July 8, 2003 ©Homer Kizer
False Prophets
The prophet Amos records, "Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secrets to his servants the prophets" (3:7) -- and judging from the number of individuals who purport to know what God has revealed, there cannot possibly be any mystery left in the mysteries of God. But the prophet Ezekiel wrote, "The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying; say to those who prophesy out of their own imaginations: 'Hear the word of the Lord!'" (13:1-2).
And YHWH proceeded to condemn them:
Alas for the senseless prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. You have not gone up into the breaches, or repaired a wall for the house of Israel, so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord. They have envisioned falsehood and lying divination; they say, "Says the Lord," when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word! Have you not seen a false vision or uttered a lying divination, when you have said, "Says the Lord," even though I did not speak? (Ezek 13:3-7)
Prophets of God are to repair the walls of the house of Israel so the house might stand on the day of the Lord; the false prophets do not repair these walls. Rather, these false prophets mislead Israel, "saying, 'Peace,' when there is no peace" (v. 10). And because they prophesy without being sent, they shall not enter the land of Israel. They shall have their names cut off from the rolls of this holy nation. They shall be those who say, Lord, Lord, to Christ as they await the fulfillment of their own declarations.
Jesus said,
'"On that day [of the Lord] many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?" Then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers"'" (Matt 7:22-23 author's emphasis). Certainly, if Jesus, as judge, denies that He ever knew those who prophesied in His name, Jesus will have cut off the names of those prophets from the rolls of spiritual Israel. These prophets will have no part in the resurrection of life; they will go into the lake of fire (John 5:28-29).
If you are one who prophesies without being sent, repent! today, while you are still able. Your salvation is at stake. For if you do not repent, you shall not enter the kingdom. And this promise of condemnation is as much for the prophets of spiritual Israel as it was for those of circumcised Israel. The earlier nation forms the shadow cast by the spiritual nation. Jesus' rebuke of those who say, Lord, Lord, wasn't of 8th-Century B.C.E. prophets.
The question becomes how can a person know if he or she has been sent by the Lord, who asks these unsent prophets if they have seen a false vision or heard a lying divination, the reason why these unsent prophets wait for the fulfillment of their proclamations. If these prophets know that they haven't been sent by God, why would they wait for their prophecies to come to pass? That isn't reasonable. The textual implication is that they truly think they have been sent. Likewise, the textual implication is that those who say, Lord, Lord, think that because of the mighty works they have done for Christ, they are pleasing to Christ. But Jesus gives criteria by which a person can determine whether he or she is known by Him: "'Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven'" (Matt 7:21). So, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven a person must do the will of the Father. The works done in Jesus' name mean nothing if the person doesn't do the will of the Father.
Jesus said, "'If you love me, you will keep my commandments'" (John 14:15). Plus, He added,
They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father.…Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. (John 14:21, 23-24)
Jesus' word is, "'Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets [a metonymic expression for Scripture]; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.…Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven'" (Matt 5:17, 19). Plus, the Apostle Paul wrote, "[T]he mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law--indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom 8:7-8). Elsewhere, the Apostle John wrote, "Whoever says, 'I have come to know [Jesus Christ],' but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, 'I abide in him,' ought to walk just as he walked" (1 John 2:4-6). Thus, the person who does the will of the Father walks as Jesus walked. This person will keep the commandments, and will teach others to do the same. This person's mind is not hostile to God's law.
If a person labels keeping the law of God legalism, or being legalistic, this person remains hostile to God's law, and by extension, to God. This person is carnally minded. This person might appear to be a mighty soul winner, but if he or she claims to know Jesus, the person is a liar. And this person certainly hasn't been sent by God as a prophet, or to explicate prophecy. This person doesn't walk as a spiritual Judean, but as a spiritual Gentile. This person truly doesn't walk as Christ walked.
