Satan's 'Spin' on Tribulational Events

For ERRATA reports in 2010 forward, see my blog here.

The events of the official Tribulation are recorded in a bizillion passages of Scripture. It takes some years to go through them all. Many books have been written summarizing the events. So, I'll try to write something "different". What follows is a scenario of how Satan&Co. "spin" the Trib to achieve their goals. The purpose of this hypothetical scenario is really to show how Satan&Co. deceive NOW -- but, applied to circumstances THEN. In other words, the scenario below misstates some details and events to suit popular notions of them. (You need to study under a pastor to get the actual rollout and underlying doctrines of the Tribulation. I am not a pastor, and do not want to be used as a substitute for one. So this is just brainstorming material. So I'm not going to stick to the actual Bible rollout scenario, here, so I can't be USED as a substitute. So, here are some of the DIVERGENCES versus Bible, in what follows below: Bible doesn't say the Two Witnesses come down from heaven, but that's the popular belief; doesn't say the Rapture will be a PUBLICALLY-VISIBLE disappearance, but that's the popular belief; the demons coming up out of Abyss really don't come up the way and when depicted below, but there will BE demons active and maybe visible, then, depending on what God allows and what Satan&Co. choose to do.) But the "spin" scenario's underlying STRATEGY and TACTICS would still be correct. [For example, the scenario assumes that the 5th-6th Trumpets sound in the first half of the Trib, mainly because the Witnesses are listed in the 6th Trumpet; that's not true. The 5th and 6th trumpets begin in the third year of the Trib. The Witnesses are killed AT the Trib-midpoint, and then the 7th Trumpet begins. See RevPlay.htm for a better outline of the real Trib. What follows below isn't intended to represent the real order of real Trib events, but how Satan spins the events.] Why? Because the Holy Spirit explains these future events, so we can discern the underlying strategy and tactics; thus, so we can avoid ourselves being casualties.

Understand how Satan works. Basically, he thinks he's better than the Lord. So he:

1. Plagiarizes/'kidnaps' ALL that the Lord Himself is/does. Satan claims to have the Lord's Attributes, or to be the author of something the Lord does, or he imprisons whatever is of the Lord. Religion, of course, is how he plagiarizes God, substituting himself. 'Kidnapping' Examples: the incredible kidnapping of Scripture from Day One, and the awesomely drugged-incompetence of interpretation and translation of Scripture throughout history.

2. "Spins" whatever is God's -- God's activity, God's people, God's Word -- as demonic.
3. "Spins" whatever is his own -- activity, people, word -- as God's.

Thus, he can afford, as always, to agree that "x" is true -- but REVERSE the origin. That's always been his favorite ploy: "spin" what's satanic as God; and what's God, as satanic. So, he can "spin" the spectacular events of the Rapture, its supernatural cataclysms and plagues, the "two witnesses", the three angels flying in mid-heaven daily, etc -- as demonic activity, using all these events to his advantage. Or, as Divine, but specifying an opposite meaning, or an opposite group as targets of the judgement. We'll see how, in the next subsection.

Have you noticed, mankind has been progressively SWITCHING from gross to refined evil, over the millenia? True evil is white, not black. The human thinks of himself as black, and if he becomes 'white', well.. he's 'in' with "God". So we think ourselves 'advanced' versus all those warring cultures of two millenia ago. But as shown in Part V's first two sections and passim in other websites, we are WORSE than those 'primitive' people of the past. Not better. As you read what follows, hopefully it will become clearer, why.

It took me a long time to understand this fact, though my pastor has stridently taught it for years (okay, I'm slow on the uptake); writing this "Lord vs. Satan" webseries was what coalesced the understanding. The most dramatic example of white evil is portrayed in Bible via the Greek word, "adikia" -- it's in 1Jn1:9 and other passages like Col3:25(?). It means, if God the Holy Spirit isn't doing the work, you are evil. For true evil is what the individual does himself, versus God doing it. That's why Christ would have been evil to tap His Own Deity to stay perfect, do a miracle, etc. -- unless and until FATHER ordered it. (Father sometimes ordered Christ to use His Deity, i.e., to hold the world together, to do a miracle, but never to learn anything or stay perfect. Do you see how this is HARDER, than if Jesus did NOTHING with His Godness?) So, He was a LAMB, doing NOTHING of Himself, and He talks about that fact all the time, in the Gospels. So think: if it was evil for Christ to do something of Himself (for to use His Godness VIA His Humanity, for example), then -- how much MORE evil, if we do something of ourselves? For, we have the ability to FREELY CONSENT to God doing it, INSTEAD. So to NOT consent, means we are committing evil. No matter WHAT we are doing. Notice how NON-meritorious consent is the issue. Nothing else. True sacrifice, is you doing it yourself, lol -- for you are SACRIFICING the Quality of DIVINE ACTION!

See, if God wanted Christ to do a miracle from His Godness, then it's GOD wanting it, not Christ's Own Deity, which is the impetus. Trick is, as a HUMAN, it would have been VERY easy for Christ to rationalize Father wanting a thing. After all, wouldn't it be a nice GIFT to Father, especially since His Own Divinity could perform it? That's the heart of Satan's argument to Christ in Matthew 4: here You are, the REAL Most High -- and You don't turn these stones into bread? So You and the world go HUNGRY? How loving, is THAT? What kind of GIFT is it to Father, if you suffer? What kind of GIFT are You giving Father, TO suffer? You can't tell from the English, that Satan is being VERY POLITE (called the imperative of ENTREATY, in the Greek) when he talks. We humans make the same arguments, and vociferously. It just doesn't make SENSE that if we CAN do something "nice", that it would be evil. Yet, when we finally see a "black" thing occur.. if we took the time to trace its origin, we'd find a "white" motive, spawned it...

The heart of Satan's argument in the Appeal Trial is that God is unfair for disavowing creature ability -- especially since, it's GOD who invented the creature. It's inconceivable to Satan that God might have OTHER reasons for making creation, viz., to pour His Own Attributes INTO that creation, but only to the extent the creature CONSENTS. This, because Love never coerces; this, because finity cannot ever possibly be WORTHY of Infinity, nor is Infinity looking for that worthiness; this, because Infinite God already is happy, and His Love wishes to share Himself. Which therefore means, "evil" becomes the creature REFUSING that sharing.. no matter why. Because, if the creature maintains he can do something "good" of himself, well.. it's not INFINITE-quality, so isn't good enough. So to deny INFINITE GOD consent for something TRULY good Infinite God can make, can only mean rejection of God Himself.

Thus Satan is out to prove God is wrong, and by His Own Standards. There is no meeting of the minds, here: either Satan is right, or God is right. We hapless humans are in the middle, in the Appeal Trial stage of this ongoing argument. You will choose sides, whether you know it or not. In the Tribulation, 100% of the world, has chosen AGAINST God, at the point of the Rapture. You can learn the underlying issues pretty quickly, even in translation, if you read the whole book of Jeremiah and think its contents over repeatedly.

