Preface

The Declaration

I will begin by making an assumption ... that the English Bible of 1611, or any edition thereof, is the absolute, inspired word of God in the English language.

  I will not resort to the Hebrew, or to the Greek in this study, for I believe we are not one whit at disadvantage than when the Apostle Paul's epistles were being read for the first time in the presence of the Corinthian church. 

Not even the verb tense will be doubted.  For if this would be allowed, then error would creep in, or the temptation to wrest the Scripture to fit our own human experience might occur. 

We should rather have God’s word judge us, than us judging the words of THE BOOK.  Amen!

We will start now this following treatise.

Here is a universal truth that man finds so disconcerting, but yet it is so true concerning all the inhabitants living everywhere on the face of this earth: 

The Universal Truth:

This universal truth is found in the Epistle of Paul The Apostle to the Romans, in chapter five, verse twelve: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” [Romans 5:12]

There it is: The condemnation!   We come into this world as sinners … by birth.  As Hell bound sinners we will need to be saved, [if we are to escape the wrath of God] by the blood of the Lamb of God in order to receive the gift of eternal life:

Herein is the blazed path for all of us to follow, and it is located in Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans written to the saints in Rome, in chapter ten, verse thirteen: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” [Romans 10:13]

Call upon Jesus Christ!

Now, faith is the KEY to this aforementioned so great salvation only to be found in the Bible … the word of God!

Faith!

Look with me to see this KEY in the Epistle of Paul The Apostle to the Hebrews, in chapter eleven, verse six: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” [Hebrews 11:6]

Here is now, another universal truth: Not all men will come to Jesus Christ, and get saved.  

And why not?  Well, because there is always certain people in this world who have not faith. 

Now, this thing is so, because the BIBLE tells us, this thing is so.

Turn to the Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Thessalonians, in chapter three, verse two, and we read this: “And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.” [2 Thessalonians 3:2]

There you go!  Some men have not faith!  Now, who are these men?   These men are termed “unreasonable and wicked men” as defined by word of God.   This is a sad, but a true determination.  Have you ever tried to reason with somebody that is just unreasonable?

Pride

Now, these are the same people who are also filled with pride.  [Note: pride is not a good attribute.] 

More than that, these men that are filled with pride have a king over them who rules over them, whether they know it or not.   

Who is this king?  This king over these subjects is identified by name for us in the book of Job, in chapter forty-one.  He is called Leviathan.

 Leviathan

Now, we will look at him!  Verse thirty-four: “He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.”  [Job 41:34]  

Conclusion: Leviathan is no less than the Devil or Satan.

The Vulnerability 

Now, the children of pride are found to be extremely vulnerable to this father of lies.

The children of pride, as a result, are naturally given:

1.       To Lusts

2.       To Murders

3.       To Lies

Why is this so? 

Well, it is because the Devil is their father.   Father, like son!  These characteristics just run in the family!

Now, we can see these characteristics, or the plain marks, that are embedded in them by going first to the Gospel according to John, in chapter eight, verse forty-four:

“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” [John 8:44]

There is now a massive exploding epidemic of spiritual wickedness breaking out here, in the 21^st century, and it is accelerating very rapidly throughout all the nations of the earth. [Ephesians 6:12]

The Presence of the Lying Spirit

One who lies, loves to lie, and thus, loves to be lied to.  This heart condition is the general spirit of this entire age.  Man is so willing to lie, and to be lied to.   

And there is something else here: There are lying spirits present in this world.  And because this true, the visitation of a lying spirit will occur and will lead certain men [via a siren call] to their very destruction.  

King Ahab serves as a case in point. 

[Now, we will not go there for time sake, but this story is found in the First book of the Kings, in chapter twenty-two, and again in the Second book of the Chronicles, in chapter eighteen.]

The History Lesson

There is one thing we can learn from history, if we are willing to learn from history, and it’s this:

No European nation, or nor any maritime nation, has any business trying to invade any nation that is within the continent of Asia.  There isn’t one iota of common sense that would lead a man, or a nation, to try to do such a thing.  