Is the above apparent enough that those who are teachers of spiritual Israel understand that prophesying or explicating prophecy without having been truly sent by God is gambling with the person's salvation? Spiritual Israel does not have an inherited priesthood, or a priestly caste. This spiritual nation is to be a royal priesthood (1 Pet 2:9), chosen by the Father to proclaim the mighty deeds of Christ. The nation is to go forth and make disciples, '"teaching them to obey everything that [Jesus had] commanded'" (Matt 28:20). The Apostle Paul doesn't rebuke Peter for teaching Gentile converts to live like Judeans, but for separating himself from these converts when the still carnally-minded circumcision faction arrives from Jerusalem. Paul's accursed gospel (Gal 1:9) isn't his "law of faith" (Rom 3:27) that produces "the righteousness that comes from faith" (Rom 10:6), which is the second covenant of Moses (Rom 10:7-8 compare with Deu 30:11-14)) made with uncircumcised Israelites (Jos 5:2-7) and by which these uncircumcised Israelites will keep everything written in the Book of Deuteronomy (Deu 30:10), and by which these physically uncircumcised Israelites will have their hearts and minds circumcised (Deu 30:6). Spiritual Israelites are to have circumcised hearts and minds, not clipped foreskins. They are to walk as Christ walked. They are not to walk as Greeks, or as Pharisees. Jesus told the Pharisees, "'Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law'" (John 7:19). Neither Greeks, nor Pharisees keep the laws of God that have been written on the hearts and minds of genuine disciples as a condition of the new covenant (Jer 31:33; Heb 8:10 & 10:16). That writing of the laws of God on hearts and minds is evidence of the baptism by fire, which causes these hearts and minds to be circumcised.
The Apostle Paul's accursed gospel was what converted Pharisees who required spiritual Israelites to first become physical Israelites taught. It wasn't taught by the Apostle John, who wrote, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome" (1 John n5:2-3). It wasn't taught by James, the Lord's brother, who wrote, "So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (2:17). It wasn't taught by Peter, who wrote, "Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God" (1 Pet 4:11). It wasn't taught by Jude, who wrote, "I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into [lawlessness]" (3-4). Neither Jesus, His brothers, His disciples, nor Paul, called to be an apostle out of season, taught any gospel contrary to the very words of God, which will have disciples walking in all of His ways, loving Him, serving Him with hearts and minds, and keeping the commandments and decrees of God for their well being (Deu 10:12-13). James writes, "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness" (3:1). John writes, "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world" (I John 4:1). Peter writes, "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who secretly bring in destructive opinions…many will follow their [lawless] ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be maligned" (2 Pet 1-2).
False prophets, false teachers don't come with a warning label. Yes, they will deny--while proclaiming--that Christ is the Son of Man by denying that He was in the grave three days and three nights, dead. They will have Him alive in hell for a couple of nights and a day; they will have the Father resurrecting Jesus from hell rather than from the grave. They will mask their hostility to God's law through teaching a Dispensation of Grace versus the Dispensation of Law. They will conceal their lack of being spiritually minded through their continuance of historic exegesis. But at this beginning of the 21st-Century, there is one test that is absolutely reliable, one test by which all false prophets and false teachers can be identified, one test that was unavailable to the Apostles. If the prophecy expert finds Rome, the Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, or the Roman See in the prophecies of the Book of Daniel, the person is a false prophet, a false teacher, and remains carnally minded.
Harsh words? Certainly. But false teachers place not only their own salvation at risk; they also jeopardize the salvation of those who believe their teachings.
By the above criteria, many more teachers are false than genuine, thereby placing a high standard of proof upon the claim that all who find Rome in the prophecies of Daniel are false. This high standard requires that the visions of Daniel be explainable without leaving Holy Writ. If they are not, the claim doesn't hold. But if they are, then a situation exists similar to what Elijah at Mount Carmel faced, when he asked all the Israelites, '"How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him'" (1 Kings 18:21). And all of Israel saw visual proof of who served God.
Spiritual Israelites have circumcised hearts and minds. The spiritual equivalent of having fire come from heaven to consume a physical sacrifice won't be a physical sign, but a mental construct that will underpin the faith of disciples. That mental construction will come from the Father as a sign by which He establishes His credibility to a spiritual nation limping between two opinions, as well as establishing the credibility of those whom He uses.
