Revelation: The Fifth Trumpet & First Woe.

I am posting chapters from my sister's book, "The End is Near. End Time Bible Prophecy Anyone Can Understand."
continued from last post...

The last three trumpets are referred to as the three woes because they are extremely horrible.

Fifth Trumpet, First Woe:  Locust 

            “Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him.  He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.  Out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.  They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.  And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man.  And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.”  They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.  The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.”       Rev. 9:1-6, 11, 12

You have probably heard the term, “All hell is breaking loose.”  Well, that is a good description of what happens under the fifth trumpet.  A fallen star, an angel who follows Lucifer (see Rev. 12:4), is shown releasing smoke and locust from the bottomless pit.  God had kept Satan and his demons under control and had put certain limits on their activities, but now they are loosed to wreak havoc upon the earth.  But those who belong to God and have his seal will be spared from direct attacks from Satan and his angels.

             There are two main schools of thought regarding the fifth trumpet.  We will look at both and then we will have to wait for time to tell us which is the correct interpretation.

  The first school of thought says that since the first four trumpets are literal renderings of what is going to happen, there is no reason to think the fifth trumpet is anything other than literal.  If that is true, then for the first time in our study of prophecy we see a time period that is NOT symbolic.  Five months is the literal duration of this plague. 

When Jesus was on this earth, he went to the Gadarenes one time and there he met two demon-possessed men.  As Jesus was casting the demons out of these men the demons begged to be allowed to enter and possess some pigs that were nearby.  Jesus allowed them to do so and the pigs went insane, jumping into the sea and drowning.  (see Matt. 8:28-32)  Here with the fifth trumpet we see something similar but with different results.  Demons are allowed to possess locust but instead of going insane they torment mankind for five months, driving them insane.  They are led by the demon of the abyss named Abaddon and Apollyon.  These names translate into the word Destruction and can refer to Satan himself or perhaps one of his lieutenants.

   There are three restrictions put upon the locusts:  they cannot attack those bearing the seal of God, they cannot eat grass, trees or any green thing, and they cannot kill.  The descriptions of these locusts wearing armor and having teeth like lions (Rev. 9:7-10), etc, simply indicates that they are indestructible.  No matter what man does, he cannot stop these locusts from tormenting.  Try to imagine living for five months where every time you walk out the door swarms of locust attack you.  They invade your home, surround your car, and crawl all over you whenever they can.  Would you not feel like you were going insane?  It would be horrible torment.

The other school of thought says that with the fifth trumpet we switch from literal descriptions of what will happen under the first four trumpets to a symbolic description.  Why is it symbolic rather than literal?  Because locusts do only one thing when they swarm: eat.  They eat everything in sight, but here they are told not to hurt any green thing.  They are told to harm only people, and only those who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads.  Also, these locusts have a king reigning over them, but Prov. 30:27 clearly states that locust have no king.  So the conclusion is that the locust stands for something else that will torment people.

          But what form do these attacks take?  And does the torment they inflict last five literal months or 150 years (30 x 5 = 150, see Appendix 2)?  If the events described under the fifth trumpet are primarily symbolic, then it is assumed that the five months is symbolic also and therefore means 150 years.  Now we must find out what kind of demonic activities have been, or will be, occurring for that amount of time.  Demons are not going to simply show up at your door and start tormenting you.  Satan is much more clever than that and he disguises his attacks so that they appear harmless.  But they are not harmless, and people do not realize that until they have been sucked in and start experiencing the torment Satan had planned for them all along. 

Revelation: Trumpets 1-4.

I already published this but made a mistake so have to publish again.

This brings us to the mark of the beast.  You have possibly heard of it and heard people speculate that it will be tattoos of bar codes on people’s arms, or a special ID card or implant under the skin, or any other type of visible identification.  However, for every true and good thing from God, Satan has a counterfeit: God has a church, Satan has a church; God has a Sabbath, Satan has a Sabbath; God marks his believers, Satan marks his believers.  We will discuss this more in the next chapter. 

