Episode 6 - The AntiChrist

Welcome to the Black Swan Rising Podcast, an L10 production. For transcriptions, show notes, and extras, please visit us at the Black Swan Rising Podcast.com. Now, broadcasting across the world from the heart of the American Bible Belt, here is your host, Michael B. Rush.

Hello, friends. Welcome back to the Black Swan Rising Podcast. I'm your host, Michael B. Rush. The last episode we spent a lot of time talking about the Horror of Babylon, the rise and fall of this secretive institution. I drew on some current events to try to make sense of some of the prophecies regarding the rise of this secretive structure, specifically the beast's head that had received the deadly head wound that should have killed it, but it was able to rise to global prominence once more with the aid of ten horns that John the Revelator saw that accompanied this beast. I likened this to the fall of the Soviet Union. It might be interpreted more broadly as the fall of communism. I then speculated that the ten horns that give their power to this beast might associate with the ten BRICS nations, BRICS Plus nations that have aligned themselves with both Russia and China, and how they have been working on developing an alternative global currency that is backed by precious metals, gold and silver, as well as you know, and other you know other baskets of commodities such as rare earth metals, things of that nature, which is highly threatening to the fiat currency of the United States of America that is backed by nothing more than global trust that the United States will always be around. And that trust is becoming a little less solid given the tremendous amount of debt that the United States has been incurring and the fact that geez, it's just been around 70 days, it's added another trillion dollars and hit the debt ceiling once more. And currently the government is at the time of this recording has been shut down. Hopefully that will be resolved at some point. But it just is pointing to the ongoing concerns that the world has that the United States is operating under a debt structure that may no longer be sustainable. And the BRICS Plus nations are providing an alternate that is based on sound monetary principles, namely being backed based by precious metals, which the world has strayed from. And how that system, this alternate settlement system, could totally undermine the financial system in the West. Ed Steer referred to it as a weapon of mass destruction against the Western banking system, because the Western bullion banks have highly leveraged themselves with paper contracts that represent physical gold and silver, but in reality have no backing to them whatsoever. In fact, there are, by most people's estimates, if you go and look at the U.S. debt clock, it shows that there are over 300 paper contracts for every physical ounce of silver in existence. And silver seems to be one of the metals that the BRICS Plus Nations is focusing their efforts on amassing. And we mentioned how there really isn't a whole heck of a lot of silver in the grand scheme of things at today's prices. With about$50 billion, you could corner the silver market. And$50 billion is nothing for the BRICS Plus nations, particularly when the G7 countries have seized over$350 billion in Russian assets. So we've got some very interesting dynamics at play. And I speculated that it's these dynamics that may end up resulting in the catastrophic implosion of the Western banking system and there by the catering of the financial arm of the Hor of Babylon. Which the book of Revelation, particularly I'm speaking of Revelation chapter 17, speaks of the economic demise of the Hor of Babylon taking place at the hand of this nation-state that's represented by a wounded head that is buoyed up by ten horns, that their combined strength enables them to destroy the Hor of Babylon. Very quickly, in one hour, the global financial network of the Hor of Babylon collapses. So this sets the stage for the next black swan event that I would like to discuss today. And that black swan event is the rise of the Latter-day Antichrist. Now, I know that the character of the Antichrist is kind of a live-wire topic. There are many Christians that don't believe that this is a literal person, that this is more like a general, you know, societal deviation from traditional Judeo-Christian values, but there that there will not be a single personality that represents this Antichrist, whereas there are others that absolutely think this and are putting forth some strange names as candidates, such as King Charles, such as Donald Trump, I've even heard Elon Musk. And these seem to me to be very strange suggestions given that the scriptures that speak of this Latter-day Antichrist talk about him in such a way that this isn't just a charismatic character that deceives many people. It is someone that the vast majority of the world's inhabitants literally believe to be God. So, in my opinion, that immediately rules out the likes of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and King Charles. Nobody in their right mind is going to consider any of those individuals as literally being God. So in order to get a better feel for this, we need to dive into the scriptures that actually talk about this entity. And that's what we'll do on today's episode. Now, to kick off this conversation, I'd like to begin with the message that we find in Matthew 24. Now, Matthew 24 talks about a period of time when Christ took his apostles, and I'm sure there were other disciples there, to the Mount of Olives, which is, if you've ever been to Jerusalem, it's outside of the city walls, just up the hill from the Garden of Gethsemane. Now, the apostles and disciples asked Christ what it would, what the world would be like when he came again. And he said that in those days that there would arise false Christs and false prophets, and that these men would show great signs and wonders, and that if it were possible, these men would deceive even the very elect. Now, what does that mean? By the very elect, we can surely comprehend that he's