If the Father is, indeed, the Most High, then seek and follow Him. Do not listen to the spiritual king of Babylon, who will have fire come from his belly to destroy him when he has served his purpose. Do not follow his ministers, who "disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness" (2 Cor 11:15). Put your checkbooks back in your pockets, and sow no more seed in their gardens, where they harvest that which you have sown in faith. Baal's ministers, today, are not to be slain by swords, but by their creditors. They are dependent upon the steady supply of seed you sow into their ministries; for Christ has not, nor will He open doors for them. They open their own doors with the produce grown from your seed.
The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar saw a vision that greatly troubled him. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember what he had dreamed. His Chaldean magicians, enchanters, and sorcerers couldn't interpret a dream what couldn't be remembered, nor could they fake an interpretation. So Nebuchadnezzar made a public decree that his wise men should tell him both the dream and its interpretation, thereby eliminating the possibility of a human interpretation. The magicians said, '"The thing that the king is asking is too difficult, and no one can reveal it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals"' (Dan 2:11). Thus, reproducing the vision and revealing its interpretation was too difficult for Nebuchadnezzar's prophets. Likewise, revealing its interpretation remains too difficult for the prophets of spiritual Babylon, even when they have Daniel's interpretation upon which to build.
The spiritual king of Babylon apparently made a similar public decree as Nebuchadnezzar made, but with the vision revealed, his prophets faked an interpretation by slipping an uninspired history book into Scripture when they thought no one would notice. After all, a con man is the easiest person to con. The father of liars will believe a lie. And even the angels have desired to know the mysteries of God, but could not. Satan is no exception.
Daniel reveals Nebuchadnezzar's vision to the king, and after recounting the vision, Daniel says,
You, O king, king of kings--to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom…--you are the head of gold. After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth. And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; just as iron crushes and smashes everything, it shall crush and shatter all these. As you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but some of the strength of iron shall be in it, as you saw the iron mixed with clay. As the toes of the feet were part iron and part clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. As you saw the iron mixed with clay, so will they mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, not shall this kingdom be left to another people. (Dan 2:36-44)
Daniel goes on to say, "The dream is certain, and its interpretation trustworthy" (v. 45).
First, because a high standard of proof is required, let us examine what Daniel says. The dream is certain--so we do not have to question whether Nebuchadnezzar really saw a statue with a gold head. Daniel, in his interpretation, identifies the king of Babylon as that gold head. And about his interpretation, Daniel says this identification is trustworthy. But Daniel does not identify any other nation. He does not say that the arms and chest are the Medes and Persians. All he says is that after Nebuchadnezzar will arise another kingdom inferior to his. However, we see, in Scripture, this kingdom's appearance: following Daniel's pronouncement of God's judgment on Belshazzar, then king of Babylon, "the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom" (Dan 5:30-31).
But Daniel, in vision, sees, "I looked up and saw a ram standing by the river. It had two horns. Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer came up second" (Dan 8:3). The archangel Gabriel identifies this ram for Daniel: '"As for the ram you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of Media and Persia'" (v. 20). So without leaving Scripture, we see that the kingdom that arises after Babylon but that continues to be identified as Babylon (Ezra 5:13, 17 & 6:1-2 compare to Ezra 1:1, 2, 8) is Media Persia, with first the Medes exercising dominion, then the stronger Persians.
The entire image that Nebuchadnezzar saw will take its identification from its head; thus, the image is Babylon, and it exists until destroyed by Christ. Therefore, the third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth, is also Babylon, even though it tramples Babylon. The clause, shall rule over the whole earth, suggests that the kingdom had been subservient to the sar of Persia, but for reasons mentioned later in this article, found it necessary to rise up against this Persian ruler.
Again, in vision Daniel sees,
"[A] male goat appeared from the west, coming across the face of the whole earth without touching the ground. The goat had a horn between its eyes. It came toward the ram with the two horns that I had seen standing beside the river, and it ran at it with savage force" (Dan 8:5-6). The ram didn't stand a chance. Its two horns were broken, There was no one who could rescue the ram, and the Media Persia kingdom was toppled and trampled by the he-goat that shall rule over the whole earth.