Only a lying spirit could have a man, or a nation, to attempt such a folly to their certain destruction. 

You ask, who in history can we find, who has tried to do such a thing? 

Well, here are three men, and three nations, that were enticed by a lying spirit, and went full headlong to their very destruction within the vast land mass of the continent of Asia.

1.       Charles the XII of Sweden

2.       Napoleon Bonaparte of France

3.       Adolf Hitler of Germany

1.       Charles the XII of Sweden

Students of history will find that Sweden was at a certain time in history the great emerging power in Europe.  What happened to this emerging power?

Sweden’s power vaporized because of a decision made by its king.  The Swedish Empire [of the eighteenth century] collapsed because King Charles XII was filled with pride. 

He was a child of pride.  His pride made him very vulnerable to the King of Pride.  

Again, the children of pride are found to be extremely vulnerable to the father of lies.  The King of Pride and the Father of Lies are the one, and the same person.

Thus, we have a lying spirit convincing King Charles the XII, who is a child of pride to go invade Russia.  A very bad thing came of it.  The issuing invasion in A.D. 1708 saw the total destruction of the Swedish army.  

The invasion force of Charles suffered so greatly in the vast Steppes of Ukraine with little or no support, because of a vastly overextended supply line.  

Now, the Asian winter was approaching.  In the intense cold many soldiers succumbed to a horrible end.  The invasion of Russia became a total disaster, and it certainly spelled the end of the Swedish Empire, and it ushered the advent of Russia into the European stage as a major power.

The invasion failed because of Russia's geography, i.e., the sheer expanse, and the cruel nature of the winter in Asia.  The sheer scale of Russian land mass, and its endless Steppes proved too much for the Swedes.  

Like subsequent invaders, they struggled within the vast landscape with its harsh climate. The Swedes were inured to the Arctic weather, yet they felt extremely challenged fighting in the Ukrainian Plains.  Charles lost so many men to the extreme cold and to frostbite. 

What made it worse was that they were far, far from home, and their supplies so were scant.  Trying to live off the land was futile as the Steppes had no real population centers, and those who lived there were usually destitute.  The sheer scale of Russia brought Charles army to a state of near physical collapse.

Thus, the lying spirit sent to King Charles the XII accomplished his mission in the grinding down of thousands souls captive to Hell.  The King of Pride won.

General Rule: Do not invade from west to east.  Always go east to west in the same direction that the Gospel of Jesus Christ travelled.

Lesson: Do not invade the nation of Russia, and especially the Asian land mass, if you are a European, or a maritime nation.

2.         Napoleon Bonaparte of France

The French Empire of the nineteenth century collapsed because Napoleon was filled with pride.  He was child of pride.  His pride made him vulnerable to the king of pride.  The children of pride are found to be extremely vulnerable to the father of lies. 

Thus, a lying spirit convinced Napoleon Bonaparte, a child of pride to invade Russia.  The issuing invasion in A.D. 1812 saw the destruction of the French army.

It is another dreadful story!  The French Grand Army set out from Poland with a force of over 400,000 men, and only 100,000 men reached Moscow; and when it was all over only 10,000 men returned to France. This horrifying loss was because of one man’s pride.    Napoleon Bonaparte was a child of pride doomed to failure because he was fooled by the lying spirit.

The invasion failed, because of Russia's geography, i.e., the sheer expanse, and the cruel winter of Asia.

The lying spirit sent to Napoleon Bonaparte accomplished his mission in the grinding down of thousands souls captive to Hell.  The King of Pride won again.

General Rule: Do not invade from west to east.  Always go east to west in the same direction that the Gospel of Jesus Christ travelled.

Lesson: Do not invade the nation of Russia, and especially the Asian land mass, if you are a European, or maritime nation.

