Category Archives: Reference Notes

Melchizedek

Melchizedek is what God the Son is called when He is here, not in the flesh as Jesus Christ, but in a physical spiritual form. In Hebrew, Melchizedek means King of Righteousness.

God the Son has always existed as part of the Godhead (Trinity) (Isa 9:6, Joh 1:1-2) and is the part of the Godhead that is the creative force of our universe (Joh, 1:3, 10, Eph 3:9-12). Also, this is the part of God that interacts with us on a level we are able to understand while we are under the restrictions of the flesh body and mind.

We see Melchizedek throughout the Old Testament whenever God is in a human-like, physical form (Gen 32:24-29, Eze 1, Dan 3:23-25, etc), and we see Him by the name Melchizedek when He is interacting with Abraham in Genesis 14:18-20, where He is called Melchizedek, King of Salem (or King of Righteousness, King of Peace, Heb 7:2). Abraham knew who Melchizedek was, which is why he even brought Him his tithes (Gen 14:20, Heb 7:2). In this chapter, He is in fact even called priest of the Most High God (Gen 14:18, Heb 7:1), a foreshadowing of the fact that Jesus Christ was made our High Priest of God (Psa 110:4-7, Heb 5:6-11, 6:20, 7:17, 21, 8:1-2, 9:11-12).

In Hebrews 7 we are given much more detail on the identity of Melchizedek as the Son of God. In that chapter we are told that He had no mother or father (remember this is God the Son before He came as Jesus Christ in the flesh) and had no children, was not born and did not die, and was made as the Son of God, meaning He had the characteristics of the Son of God (because He was the Son of God).

He was the first to receive tithes (Gen 14:20, Heb 7:4-8), and after His example all the Levite priests would take tithes as well. They would follow this model because He is the model God set for His office of priesthood (Heb 7:5-11). Likewise, we are told that when the Son of God came to us in the flesh as Jesus, His role as High Priest was modeled after Melchizedek (Psa 110:4-7, Heb 5:6-11, 6:20, 7:17, 21, 8:1-2, 9:11-12).

Don’t read over the fact that the entire Godhead has always been with us in one form or another, as each of these parts of God is vital to make up God in His entirety. This is the nature of God.

 

Rebellion of Satan

At one time, during the First Earth Age, when we were all spiritual beings that most people call angels, and all was peaceful (Job 38:7), Satan was the most beautiful and powerful of God’s angels; he was created to be the cherub that guarded the Mercy Seat. However, due to the fact that God created all of His children with free will, Satan developed pride and arrogance, and decided he was worthy of being worshiped, and not only that, but he decided that he was more powerful than God. So, because of this self-exaltation, he decided to lead a rebellion against God, and set up a hierarchy (Rev 12:3) similar to the one he will influence during the Tribulation, and take as many of God’s children away from Him as he could (Isa 14:12-14, Eze 28:14-17, Rev 12:3-4).

When this rebellion began, some of God’s children immediately took a stand for God and against Satan (Rom 8:26-39, 11:2-5, Eph 1:4-5). Then there were some who took a direct stand against God and for Satan (Rev 12:4). Aside from those two groups, we can deduce (because those who followed God He made His elect who cannot possibly stray from God, and those who immediately followed Satan were his most loyal who willingly became fallen angels who are sentenced to be destroyed, as they have chosen their destiny) that there was a third part who were lukewarm and could not decide who was worthy of their allegiance, but because of their indecision, were mostly deceived by Satan. This third group were essentially on the fence, and for the most part still are to this day until they care enough to decide to get off the fence and take a stand, either for God, or Satan.

As a result of this rebellion, God split eternity, eternity past from eternity future, and cleared off the earth and recreated it to insert the age we currently occupy, the Second Earth Age, and He mandated that each of us be born once in the flesh, through the womb of a mother (Heb 9:26-27). We would be born without memory of the world that was in the First Earth Age (2Pet 3:4-5), and this would be a test to each of us, in this controlled scenario, whether we would choose to follow God, or Satan by default (or even by choice) (Gen 1:2-31, Psa 104:5-14, Jer 4:22-27, 2Pet 3:5-9).