The archangel Gabriel identifies the he-goat:
'"The male goat is the king of Greece, and the great horn between its eyes is the first king'" (Dan 8:21). Note: the goat itself is the king of Greece, not the horn. The great horn is merely its first king. And after this first king is unexplainably broken, "[I]n its place came up four prominent horns" (v. 8) that are four kingdoms without the power of the first horn (v. 22). These four kingdoms belong to the king of Greece, who still rules over the whole earth.
Another note: Alexander never ruled over China, or Northern Europe, or the Americas. He didn't rule over the whole, nor did Nebuchadnezzar.
Without leaving the inspired visions of Daniel, we are told why the king of Greece flew at the sar of Persia:
Again one in human form touched me [Daniel]…he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? Now I must return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I am through with him, the prince of Greece will come. But I am to tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. There is no one with me who contends against these princes except Michael, your prince. As for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to support and strengthen him. [paragraph break] Now I will announce the truth to you. Three more kings shall arise in Persia. The fourth shall be far richer than all of them, and when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece. Then a warrior king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and take action as he pleases. And while still rising in power, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted and go to other besides these. (Dan 10:18-11:4)
Additionally, we see that the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece are not human beings, but powerful fallen angels that require Michael to intervene to subdue them. We also see that angelic beings stand up for, or support human dynasties.
A usually neglected aspect of Babylon is the nature of the kingdom: it was a theocracy, as evidenced by the popular story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being thrown into the furnaced for not worshiping Nebuchadnezzar's god. The king, himself, says that Daniel "was named Beltshazzar after the name of my god" (Dan 4:8). Daniel was to Nebuchadzzar as a god. And the government of Christ that will be established at the conclusion of this reign of the Gentiles will be a theocracy.
If the princes of Persia and Greece are fallen angels, and since the king of Babylon has "fallen from heaven" at the time of Christ's return and can be identified as Satan (Isa 14:4-21), and since Michael fights against Satan and his angels (Rev 12:7), and since Satan gives his power to rule the world to the first beast of Revelation 13, we can state with certainty that image of Nebuchadnezzar's vision has both as physical application, and a spiritual application. Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold, and Darius the Mede was one of the Media Persia sovereigns supported by an angel of God. Thus, the man Nebuchadnezzar has a spiritual equivalent, Satan. And in vision, Nebuchadnezzar hears a holy watcher say, '"[T]he decision is given by order of the holy ones, / in order that all who live may know / that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of mortals; / he gives it to whom he will / and sets over it the lowliest of human beings'" (Dan 4:17). The Most High gave the kingdom of the world over to the king of Babylon (Dan 2:37-38), but we also see the Most High taking the kingdom of the world back from the king of Babylon to whom He had given it (Rev 11:15 & Dan 7:9-14). So, presently, the Most High is not the day-by-day ruler of this world (2 Cor 4:4; John 16:11 & 14:30). He won't be until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. Until then, the old dragon deceives the whole world (Rev 12:9), and rules over humanity through controlling the mental landscapes of all who do not have the mind of Christ. And under this old dragon is a coalition of fallen angels, two of whom are the sar of Persia and the king of Greece. Two others are the kings of the North and of the South. And the great red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven diadems becomes understandable (Rev 12:3).
Returning to the image Nebuchadnezzar saw in vision, the belly and thighs were bronze. The kingdom is divided during the reign of the king of Greece. It isn't divided following the king of Greece's reign, but during it. And this is what Daniel sees in vision: "but at the height of [the he-goat's] power, the great horn was broken, and in its place there came up four prominent horns towards the four winds of heaven" (Dan 8:8). The angel Gabriel tells Daniel that these four horns are four kingdoms (v. 22). And the angel that fights against the princes of Persia and Greece brings a vision revealing that after the kingdom of Greece is divided, this kingdom shall be uprooted (11:4). From this uprooting comes the competing reigns of the kings of the North and of the South (11:5, 7), who are the spiritual powers behind two competing theocracies.