At this time probation is still open and anyone who wants to can join God’s true followers and receive his seal.

Seventh Seal:  Judgment    

          Experience

          “When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.  And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.  Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer… Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”  Rev. 8:1-5

           When the other six seals were opened, there was always a commotion in the form of voices or natural phenomena.  (see Rev. 6:1, 3, 5, 7, 9-10, 12)  So why is there silence in heaven when the seventh seal is introduced?  Well, when are you moved to be utterly silent?  When something momentous or fascinating is happening or about to happen and you do not want to miss one second of it.  All of heaven has been involved in what has been going on down here on earth ever since Satan and sin entered the picture, and now it is all about to climax and to come to an end.  No one in heaven wants to miss a second of the drama about to unfold

.

          The angel with the censer throws it to the earth, signaling the commencement of the seven trumpet judgments. 

Trumpets have been used for thousands of years to announce one thing or another.  They were used to announce a warning that an enemy was coming, or they relayed battlefield orders in the midst of a fight, and even today the military uses them to announce the beginning and end of the day.  So the seven angels and their seven trumpets are announcing the beginning of God’s judgments and the beginning of the end of this conflict between good and evil on this earth.

First Trumpet:  1/3 of Earth Burned

“The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”  Rev. 8:6, 7

Second Trumpet:  1/3 of Sea Becomes Blood

“The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.”  Rev. 8:8, 9

Third Trumpet:  1/3 of Fresh Water Made Bitter

Fourth Trumpet:  1/3 of Sky Darkened

“The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.”  Rev. 8:12

The first thing  we must ask ourselves is if these trumpet judgments are literally going to happen or if they are figurative and stand for something else.  If we look closely at each trumpet we see that the descriptions are too specific to be figurative language.  Trees, grass, creatures in the sea, men, sun, moon and stars are all literal things affected by what is to come.  But the reference to Wormwood is figurative, right?  Yes and no.  Webster’s New World College Dictionary (4^th ed.) defines wormwood as a plant that yields bitter oil, but it also defines wormwood as, “…a bitter, unpleasant, or mortifying experience.”  Living during a time when a third of the earth is burned, a third of the ocean dies, a third of our fresh water is ruined, and a third of the sky goes dark is going to be a horribly bitter, unpleasant and mortifying experience.

           If we look at the world today, we can see that the first three trumpet judgments seem to be slowly coming true even now.  We are polluting our oceans and our drinking water, and the earth is suffering from global warming, but it will not culminate into a third of each until we are in the Laodicea Church era.  We can speculate that the great mountain of fire under the second trumpet is a volcano or some other natural phenomena that will hasten the ruination of the oceans; killing a third of the creatures in the oceans and causing tsunamis or other devastating after effects that will smash ships.

Photo by EPA

Yellowstone Park Fire

Volcanic ash from Calbuco Volcano, Chile

Late on April 22, 2015, Calbuco volcano in southern Chile awoke from four decades of slumber with an explosive eruption. Ash and pumice particles were lofted high into the atmosphere, and the debris has been darkening skies and burying parts of Chile, Argentina, and South America for nearly a week. Along with 210 million cubic meters of ash and rock, the volcano has been spewing sulfur dioxide (SO2) and other gases.

Revelation: The Seal of God.

Seal of God

          “After this (the end of the Philadelphia Church era and the sixth seal) I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.  And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God; and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond servants of our God on their foreheads.”  Rev. 7:1-3

          Before the seventh seal is opened, something happens to the servants of God; they are sealed on their foreheads with the seal of God.  Throughout history, an important document or letter was sealed shut with wax and the author or sender of the document would press a stamp or a signet ring into the wax to identify the origin and the authenticity of the document. 