Satan's main goals for the Tribulation: 1) make the world refuse Christ (especially via "Lord, Lord"! religiosity); meanwhile, 2) confiscate/obfuscate as many Bibles (and believers!) as he can get, and 3) kill enough Jews and believers to leave too small a "remnant" for the "promise" to be fulfilled (to Israel). Notice how TIMING is his focus: the entire MEANING changes by merely mistating what TIME is represented. We'll see how this works in the Tribulation scenario, below.

RELIGION IS KEY TO ACHIEVING THESE GOALS, because he needs to round up believers. Just like the candy house attracted Hansel und Gretel, so also a grand religious house is a sweet attraction to the misguided believer or Jew. Self-righteous arrogance finds religion "sweet". Self-righteous arrogance is a mutation of a genuine desire for God's Righteousness which "goes over the edge" like the 2nd Temptation in Matt4 -- grace is chopped out of Ps91, the promise that GOD works. God is chopped out, by self-righteous arrogance, in favor of self doing something. This was Satan's flaw, why he fell. This is why religion is his creation, never God's. This is why people routinely fall for religion in every epoch of history, and this is why people persecute others. All to glorify self. Blindly. Feeling holy, the meanwhile! Feeling, Feeling, Feeling! Rationalizing, Rationalizing, Rationalizing! "Mincing steps", Isa3:16!

KEY ==> For Satan to best achieve his goals, it's VITAL he get folks to believe that they can "help" Christ return. Not only Christians. If you look around the web, you'll find that there are countless messianic-style counterfeits in every version of religion, since the dawn of time. People get active, if they can 'do' something to bring God to them! Look around the web: whether it's some channeler sessions at the United Nations, or the push for United Religions and new-age-ism, or any flavor of 'faith' you want to examine, you'll see one common theme they all tout: a new golden age is on the rise. Which, of course, by means of something 'we' do, we can 'help' make happen sooner. BEWARE.

That's why even NOW Satan keeps on spinning the lie that the Church will be in the Tribulation. HE NEEDS BELIEVERS NOW TO MISTAKE THE REV17 HARLOT FOR THE REAL CHURCH. See? If folks realize the Church is NOT in the Tribulation, then he can't spin the Trib events to suit his goals. See, HE NEEDS THE LIE OF CHURCH-IN-THE-TRIB, SO BELIEVERS WON'T RECOGNIZE THAT THE 'CHURCH' HE CREATES IS THE HARLOT OF REV17. Why do you think John was given the vision, in the first place? AS A WARNING.

See? If Satan spins this lie NOW, a lot of writing DEFENDING this lie will be on paper or computer then, so believers THEN will falsely conclude, "Ah, we're Church!" And thus fall into his trap. That's why he began early, at the Session, to twist the Rapture, and particularly, its TIMING: to set up a rationale which eventually would age enough so people would grant it some respect. That's why he even NOW supports preterism and misdating the Rapture, and that's why much of mainstream Christianity NOW believes it. See how we humans are so incredibly stupid? Because a custom/practice/idea is OLD, we reverence it. So an OLD LIE becomes respected, and with respectability comes validation. So, the lie becomes the truth. By aging. Can we humans be DUMBER?

• A codification of Pharisaical teaching, which became the Talmud, to create an 'alternate view'.
• Gnosticism, too -- which now 'spins' the Gospels, coming up with its own 'gospels'.
• The rift between Paul and Peter. Between James and Peter. Those got solved, so next it was the Judaizers. (When James finally sided with Paul, those who today are called Ebionites and Tzadokites split off.)
• Next, of course, you see the gradual institutionalizing of some Christian groups, who call themselves (because so OLD!) the "true faith". 'Really, too many sects to name here have historically competed to claim that OLD mantle.

What does Satan gain, tactically, through this push of religion? Look: without popular support, Satan can't get Jews and believers rounded up and killed. Well, how does he manufacture that popular support? Rev17! Spiritual prostitution! So, with RELIGION, Satan motivates a pan-international UNITY. Via centralized RELIGION, Satan can CONTROL the dissemination of any truth to suit his goals. Via such RELIGION, Satan can motivate the kind of zeal he needs to foment pogroms of whomever he feels should be 'eliminated'. Without such religion, he can't, because ONLY religion can transcend tribalism/ nationalism loyalty-structures. History has proven that to us time and again. So what must NOT be in the Tribulation, to best WARN believers then? CHURCH! Thus they will know that ANY 'Christian Religion' at that point is ONLY Satanic.

Satan also gains by using religion to arouse opposition against it. See, anyone who needs power over a lot of other beings needs to find some way to divide them. If people are divided against themselves, an outsider can more easily control them all, because they will look to that outsider for alliance. That's why he's constantly pushing economic/racial/cultural/ ethnic/national differences "over the edge", just like he tried to do to the Lord in the Second Temptation. Overstress makes for black/white polarizations, so Satan promotes religifying every human distinction he can. So, one 'belonging' to that distinction feels disloyal for not zealously supporting it. So, those not having that distinction are more motivated to oppose. So, he can wipe out whatever group he himself promoted, anytime it suits him, by riling up some other group he chooses to defeat it. Using BOTH to kill each other. This pattern, so frequent in history, is likewise key to realizing his goals in the Trib. The political rulers get real tired of the religious domination they themselves at first promoted in order to gain political power; so, they end up warring against the religion (Rev16:17ff).

Bear the above strategy and goals in mind as you read what follows, because Satan's strategy, goals, and tactics are EXACTLY THE SAME NOW. NOW is his better opportunity, because NOW God is deliberately invisible, as we learned from Parts III and IV. So, Satan NOW has a monopoly on visibility. That gives him an advantage NOW which he will no longer have, when the official Tribulation begins. So -- yes, he wants the official Trib, but on his terms, NOT God's. He figures that if he plays his cards right, he can outmaneuver God the Son. So, when God "goes visible" again, Satan wants to be in such a good strategic position, no matter what God does, NOT ENOUGH folks want Christ's ACTUAL Return. So, if Satan manages to get in a good-enough strategic position, he himself will demand the removal of the Church -- and God just might then agree. (Now do you see why your role in 'Church' is so important?)

Today, this strategic goal couldn't be more obvious: here in 2002, Satan's ardently trying to whip up zeal so to coalesce Moslems against Christians/Jews. Thus, each 'side' will have to become more virulent, so that moderates within each 'side' either must compromise with the radicals; or, get pogromized by their own co-religionists. (Or, he can use the lukewarm to wipe out the truly-faithful, in the name of "all faiths are okay".) Then, wipe out both sides, baby.

Warning: what follows is deliberately written in a cavalier, caustic style, to mimic Satan's attitude toward the human race. (His style more erudite than I show, but I don't want to cover up his venom with fancy words.)

So, let's begin. First, what will people then be like? Pretty much like now. One "layer" of folks will have these characteristics: Mostly apathetic, mostly looking for a good time. Mostly uninterested in anything Biblical. Mostly skeptical, jaded, bored, empty. Shallow. Fragmented, short-attention spans. Busy. Go-getters. Acquisitive. Fond of the "new".

Another "layer" of folks will be very, very moralistic. Crusaders. Folks in this "layer" will include most people who wield political and religious power. Along with hosts of petty people who need to feel important.