Because of the free will, which God gave each of us, there were some who chose not to be born through the womb, but instead continue to rebel against God’s will (Gen 6:1-4, Jud 1:4-6) and follow the same path that Satan took during this age. Of course, God also had His most loyal followers whom He chose from the time of the rebellion, and to these God would give a very important role while on earth in the flesh (Jer 1:5, Rom 8:28-30, 9:9-21, 11:2-5).

Our whole existence here on earth in these flesh bodies is a direct result of the Rebellion of Satan, and all of what we see and read in the Bible has a very specific part in God’s plan, which will ultimately end in an ideal Kingdom of Heaven led by God in His full glory after the Millennium.

 

Mark of the Beast

The Mark of the Beast is often misunderstood as a physical mark (or chip) placed on people, during the time antichrist is on earth, for those who worship antichrist and his system. However, that is an assumption based on misunderstanding of scripture.

The Mark of the Beast will be dealt to most of the people on earth (Mat 24:24, Rev 7:3-4, 12:9-15, 13:11-16) while antichrist is here because they will have been deceived into worshiping him and his system (Rev 14:9), and they will have served him because they will believe he is the Messiah. This mark is not a physical mark because it is based on what people feel in their hearts; and therefore it goes much deeper than a physical trait. No one can hold us down and force us to feel something in our hearts and therefore a physical mark cannot change our minds. God cares more about where our loyalties lie, than what someone has made us do to ourselves physically.

This mark is in one’s forehead and in one’s right hand (Rev 13:16), and these terms are symbolic. The mark that is in people’s foreheads is in their brains, and it is those people’s belief that antichrist is the Messiah or God, which he will claim to be. This is the mark of deception that is brought forth in the flood of lies from satan’s mouth (Rev 12:15). The mark in the right hand represents someone’s works in serving the system of antichrist, and doing his will. The right hand in biblical times was always symbolic of power or work.

The Mark of the Beast is mutually exclusive with the Seal of God, meaning that everyone on earth will have either the mark or the seal. The Seal of God is protection against the torment that those with the Mark of the Beast will suffer (Rev 7:3, 9:1-11, 14:9-11,16:1-4, 8-14, 17-21). Those with the Mark of the Beast will continue to be plagued through the tribulation unless they wake up and repent, and turn against antichrist (Mar 3:28-29, Luk 21-12-19, 1Jo 1:9, Rev 16:1-4, 8-14, 17-21) before Jesus returns.

Those without the Mark of the Beast will not be allowed to buy or sell (Rev 13:17), and that can be accomplished by many ways even though the mark is not a physical mark. One such way as there may be a card issued to those who have proven their loyalty to antichrist when they have worshipped him, but that card would not be the mark. God’s people will be provided-for none-the-less because they will remain faithful to Jesus Christ and not fall for antichrist.

The only way to avoid receiving the Mark of the Beast is to read, study, and understand the Bible (2Th 7-12, 2Ti 2:15, Rev 7:1-4), as even many professing Christians will be deceived, along with the rest of the world (Mat 24:22-24, Mar 13:20-23, Rev 12:9-15, 13:11-14), because they don’t care enough for Jesus to pick up God’s Word and read it. Those people who will be sealed by the Holy Spirit as protection are those who know and love Jesus Christ and His Word (2Ti 2:15, Rev 7:3-4), as He is the Living Word, and this sealing will be accomplished before antichrist arrives (Rev 7, 9:1-12).

The receiving of the Mark of the Beast does not condemn someone to die in the Lake of Fire, however, they will be in danger of this sentence (Rev 20:4-6, 11-15) if they do not repent and turn back to and serve Jesus Christ once they realize what they have done. Those who do not do so by the time Jesus Christ returns will have a chance in the Millennium Kingdom to be taught and disciplined to learn the ways of God and forsake their selfish ways (Eze 44, Rev 20:1-6). During this time, they will be considered spiritually dead (Eze 44:23:25, Rev 20:4-6, 12-13), and at the end of the Millennium, they will be tested one last time (Rev 20:7-9), and if they fail this test, after the Great White Throne Judgment, they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:11-15). If they instead pass and are found in the Book of Life, they will be granted eternal life at that time (Rev 20:5, 21, 22).

If someone is truly saved by Jesus Christ, though they may be deceived when antichrist is here, they will overcome in the Millennium, or perhaps before, because they love Jesus Christ and they will do what it takes to make it right (Rom 1:16, 11:23-27, 1Ti 2:10). The only way to salvation is to accept it through Jesus Christ (Joh 14:6-7, 1Th 5:9, 1Ti 2:10, 3:15), and our lives will reflect that salvation if we are truly saved (Tit 2:7-15, 3:1-8, 14-15, Jam 2:14-26, Rev 2:4-5, 20:11-13).