In Revelation 7 we see an angel has been sent to place God’s seal on his followers, in effect marking them as authentic and belonging to him.  This seal will not be visible to the human eye, it is a spiritual seal: a setting apart, or separating, of those who follow God from those who follow the beast.  But why does the Bible specifically say the seal will be placed on the forehead?  Because that is where the mind is.  With our minds we make the decision to follow God and his truth, no matter the consequences.  “He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true.”  John 3:33 

          But why is this so important?  The mark shows which people are to be protected from the first five trumpets of God’s judgment.  We see an example of this in Ezekiel, Chapter 9.  God sent a messenger to Jerusalem to mark those loyal to him on the forehead, and then God sent five beings to kill everyone in the city who did not have the mark.  This story will repeat itself at the end of time.  We will be marked with the seal of God and the angels sent to execute the first five trumpets will pass us by.

          “And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel… After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…” 

Rev. 7:4, 9

          Twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of Israel are sealed and comprise the 144,000 mentioned here in Revelation 7.  Some people believe this is a literal number of people from the literal country of Israel who will be converted to Christianity and saved at the end of time.  Others believe this is simply a number signifying completeness and perfection of the saints at the end of time and is not to be taken literally.  Yet still others believe this number may or may not be literal, but it does signify those who go through the end of time and suffer greatly.  These saints all have different strengths and weaknesses correlating to the strengths and weakness of the twelve men and/or tribes mentioned.  No matter what this number represents, our concern is that we be counted among the great multitude that stands before the throne and the Lamb when all this is over. 

 

Revelation. Laodicea: The Last Church on Earth.

This is a series of chapters from my sister's book, "The End is Near. End Time Bible Prophecy Anyone Can Understand." By E.A. James

Continued from previous post:

Up to this point in our study of prophecy we have looked backwards in time; we have seen what the Bible told would happen and then we have learned that history proved the prophecies correct.  From this point forward, we do not have the luxury of historical hindsight.  We are now entering the unknown; we are now going to study what will happen in the future.  No one can say with absolute certainty what will happen or when it will happen, all we can do is take what we have learned about prophecy, apply it the best we can to what we study from now on, and keep watch on the events occurring in the world around us to see the fulfillment of what we have learned.

  In Chapter 4 of this book we saw that we are now living in the Philadelphia Church era.  The Laodicea Church era and the seventh seal are yet to come.

Laodicea:  Salvation        

          Spirituality

          “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, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.  Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.  Behold, I stand at the door and knock’(;) if  anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.  He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”  Rev. 3:15-21

          Here we see that as the Laodicea Church era begins, Christians have become complacent and self-satisfied with their spiritual condition.  The people have lost their zeal for God and just go through the motions, thinking that they have and are doing everything they need in order to be saved.  Jesus says that he rejects their self-righteousness but he offers to clothe them with his righteousness, to fill them with the Holy Spirit, and to give them understanding.  Those who accept his offer to live in their hearts will reign with him in heaven.

Painting by, Sul Art

          This is a warning for us, especially as the Philadelphia era ends and the Laodicea era begins.  We cannot offer anything to God in order to secure salvation.  Our good works, our church attendance, everything, is unacceptable.  “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment…” (Is. 64:6)  Only Jesus’ good works, only his sacrifice, only his righteousness can cover us and make us acceptable to God.

Laodicea

  How we think we are……….How we really are.

Revelation: Jesus Our High Priest.

These posts are copies of my sister's book, "The End is Near. 

Continued from previous post...

“…testimony of Jesus.”

Before Jesus came to this world, the Old Testament prophets prophesized about him and the work that he would do.  In the meantime, the sacrificial system was in place where someone who sinned would sacrifice an animal and his or her relationship with God would be restored.  Revelation 19:10 says, “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  It is the plan of redemption prophesized by the Old Testament prophets that Jesus fulfilled when he came to this earth, died, and went to heaven as our advocate.  

Once Jesus came, we no longer had to make a sacrifice or do any work in order to be accepted by God; Jesus did and is doing all the work for us.  This is called Righteousness by Faith, our relationship with God is put right through belief and trust in Jesus.  And we do not have to go to the temple or to a priest to seek restoration of a right relationship with God, we go straight to Jesus and he does it for us as our High Priest in the temple in heaven.  He is our High Priest who argues our case, who gives “testimony” in our behalf, who offers his life and his death in our place, granting us forgiveness and eventually eternal life.  