Another "layer" of folks will, by this point, be motivated mostly by power lust and monetary lust. By the time of the Rapture, most of these folks constitute the power bloc of business. (Note: the possession of wealth does not mean one has power lust and monetary lust. It only means that folks who do have these lusts, of course also go after wealth. It seems that by the time of the Rapture, the percentage of honorable wealthy will be nearly zero.)

In short, the "normal" trends of today will continue. So, folks will be rather jolted by the Rapture. It will be "new". It will be televised. Wow. Bartenders will do well that day.

The official Trib, of course, begins with the Rapture. Big, noisy, cataclysmic. People suddenly disappearing from shops, beds, workplaces -- the police will get more telephone calls than they can handle. Lots of folks will hit the churches, afraid. Notice carefully: people are VERY religious, just like Satan is. Spectacular stuff, like people disappearing while driving their cars -- so maybe a demon slips behind the driver's seat, to make sure the de-occupied car doesn't kill people. So, if you're alive then (I hope not!) you may find yourself driving next to an angel -- if they're Satan&Co.'s angels, they smile a lot, I hear. Be sure to smile back -- and believe in Christ right away.

At the SAME TIME that this very-public Rapture occurs, God's envoys COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, to explain why it happened: the "Two Witnesses". They spectacularly explain to the whole world what the Rapture means, and what is about to happen. (In the OT, God ALWAYS publicly warned folks before He administered judgement. Since the official Trib is a reversion to an OT time, it will likewise have this OT characteristic).

The "Two Witnesses" are in Jerusalem: the Temple has been rebuilt, for Israel has been in an unprecedented period of prosperity; thus the celebratory return-to-the-sacrifices, and Temple Rebuilding which has so often been its return-to-Adonai behavior in the past. No more Dome of the Rock. (Maybe that's how the future bad guy from Dan got political control of Israel before the Rapture -- he wins back that territory for Judaism). So, the Two Witnesses make that new Temple their base of operations. They will also do a lot of spectacular stuff, á la the demonstrations before Pharaoh prior to the Exodus. Whether they really are the resuscitated Moses and Elijah, as some theologians believe, I don't know. (I don't buy the idea that the "two witnesses" are merely allegorical or symbolic. The rationales and verses used to support that contention make zero sense. Further, God isn't treating the Two Witnesses as allegorical, since He's provided ever since 70AD, two prototype, very large STONE witnesses, to remind everyone: Rock Abominated and Wailing Wall. See Part IVa for a fuller explanation.)

Lots of folks all over the world will go scrambling for Bibles. Which is exactly what Satan wants. Everyone will be combing the pages of Scripture, suddenly! to find out what all this means, how to 'read the signs'. Most, of course, will be deflected into Satan's spin, that way. A few will not.

The 144,000 Jewish evangelists appear to believe in Christ right away, maybe from the first day of the Rapture. As unbelievers, they probably came from "Lord, Lord" (Matt7:21ff) religious backgrounds, and know the Bible by heart, since that's the most common category (just turn on 'Christian' cable and see how NO ONE gets the Gospel right); and/or, as unbelievers they were exposed to a LOT of Biblical material (yet didn't believe it) prior to the Rapture. So, at the Rapture, suddenly all that learning 'clicks': it suddenly all makes sense. They believe. Geographically, they will be located all over the world when this happens. So, between the spectacular displays of the Rapture, and the Two Witnesses, these folks all believe. They become so convinced, so quickly, that they resolve to live solitary, peripatetic lives: that's why they don't date or marry. They will know they've only got 7 years left. [I think my pastor says they don't even live beyond the first half of the Trib. I need to check my notes and the exegesis supporting his statements, to verify the notes!]

They are all JEWISH, by race: 12,000 per tribe, excluding the tribe of Dan. These folks will be the training cadre, and will be martyred in horrible ways before the Trib ends. (Joseph had a double-portion, Ephraim and Manasseh, so there had been 13 tribes. Why Ephraim is listed as "Joseph", I'm not sure, but clearly Ephraim is NOT 'missing'. Maybe it's a reply to Jacob's blessing of Ephraim circa Genesis 50. Again, folks have tried to allegorize this Rev7 list, so to exclude Jews and graft themselves in. That interp won't wash, and is anti-semitic. Beware. When the Bible lists numbers in detail, as here, the ONLY valid interpretation is literal.)

Understand, that the primary target of all Satan&Co. function, is Christianity and Jewry. It's true now, it will be true then. Everyone else is but cannonfodder. The chief objective of Satan&Co. was always to usurp God's role -- so that people are voting for a DIOS, instead of God. The Appendix link covers this strategy in great detail. Hence, the primary tactical goal is to present a FALSE IDEA of God, and especially, in His Real Name. So the REAL SCRIPTURE will be used, but (i.e., in translation, teaching) will be deftly DISTORTED. So you thought yourself "Jewish" in the OT, but were not (read Romans 9 on that); so you think yourself "Christian" but are not. The "Lord, Lord" passage in Matt7 is part of the larger context of this distortive teaching.

Lest you think this is too far-fetched: how is it, that the Dome of the Rock and the Wailing Wall have been visible to all of us for CENTURIES, and no one notices how these two Stone Witnesses depict the prototype fulfillment of Daniel 9:26, Matt24, and Rev11:1? Do you know, that since 70AD the Holy of Holies (the "Rock" over which the current Dome sits) has ALWAYS been "abominated" (held by Gentiles, usually with some kind of religious building over it)? So, then: is it now so hard to understand that there have likewise ALWAYS been, "Christians" and "Jews" who MOSTLY are unbelievers? Again, just turn on any "Christian" station, or talk to any "Christian" in a chat channel, see how FEW can give you the correct Gospel (John 3:16, and UNDERSTAND what it means). A five-year old understands it better, because the five-year old hasn't had the extra years of HARDENING and MORPHING truth, that the older unbeliever has had. Test the claim, yourself!

"whosoever BELIEVES in Him shall never perish, but have eternal life." That's a clause in John 3:16. Do you know, people actually DEBATE what "believe" means? Some dingdong of my (1950's) generation actually started a whole movement about whether "believe" was a "head or heart belief". HUH??? Believe, you do with your BRAIN. Your VOLITION. Your heart, is a physiological pump, or (figuratively, in common parlance but NEVER in Bible) -- emotion. Emotion is a FEELING. Belief is NOT a feeling, it's a VOLITIONAL AGREEMENT that a thing is true. Yet, people debate what "belief" means, as if "pisteuw" (Greek word) was some kind of mystery. Guess again. Ask a five-year old what belief means, and you'll likely get the right answer. Only the adult who wants his works to count, fails to understand what "believe" means. So, they DON'T believe -- else they'd not DEBATE it. So, how many Christians are there? Very few.

So, when the real Tribulation happens, there will be MILLIONS of "Christians" and "Jews".. who are actually unbelievers trapped in this deft DIOS idea. Voting, then, for a FOREIGN "god" (Satan), not the Real One. Having lived their lives so long with falsehood, even reading the Bible won't help them, because they are programmed, as it were, to read it incorrectly. Hence the need for all that spectacular weather and disaster, which even a child can see matches the Exodus plagues or the Revelation chapters. You need to speak simply to a child; you need to speak simply to someone who can't read: this is red, this is blue, see Dick run, this is hail, this "hail" is in the Bible, it is from God. Because see me run, because I can't see God, but look up, there He is...