For more information check out the article, RFID Chips Short Circuit Salvation???

Deadly Wound

The Deadly Wound is crisis that happens to the one world government during the tribulation that would potentially bring the whole system crashing down. However, before the government descends into chaos, antichrist will appear and heal this deadly head wound and restore the authority and power of the one world political system (Rev 13:1-3) and transform it into a one world religious system with himself as its leader (Rev 13:4-18).

This wound occurs in one of the political heads of the system, which represents one of seven world nations roughly outlined by the continents, and it threatens the authority of this government which has been established under satan’s power and influence (Rev 13:3-4). At the end of the first half of the tribulation, the enforced world peace will be threatened when war breaks out in the Middle Eastern Head and it will culminate with the city of Jerusalem being surrounded by armies (Luke 21:20-21), at which point satan will enter in and wipe out the armies that come against it (Rev 13:3). These armies will be comprised of forces of other Middle Eastern nations, and fortified by Russian forces (Eze 38 in a physical sense), while supporting the nation of Israel, at least in spirit, will be the Christian nations of the world, the US with a coalition of European nations, most likely also including Canada and Australia as well. Russia will have betrayed these nations of the coalition in backing these middle eastern nation because traditionally Russia is a Christian nation (Dan 7:5).

The one world political system is the creation of satan (Rev 13:4), and it is absolutely essential for his plan for world tyranny, when he comes in as antichrist, so when this Deadly Wound occurs, he knows he must come in to fix it because he is very familiar with the scripture that says every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to a desolation (Matt 12:25-26, Mark 3:23-26, Luke 11:17-20). This kingdom of his must be stable and solid to remain functional, but true peace cannot be enforced because tensions and hatreds will fester behind the scenes, and when those tensions get too high, they will boil over into a war that is the deadly wound. There cannot be true peace or love without Jesus Christ (Isa 57:20-21), and this government will certainly not have Him as their standard, and this is why it is ultimately destined to fail. There will be no world peace until Jesus returns and the flesh is done away with (Isa 59:1-10, Jer 6:10-15, 8:8-11, 12:10-13, Eze 13:9-16).

The world will believe that Jerusalem will be on the verge of destruction and so they will mistakenly identify this event as the Battle of Armageddon (Eze 38 in a spiritual sense, Rev 16:12-16), and so when satan comes in to heal this deadly wound by stopping the hostilities in a grand entrance (Eze 39 in a physical sense, Rev 16:17-21, 18-19), they will believe he is Jesus Christ, or their respective messiah, coming to bring true world peace. They will worship satan, the antichrist (Rev 13:11-14), and will want to truly establish this world peace because they think that he is the Savior of the world (2Thess 2:3-12), and they will feel peace and love in their hearts because of his deception. The people of the world will believe that there can no longer be any more war once this second beast comes to de facto power (1Thess 5:3), but it won’t be until the true Christ returns, months later, that the world will finally see true peace because our one and only Savior will have finally come to earth to establish His Millennium Kingdom (Eze 39-48, Zech 14, Rev 20).

For more information, check out this article:  The Deadly Wound

Lord’s Day

The Lord’s Day begins the day that Jesus returns, and this entire time period is generally called the Lord’s Day (the Day of the Lord is mentioned throughout the major and minor prophets). However, as we are told, a day with the Lord is as a thousand years for man (2Pet 3:8), so not only does the Day of the Lord consist of the day He returns (Rev 1:4-11), but lasts for the entire Millennium. The Millennium is known as the Lord’s Day.

If we look at the time since Adam was made, which was approximately 6000 years ago, as a week symbolically, then what we see is that the Millennium, which will be a thousand years itself, would make of the 7th day of the week, the Lord’s Day. This is a 7000 year span lasting from the formation of Adam by God to the end of the Millennium, with each thousand-year period being as one day in the Lord’s eyes.