3.       Adolf Hitler of Germany

The Third Reich of the twentieth century collapsed because Adolf Hitler was filled with pride.  He was child of pride.  His pride made him vulnerable to the king of pride.  The children of pride are found to be extremely vulnerable to the father of lies. 

Thus, a lying spirit convinced Adolf Hitler a child of pride to invade Russia.  The issuing invasion in A.D. 1941 saw the destruction of the German army.

The Russian winter caused great losses for the German army, and after the Battle of Moscow, the Germans had to retreat.  The Russian winter again, crippled the Germans.   

The German haste for victory in battle severely affected them in their preparations for Operation Barbarossa.  As a result of poor planning, the Russian winter took the Germans by surprise.

The lying spirit sent to Adolf Hitler accomplished his mission in the grinding down of millions of souls captive to Hell.  The King of Pride has won, once again.

General Rule: Do not invade from west to east.  Always go east to west in the same direction that the Gospel of Jesus Christ travelled.

Lesson: Do not invade the nation of Russia, and especially the Asian land mass, if you are a European, or maritime nation.

Asia

Beware of the continent of Asia!

We need to realize something here first, and that is to get a proper perspective of the geography of Asia. 

Asia is the largest landmass on the face of this Earth.  In fact, the total area of Asia, including Asian Russia, with the Caucasian isthmus, amounts to some 17.2 million square miles, or roughly one-third of the land surface of Earth. 

The winters, the summers, and just the sheer vastness will swallow up those who are not prepared to endure the extremes to be found therein.

There is something here.  The continent of Asia is the land of the East.  The first man, and the first woman, came from the East.  The book of beginnings called Genesis records this fact:

Genesis 4:16 “And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.”

Cain went east.

Nod was east of Eden.  Nod was in Asia.  And as the descendants of Adam and Eve spread out, they moved from east to west.   [Opposite to Cain’s direction of travel!]  The book of Genesis tells us this is so, in chapter eleven, verse two:

 “And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.” [Genesis 11:2]

Shinar is west of Nod, and it is where Abraham was from. Note: Shinar is another name for Ur of the Chaldees, according to the first book of Moses, called Genesis, in chapter eleven, verse thirty-one:

“And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.” [Genesis 11:31]

The land of the people of the east

When Jacob traveled from Canaan to Ur of the Chaldees he went to the land of the people of the east:

Genesis 29:1: “Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east.”

The land of the people of the east is a land of diverse expanses, and a land of many peoples.  

Nearly one thousand years ago, in the eleventh century, the armies of the horsemen swarmed from the land of the east, and nearly conquered the known world.

The oceanic, universal ruler

These hordes of fierce horsemen had as their ruler, Genghis Khan, which meaning is the oceanic, universal ruler.

This universal ruler was a king of the people of the east.  This king had a kingdom that became the largest contiguous empire in all the history of the world. The universal ruler’s personality was one of a magnetic power, and was awe inspiring in the uniting of the many peoples in Asia.

Thus, this Genghis Khan launched the Mongol invasions that conquered most of Eurasia, and reached as far west as Poland in Europe, and the Middle East.

These campaigns were often accompanied by large-scale massacres of many people. Genghis Khan, and his immediate descendants, is rightly considered one of the fiercest of conquerors of all time.

The descendants of this universal ruler, who was a king of the people of the east, pushed from the east to the west the great Mongol Empire across most of Eurasia by large-scale slaughters of the local populations, and thus, conquered [or created vassal states] all of modern-day China, Korea, southwest Asia, central Asia, the Caucasus, and substantial portions of Eastern Europe.  They even got as far as Vienna Austria.

 In early April, A.D. 1241, in a battle in Poland, they defeated an army that is said to have included heavily armored Teutonic knights.

In December of that year, the Mongols crossed the Danube River, and approached Vienna.  Then, mysteriously to Europeans, the Mongols retreated from central Europe.   

What happened was the death of Genghis Khan’s son precipitated the melting away of the army of the hordes of horsemen of the people of the east.