How do Satan&Co. respond to all this? As always, they will 'bang the drum': oh, this is happening, oh, this disaster, oh, focus on the shock, oh oh oh oh oh. Beat LOUD the "feel" of some truth (e.g., human life is sacred), and you obscure its CONTENT (so ONLY God makes one human, at birth). So, they will STRESS the visible, the spectacular, so to obfuscate the CONTENT of the message. As always, they thus take advantage of people's shock and titillation in SEEING: here, seeing supernaturality. [Note how the demons in the Gospels are always keen to advertise that Christ is the Messiah; how that demon-possessed girl kept running in front of Paul in Acts, advertising he was from God. Note further how in all these cases the response was to hush them.]

So, the media will cover the disappearances and cataclysms on every channel/station, in every newspaper. Just like they do now, ever greedy to feed the hunger for blame. So, Satan&Co. become visible (and possess the willing) right away, so they can say -- I bet -- that the 2nd Advent has just occurred, but that it is being implemented by "forerunners". These "forerunners" are the demons. They have so many awesome powers, they could pass themselves off as Resurrected believers. Or, as what they are: angels -- but pretending to be of "God". (The actual 2nd Advent has the Lord coming first, with angels and believers coming behind Him. Further, angels don't rule in the Mill. In short, the actual 2nd Advent is very different, but people on earth at the time of the Rapture are too shocked to think, even if they had any real knowledge of the true events.) Let's call these demons "Resurrected Ones", aka "RO", just to give them a name they might claim, as a ruse. So it will be EASY for their gorgeous appearances ("long hair" is a metaphor for captivating beauty, in Rev9:8) to fool mere humans. [It's more likely, considering the "Wormwood" passage, that Abbadon&Co. are released by Satan, due to some argument he makes in the Trial; then, he's thrown out at the Trib. midpoint; so the demons are probably released about 6-8 months before it. However, the first half of the Trib will have demons pretending that they are forerunners. So take your pick as to which demons you want to use, in this scenario. Not all demons are disembodied. The ones in the Abyss, are visible. Those not part of the Genesis 6 debacle became disembodied spirits, as a result of it, but that hardly matters; they can do a LOT of visible things: they can make people hallucinate seeing them, etc. -- so could nonetheless pull off the kind of thing illustrated here. It's just a question of 'how'.]

Yeah, baby. The RO can easily claim that the disappearing folks went to Hell under the Baptism of Fire doctrine (right doctrine, wrong timing, wrong folks, but few will figure that out). That they, the Resurrected Ones, have now come to earth, to set it up for Christ's RETURN. A sort of advance cadre, so to speak. After all, the Lord shouldn't have to do things Himself -- He has underlings. They will appear VERY beautiful, humble, loving, etc. (If you ever saw the Twilight Zone episode, "To Serve Man", you'll get the idea. It's a frequent theme in alien movies.)

Given the demons' flash-and-dash, folks would easily buy them as rulers: Oh, but it feels so GOOD just to be around them! Surely these are the Lord's people! So, they'll take over the world pretty easily, which they need to do -- and FAST. So, they'd set up the universal 'church' easily and FAST. Who wouldn't believe it? World peace would come almost immediately, as everyone settles down to nirvana. In short, the Rapture will be used to advantage -- to make the takeover of the world nearly instantaneous. Especially given the disaster of the Rapture and its aftermath.

Hitler proved the efficacy of this approach on a people KNOWN for their above-average virtue and intellect. Hitler conquered Germany within a few years, really (less than five); for until he was a public figure, there was no way people could KNOW about him. But within five years, he was Chancelor of Germany. So if a Hitler could rise to power THAT fast over a better-than-normal nation, then how much faster, do you think a demon can do it?

The strategy is simple: take all the problems of the world and blame them on one or two disliked objects: the Allies, the Jews. No matter how smart or virtuous you are, if you dislike an object, it's very easy to find it, 'evil.' Repeat that mantra over and over (which Hitler deliberately did, and taught his organization to do) -- and no matter how people imagine they resist -- they cave in. Very fast, very simple.

Hence the need for religion, so to make the takeover BE instantaneous. People will be looking for a "god" then -- still NOT the Real One, but a flashy one. Satan will provide, lol. For, Satan will do what he's always done, make a lukewarm blend of Christianity, Judaism, and other faiths. Satan's already done that many times with huge success (Catholicism, Islam, Mormonism being the most profitable of his attempts). Why? They've GOT to get real believers to fall for it. That way they can expose, gather, centralize -- and then, (surreptitiously) kill them. The easiest way to kill, is by seduction. Jewish believers in particular will be targeted for this seduction. So, Satan &Co. will have set up a False Temple, and will have set up a 'church' (done beginning since 96AD) -- to forge peace-in-our-time "unity". It's already brewing, this trend, since John penned Revelation. Just look at the unifying movements on the internet. Why can't we all just get along?! Oh, yeah: Tower (Ziggurat) of Babel, played to us babbling fools, year after year. Reunion, communion, so pssst -- all those who DON'T agree, are EVIL. Big Brother. Everyone love Big Brother. All one happy family, you see. That will hook real believers, alright. Peace in our time. We can all agree on something. (Yeah...everyone's about to be slaughtered.)

So, the RO/angels are here 'early', preparing the world for Christ to return. They will warn everyone that it's real important to join (they will slyly distort the Gospel into works), because if you've not joined up by the time the Lord returns, you'll be zapped into hell. This tactic will help everyone get on-board, get excited, etc. A delayed Advent is thus an important tactic, for it builds interest. (Satan knows man is always more excited to seek, than to actually GET. So he needs to dangle the carrot. Show a little leg. But not give away the store.) So, out goes the call -- believers everywhere! Come register! Bring your Bibles! Celebrate! Tell all your friends! Get them to come along! Regional and local registry 'chapters' will be set up. You know: potlucks, get-togethers. Prayer groups. The works.

Note their cleverness here: Satan, who at this point still wants to maintain a low personal profile (God's supposed to be invisible, see) -- can use the Two Witnesses as representing his message, so to coalesce the new believers in easy-to-kill locations: Rome ("Babylon"), and Jerusalem. The 'church' will have TWO headquarters, not one, so to speed Jewish regathering in Israel. 'Especially, if the Temple is rebuilt before the Rapture begins. In short, Satan&Co. will seem to AGREE with God's envoys, AND will distort their message, just as they always have: See? Israel gets peace from its enemies: friendly Gentile nations. These Gentile nations federate, with Rome as the Federal capital. 'The Lord' chose Rome also, because that was the ruling power which officially crucified Him. (Cute, huh.) So, Rome shall be the Gentile religious capital, too. Everyone register in the Book of Life! Get on the Internet! Register with your respective capital, so you won't go to hell! (Of course, the most enthusiastic of these new believers will indeed move to either Rome or Jerusalem. Right where Satan wants them. More-apathetic types can be rounded up later, locally.)