Now, 7 is a number, which in the Bible represents spiritual completion, so this tells us that at the end of the Millennium, we will finally reach a stage, after satan is released one last time, in which, those who have not been destroyed in the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:10-15) will be spiritually complete, and all evil will have been purged from God’s Kingdom. The number 1000 represents our Father’s Glory in the Bible, and this is because after the Millennium, a time period when the Son will reign on earth in person, God will come down to earth in His full glory to rule on earth in our midst (Rev 21-22). And the number 7000, in the Bible, represents the Zadok, as well as Final Judgment. There are 7000 predestinated elect on earth in this final generation (Rom 11:4), but aside from that, at the end of this 7000 year period, from the time of the formation of Adam, will be the Final Judgment (Rev 20:11-13), which is at the end of the Millennium.

If you extend the understanding that a day with the Lord is as a thousand years with man, and apply it to the creation of this earth age, then each day in Genesis 1 would be a one-thousand-year period, but to God it was one day each. The word translated as “day” in Genesis 1, yom, does not always mean a literal day. Yom can also mean a season, a time, or an age. The term translated as evening, ereb, can also be used in a symbolic sense. Therefore, we can surmise that what we are talking about here, in Genesis 1, is six 1000-year time periods. The reason that this is significant is that the recreation of the earth in this earth age given to us in Genesis 1, and including the 7th day, the Sabbath, in Genesis 2, a one week period in God’s eyes, is a 7000-year period as well.

If we understand that man (all races) was created as hunter/gatherers on the 6th day (Gen 1:26-30), the number 6 representing man in the Bible, and Adam was created after the 7th day as the first man to till the soil (Gen 2:5-9), or farmer, then we are talking about two 7000-year periods, or 14,000 years. The number 14 in the Bible represents deliverance and salvation, and remember that we said that 1000 represents our Father’s Glory. What this tells us is that, when the Final Judgment occurs at the end of the Millennium, the Great White Throne Judgment, it is 14,000 years after God began creating this present earth age. Those who are found written in the Book of Life at that time will not be destroyed in the Lake of Fire, and thus they will have salvation and deliverance.

Bearing all that in mind, the Lord will return and the Lord’s Day will begin after the Tribulation (Matt 24:29-31, Mark 13:24-27, Luke 21:20-28). Jesus will return for His Second Coming during what is called the Battle of Armageddon, and will wipe out all of antichrist‘s forces that will be surrounding God’s Elect desiring to destroy them (Zech 14, Rev 11, 16:12-21), and this will bring in the Millennium Kingdom (Eze 40-48, Rev 21).

Gulf

The Gulf is a large impassible expanse that is established between the good side of Heaven and the bad side, and it is a creation that exists only in this present age, the second heaven and earth age, and will cease too exist after this earth age. On the good side of Heaven, those there are in the presence of God and have no wants or needs. Those people have lived life the way they were supposed to live it and followed God’s ways and accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

On the bad side of the Gulf, known as Hades in the Greek and Sheol in the Hebrew and translated as Hell, all those who have not overcome the ways of the world, before their deaths in the flesh, are put. This is a holding place in which those people are away from the presence of God. These people burn with shame and thirst for the Water of Life that would have come to them with their sincere acceptance of Jesus Christ.

There is no way for someone to simply pass from one side of this Gulf to the other, however, after Jesus was crucified and before He was resurrected, He went to the gates of Hell and preached to those souls there to allow them to accept salvation (Jonah 1:1-3:10, 1Pet 3:18-22, 4:1-6). Although this expanse is presently not able to be traversed, each side is not so far away that one cannot see to the other side and know what goes on there. It is also likely that many of those currently held in Hell will receive a chance to correct their ways in the Millennium, especially if they had never gotten a chance to hear the Gospel while in the flesh.

Those on the side called Hell see what they are missing in that they are not themselves in the presence of God, and because they can see this, they grieve that they had not made the right choices while in the flesh. The people on the heavenly side can see those on the hellish side and see their suffering of not having God with them. Knowing the love of God, but feeling that God is totally apart from you is the worst feeling in the world, and this is the punishment that all on the side of Hell will feel. For those who are on the bad side, the Gulf is their separation  from God and all goodness and love; and for those on the good side, this Gulf is a separation from any suffering or sadness. (Luke 16:19-31)

 

Godhead

The Godhead (as it is called in the Bible, Romans 1:18-21, Colossians 2:9), or Trinity (as many Christians refer to it), is our one and only God (Exodus 20:1-3, Deuteronomy 5:6-7, 6:4-5), but He has three forms that He takes depending on the situation, and He always is in all three forms simultaneously. For example, take H2O: H2O can take the form of ice, water and steam, and it can take all three forms at the same time, in different places. They are all H2O, and they can even change from one form to another in any given place, but all three have their own unique properties. The same is true with the Godhead.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all God (Matthew 28:18-20), and God is one, as there is only one true God, but God is such that He can be anywhere and everywhere at the same time, and perform different roles and take different forms depending on the situation.

