[This article first appeared May 14, 2008. It was last updated Oct. 15, 2011. Updates are often, but not always, in brackets.]
God sealed prophecy. He plainly stated that He did in the books of Daniel and Revelation. If we believe that God tells the truth, we must also believe that prophecy is sealed.
And yet every minister on earth seems to have claimed that he understands prophecy. We are left to wonder why ministers are compelled to contradict God on this point. There must be some overwhelming need ministers have to make their claims.
Look at me, Mamma!
Early experiences formed the personalities of ministers. In this, we are all the same. We wanted our mother's attention and for her to adore our antics. Some children did anything to get their mother's attention.
Some people continued to demand their mother's attention after they grew up. Some ministers still have a need to be the center of attention. Their mothers have turned into congregations and television audiences.
Televangelists think that their entertainment is so important that it is worth billions of dollars from their audiences.
In order to validate the worthiness of their television programs, hosts invite prophecy ministers who claim to have divinely given prophecy that will dazzle audiences. But, we already know that God sealed prophecy, so whatever the minister has to say is just more theory. But, the prophecy minister tries to convince the audience that he is a really special person who has an in with God. He has an in with God like he had an in with his adoring mamma.
Make a living- find a hook
So, what compels such a minister to claim that he has a special in with God so that God gives prophetic revelations ONLY to him?
One answer is that ministers need to make a living. Income of ministers is determined by donations and book sells. A minister that is just entering the religious industry might decide he could make a good living as a special man to whom God gave prophetic understanding. Special prophetic understanding would be his hook. In advertising terminology, he would be using a main selling point for a target market.
Retread Prophecy
A minister that decides to make a living using the prophecy hook needs special revealed prophecy to dazzle potential donors with.
So, he reads everyone else's books and literature and plagiarizes their revelations. Remember that Adam and Eve stole the forbidden fruit? To this day, Satan's followers steal forbidden fruit.
Amazingly, the plagiarizing minister uses the same old unsealed prophecy that have been used and reused in America's religious community for over a hundred years. He retreads a worn out old tire.
Sometime in the 1800's a Protestant minister created a prophetic scenario that eventually became the standard belief of the religious community. Upon closer examination, we found that the scenario that the Protestant minister created was actually plagiarized from earlier ministers.
The scenario went something like this:
Europe is Babylon. The Beast will be a man who is in the bloodline of the last Roman Caesar. A future Pope will be the False Prophet.
This basic scenario has been adjusted as time passed. Prophecy ministers have created new versions down through time. In the 1950's a popular version was that Germany would be the leading nation in a group of ten. These would be the ten toes (nations) of Babylon and the Beast would be a Furor type leader. The Mark of the Beast would be a tattoo like those given to holocaust victims. But, that version failed because there was never a group of ten nations. There are still adherents to that failed version because they want so much to believe in the leaders that gave that new revelation to them.
With the advent of computers and scanners, the Mark of the Beast was upgraded to a computer chip inserted into a person's right hand.
You can see how ministers altered subjects of prophecy in order to appeal to the latest public fear.
Protestants of the 1800's were still smarting form persecutions and inquisitions inflicted upon them by Rome, so they were receptive to the idea that a Pope at Rome would be the False Prophet. And, Rome was a continuation of Babylon, so it all made sense to people of that time. But, it wasn't the truth from God.
A minister who is hoping to make a living in prophecy has no need for truth. He simply needs an exciting theory that appeals to his audience and brings in donations and results in high book sells. He need only update the classic scenario that originated in the 1800's in order to have an exciting new revelation.
After WWI and WWII, people were terrified of Germany. That was when prophecy ministers conveniently make the Beast a German leader.
The classic scenario has been very saleable, so nobody has altered it that much.
The challenge for new prophecy ministers is to alter the classic scenario just enough to where they can claim it is a new revelation that God gave to them in particular because they are so special.
Look at me Mamma: I went to Heaven!
Some prophecy ministers can get away with less complicated claims of special revelation. It depends on the minister's target audience. One minister who has a folksy way of speaking claimed that God took him on a tour of the City of God in Heaven. The man perfected a version of Red Skelton's Klem Kadiddlehopper and his audience loved his performance. He said that he saw streets of gold, etc. His audience ate it up and ordered his book.