The writer of the book of Hebrews says, “…we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle…”  “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”  “…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living god?”   Heb. 8:1, 2; 9:11, 12, 14

                   Why did the Catholic Church hate the testimony of Jesus?  Because it usurped their power and control of the people and it took money out of their pockets.  As we have seen, the Bible teaches that Jesus is our High Priest and he shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins.  The Catholic Church, in the spirit of Balaam and the Nicolaitans, saw an opportunity to control individuals, obtain absolute power, and make a lot of money.  So it began to teach that you had to confess your sins to a priest in order to gain forgiveness. 

Then you had to prove that you had truly repented of your sin by paying some sort of retribution.  This would be in the form of penances, such as saying so many Hail Mary’s, performing some physical hardship, or doing charity work.  Those who could afford it could bypass the acts of penance and pay for what was called an Indulgence.  (see Appendix 1)  The Church made money and they had complete control over the actions of their subjects.   Thus the Church had substituted themselves and their own rules in place of Jesus and his sacrifice.  The horn had “…magnified itself to be equal with the Commander of the host (Jesus); and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him…”  Dan. 8:11   

Thyatira gave “testimony” to the truth by refusing to go to a Catholic priest and say confessions, by refusing to do any kind of penance, and by refusing to buy any indulgences. Martin Luther discovered the truth about Jesus being our priest and our substitute while he was still a Catholic Monk. He saw that confession to a priest, the performance of penances, and the selling of indulgences were wrong, and this led him to rebel against the false church he had loved and the false beliefs he had held all his life, starting the Protestant Reformation that took place during the Sardis church era. 

“…this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.” (Dan. 7:8)  The Catholic Church was not blind, it knew what it was doing and even bragged that it had the power to do what it did. (see Appendix 4)  In Daniel 8:12 it says the horn, “…will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.”  The Catholic Church did as it wished, flinging truth to the ground if it got in the way, and it prospered mightily.  Anyone else who wanted to prosper fell into line because the horn only gives, “…great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many…” (Dan. 11:39)  But those who opposed him paid the price.  Daniel said, “…He will destroy mighty men and the holy people.” (Dan. 8:24)  Just like the three kingdoms that opposed the Bishop of Rome when he was given power by Justinian, the church waged war against those who “...keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

           

As we have seen, the horn held absolute power for 1260 years, from 538 CE to 1798 CE.  During this time the two lamp stands, the two churches Thyatira and Sardis, held on to the truth.  They kept God’s commandments and gave testimony of the truth of Jesus.  But why do Daniel and Revelation spend so much time on this?  Because not only was it a big deal in the past; it is going to happen again in the future.  The more we understand the experiences of Thyatira and Sardis, the better prepared we will be when history repeats itself and Laodicea faces the same things. 

The affect of the changes made by the Catholic Church can still be seen today.  Sunday is when most Christians keep the Sabbath; priests still hear confessions; penances are still assigned to the repentant.  Now that you know the truth, what will you do with it?  Jesus said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required…” Luke 12:48  

Here are the Catholic Ten Commandments:

1. I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
4. Honor your father and your mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

http://www.beginningcatholic.com/catholic-ten-commandments

Here are the 10 Commandments from God's Word:

And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

http://www.godstenlaws.com/ten-commandments/#.WLzoqvnyu00

Revelation: Emperor Constantine.

This is a series of chapters from my sister's book, "The End is Near. End Time Bible Prophecy Anyone Can Understand." By E.A. James

Continued from previous post:

One of the things Daniel said about the horn was that, “He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in laws.” (Dan. 7:25)  In the Commandments of God, which one of his “laws” has to do with “times”?  It is this one: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”  (Exodus 20:8)  

Did one of your parents ever say to you “I brought you into this world, and I can take you out of it!” reminding you where you came from and who is the boss? 