The Godhead of God has always existed in all three parts together, since the beginning (John 1:1-14). The Father is effectively the Brains of this operation–He is the part of God that is the creative mind. We see the Son mentioned throughout the Bible, even in the Old Testament, as He is the part of God that interacts with man in a form that is able to be comprehended by man. He was in the fire with Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego in Daniel 3. He visited Ezekiel in numerous occasions. Abraham paid tithe to Him, as He was known as Melchizedek, the King of Righteousness (Genesis 14:18-20, Hebrews 7). He wrestled with Jacob before He renamed him Israel (Genesis 32:24-32). And so on. It was even this form of God, the Son, that created the world (Genesis 1, John 1:3-4, Ephesians 3:8-12). The Son sits at the right hand of the Father, and this is a euphemism meaning that the Son performs the actions of the Father–the right hand signifies power and work and completion of actions.

The part of the Godhead, called the Son, was born into the flesh as Jesus Christ (John 1:14, 2 Corinthians 4:11, 1 Colossians 2:6-12, Timothy 3:16), and went through this flesh life in order to gain first hand experience, and because He would not put us through something that He is not also willing to go through. This is the sign of the ultimate Leader. Through this experience in the flesh, He would better be able to relieve all our suffering and temptation we go through in these flesh bodies (Hebrews 2). Because of all this, Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.

The Holy Spirit is the Comforter (John 14:16-31) that Jesus sent to the world after His crucifixion, and it is this part of the Godhead that fills us when we truly accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It is the Holy Spirit that guides us as Christians to keep us on the right path to please God. And it is the Holy Spirit that will speak through the mouths of His elect during the Tribulation to fulfill God’s plan.

Seal of God

The Sealing is the placing of the Seal of God, by the Holy Spirit, in one’s forehead, or mind. This seal is given as a guard against deception by satan and a protection from receiving the mark of the beast. Once a person is sealed, they cannot be led astray from God and cannot be deceived into worshipping antichrist and his system (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21). This sealing is a part of the Gospel Armor, the belt of truth, and all sealing will be complete before the arrival of antichrist (Revelation 7).

In the end times, this seal is not only given to ensure someone does not receive the mark of the beast, but also it protects them from being tormented by the fallen angels who will be returning to earth with satan during the tribulation (Rev 7:1-3, 9:1-5).

When God seals one of His elect with the Holy Spirit, He reveals His mysteries to that servant of God so that the person’s understanding of His Word can be complete (Matthew 4:10-12, 13:10-17, Luke 8:9-10, Romans 16:25-27, 1 Corinthians 4:1, 13:2, Ephesians 1:3-9, 3:1-6, 6:18-20, Colossians 1:23-29). Once someone has this understanding, and his spiritual eyes are opened, it is his responsibility to share this light of truth with others and not hide it from view. He must plant seeds of truth so that it may benefit others and allow them to be sealed if they are meant to have this truth as well.

With this sealing, and refusing to bow to antichrist, comes also a risk of being delivered up to testify as to why you refuse (Matthew 10:17-24, Mark 13:9-13, Luke 21:12-15, Revelation 2:10), and God knows that not everyone can handle this pressure because of how they performed in the first earth age (Romans 8:28-34, 11:1-14). For this reason, most people of the world are blinded from this deeper understanding of His truth, and God will not allow them to understand no matter how intelligent they may be. This is meant as a protection for them, because if they were allowed to see these truths and were delivered up to testify, they would buckle under the pressure and would cave in and bow to antichrist knowing full well that he is not Jesus, the true Messiah. This would be a grave sin. Because God loves them, and because they are not dedicated enough to studying the Bible, and standing against satan, and his power and deception, He allows them to be deceived (Romans 11:7-14, 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12) so they may learn a lesson they can take with them into the Millennium, with hopes they will make the right decisions at that time.

This sealing is an awesome blessing and an awesome responsibility at the same time.