More thoughtful Bible students know that the Book of Revelation is written with symbolic imagery. For example Jesus was the Lamb of God. But, he was not literally a four-legged lamb. And, the City of God does not have golden streets. The verse about golden streets is allegorical and it means that people will be wise (pearls) and walk in righteousness (walk on gold).
And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as if it were transparent glass. (Revelation 21:21)
Anyway, the minister was claiming to be so special that God took him to Heaven. If God thought the man was special, the audience ought to agree, buy his book and make donations to him.
At what point does a minister become a predator/worshipper of Beast?
Personally, I do not believe that entertainment by prophecy ministers on religious television programs is worth a tenth of a person's income. But they certainly think their performances are worth it.
At what point does a minister say to himself: This charade has gone far enough and I can no longer claim to understand prophecy?
One has to ask if some prophecy ministers actually believe in God? Surely they know that God sees their scam. Wouldn't their consciences bother them? The only way their consciences would not bother them is when they do not believe in God anyway. Evidently, many a minister is a closet atheist.
These ministers are examples of worshipers of the Beast. They have made a conscious decision to prey on God's sheep like wolves.
Only the Two Witnesses of God are end-time prophets
When we read the Bible we see that only three prophets are mentioned in the end-time. They are Elijah and the Two Witnesses. Actually, Elijah was not a prophet in the sense he told about the end-times. He prophesied about local events. For example, he told a king that a battle would be to his advantage.
In contrast, God's Two Witnesses are prophets like Daniel and John. Daniel and John continue their work through God's Two Witnesses in a metaphorical sense. I say this because both Daniel and John were to finish prophesying in the end time.
The point is that the only two humans to have had prophecy unsealed to them are God's Two Witnesses. God speaks through prophets and there are no other prophets mentioned in the Bible.
In other words, prophecy ministers who claim to have revelations from God have NOT had revelations from God. They are religious predators. They have lie to us. Their motives can only be evil.
We look for ONLY the Two Witnesses of God to unseal prophecy for us.
Look at me Mamma: I'm Elijah!
Some ministers have gone so far as to proclaim that they are the end-time Elijah. This is what happens when people live in closed Church environments. They lose touch with reality. This same phenomenon can be observed with entertainers. When an individual is surrounded with yes men he does not have a realistic self-image. The movie, Sunset Boulevard, illustrates this phenomenon.
Some delusional ministers claim to be Elijah on the basis of their efforts to promote family values. Remember that Elijah was to return the hearts of the fathers to the children?
I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children. (Malachi 4:5-6)
Ministers have misinterpreted this because they don't read or don't understand the Bible. Elijah was a violent man who personally killed hundreds of government leaders. He overthrew his national rulers because they were taking the nation in a direction opposed to the principles of the founding fathers. A thousand government people met bloody deaths because of Elijah.
Now ask yourself, what modern minister is like Elijah? Has any minister overthrown governments and had a thousand government leaders imprisoned and/or executed by firing squad? We know of ONLY one modern day religious leader who did this very thing and he certainly wasn't a Protestant minister. This religious leader is the only option for the real end-time Elijah.
In 1991, Pope John Paul II overthrew the antichrist governments of the Soviet Union. Thousands of Marxist leaders were imprisoned. An undisclosed number were shot to death by firing squad. So, that Pope is the only plausible consideration for Elijah. Any minister who dares to compare his insignificant work to that of Pope John Paul is truly delusional.
Look at us, Mamma: we're the Two Witnesses!
Because egotistical ministers have found it so easy to claim to be Elijah, they probably would like to claim to be one of God's Two Witnesses. Their dilemma is that God's Two Witnesses breathe fire (Rev. 11:5). Because this is impossible for ministers, they shy away from this claim. Ministers do not comprehend that prophecy often uses symbolic imagery that is not literal.
An interpretation of this verse could be: When God's Two Witnesses gave the true meaning of prophecy, ministers that had claimed to understand prophecy were really burned up about it. (Revelation 11:5)
King James Version: And if any man will hurt them, fire proceeded out of their mouths, and devoured their enemies... (Revelation 11:5)
Also, God's Two Witnesses are murdered and their deaths could be gruesome. So, ministers don't really want to be in any pain if they can avoid it. They can make plenty of money without going there.
At the same time, prophecy ministers are instinctively hostile toward the real Two Witnesses. The Two Witnesses will truly unseal prophecy. This could severely damage the income and glory of prophecy ministers because their followers might stop buying books and making donations.
