(new article tomorrow)
Numbers 21 has this very famous passage: [5] And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
[6] And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
[7] Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
[8] And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
[9] And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
“The fiery serpent represents the rebellion and unbelief of the nation of Israel," explains Alex Kurz. “By the way, the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization (WHO), you know what their official logo is? It’s a pole with a serpent. Where did they get that from?
“They would argue, based upon Greek mythology: ‘Well, that represents the rod of Asclepius.’ Some mythical God in Greek history who practiced the healing and medicinal arts. This is so cute.
“So the medical profession, they don’t go to the Book of Numbers to appreciate the origins of the serpent around the pole. They would rather go to Greek mythology: ‘Agh, it’s the rod of Asclepius.’ Well, who’s this guy? A god, small ‘g’, false, fictious god, who supposedly practiced medicine.
“Now, why don’t you just acknowledge the Bible is always right? Listen, the origins of the serpent on the pole, we’re reading it! Unbelievers unwittingly don’t even know they’re following the Word of God.
“Verse 8: [8] And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
“God says, ‘I don’t want your works, I don’t want your achievements, I just want you to look at what I’m doing.’
"What God’s reaffirming is, ‘I don’t want what you can do; I want you to acknowledge what I’m doing!’ That’s what happens after the crucifixion.
“Again, verse 9: [9] And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
“These fiery serpents represent the rebellion of Israel and Israel’s worthiness to suffer the eternal consequences of rebellion. Jesus is reminding Israel, ‘You deserve the all-consuming eternal wrath of Almighty God because you’re rejecting me.’
“Isaiah 66:23-24: [23] And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.
[24] And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
“What does Moses do? The fiery serpent represents your worthiness to burn as a worm with the fire that is not quenched.
“What does Jesus do? He’s unloading, reminding Israel, ‘Guess what’s going to happen when I’m lifted up? You’re going to understand.’
“In Numbers 21:7, the problem is it’s in their heart. Peter actually indicts the nation of Israel: ‘You wicked, rebellious apostates. You took the anointed one and with wicked hands crucified Him.’
“If you go to II Kings 18, 700 years later, you know what Israel’s doing with that brass pole? They’re worshipping it!
“So King Hezekiah, you know what he says? ‘We’re destroying this!’ Verse 4 says, [4] He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.
“Israel is guilty of apostasy. They take an object that symbolizes their worthiness to burn in hell and they’re worshipping it! This is 700 years later! Isn’t sin absolutely destructive?! They don’t even realize the symbolism.
"That tells you how destructive sin and rebellion are. It reminds me of Romans 1 where the sinner actually enjoys seeing other people guilty of sin. They actually relish the rebellion, relish their sin, accusing and excusing one another.”
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Chapter 38 of Job ends with the Lord asking Job, [39] Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
[40] When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?[41] Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
"God is looking not just at the heavens but at the animal creation and points out to Job, 'You don't even have dominion over the animals,' " explains Richard Jordan.
"There are 12 animals that appear in order: Lion, raven, the wild goats and the hen, the wild ass, unicorn, peacock, the ostrich, horse, grasshopper, the hawk, the eagle.
"Drop down to 40:15 and there's another one: [15] Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
"So you have 12 animals in chapters 38-39, where God's gone back to describing the battle with the Adversary, and then He puts one last one because this one is the source of the real rebellion.
"The behemoth, when he's a beast in the plural, look at Revelation 13:1-2 and notice how the Antichrist's described: [1] And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
[2] And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."So the Antichrist is a leopard, bear and a lion combined together. He's a composite creature. Well, that's exactly what a behemoth is.
"This is not isolated imagery here. Hosea 13: [7] Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them:
[8] I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.[9] O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.
"That's describing what God's going to send on Israel in the tribulation as the Antichrist and his policies and plans destroy the nation Israel. So this combining of these beasts together as a picture back in Job is really a reference to the Antichrist himself."