Notice how this works like 'gun registration'. Satan needs to confiscate both believers and Bibles. Like during the Dark Ages (or, anytime), it's essential to centralize Biblical interpretation. So, the "spin" will focus (as always) on the popular, the respectable, the bland, the lukewarm. So everyone can 'fit in'. Registration appeals to vanity: one is declaring his faith! And, of course, everyone KNOWS that you have to be in the Book of Life to be saved!

Since in the modern age lots of folks actually HAVE Bibles, it will be necessary to herd those folks together -- to weed out those who can read Scripture correctly. The less-interested won't bother to check the "spin" given. As always, the Satan&Co. "spin" is LOUD, to drown the brain (like they do with the definition "one", today). Thus, folks will be so propagandized, Scripture read will 'verify' the "spin". Naturally, they'll vindicate the "spin" with respectable teachers, just as they've always done. Teachers who have nice manners, many degrees, but no spiritual understanding will be promoted as 'correct'. They'll balance the 'respectable' teachers with some weirdos, to make the respectable ones look even better. Just as they have always done.

So, they will use, and even promote! curiosity about God/Scripture: to KILL it, shape it their way. They will encourage registry, "classes" (which reward people for 'proper' interpretation) -- in short, all kinds of "help" activity will be advertised. Media will buttress the "spin" by providing educational programs on every channel/station. In short, just as they have always "spun" Scripture, so also they will "spin" the Rapture, signs, cataclysms. Man has never caught on to their spin, even until today -- so he won't catch on then, either.

They'll stress "fellowship" programs to the maximum. Works of all kinds. Given the many cataclysms which will then occur, such a drive will be even easier to motivate. Thus Grace is drowned out in favor of doo-doo. Just as always.

All of these activities will be urgently promoted so to get everyone to register. So they will compile a roster of the zealous, quickly. See, if one's not enthusiastic, he won't even bother to register. If the person's enthusiasm isn't really the Word, that fact can be easily ascertained (say, through a questionnaire about doctrines, or even a contest to see who-interprets-what). A few of the enthusiastic will actually be competent -- and it's THESE folks Satan&Co. have to catch soonest. So, this popular 'church' method will hook many. Even the elect. (After all, how many believers bother to check that Matt 24:24's "deceive, if possible, even the elect" verse is in the THIRD class condition, which means it CAN happen!)

In short, Satan&Co. (as usual) divide their own forces into two apparently-opposite groups: one is officially evil, the other is conspiratorially 'good'. God's style is quiet, almost secret, even when He's visible: Satan&Co. imitate this style, but add a 'conspiratorial' twist, to hook people into thinking they are 'special', 'chosen'. Moreover, there is a genuine division of demonic forces, those of Abbadon versus those of Satan, and of course a lot of demons switch sides between the two. In particular, the 6th Trumpet Army Group (200 million!) will switch a lot, because they have God's permission to kill, which makes them more valuable to the other two demonic forces. Leverage, heh. They, too, have an axe to grind for being locked up so long, deserted by Satan. [Self-note: look up the "three demon assault armies" in class notes. I don't see any Bible verses saying those locked up at Tartarus are released. Looks like the three armies are 1) those under the generals at the T-E river and 2) abussos, Rev 9; plus, 3) those never locked up who are on earth. But recheck on status of Tartarus demons, in Rev class notes for Chap9.]

So, between the demonic claims of the 'official' RO, and those of the 'hidden, real angels', nearly all humans get hooked. The latter demon pretenders hook the skeptics. Ahhh, so that's it, some skeptics will think. And nod knowingly. And enlist in the 'church' so to be the group which nicely leads all these silly demon-influenced humans to their doom. Others will enlist in the fake 'opposition', to secretly find and kill 'the enemy'. Thus, this new 'church' becomes a whited sepulchre, shortly to contain a lot of bloodshed. Yet, hooks everyone in its embrace. Officially, and unofficially.

What about the natural disasters? And the plague-diseases? All three demon groups can pass them all off as warning judgements that precede the Return of Christ -- which of course, they are. Thus the first half of the Trib looks like the last half. So, they can dramatically increase interest (demons are nothing, if not greedy for attention), because the world thinks it's got to get 'on board', for Christ's 'Return'. So, Satan (etc.) can say, ok -- we gotta get the faithful to 'join', now --under the 'church'! So, the real believers who didn't get suckered in the first time, give in now. To their destruction.

Variantly, they can pass off the disasters as 'demon activity' to the skeptical, and thus enlist them in 'church' to help pogromize real believers, who of course will be sold as 'demon-possessed'. See, demons can use anything to convince anyone of what they want believed, and herd humans where they want them to go: all they need, is human negative volition to God. Which, given all the supernatural visibility, will INCREASE. (Contrary to popular opinion, "signs" do NOT help people believe. See how the Exodus generation responded to the signs they got? How Pharaoh did? If you are positive, you are positive; if negative, negative. Signs don't help one "switch".)

Satan will ALSO say, for he loves satirizing the truth so much, that demons are also on earth right now to prevent Christ's return! (Which, of course, they are!) So, people, we gotta pull together and fight these demons! Now! (Ahhh. People love to have someone to hate.) So, this justifies a sort of pogrom -- let's find the unfaithful! So, an intensive manhunt begins. Any real believers -- particularly Jews -- who didn't get tricked into 'joining' during the first two passes, will be now hunted. (As always, Satan marks off some Jews as 'right', and others as 'wrong', so he can kill ALL of them, yet avoid anyone detecting that goal.)

Meanwhile, of course, the earth is settling into a busy peace. 'A blend of world's busy-ness during both the late 1930's and the mid-1950's. If you know your history, you remember that in such times what really happens is a busy-choosing-of-sides, an INTERNAL preparation for war. So, on the surface, the world seems to have finally hit nirvana (well, excluding those nasty Divine disasters and diseases), for everyone is soo very busy. War preparation is good for business, heh. 'And for internal-struggles-for-power. Like, for religious power. (In Europe, all this shock has finally motivated one guy to take over: the guy who'll end up winning control as the first "beast" by Rev. 13, here gets the 3rd Temptation from Satan, and loves it. After all, the demons are also fighting with each other; so, they begin immediately to motivate internal rivalries among humans, and 'ally' with them.)

So, this phony "peace" period thus has (at least) the following nicely-tyrannical characteristics:

• Bang-the-drum on the Bible. Stuff it down people's throats. Pressure everyone to own one. Give them stern catechisms, so to corrupt interpretation of any verses they read directly. Legalistic piety will become the way to 'fit in'. (They'll do this in Israel, especially, Jewish-style.)

• False camaraderie. Let's all be pals, shall we? "Christian Fellowship". Ugh.

• Promises of gentle amnesty, in return for 'cooperation' (turning in self, or one's impious friends/family for 're-education'). This ploy has an extra hook: 'the Lord' doesn't want anyone going to hell.

• Conquered share in the wealth of the conquerors. (Brown-nosing encouraged.)

• Reward system. This will be HIGHLY STRESSED. Busy, busy, busy! Grace takes a holiday.