talking about those that should know better, those that are very familiar with his doctrine and have dedicated themselves to become his disciples. The rise of these latter-day Antichrists, according to Jesus Christ, this figure that rises to power will be so impressive in the things that he speaks and in the signs and wonders that he is able to show the entire world that even some of the very elect will fall. They will be deceived by him. Now that is very concerning to me because it's saying that those people that have have made this a study, they are going to be deceived, or they they might be deceived by what this guy is doing. So let's jump into some other passages in the scriptures that give us more clarity in into what this man does. Now, the whole purpose of doing this, again, is to look at the evidence that's before us right now, the same kind of evidence that once these things occur, we'll be able to easily look at and say, duh, this is what this stuff meant. It's not so easy for us to look at things in advance and say, this is what they they mean. Just like you know, Paul said, we look through the glass darkly. We don't see things as they really are right now. Hindsight is always 2020. But if we will one day see these things clearly and understand them once these black swan events occur, and believe me, the rise of a latter-day antichrist who is able to deceive even the very elect with signs and wonders, that's that's a black swan event. And so these scriptures that you know we read and they're kind of nebulous to us now, one day they will point to exactly what this means for us, and we will go, oh yeah, this this should have been obvious for us, but it wasn't. So I'm gonna jump into Daniel chapter eight and read from verses 23 through 25, and these speak of the rise of this Antichrist. Now, I believe that all of Daniel's visions, all of them that he saw and that are recorded in the book of Daniel, they they're cumulative, they build upon each other. So anything that you understand from the prophecies of Daniel, it's like in Isaiah, the Lord says that he builds line upon line, precept upon precept. So I think that this is the revelations of Daniel build upon themselves. So let's let's look at this. And in the latter time of their kingdom. Now, what is Daniel talking about? I think that he's talking about from the the prior revelation. This is Daniel 11. When in the last episode we talked about those different beasts. One of the beasts that was like a lion, one that was like a leopard, one that was like a bear, and then a great and dreadful beast that was more dreadful than all of the beasts that came before it. I think you know all of those four beasts, they represented kingdoms that would have global domination. And I think that what Daniel is talking about here is in the latter time of this last great kingdom that will rise in the last days. And I I believe that this is that kingdom that was represented in the book of Revelation as being the head that had received the deadly head wound and then rose to power that we that I was just you know talking about, reviewing again in the intro, the same kingdom that has ten horns that give it power. So Daniel is saying, when we come to that kingdom this this is the time frame that we're talking about. Then he he continues, when the transgressors are come to the full. So what he's meaning in this fourth kingdom or this last great kingdom, the last great kingdom that will exist before the kingdom of God is established in its entirety upon the earth, like the stone cut without hands, uh, from a prior revelation that Daniel saw. This kingdom is going to corrupt the earth. And as a result, the transgressors will come to the full. This is also spoken of as the day of the Gentiles, when the Gentiles have complete power over the earth, and as a result, corruption and darkness are veiling the earth in ways that they they have not done in the post-Dolivian world. Now we continue. A king of fierce countenance and understanding dark sentences shall stand up. Now, this king of fierce countenance who understands dark sentences, this means I believe we're talking about this Antichrist. Now, in Revelation chapter 13, he was spoken of as a mouth that would be given to this kingdom that had the wounded head and the ten horns. We're talking about the same man. Now, Daniel says that he understands dark sentences. Remember, the whore of Babylon had mystery written on her forehead, meaning she was steeped in occultish practices. She worked in darkness. And this man will also understand those things and perhaps at a level of mastery that far exceeds what the Whore of Babylon ever obtained. And as a result, this man will be able to perform miracles and great deceptions in the eyes of all people. And as a result, there will be many Christians that are totally blown away by this and actually believe him. Now I believe that the rise of this Antichrist, if if we are to try to piece this in with the puzzle pieces that we have discussed in prior episodes, I think that we might consider this man rising to power in a coordinated deceptive event that may involve the lady. And if that is the case, I could see a scenario. I'm not saying that this is how it will work, but I could definitely see a scenario where the lady presents this man as being her son. And that she is the divine mother, and this is her divine son, and they're here to save us from ourselves. Now, keep in mind that the this last great kingdom rises to power by destroying the horror of Babylon. Now, when this destruction happens, I believe that the world is going to recognize that this horror of Babylon was wicked. And so to me, I could see this man and perhaps the lady capitalizing on that and using it as leverage to demonstrate to the world that they really are here to save us. Now, could there be other ways that they could bring about some sort of false redemption or salvation that they are showing up at the nick of time to save us from? Absolutely. There are a host of ways. And my point in bringing this up isn't to tell you exactly how this is going