The four kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar's vision are Babylon, Media Persia, Greece, and the complimenting but competing reigns of the kings of the North and of the South. These are all spiritual kingdoms that have cast physical shadows through history. And Rome is not mentioned in any of Daniel's visions. Its history is not a relevant shadow.
Reviewing, then, what we have so far: the physical head of the image Babylon was Nebuchadnezzar, whose kingdom was overturned by Darius the Mede. The physical application of the he-goat of Daniel 8 was Alexander the Great, and the physical application of the competing reign of the kings of the North and of the South resulted in Antiochus Epiphane's persecution of the Jews. The vision is interrupted at this point. There is no Rome mentioned, nor does Rome appear as the shadow of what occurs in the spiritual realm. Again, what is recorded concerning the history of Israel is the shadow of what happens and has happened to spiritual Israel. In His Olivet discourse, Jesus goes to where the physical king of the North takes away the daily sacrifice and profanes the temple with his statue of Zeus to match that event to when the spiritual man of perdition reveals himself and to when armies surround Jerusalem at the end of the age. The typology is tight. The reason the Maccabees are not Holy Writ is because these books address physical events that are not shadows of spiritual events. All that is canonical Scripture pertains to the spiritual creation of many heirs of the Most High.
The archangel Gabriel tells Daniel that the vision of the he-goat trampling the ram "is for the time of the end" (Dan 8:17). The vision wasn't for 333 B.C.E., when Alexander was overrunning the world. It was for when the long vision of Daniel 11 was no longer sealed and secret (12:4, 9). It was for now. And these visions could not be understood prior to the time of the end. Those prophecy experts who have been explicating these visions for the past two centuries (and longer) haven't been sent by the Father. They have come bringing their own understanding to these sealed and secret visions of Daniel.
What humanity has witnessed for the past few months is the spiritual he-goat that is the king of Greece trampling the ram. Although there have been physical manifestations of this trampling (i.e., the U.S. and Britain driving tanks into Baghdad while the French, German and Russian foreign ministers lick their bruises), the war has been occurring in the spiritual realm that humanity cannot enter to make measurements. France and the United Nations have been fronting for the spiritual sar of Persia, while President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair have fronted for the king of Greece. But even they have been at war with themselves as these two powerful demons fight for control of the mental landscapes of humanity. The sar of Persia battled for control of the President's mental landscape, and for a short while--when President Bush sought U.N. approval for military action against Iraq--he was holding his own against the king of Greece. And this war in the spiritual realm is still ongoing, but the king of Greece will win just as Alexander, the great horn's shadow, defeated all enemies. By the time this article is published, the cultural leaders who have been shills for the sar of Persia will have strapped on suicide belts and will have blown themselves up as did Gary Camilla, executive editor of Salon.com when he said, "More casualties [in Iraq] would have been a preferred alternative to a larger moral negative of a victory that boosted President Bush's chances for reelection," and "I have at times as the war has unfolded secretly wished for things to go wrong. I wished for the Iraqis to be more nationalistic. I wished for them to resist longer. I wished for the Arab world to rise up in rage. I wished for all the things we feared would happen. And I'm not alone. A number of serious, intelligent, morally sensitive people who opposed the war have told me they've had identical feelings."
Whether Mr. Camilla realizes it, his mental landscape will experience a change in landlords. The mental paradigms that brought the U.N. into existence will be plowed under. The soil of the new social constructs will sprout seeds of democracy as these spiritual powers make a last attempt to prove that some way other than the Most High's will produce lasting peace and happiness.
The first horn of the spiritual king of Greece isn't a human being, or a nation, but a fallen angel who will be slain as a firstborn when the second Passover becomes a spiritual reality. The horn will be broken supernaturally. And when that happens, the four fallen angels presently supporting this great horn will receive power. They are the four beasts of Daniel 7. But the argument now runs ahead of itself.