• Round up the 'underground', the 'unfaithful', who of course need to be 're-educated'. Or, oh how sadly -- judged. Satan&Co. may even be so bold as to start a visible pogrom against Jews, since man's stupidity knows no bounds. All they need to do is brand Jews as 'bad'. 'Varying the definition of 'bad' to suit the audience, as was Hitler's (and Mao's) genius: not-Christian, not-faithful, not-true-Jew (popular, even today), not-whatever. They'd begin by registration, of course. Then, move them for 're-education' elsewhere. Same ol' same ol'. Nothing new under the sun.

• All the continuing disasters are warnings to 'join the church' (or, sold as demon activity, to the continuing skeptics/those of hostile faiths).

• All God's Envoys' messages are warnings as well -- with LOUD distorted meanings sold as 'their' message. (Or, sold as more demon activity, to the continuing skeptics/those of hostile faiths).

During this respite, people will grow more and more negative to this 'church'. Most will display the negativity as apathy, given the progressive fear which will pervade. Of course, whole masses of folks of other religions will be very hostile. And, 'the Lord' isn't coming, yet. Time passes. People get itchy. Maybe this 'Lord' isn't really coming, after all. Maybe it's a hoax. Maybe it's a power ploy. So, the 'underground' grows, too. Not merely of believers. In short, lots and lots of antagonism to this 'church' builds. Which is EXACTLY what Satan wants. Everyone focuses on ANYTHING but the Real God. Mostly 'in God's Name'. Perfect.

By the mid-point of the Trib, then, people are good and sick of the Two Witnesses. Moreover, the Gentile (Rev 13 "beast") who's long tried to take over Europe makes a deal to get his dream-of-ruling-the-world. With Satan. For a price, of course. Meanwhile, the Jewish leader has a need for an ally, because the Arabs surround Israel; for, as Tom Lehrer sang in his "National Brotherhood Week", "everybody hates the Jews". So Israel needs an ally, and now the Gentile can pretend to be one -- again, because the Two Witnesses are a thorn in Israel's side, as well. (The Arabs are probably headed by Abbadon's group? Yet, maybe Abbadon has a truce with Satan; for apparently Abbadon, not Satan, indwells the Gentile, but Satan made the offer to the Gentile.)

So, Satan finally got hegemony over both demons, and man. So, he switches tactics. His time has come! No one wants the Most High! Further, Satan thinks he's gotten enough Jews and believers killed. He thinks he's won! But God disagrees! So, REVOLT!!! Satan&Co. try to take over Heaven. It doesn't work, and the lot get tossed out of Heaven for good (Rev12:12 is when the 7th Trumpet actually sounds).

Now, stuck down here, they REALLY have to get moving. The first task is to stage a fake-2nd Advent.

For a nice, flashy entrance, Abbadon (via his indwelling the Gentile) kills off the Two Witnesses. Everyone celebrates. Simultaneously, Satan&Co. use this victory to legitimate and set up the Danite and Gentile guy, who are newly-revealed as prophet and CHRIST, respectively. The spin? It's the REAL 2nd Advent, folks! After all, who but the REAL Christ was able to kill those two scalawags? So, the Gentile guy, now sold as a Jewish christ (maybe á la the Plantard claim), swoops down on the federation: "Ahh, you 'church', you were the demons and demon-influenced humans! Time to get rid of you all!" Thus is mimicked -- again! -- yet another (still fake) Baptism of Fire, to justify yet more pogroms. Everyone celebrates even more! At last! This must be the TRUE Lord, yay! So, the 'RO' folks will seem to be destroyed (they'll just change their looks). Oh -- They'll pass off the spectacular resuscitation and Ascension of the Two Witnesses on Day 4 as judgement against them. Folks will believe it, since they didn't like the Two Witnesses anyway.

Meanwhile, how does Satan&Co. promote the Gentile anti-christ as Christ in Israel? After all, the REAL Christ is supposed to rule from Jerusalem. Moreover, the Danite needs to be ruling, since the Danite is virulently anti-semitic. Can't promote the Danite as Christ, for it's the Gentile guy who'll excite those of other faiths to war with him. Israel all by itself excites little interest. For Israel, alone, has always been worth no more than a 'footstool' -- a bridge one uses on the way to conquer someone else. Kinda like the way Christ has always been valued by man.

So how to promote the Gentile anti-christ, as Christ, but IN ROME -- to Israel? And justify a statue of him in the (then-rebuilt) Temple in Jerusalem? See, that's a pretty big deal. Statues are anathema to the Mosaic Law. What's the justification for a STATUE there? It ends up talking, so it's clearly meant as a religious, not a political thing. The Danite is supposed to be analogous to John the Baptist, so the Gentile must 'become' the Messiah. But a STATUE that talks, in Jerusalem? What's the rationale behind that? Ahhh.

A 'discovered' (meaning, adulterated) bible would be key to the entire spin. Or, maybe one of those supposedly-lost books the OT sometimes references. If a whole 'bible', it's got to have enough similarity to the real Bible to hook real believers. Even though they are new believers, they will have largely heard enough about the real Bible (say, from their newly-departed parents and friends) to recognize it. Satan's got to GET these folks. So, the counterfeit must look a lot like the real Bible -- which Satan loves to do, anyway.

Ahhh. Got it. Say that the 'discovered' Bible (or, book) has a prophecy of a talking Statue which is the Messiah (which is now 'coming true', so to vindicate the 'discovered' Bible/book -- analogous to the Book of Mormon's validation claims). The prophecy depicts the pillar-of-fire/cloud being replaced by a talking statue, to represent Israel's unfaithfulness (since statues always represented idolatry). So, the talking statue serves as a of symbol of remonstrance. (Satan's had 2000 years to prepare such a counterfeit Bible or book, and has known at least that long of the talking Statue, see. So the age of the 'discovered' manuscript could easily be authenticated. Unfortunately, people care more about the age of a manuscript than its content, so this ploy would easily deceive the erudite.)

So, Satan&Co. could set the Statue up, looking like the Gentile guy. It could say: 'Israel, you've not been faithful to Me, so I'll not return to YOU just yet. Get ready. I'll stay in Rome until you're ready, with My REAL Church. Obey my prophet (the Danite). Get ready for Me.' The speech would have resonance, in Israel, given Antiochus Epiphanes. A sort of revenge on that guy, so it could be said. Of course, real believers are supposed to get the heck outta Jerusalem! run to Petra and other caves! when the statue goes up. Those too dumb to live at that point will fall for the 'prophecy' and stick around.

Carnal believers will fall for it, especially the morally-degenerate, who despite all signs will not give up on their self-righteousness. Moreover, someone will remember that the Church is supposed to rule Gentile nations. If the statue is Christ Himself, the Rock (so the statue will be made of stone), it wouldn't be 'bad', would it? Especially since that old 'book' was found, right? After all, He will rule BOTH Israel and the Church. He's thousands of miles away, waiting for the faithful of Israel to 'regather' and 'ask' for Him. Israel has long recognized symbols of apostacy to represent its own faithlessness. Moreover, anyone remembering (vaguely, of course) that there was SUPPOSED to be a statue in the Temple just before Christ returned would say "Yeah, well it's true, hallelujah!"