The horsemen of the people of the east

Conclusion: Beware of Asia.  Beware of the armies of the horsemen of the east.

We are now ready to move forward.

The time portal opened to Jacob’s trouble

The book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ after chapter three concerns the future things to occur beyond the year A.D. 2021.  From chapter four, and on, we have a time portal opened to us, to see the things that will occur in the time of Jacob’s trouble. [See Jeremiah 30:7.]:

“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” 

Revelation chapter four, through chapter nineteen, documents the seven-year tribulation coming to this planet Earth. 

Warning!  Do not imbibe the poisoned water of the deadheaded spiritually darkened scholars of the Church of Rome, or any of its daughters, and their false doctrine, i.e. of either of Amillennialism or Postmillennialism.

Note: The Amillennialists contend that the millennium had already begun [in A.D. 70], and is identical with the current church age.  Further, Amillennialism maintains that Christ's reign during the millennium is spiritual only and not literal in nature.

Whereas, the Postmillennialists believe that the church brings in the kingdom of God, and that Christ's second coming is after the millennium, which they also, call a Golden Age, wherein Christianity reigns.

Amillennialism and Postmillennialism, both relegate the book of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ to the past, and is fulfilled in the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem. 

Fact: Unbelief in God’s words where they are found in the BOOK of God kills 100 % of the time a person’s faith in what the Spirit of God is saying to the person. 

Watch out!

The normative use versus the figurative use

Rule: Always take the literal meaning of the words of the Bible as, unless the context shows otherwise, whether figuratively, or allegorically.   

The normative use means:

1.       The straightforward,

2.       The natural,

3.       The ordinary,

4.       The usual use of the words

The normative use involves accepting words at face value.

Then, the next step is, we need to compare those words as found in Scripture, with all the instances of those words, in order to come to terms with THE AUTHOR.  The

The Bible is a self-defining, self-interpreting BOOK.  It is totally unlike all the other books in the world.  It is a supernatural BOOK.  It is a powerful BOOK!  And in fact, that BOOK is alive with its Interpreter being none other the Holy Ghost.   Do you doubt me?  

Then go ahead and see what the BOOK says about itself.  Go to the book of Hebrews, chapter four, and read verse twelve: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” [Hebrews 4:12]    See!  

That Book is alive, and is capable of teaching us what it is saying very plainly [in the English].  Here is the promise to the believer in Jesus Christ in the Gospel according to John, chapter sixteen, in verse thirteen:

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” [John 16:13]

Next, we will see God transport a man “in the spirit” to another place, and to another time … a future time to us who are living here today in the 21^st century.

Open your Bible to the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ to chapter four, verse one: “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.” [Revelation 4:1-2]

So, the Spirit of God is showing here through the Apostle John the things to occur in the future that were not fulfilled in A.D. 70.  We can thus, safely conclude the following:

Premillennialism = TRUTH

Amillennialism = ERROR

Postmillennialism = ERROR

Jesus Christ is a Premillennialist! 

Therefore, the believer in Jesus Christ ought to be a Premillennialist, and to see the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ as being primarily a prophetic Book that is pointing to future events as revealed to us by the Spirit of God in chapters four through nineteen.  We must, therefore, come and see!  

Revelation 6:1:  “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.”

Come and see!

Now, these future judgments in the seven-year Tribulation are coming to planet Earth, and are shown here, in the book of Revelation in a four-fold manner, and are concurrent events [and not sequential]. 

By the way, this is in the same established pattern of the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 

These portal views provide four different perspectives through the use of seals, trumpets and vials.

The portal views are as follows:

1.       The Seven Seal Judgments – Revelation 5-6

2.       The Seven Trumpet Judgments – Revelation 8-11

3.       The Reign of the Antichrist – Revelation 12-14

4.       The Seven Vial Judgments– Revelation 15-19

We will focus here [in this commentary] on the figure [or the portal view] of the seven-trumpet judgment.  

Revelation 8:2: “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.”