The best a prophecy minister could do is to plagiarize the prophetic understanding that was given by God to His Two Witnesses. After all, the minister had stolen all his material from others anyway. So, why not steal from God's Two Witnesses?
At this point you can see why Church leaders will murder God's Two Witnesses. The Two Witnesses of Christ pose a huge threat to the financial and ego empires of false ministers of Christ.
This only makes sense because 2,000 years ago religious leaders murdered Jesus for the very same reason. The reason that God allows the Two Witnesses to finally be murdered might be to show Christians just how un-Christian they actually are. The Book of Revelation clearly describes the end-time Church as lukewarm. This might lead to great repentance and a worldwide revival of the Christian Church.
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, (Revelation 3:15-17)
How dare you know more than I know!
Prophecy ministers are in a constant struggle to validate their special standing with God. They make a living off the claim that God opened prophecy ONLY to them. Or, they tell followers that prophecy is open to anyone who studies the Bible.
This is not so. God reveals prophecy only through prophets. The most learned of scholars have been sealed out of prophecy. So, it is for sure that every other Bible reader is sealed out. God would ask people: What part of no don't you understand?
People are vain and they think that they are equal to prophets and great scholars. They are not equal to either prophets or scholars.
For example, would a high school student walk into an advanced physics class filled with people with Master's Degrees and claim that he knows as much as they do? Would a high school student pass the same test that was given to people with doctorates? He could not pass such a test.
The thing about prophecy is that anyone can claim anything. If a person impersonating Klem Kadiddlehopper claimed he went to Heaven, who can prove otherwise? In this lawless environment charlatans have prospered.
Prophecy ministers are in a constant state of competition with other fakes. Nobody wants anyone else to have more revelation than they do.
Many prophecy ministers become angry when they think that new revelations have come along. Their only defense is to discredit the new information until they can safely plagiarize it.
We can see that the Two Witnesses of God will be hated UNTIL prophecy ministers are able to plagiarize their material. Their objective is to make money, so they will not stick with their claim that their previous understanding was the truth. They will change anything for a buck.
MAI: Mutually Assured Ignorance
When prophecy ministers don't understand some prophecy, they say: Nobody knows that! What they mean is that they are making a living with the claim that they are so special and so close to God that God revealed things ONLY to them. This illusion is burst when someone else actually does have understanding.
Prophecy ministers have a belief that I call the MAI (Mutually Assured Ignorance) whereby ministers claim that nobody knows more than they know about prophecy. Again, we can see why prophecy ministers will despise the Two Witnesses of God, who will not be part of the MAI crowd.
Many religious groups would NOT welcome God's Two Witnesses because special people had founded their groups. They claimed to have been so special that God revealed prophetic understanding ONLY to them.
Thwarting the Work of Two Witnesses- Competitors
But I said, I have worked hard for nothing. I have used my strength, but I didn't accomplish anything. Yet, certainly my case is in the LORD's hands, and my reward is with my God. ( Isaiah 49:4)
Consider the plight of God's Two Witnesses, who actually do have unsealed understanding to share with true believers. Isaiah took on the identity of the two Witnesses and expressed their frustration in the above verse.
Each leader of a Church will instruct his followers to ignore the fresh new understanding that is presented by God's Two Witnesses. This will be done because the minister has built his reputation on revelations he claimed to have received from God- and his revelations contradict the new revelations of God's Two Witnesses.
And, of course, the minister claims that his revelations were given ONLY to him because he is so special to God.
The cold hard truth is that ministers will be afraid of losing their followers and their financial support. After all, people would rather follow God's Two Witnesses than their minister, wouldn't they?
Internet Competition- Mimics
What happens when God's Two Witnesses put up a web site? If they post their revelations, a hundred other web site owners would cut and paste that information onto their own web sites. Many would claim that the information was their own. Or, they would leave the information without an author's name in the hope that readers would attribute the plagiarized information to the web owner.
This very situation was prophesied when Joshua's identity was blended with God's Two Witnesses.
Satan tried every way possible to prevent Joshua from building the temple. And of course, Satan stands right beside the Two Witnesses of God in order to thwart their every work effort.