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Revelation 13:4: [4] And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
"This issue of power and worship, that's exactly what the devil sought to do with the Lord Jesus Christ," explains Alex Kurz. "When the devil gives to this Antichrist--all that power, governmental authority--guess who worships who? Satan now receives all the worship.
"This is a repeat of a scenario of an event that did happen over 2,000 years ago. Satan possesses these kingdoms.
Verses 5-7: [5] And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
[6] And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
[7] And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
"Wasn't that the promise the devil made to the Lord Jesus? He said, 'I'll give it to you if . . ' Conditional, right? Makes you wonder about that deal that was offered. I can't help but think about the similarity between the two.
Revelation 13:12: [12] And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
"What we begin to see in Revelation 13 for the first time is this power that is given to this individual, but not only that, look at Revelation 13:8: [8] And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
"Prior to this, there's nothing said about anybody worshipping. Listen, whoever this man of sin is, he's a great charismatic, intelligent individual. He's able to thwart three of those kings and the remaining seven capitulate. We saw that perhaps he defeats the first three and by threat of long-range weaponry, the remaining seven say, 'Listen, we're not going to get stamped out,' so they capitulate to this guy.
"The worship part of this man does not begin until the middle of the week. Hence, as we just read in verse 8, they're going to begin to worship.
Verse 15: [15] And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Revelation 14:7: [7] Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
"For the first time, there's this issue of who is worshipping who. That man of sin has to be taken out of the way and he's going to be cut down, and now power is going to be given to the resurrected guy. Now the world does something for the first time. Adoration and worship is being given.
Revelation 13:3: [3] And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
"That word 'wonder' means they 'admire' this guy. This is, by the way, willful adoration, willful wonderment.
"This isn't out of compulsion. He's the Superstar. How do we know that? The world asks, 'Who is like unto the beast?' Someobody else asks that question. Exodus 15:11: [11] Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
"The son of perdition is going to portray himself as being the epitome of holiness. The world is going to fall in love.
"Sometimes we think of the second stage of the career of the Antichrist as him being some sort of a monster; a kind of Hitler-type tyrant and dictator. Far from it. He's going to be a benevolent dictator.
"Listen, he EARNS the love, worship and adoration of the masses. Do you love a tyrant? If there is a dictator who cruelly oppresses you, do you worship that guy? In your heart? These people say, 'Who's like this guy?!' He's a wonderment.
"Here's something E.W. Bullinger wrote regarding the second half of the week and the career and activities of the Antichrist:
'It's clear from this that everything is combined in this man to make him not only acceptable to the world but to call forth their wonder, admiration and praise. He's not in any way a terror to men, but full of attractions, allurements and activities which will be all put forth in the interest of human greatness and happiness.'
"You know what this guy's doing? He wants to create his own Garden of Eden. Satan wants his own utopia with HIS man. Everything Satan's doing is an exact duplicate; it's a counterfeit of what God Almighty is doing.
"God creates man from a pile of dust and the devil, within a few seconds of time, crushes what He thought God was seeking to do. You see, Satan's man would never do what God's man Adam did, right?
"Satan's got HIS man and this man will, for the first time, achieve what mankind was not able to achieve--that great societal development. This societal utopia. His man is a Superman and all the world, they love him for that.
"It's real easy to think he's some of kind of monster everybody hates, but it's the Tree of the Knowledge of GOOD and Evil. Not evil in the sense of rape, burn, pillage, but evil in the sense of defying what God's doing and carrying out the policy and strategy of Satan, because Satan wants to be the most high God and wants people to willingly worship him because of his benevolence to humanity.
"Bullinger writes: 'It will be Satan's brief Millennium in which mankind will, by every art and artifice, be made happy.'
"We'll see in Daniel 11 this guy is filthy, filthy rich but he's also generous, only the generosity extended by this guy is sort of like a politician who seeks to win your vote. In light of this, it will be a time of peace and progress. The Bible says peace is his mantra.
“Imagine being a member of that remnant and here’s this character out providing to humanity all they ever really wanted in ‘utopia,’ and you as the little flock say, ‘But he’s not the Christ.’