 That is the basic purpose behind the Sabbath commandment, although God uses much kinder words.  God set up the Sabbath after creation as a reminder to us that the world was made by him (Gen. 2:1) and, when we honor the Sabbath, we are recognizing God’s power and authority over us.  Often, when God is talking about himself, or he is referred to by others, the fact that God is the creator is included in his title.  (See Rev. 4:11; 10:6; 14:7.)  He is not called the God who said not to covet, or the God who does not like adultery.  No.  He is referred to as our creator, and in recognition of that he asks us to honor him by devoting one day per week to him.

Photo by: Evelyn Simak 

The Jews kept what we know as Saturday, the seventh day at the end of the week, as the Sabbath day.  Jesus, when he was on earth, would go to the synagogue on Sabbath (Luke 13:10) and he called himself the Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28).  If he is our example and if he called himself Lord of the Sabbath, why would he give us an example and call himself Lord of something that was going to be changed? 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Gospel_harmony_(Sweet_Publishing)

Luke, who was writing about Paul at Corinth in the book of Acts, said that Paul went to the synagogue every Sabbath to reason with the Jews (Acts 18:4)  If the Sabbath had changed, why did Luke call the day the Jews gathered at the synagogue “Sabbath”?  Why not say, “Paul went every Saturday”?  The author of Hebrews says, “…there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.” (Heb. 4:9)  The Sabbath “remains”, it is not a new or a different one, it is the one that has always been.

The Emperor Constantine was the first Roman Emperor to be converted from paganism to Christianity but most of his subjects remained pagan.  At this time the church was still keeping Saturday as Sabbath but it was also observing Sunday as a holy day in remembrance of Jesus’ resurrection.

 These days were ones of fasting and prayer. 

The pagans also worshipped on Sunday, but their worship included feasting and partying.  The church reasoned that there was little chance of converting the pagans if all stayed the way it was, so it slowly began to change in order to get more people to convert.  The big thing they changed was Sabbath observance.  By changing the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday, they knew the pagans would be more inclined to convert and, since the church already considered Sunday a holy day in honor of the resurrection, it was a simple thing to slowly shift emphasis from Saturday to Sunday. 

The church knew that the more people it could get under its influence, the more power it would have and the more money it could make. The Catholic Church makes no apologies for its actions.  You see, the church admits openly that it changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.  (see Appendix 4)  Truly the horn made ”… alterations in times and in laws.” Dan.7: 25

 

The true churches of God, Thyatira and Sardis, refused to obey the Catholic Church and continued to “…keep the commandments of God…”  They were hunted, persecuted, and suffered the Inquisitions of the Catholic Church, but they held fast.

This is Belle writing. I'm including some quotes from Wikipedia:

While the Lord's Day observance of the Eucharist was established separately from the Jewish Sabbath, the centrality of the Eucharist itself made it the commonest early observance whenever Christians gathered for worship. In many places and times as late as the 4th century, they did continue to gather weekly on the Sabbath, often in addition to the Lord's Day, celebrating the Eucharist on both days.^[13][14][15] No disapproval of Sabbath observance of the Christian festival was expressed at the early church councils that dealt with Judaizing. The Council of Laodicea (363-364), for example, mandated only that Sabbath Eucharists must be observed in the same manner as those on the first day.^[15]Neander has suggested that Sabbath Eucharists in many places were kept "as a feast in commemoration of the Creation".^[15]

The issues about Hebrew practices that continued into the 2nd century tended to relate mostly to the Sabbath. Justin Martyr, who attended worship on the first day,^[16] wrote about the cessation of Hebrew Sabbath observance and stated that the Sabbath was enjoined as a temporary sign to Israel to teach it of human sinfulness,^[17]no longer needed after Christ came without sin.^[18] He rejected the need to keep literal seventh-day Sabbath, arguing instead that "the new law requires you to keep the sabbath constantly."^[19] With Christian corporate worship so clearly aligned with the Eucharist and allowed on the seventh day, Hebrew Sabbath practices primarily involved the observance of a day of rest.