So, the word would go around Petra and other hiding places -- hey, Christ is REALLY Back, now! Come on out! He's Talking at the Temple through that Statue prophecy! (Sounds silly, right? Heh -- people have fallen for far less reasonable lies. After all, Satan&Co. will do miracles to support the statue's legitimacy.)

The media will focus on the Statue, too. Now the pogroms can TRULY escalate. All over the world. He's BACK! Whoever won't wear (by laser/microchip implantation?) "the holy number", dies! [Bible merely says the 'mark of the beast' is a human identification number. "666" isn't said to be the actual number, for "6" in Biblical numerology is the symbol for humans. Besides, Satan's not dumb enough to use THAT number.]

In short, the entire cycle of the first 3.5 years begins anew, but this time with the allegedly-'right' Messiah. Folks will fall for it the second time, because they fell for it the first time. Lightning strikes twice because it struck successfully once. (That's why Hitler CHOSE to go through the Ardennes, the same surprise tactic as Bismarck had used. The French did not learn from WWI.) This second-cycle of banding the 'faithful' together, and pogroms, will be much more intensive. People are very tired; they want their earlier fantasies realized. Those who hated the first 'church' will hate this second one even more. Those who loved the first 'church' -- and are still alive -- will love the second one, more. They can rationalize away any former gullibility due to the similarities between the two takeovers. The second 'church' will have much more punch. Believers who didn't get tricked into the first 'church' will get tricked into this second one, now that a messiah is on earth doing miracles. Punch!

And 'punch' is what happens, all over the world. For, the second reason why things become more intense, is that everyone wants to fight. It's not just Satan&Co.'s fault. Peace took its toll, despite all those God-sent natural disasters. It just wasn't bad enough to knock out arrogance. People want to take their frustrations out on someone. Those who didn't believe in the first 'church', especially, will be antsy to remove this second impostor. (Yes, they will 'know', just as before, that the second is an impostor -- "impostor" being defined according to what they want to hear.)

So, the last 3.5 years have two types of "world war" going on. First, intra-nation "war" between the believers in this yet-fake-again-Advent, and those who don't believe in it. Pogroms galore. Second, military-style world war. Everything's somehow Israel's fault, as usual. Or, 'the other guy' is to blame, and we must fight holy war! to get rid of the infidel (sold to each bloc, of course). Motivate folks to war against each other, get vengeance (and plunder), by rushing over to that 'footbridge', the hapless nation Israel. That's Satan's style: get everyone to blame everyone else, so that the blamer can feel holy. So that the one blamed can feel martyr-holy. Everyone's happy, now. At war.

Where's the US in all of this? Maybe nowhere. Maybe the US has split into smaller countries. It doesn't matter. Europe needs to be the center, given its location, compared to Israel. Maybe the US is an ally to the KOW. Doesn't matter.

This scenario of everyone attacking each other is by no means farfetched. NOW in 2002 we see the same everyone-eats-each-other pattern as warned in Michah 3:5 and Galatians 5:15. Just imagine: here the US is attacked from OUTSIDE itself, by terrorists, and how do we respond? Just like they will in the Tribulation: by attacking each other. We might wave the flag, cry buckets of tears on TV or in front of it, make fancy stamps and speak fancy speeches, but what do we DO?

Witness how we turn against ourselves like the Arabs did in 2Chron20:23; how we sublimate like Samaria drunkenly did a year before Sargon II sacked it (Isa28):

• We greedily hold hearings, right-left-and-center, to get that all-important press coverage.
• We greedily demand the WTC area become a shrine, rather than rebuild it to replace lost income.
• We greedily erect, despite our energy crisis (and fuel need, should OPEC go radical), a light shrine. Awwww: upturned kliegs, like the Nurenberg rally.
• We greedily succumb to medal-flation, giving our nation's top military medals for FAR lesser sacrifices, so WWII et. seq. veterans know their sacrifices are forgotten.
• We greedily demand (and get) 'compensation', not merely for 9/11, but back to Oklahoma City (bombed by American criminals);
• We greedily create fraudulent insurance claims and charities, to capitalize on the disaster.
• We greedily contribute funds, patting ourselves on our patriotic backs, though we may need that money for the next attack.
• We greedily sue the airlines who ferried the terrorists, as if it were their fault.
• We greedily sue the owners of the World Trade Center and New York City, as if it were their fault.
• We greedily enact hare-brained schemes for airport protection which we expect the airlines to fund. Why, we even confiscate tweezers, now! And of course, we shut down a WHOLE airport if someone runs. We assume he's a terrorist, now, rather than late for his flight!
• We greedily demand airlines penalize frequent flyers, 'cuz THEY needn't wait like we now must.
• We greedily demand those $99 fares, but also, expensive-but-inept internal airplane protection. [My best friend likens the 'protections' demanded to draining the lake in order to stop a pipe's leak. Viz., strengthening cockpit doors instead of the latches; instead of arming the pilots; instead of enabling pilots to release soporific gas into the main cabin (and put any threat safely to sleep.)]
• We greedily condemn 'profiling', yet demand the Feds catch terrorists! Make bricks without straw! (Exodus 5.)
• So, Uncle Sam greedily and suddenly responds with a blizzard of: bureau reorganizations (meaning, find-a-scapegoat); 'family' programs and domestic-agenda-lawsuits against states, which would reduce "states' rights", if successful. ['You' always get a government which looks just like 'you', no matter what its technical structure. Matt7:2 never ceases.]

  See? We're so tied up with litigation, no one will have any money left to produce or buy products...Ahh, but here's more! Unsatisfied, we scream bloody murder over Enrons, Arthur Andersons, WorldComs, even the Catholic Church, for having a FEW -- and we don't really know HOW few, since mere ALLEGATIONS suffice -- bad people! Everyone falls all over himself to condemn! The little guy on the street, condemns to feel big; the media condemns, to sell itself; the customer condemns, to escape, lest he himself is sued by his own customers for being a client of a 'bad' company. Rats. Vultures. Drunkards. Drunk, that is, with fear. Or, Self-Righteousness.

  Never mind that we've just killed untold thousands of jobs by means of our own greedy cowardice. Never mind that the aftermath of such accusations will so vastly increase the cost of goods and services, the poor will get poorer, still. Down with Business! Down with Government! Down, Down, Down! To put the ever-inferior 'self', UP! Heck, let's just cap the whole thing off: pick THIS time to sue against the 50-year-old language in the Pledge of Allegiance! Never mind that your own kid will be forever scarred by the experience. Might as well stab him, daddy. Is this what a loving father does? Expose his kid to ridicule for the rest of his life? Right or wrong, isn't your kid more important than your ego? So there really IS another way to sacrifice to Molech...

  This is all recent news. I didn't invent it to justify a website. So, then: do you see how these events coordinate? Do you see Satan's baton in all these indented paragraphs? Looks like he's conducting a symphony: even, Wagner. See? Bin Laden's activities can't compare with the terrorism we inflict upon ourselves. All costing billions of dollars -- WHERE will that money come from? We are ruining our own economy faster than all the terrorism on earth could even HOPE to do. It's shocking: mark these times, for they depict classic satanic modus operandi. We are truly exhibiting Lev26 and Deut28 in spades. It may well be the 'end times, brother' -- end of the US, for being so negative to God. Not -- repeat, NOT -- the Tribulation.

