to progress with his scheme for global rule and total destruction of Israel and all of Jewry, but having to accede to the limitations placed on him by our Father in Heaven.”
Indeed, Lucifer, the old serpent, must, because of God’s restraint against his insane intentions, be angry beyond all understanding of those who aren’t spiritually tuned in to what’s really going on in these closing days of this Age of Grace. And, no doubt, that enragement is bound to grow the nearer the time of the Tribulation approaches.
But for the Christian who studies the whole Word–including Bible prophecy—spiritually discerning that approaching storm that will usher in the King of all Kings shouldn’t cause fear but assurance of a future as bright as all of Heaven’s glory.
The Rapture of all believers will instantaneously separate us from all judgment and wrath that will deal with Lucifer’s furious frenzy and with the anti-God evil of this fallen sphere. Here is how to be a part of that coming instantaneous separation.
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
–Terry
Things Are Not as They Appear :: By Jonathan Brentner
We live in the shadow of the midnight hour. As the hostilities in the Middle East escalate and capture the world’s attention, other telling signs of the last days slip by unnoticed by most people.
According to Prophecy News Watch, “The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a final agreement this week on the establishment of ‘European Digital Identity Wallets,’ the first central and fully digital identification system for all Europeans.” When later combined with Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), this will surely pave the way for antichrist’s mark of the beast at the midpoint of the Tribulation.
The increasing number and severity of earthquakes speak to God’s intention to shake the world with His wrath during the Day of the Lord (Hebrews 12:25-29; Isaiah 24:19-20; Revelation 6:12).
We currently see abundant precursors to the conditions that will exist after the Rapture of the church, especially those that John describes in Revelation 6:1-8. How much longer can it be until the world feels the full weight of these judgments?
Things in our world may look dire at the moment, but God’s Word tells us that they are not as they appear to be. And this is encouraging and joyous news for those of us who belong to the Savior.
We will begin with the unseen realities regarding our status as saints. The Apostle John also alludes to these in 1 John 3:1 as he writes about Jesus’ appearing:
“See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we would be called children of God; and we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him” (LSB).
We belong to God’s family; we are His beloved “children.” People outside of Christ cannot recognize our true identity as dear members of God’s family because they do not know Him.
Even though our adoption is complete in God’s eyes, it remains hidden from sight because we have yet to fully experience it. This happens at the time of the Rapture when we also receive our immortal bodies.
“And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23).
In 1 John 3:2-3, the apostle uncovers more of our unseen identity in Christ:
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
The truths contained in 1 John 3:2-3 provide considerable comfort during the turbulent times that surround us. The apostle’s words emphasize that things are most certainly not as they seem:
- We know that our future glorified bodies will be immortal and free from all sickness and the effects of aging, but that is quite different from what we experience since, as John says, “what we will be has not yet appeared.”
- We now walk with Jesus by faith, but there is coming a day when we will see Jesus “face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12) or, as the apostle writes, “we shall see him as he is.”
- We are currently “holy and blameless” in God’s sight (Ephesians 1:4). At the moment of the Rapture, however, this will become our eternal experience as we see Jesus and become “like him.”
The same is true for the world during the perilous times in which we live.
For the moment, it seems as though Satan and the globalists are winning as they use chaos, violence, death, and destruction in order to bring about their cherished one-world government.
The reality, however, is far, far different.
The devil’s minions will succeed for just a short while. They are filling up the cup of God’s wrath that He will pour out upon them in full measure (Psalm 75:6-8). As such, these elite powerbrokers are on the verge of destruction. This will happen during the Day of the Lord when the horrors that the Apostle John describes in Revelation chapters 6-18 come upon the world and the Lord destroys Satan’s kingdom.
What is the comfort amid the shocking news of our day? It is what we see with our eyes of faith despite the violence, wickedness, and violence that rages around us. It is what we believe about our true identity, as revealed in the New Testament.
The Apostle Paul wrote the following about our unseen hope:
“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24-25).
We know that when Jesus appears, we will meet Him in the air with incorruptible bodies and experience joys and wonders beyond what we can now imagine. The righteousness we already possess will be our forever experience. The Rapture is not just a side issue; Paul says it is the “hope” in which “we were saved.”
Things are most definitely not as they appear, and we praise the Lord for that!
-Jonathan