The reason Jesus said, '"So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountain'" (Matt 24:15) is that the entire biblical narrative is the story of light and darkness, with the darkness being the shadow cast by the on-going spiritual creation. A reader will need spiritual understanding of what Jesus said, for the prophecy of Daniel 11 is the physical shadow of spiritual events that will occur after the spiritual king of Greece tramples the he-goat. Whereas Daniel's visions of chapters 7 & 8 are of the spiritual powers behind the kingdoms of the image Nebuchadnezzar saw, the vision of chapter 11 is of the physical shadow of the spiritual reality that will occur beginning now.
The history of Rome is no more a shadow of the spiritual reality that will occur between now and the middle of seven years of tribulation than are the wars of the Maccabees. The two legs of iron represent the spiritual powers behind Christianity (the king of the North) and Islam (the king of the South). Eventually, these two fallen angels will become the big kids on the block, so to speak. When they are, humanity will be exterminated if these days are not shortened by the Father and Christ. The days will be.
The prophecy of Daniel 11 provides us with the shadow of the legs, feet and toes of mixed iron and clay, just as Nebuchadnezzar is a shadow of the spiritual king of Babylon. Satan's figurative seven years of grazing as a beast will be that period when he is bound in the bottomless pit. He will again get to reign over the mental landscapes of humanity for a short while at the end of the Millennium. Then he will die; he will cease to exist. He will experience what he has caused so many to suffer. Some dates are available: Christ will return on day 0. Thus, on day 1260, Satan is cast from heaven (Rev 12:9). This is when Michael, the great prince, shall stand up for Israel (Dan 12:1 & Rev 12:7). This is when the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of the Father and His Messiah (Dan 7:9-14 & Rev 11:15). This is when Joel's open salvation is finally available to all of humanity, for no one will remain a mental captive of Satan's. This is when armies surround Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives splits and 144,000 physical Israelites go into a place of safety (Zech 14:1-5). This is when the armies of the king of the North's ten-nation coalition are swallowed by the closing Mount of Olives (Exod 15:12 & Rev 12:16), which is dealing the deadly wound to this demonic king of the North. This is when the first beast (the defeated king of Greece) of Revelation 13 appears after having its power taken from it, but the lives of the demons spared for a season and a time (Dan 7:11-12). This is when Satan appears as the antiChrist, claiming to be the messiah and requiring everyone to take his slave mark, the tattoo of the cross of Calvary, the means by which he had Christ killed. And this is the most important day in humanity's history since Christ's resurrection.
On day 1290, the man of perdition, possessed by the demonic king of the North, declares himself god. This man of perdition will be an Arian Christian who actually believes he has become like Christ. And he will take away the daily.
Day 1335 is interesting, for this seems to be the day when firstborns not covered by the blood of the Lamb are slain. If it is, then this will be the day when the great horn of the spiritual king of Greece is broken. This will, then, be the day when spiritual Israel is liberated from mental bondage to Satan and sin. The Church will not be raptured prior to Christ's return as the all powerful Messiah.
How many days, or years is it until day 1260--I do not know, and indeed, cannot know. Only the Father has the calendar by which these things will come to pass.
In the articles appearing in Water & Fire, readers will become acquainted with the logic of spiritual discernment. They will see the figurative tarring and feathering of false prophets and false teachers of spiritual Israel. They will see the primitive faith of the Apostles reenter philosophical discussions. They will have this brief outline of prophetic events fleshed out. And they will hear the limping prophets of spiritual Baal taunted by one who has been sent by God to labor at rebuilding the theological walls of spiritual Jerusalem. If these limping prophets do not soon repent, none of us will ever see them again.
If you are a teacher of spiritual Israel who has found the Roman Empire in someone's biblical commentary and have taught that understanding of prophecy, realize that you have been duped by the spiritual king of Babylon. Don't bring further condemnation upon yourself by continuing to teach what you do not understand. Quit thinking physically (i.e., carnally). Begin thinking spiritually. Become spiritually minded. And this begins by you reading the fine print that has been written on your heart and mind as a condition of being drawn and made a party to the new covenant.