The seventh Goblet is Armageddon, really. 'Sixth Goblet merely sets it up as a consequence of drying up Tigris-Euphrates; the froglike-spirits indicate worldwide demonic conspiracy to foment the war. [Frog-demon metaphor refers to Aristophanes' The Frogs, a satirical comedy everyone knew. This very funny play is about smiley subterfuge and hypocrisy. In only one scene do the frogs appear: when Dionysus (Bacchus) is going to Hades. The frogs' 'job' is to make him row to a certain beat, even though he has to pay the boat owner for the ride! So, they entice Dionysus to 'battle' with their croaking. Their croaking keeps him occupied with them; meanwhile, he doesn't notice how he's obeying their "timing song" by rowing himself sore. In short, he thinks he's battling them by croaking back: but, thus they control him. Only the owner of the boat-to-Hades is able to break Dionysus' progressive obsession with the frogs. God chose a GREAT way to depict the Sixth Goblet, by having John depict the demons as 'frogs'!] As the last half of Rev16 explains, a world war is going on: looks like tactical nuclear war. Moreover, as Chapter 17 explains, the politicos running Rome get good and tired of being dominated by the religion ("sits" in Chap.17 really means sits and dominates, like a trained rider does a horse). So, as noted above, there's a real internal power struggle not only in the head of the imperium, Rome, but also everywhere else. Just as God says so many times in Scripture, His enemies eventually wipe each other out. Satan, and many a human ruler, will foment divisions under the 'cloak' of unity, since that's the ONLY way to control everyone. So the second half of the Trib, as noted earlier, is just like the first half: use religion to dominate, to make people rebel against it, to thus bring about Gotterdamerung. To hell with Valhalla!

Armaggedon is but the LAST of the military campaigns being fought. So, as usual, the Bible uses Armaggedon to depict two realities. First, Gotterdamerung characterizes the second half of the Trib, "the Great Tribulation". (Of course, at any time in post-Cross history, trends are always veering toward or away from Gotterdamerung, depending on the aggregate "pole" of believer volition (positive, "away"; negative, "toward".) Second, in the plain of Esdraelon the greatest land battle of the world will be fought, and Israel would be destroyed by it but for the 2nd Advent.

If you read Josephus' depiction of the siege of Jerusalem, you know more about Gotterdamerung than Wagner could put to music. Unrestrained insanity. Bestiality at its worst. Famine becomes rampant, not only due to the normal horror of war, but because people started hoarding back at the Rapture, in reaction to it. So, cannibalism. Rape, murder, pillaging. Many suicides. Frenzied neighbor-slicing-neighbor's throats. Troops butchering anything that moves. Anarchy everywhere. World-wide. Any student of history knows (well, SHOULD know) that 'dark ages' happen cyclically. We modern folks find it hard to believe that such things can happen on so vast a scale. But such things have always happened, and are happening right NOW, as you even read this page. In short, it's NOTHING NEW. 'Just on a bigger scale.

Man is NOT naturally civilized. Remember Lord of the Flies? That was Golding's entire thesis, which history confirms time and time again. "Improvement" is not native to man. Neither was anything he 'inherited' from the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil". So, he can't 'behave'. So he MUST be manipulated. And is, time and time again: easily. Our veneer of civilization is extremely thin. If we can routinely beat up black people in their churches and homes as recently as 50 years ago, even in America, how civilized are we? If we can demonstrate down in Florida over "chads" like loonies, how civilized ARE we? In 1999!?! Didn't we have anything BETTER to do, than run around waving accusing placards? Why were we all so obsessed? So ready to skewer the 'other side', as 'evil'? Is this what civilized brains do? Or, what animals do?

Does a civilized brain demolish a worldwide accounting firm because a few in it MAYBE helped cover up what MAYBE was a deliberate draining of funds by MAYBE a few other people? What happened to "due process of law"? What happened to the normal work of Congress? WHERE in the Constitution does it say that we should regulate business? What happened to separation of church from state, business from state? So that all of them are in some kind of balance-of-power? Tell me: does a civilized government kill tens of thousands of voters' jobs, and make the voters pay millions of dollars in 'hearings' costs, to boot? 'Due to an unproved accusation against a FEW? Oh, yeah, we're civilized alright: like vultures! We just wear ties!

We can't blame 'the unbeliever' for all this insanity. But rather, as Isa1, Isa6:9-10, Jer2:16-19, Hosea4:1-6 all say, it's the NEGATIVE BELIEVER who brings on God's judgement to any nation called by His Name (see 2Chron7:14 for the antidote). Deut28:28 even promises madness to believers rejecting Him. So, then: how is it, so many Christians today are positively apoplectic on the topic of abortion? I mean, pretend for the sake of argument that it WASN'T utterly blasphemous to say that human life was in the womb. (Look, I'm adopted, but I can't lie about what Scripture says. God says very definitely only HE makes one human, and He does it at BIRTH, so there will be absolutely NO doubt Who gives Life. His "formed" verses are quite emphatic, in both OT Hebrew, and in the "called" verses in NT Greek which have "womb" in them, like in Gal2. They in particular stress that you-aren't-a-you-until-God-FORMS-you-at-birth. English translations of these verses LIE; there's no kinder way to put it. How so? 'Because "from" in English means "from inside", but Hebrew preposition "min" and Greek "ek" ONLY can be correctly translated "OUT from, SEPARATED from, AWAY from" -- you can't pass seminary language classes without knowing this. So, then: how is it translators remember this fact except for "womb" passages? Heh. Satan would have man think man helps make life: yet another way to promote me-be-good opposition to God.) Don't the prolifers' brains have any other problems to ponder? Especially since anti-abortion laws, like anti-alcohol laws, can never be effectively enforced? Unless we resort to policing every bathroom? What, they can't trust SOVEREIGN GOD to handle the matter? Rebekah sure did (Gen25:22). The Mosaic Law sure did: externally-caused miscarriage isn't adjudicable as murder. [See Exodus 21:22, in original Hebrew and also in the the following English translations: RSV NAS Douhay-Rheims (official Roman Catholic translation), Bible in Basic English, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible. The other versions use fuzzier terms for the Hebrew of "miscarriage", "yatsa", an idiom (when used in connection with pregnancy).]

Are we animals? Biology says we are. History sure says we are. Surely our brains don't use their God-given functions. But surely, Satan DOES. 'Deceiving the whole world. That's not mere rhetoric. Time and time again, whether from the news, or even one's own urges -- we are given AMPLE proof that we humans indeed CHOOSE animalism. We have only a patina of gentility, so we can lie to ourselves, about ourselves. So Satan can use us however he likes. Whenever he likes. All in the name of "good": like he's been doing since the Fall, ESPECIALLY with respect to 'the elect'. Like he will do, during the official Tribulation. ESPECIALLY with respect to 'the elect'. After all, if believers then actually cared about GOD's Script[ure], they'd LEARN it...