The Woman Persecuted
13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.
16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ
Let me start this article off by stating my position of the Rapture of the Church;
I believe that Revelation 4:1-2 marks the end of the "church age" and the start of Daniel's 70th week as proclaimed in Daniel chapter 9. In Revelation 4:1-2 the Bible says this,
"4 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne."
This is, to me, the Rapture event mentioned in several places in scripture (1 Corinthians 15, 1 Thess 4, and John 11:25).
However, today's post is not about the Rapture as much as it is playing the "devil's advocate" regarding America's role in the end times events. Most Biblical scholars believe that America plays little to no role in the end of days. Most hypothesize that it is because of America's financial state rendering them useless and unable to help themselves, let alone any other nation.
This theory is very likely given our current status as a nation. Today we see;
- Violence
- selfishness
- Adulteries
- Fornication
- Lies
- and total apathy against our fellow humans.
The Bible may give one small glimmer of hope that America does not completely implode. In verse 14 of Chapter 12 of Revelation we see that the "woman" who is representative of Israel is pursued by the "serpent" which is anti-Christ. However the "woman" is given wings of a great eagle where she is taken to the wilderness and cared for there for 3 1/2 years. Could this "Eagle" be the USA, who is symbolized by the great eagle? The truth is, I am not sure. If it is the USA then that means that a revival of some kind must come. Most likely there will be a great percentage of people saved after the Rapture, which are called, "Tribulation Saints". These are people who had a head knowledge of Jesus Christ, but never were officially saved. Meaning they lacked the Holy Spirit and therefore missed the Rapture. They were people who made a false profession or maybe went to church as a kid because mommy and daddy made them, but never took the gospel message and owned it. So with the knowledge they did have, they saw the signs of the times and called on Jesus Christ as Lord and were saved. In so doing, they would want to align themselves with the nation of Israel and they become powerful enough again to play a roll, possibly a small one, but a role all the same to contribute to the nation of Israel's survival during the "great tribulation period" that begins shortly after Revelation 12 begins.
This theory makes sense because of the way the last part of our scripture today ends; "17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ
What would you call the people who "have the testimony of Jesus Christ"? That's right, Christians. Tribulation Saints who will most likely have to take the mark of the beast (666) or die in resistance to the new government system.
So is there chance for one last revival before the rapture? Is there a chance that America does play a role in the end of days? Or is this preacher just grasping at straws? Leave a comment in the blog and let me know what you think.
Like I said, this is just me thinking and brainstorming. I believe firmly in a pre-trib rapture and I plan to be in Heaven awaiting my chance to take on the armies of the devil in the battle of Armageddon and look forward to spending a thousand years with Christ after His second coming when He judges the nations and sets up His kingdom on the throne of His father David and the perfect government religion takes it rightful place in the world's capital....Jerusalem.
For now, we are just looking for the thoughts of others.
No matter what happens, Jesus is still Lord, and He is in control.
Blessings,
Greg
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