“Can you imagine how the world and the religious system is going to crush this ragtag team of heretics telling them, ‘Get out of there; don’t participate!’ You see why the hatred and the policy of extermination that’s being launched?
“This guy makes WAR with the saints because the saints are opposed to what this fraud is doing, trying to establish his Garden of Eden.
“It will be a time of peace and progress for the world. Great secrets of nature will be discovered. Evil angels will be the teachers and deceiving demons the guides of mankind.
“Keep that in mind when you go back to Genesis 11 and the Tower of Babel whose top may reach unto what? They were trying to call down these evil angels to serve as spirit guides.
“Great inventions and discoveries will be made. Who needs God if man functions as their own gods, right? Philanthropy will be the governing principal of the world: ‘Man can take care of man.’
“In the Book of Daniel you see this guy’s going to change laws and times. Which laws and times do you think he’s seeking to change? The laws of Scripture.
“Remember, the Book of Revelation is like a daily newspaper. It’s like the Metra schedule; you know exactly when the next train is coming. There are specific times and events that are predicted in Revelation. This guy is going to seek to change times.
“You have members of the little flock saying, ‘Listen, this is Antichrist because the Scriptures provide a timeline and he who sits in the temple being worshipped as God—he’s going to change the times to confuse the blind.’
“Oh, he’s a genius. Corrupted, satanically empowered genius. Satan doing it through him as long as Satan is being what? Worshipped.
“I love what E.W. Bullinger says: ‘He becomes a law unto himself. Men will delight in him and regard him as the greatest benefactor the world has ever seen. Kings will gladly owe him, and behind all will be Satan himself, swaying the tongues, hearts and energies of thousands of willing agents.’
“You see in Genesis the satanic attempt to be the mastermind behind civilization, agriculture, the fine arts. Why is Satan interested in the fine arts? You would think all he cares about is pushing the drugs and all that. No, that’s not what Satan’s interested in because your flesh is pretty capable of doing that anyway.
“Revelation 18 deals with commercial Babylon. The kings of the earth, when it comes to the destruction of commercial Babylon, they cry. The greatness, the economic system and the system of commerce that’s established by this wicked genius comes to an end by Almighty God and the response by humanity is just horrible.
Revelation 18: [2] And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
[3] For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
"Something is going to happen to that literal city of Babylon and it’s fallen.
"Revelation 18:4: [4] And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
“Paul says ‘the love of money is the root of all evil.’ The greed is the motivating force that causes man to bend their knee in worship to this guy who is operational control of it all because all power is given to him by that seven-headed dragon.
“Verses 7-9: [7] How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
[8] Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
[9] And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
“They mourn over her: ‘My business is bankrupt!’ He’s not some tyrant who brings humanity under this slavish fear. He’s benevolent and he’s participating. He wants all men to live happily and prosperously.
“Why? Did not God say, ‘If you worship me and obey my commandments I will bless you with overabounding fruitfulness and wealth.’ You see what the fake king of kings is seeking to do in his phony Millennium, his phony Garden of Eden?
“He’s doing the thing that God says: ‘I will do, worship me.’ Satan says, ‘Worship me, I’ll bless you,’ and you know what that apostate nation of Israel is going to do? They’re going to crack open Deuteronomy and confront the members of the little flock and say, ‘Try and argue against Deuteronomy 28.’
“Because he’s doing it! He’s doing Deuteronomy 28! 'Who is like this guy?!' You see why members of the little flock are getting their heads cut off? You understand the tremendous pressure?
“Imagine being a member of the little flock who’s trying to convince someone who’s using Scripture and here’s this guy feeding it.
“That’s why Revelation 13:10 says, [10] He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
“The Lord wasn’t playing around when He said, ‘They that endure.’ Hebrews isn’t playing around when it says, ‘Hold fast; don’t let go of that hope.’ Like Paul says in II Thessalonians, ‘Strong delusion.’ Wow, this guy is EARNING worship because he’s practicing what Jehovah God said He would do based upon that covenant and program."
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