Lake of Fire

The Lake of Fire is the final destination of anyone whose name is not found written in the Book of Life  at the end of the Millennium (Rev 20:15). The fire in this lake is God’s Consuming Fire that burns up everything that offends Him. Once thrown in the Lake of Fire, the soul of that person will cease to exist and will be blotted out from all memory and all records. It will be as if those souls had never existed.

At the return of Jesus, at the 7th trump, the false prophet (antichrist, satan’s physical form) and his beast system (satan’s spiritual influence) will be thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev 19:20), and this will leave only the last part of satan’s trinity, satan in his basic form, which will be bound and locked away in the pit until he is released one last time at the end of the Millennium (Rev 20:2-3).

The beast and the false prophet are all that will perish in the Lake of Fire until the end of the Millennium, at which time anyone who is not found in the Book of Life will also be destroyed in the fire (Rev 20:15). This is known as the Second Death (Rev 20:14). The First Death is the death of the flesh body, and for those who have not yet overcome, it is the spiritual death of those people, which means that the spiritual body becomes spiritually dead, or liable to die (in verses about the Millennium, these people are often referred to as the dead, such as Eze 44:25) and therefore they become mortal souls. This is as opposed to the First Resurrection, which is experienced by those who have overcome by the time of the return of Jesus (Rev 20:4-5). Those who go through the First Resurrection receive immortal souls from the beginning of the Millennium (Rev 20:4) and will be guaranteed eternal life and will not have to worry about the Second Death (Rev 20:6).

Those who pass the test at the end of the Millennium will experience the Second Resurrection. These will then also have immortal souls and will enter into the Eternal Kingdom of God, or Third Earth Age (Rev 21-22).

At the end of the Millennium, death and hell will be thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev 20:14) and these negative things will no longer be remembered entering the Third Earth Age (Rev 21:4). Though most believe that those who are sentenced to the Lake of Fire will suffer forever, this is actually a mistranslation from the Greek ‘eis aion aion’, which means ‘until the end of the age’, loosely translated. In the Eternal Kingdom, no one will know death, or pain, or sorrow, or suffering. There will only be love and happiness.

 

One World Government

The One World Government, or First Beast, outlined in Revelation 13,  is a political system that will be in place over the entire world during the Tribulation. This governing body will have 7 world nations roughly based on continental boundaries, and there will be 10 officials (10 kings) that head this system (Rev 13:1). This system has been in the process of being set up for centuries, but a big step was taken in 1945 with the establishment of the United Nations.

The One World Government, or New World Order, will be a communistic system that controls its citizens through the Four Hidden Dynasties (religion, politics, economy and education) which have been gaining strength in the world over centuries (Daniel 7:6, 8:8, Zech 1:18-19).

The leader of this One World Government is known as the Raiser of Taxes (Dan 11:20), and he will give way to the antichrist halfway through the tribulation (Dan 7:7-8, 8:13-14, 9:27, 11:21-45, 12:6-7, Rev 11:1-2, 13:11-18). When the antichrist arrives on earth in that midpoint, the One World Political System (Dan 7:7, Rev 13:1-10) will become a One World Religious System with the antichrist himself as its leader (Dan 7:8, Rev 13:11-18). Antichrist and his system, in the second half of the Tribulation, is known as the Second Beast, and it will force everyone of the world to worship the beast (Rev 12:9, 13:13-14), and everyone who does will receive the Mark of the Beast (Rev 14:9-11). The world will want to worship him because he will seem to be a benevolent messianic figure (2 Thess 2-3). Most Christians will believe he is Jesus. Those of other religions will believe he is also their respective messiahs, and he will claim that really all messiahs are actually one being, and it is he who is that being.

There will, however, be a small group of people, God’s elect, who will recognize antichrist and the beast and will refuse to bow to him (Matt 24:24). These people are the only ones in the world who will not be deceived by this system because they are sealed by the Holy Spirit with the Seal of God (Romans 11:4, Rev 7). Because the elect will not bow to antichrist, they will be delivered up to testify as to why they will not (Matt 10:17-24, Mark 13:9-13, Luke 12:11-12, 21:12-15, Rev 2:10). At this time, the Holy Spirit will speak through their  mouths and say things that no one will be able to deny (Luke 12:12, 21:14-15).

It is imperative to know and be able to recognize the First and Second Beasts before we enter the tribulation.