Day of rest[edit]

A common theme in criticism of Hebrew Sabbath rest was idleness, found not to be in the Christian spirit of rest. Irenaeus (late 2nd c.), also citing continuous Sabbath observance, wrote that the Christian "will not be commanded to leave idle one day of rest, who is constantly keeping sabbath",^[20] and Tertullian (early 3rd century) argued "that we still more ought to observe a sabbath from all servile work always, and not only every seventh-day, but through all time".^[21] This early metaphorical interpretation of Sabbath applied it to the entire Christian life.^[22]

Ignatius, cautioning against "Judaizing" in his letter to the Magnesians,^[23] contrasts the Jewish Sabbath practices with the Christian life which includes the Lord's Day: "Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness .... But let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and plaudits which have no sense in them. And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's [Day, Dominicam] as a festival, the resurrection-day, the queen and chief of all the days."^[24]

The 2nd and 3rd centuries solidified the early church's emphasis upon Sunday worship and its rejection of a Jewish (Mosaic Law-based) observation of the Sabbath and manner of rest. Christian practice of following Sabbath after the manner of the Hebrews declined, prompting Tertullian to note "to [us] Sabbaths are strange" and unobserved.^[25] Even as late as the 4th century, Judaizing was still sometimes a problem within the Church, but by this time it was repudiated strongly as heresy.^[26][27][28]

Sunday was another work day in the Roman Empire. On March 7, 321, however, Roman Emperor Constantine I issued a civil decree making Sunday a day of rest from labor, stating:^[29]

All judges and city people and the craftsmen shall rest upon the venerable day of the sun. Country people, however, may freely attend to the cultivation of the fields, because it frequently happens that no other days are better adapted for planting the grain in the furrows or the vines in trenches. So that the advantage given by heavenly providence may not for the occasion of a short time perish.

While established only in civil law rather than religious principle, the Church welcomed the development as a means by which Christians could the more easily attend Sunday worship and observe Christian rest. At Laodicea also, the Church encouraged Christians to make use of the day for Christian rest where possible,^[28] without ascribing to it any of the regulation of Mosaic Law, and indeed, anathematizing Hebrew observance on the Sabbath. The civil law and its effects made possible a pattern in Church life that has been imitated throughout the centuries in many places and cultures, wherever possible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbath_in_Christianity

Revelation: The Seven-Headed Beast.

I am posting chapters from my sister's book, "The End is Near

Continued from previous post:

“Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names…And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.”  “There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.  And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.  It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them….”  
Rev. 13:1, 2, 5-7

                                     Picture by:  Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing

          This beast came out of the sea, meaning it arose out of people (see Appendix 2) and the dragon, Satan, backed this beast with all his power.  Here again we see the 42 months, the1260 years, of authority, so this beast must be the same entity as the horn.  Revelation 17:9 says, “The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.”  The woman referred to is Jezebel, the false church, “…Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots…” Rev. 17:5.  The seven mountains give us her location:  the seven hills of Rome, the city where the Pope lives and from which the Catholic Church rules.  We know that a beast represents nations, kingdoms, or political powers (see Appendix 2), so the Catholic Church’s depiction here as a beast shows the political authority it wielded as well as its religious authority.

One thing you must remember: the Catholic Church referred to in prophecy describes the leaders of the church, those who operate with the spirit of Balaam and the Nicolaitans.  There have been millions, and there are still millions, of innocent and sincere members of the Catholic Church who do not know the truth and are led astray by the leaders of the church.

We have not explored why the false church persecutes those who refuse to follow her lead.  Revelation 12:17 tells us that the persecuted depicted in Revelation are those who “…keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus”.  What does this mean and why does it threaten the false church? 

 “…commandments of God…”

Even if we do not know exactly what the commandments are, most of us have at least heard of the Ten Commandments.  You can find them listed in Exodus 20:3-17.

 But even the Catholic Church knows that the Ten Commandments are still in effect, right?  Yes they do, as do almost all Christians of all denominations, but there is one commandment that the Catholic Church changed and that the followers of truth refused to honor.