And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary. (Zechariah 3:1)
Or: and the Satan at his right hand ready to take up a cause against him. (Zechariah 3:1)
Or: and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. (Zechariah 3:1)
A few web owners would actually make an effort to rewrite the material that they plagiarized from God's Two Witnesses before they put their names on it.
Let's say you are an earnest believer who is seeking God's Two Witnesses. The only way that you would recognize the real Two Witnesses is by their understanding of prophecy. But, if every prophecy site on the Internet steals their material, you could not distinguish them from the mimics. Plus, you would stand a good chance of believing in a person who stole prophetic understanding from the Real Two Witnesses.
You will recognize God's Two Witnesses only if God opens your eyes
You say to yourself: Why don't God's Two Witnesses just come out and admit who they are? If they did that on the Internet, a hundred other sites would cut and paste the very same words into their web sites.
This frustrating dilemma illustrates the chess game between Jesus and Satan. Every time Jesus makes a move, Satan checks the move.
All the prophecy ministers and web site owners that plagiarize information are Satan's chess pieces.
Web site owners who peddle prophecy are almost insane with an obsession to be ahead in search engines. They do unscrupulous things to get clicks. For example, they cut key words from other sites and paste them onto their own sites. Yet, they have nothing to offer that relates to those key words.
Web site owners are like babies screaming, Mamma, Mamma! Look at me, look at me! But when you look at the babies, they have nothing to say. They just want to be looked at. This is unethical conduct for web owners who peddle religion. But, it goes to show why God will kill off most people in Armageddon. And, the painful events of Armageddon are the birth pains of the kingdom of God.
And the dragon took his place before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when the birth had taken place he might put an end to her child. (Revelation 12:4)
God's Two Witnesses prepare chosen people to enter into the Kingdom of God. Satan stands beside the Two Witnesses in order to murder them and those who are with them. We see a repeat of Joshua's experience in building the Temple.
And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Jehovah, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary. (Zechariah 3:1)
The point is that Satan's children are making it impossible for you to link up with the real Two Witnesses of God.
So, how will you eventually be linked up with God's Two Witnesses? I think the answer is in the example of Peter. It seems amazing to us but nobody realized that Jesus was the Christ even though He did astonishing miracles that made His identity obvious.
Even so, nobody was to recognize Jesus as the Christ unless God personally opened the eyes of that person because God had chosen him/her for eternal life.
The same goes for God's Two Witnesses. It will be a wonderful day for you if God opens your understanding and you say: I know who you are. You're God's Two Witnesses! That will mean that your name is in the Book of Life and that you are soon to be in the Rapture.
It also means that you are called to be part of the Ministry of God's Two Witnesses.
Why Jesus did not reveal His identity
Why didn't Jesus reveal His identity? One reason was that God blinded everyone except the chosen. A more practical reason was that Jesus would have violated the law against blasphemy as religious leaders saw it. Jesus could not have publicly stated: I am the Christ. Jesus would have been arrested and His ministry would have ended sooner than it was to have.
Project that situation onto God's Two Witnesses. Jealous prophecy ministers would sue the God's Witnesses for receiving donations under false pretense. In a court of law, jealous ministers would tell the judge that people were tricked into sending donations to imposters. The judge might then require that the Two Witnesses of God cease and desist from accepting donations until such time they could prove their identities.
In the chess game between Jesus and Satan, God's Two Witnesses cannot openly admit their identities to the world. It is left to believers to say: I know who you are! But, God's Two Witnesses must leave it to individuals to believe what they will.
This is actually how God wants it to be because He wants to decide whom to call to eternal life and whom to be part of the ministry of His Two Witnesses.
Where does this leave you?
This leaves you in God's hands. God's Two Witnesses are doing a work like Joshua and Zerubbabel did. They are preparing the Temple for the return of Jesus. I do not know if you are one of the people who are to help them. I do not know if you are one of the fellows of whom Zechariah's prophecy spoke.
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. (Zechariah 3:8)
Instead of being an earnest seeker, you might be one of Satan's children. You might be a web site plagiarist or a prophecy minister looking to steal information. If you are one of these, Isaiah spoke of you. You steal information because God does not reveal information to you. God does not have anything to do with thieves like you. So, you have to steal understanding if you are to successfully pass yourself off as a real minister of Jesus.
And so, the word of the LORD is unto them precept by precept, precept by precept, line by line, line by line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. (Isaiah 28:13)
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น