to play out, but just to bring this to the forefront of your mind so that when whatever does happen happens, as a black swan event, then we will be able to go, oh, this is what this means. And hopefully these puzzle pieces start falling into place. But according to Daniel, when this wicked kingdom that rises up from the Gentile nations with the cooperation of these ten other horns, then this it receives this mouth or this false prophet, which is a king of fears, a countenance that understands dark sentences. Now let's continue. And he shall stand up, and his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power. So what does that mean? This man, he comes up and he comes out swinging. He is powerful, he's mighty, but not by his own power. He's empowered by Satan. And Satan is a powerful entity. We don't necessarily understand all of the power that Satan has. And I do believe that Satan has been bound in certain degrees by God, but we understand that God is going to allow a sifting to take place prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ. And I believe that that sifting involves incredible deceptive events that people will be dependent upon listening to the still small voice to be able to discern what is real and what is not. And this will be a tremendous test. And we better understand what the Holy Ghost feels like and sounds like for ourselves. Because I believe that if the very elect can be deceived by this man, then some of the loudest voices in Christianity might be amongst those that are deceived. And if you look at the first coming of Jesus Christ as the template for the second coming of Christ, then we really should pause and think about this. Because there were many who initially declared Jesus Christ as the Son of Man, the Savior of the world, the Son of David. But then when things didn't work out as they had anticipated that they would, there were some very loud and pervasive voices in their community that convinced them to not go down the path of Christianity. And as a result, less than 2% of the Jewish nation went on to become Christians, despite Jesus Christ being the God of Israel. So I think that we need to be very careful in the coming days when this man is rising to power, that we are choosing the correct people to listen to. And friends, the best person to listen to is not another human being. The best person to listen to is God. And God speaks with a still small voice. Remember, he wasn't in the whirlwind, he wasn't in the fire, he wasn't in the earthquake, he was in a still small voice. And this is why we need to just take time to find quiet places that we can ponder upon the events that are going on and not listen to the loudest voices that are proclaiming what the truth should be for us, because the loudest voices in our heads are rarely the right ones. So let's continue. And he, meaning this Antichrist, this King of Fierce Countenance, shall destroy wonderfully and shall prosper and practice. Now, what does it mean that he is going to prosper and practice? Well, I believe that he is going to use his understanding of these dark sentences in ways that baffle us, and that he will be able to practice sorceries and witchcraft and things that appear godlike to us, things that from the perspective of the scriptures, only the power of God has been able to perform. However, it's important for us to understand that when Moses went before Pharaoh and cast down his staff, and the the Lord transformed the staff into a serpent, that the priests of Pharaoh were able to replicate those many of the same miracles. And they had an understanding of dark sentences that mainstream Christianity hasn't the foggiest idea about today. There are demonic powers, there are evil things that happen in this world. And to me, it seems like this man will be able to wield these demonic powers to great effect, perhaps greater than anyone in history has ever been able to wield them. And this will happen because the Lord will permit this kind of deception so that you know the sheep and the goats can be separated, the shaft and the tares can be separated. And we must choose for ourselves what side we will take. Now, this verse in Daniel continues, and it says, and he shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. Now, what in the heck does that mean? Does this mean that this antichrist is going to be able to destroy the saints of God, the disciples of Jesus Christ? Well, well, this is a very important thing to understand, because I think that this will also be one of the reasons that people lose faith in the last days. People have this false understanding that God will shield them from all bad things, and that if they believe in him, nothing bad will happen. Now, this is a very dangerous philosophy because it's simply not true. Look at how many prophets in the scriptures gave their life as a testimony of their teachings. Look at how many of the early Christians were killed because of their testimony in Jesus Christ and the fact that they would not deny him. Now, to me, this simply is an indication that these same kinds of things that have happened before will happen again. And we read about that in Revelation 13 when it says that that mouth that was given to this terrible nation that is joined by the ten horns, that that mouth will overcome the saints. And this scripture in Daniel seems to be saying the same thing, that he is going to destroy the mighty and the holy people. Now it says the mighty and the holy people. I believe that we're talking here not only about disciples of Jesus Christ, but I think we're also talking about the Jewish nation-state, Israel, the country of Israel, which frankly is really just comprised of the tribe of Judah. There are, there were originally 12 tribes of Israel, and we'll get into the identity of the other tribes of Israel, because I believe that that is an incredibly fascinating black swan event that will require at least one episode to truly get into. But the nation-state of Israel today is the Jewish state. And when you look at Revelation chapter 13, it says that this antichrist is going to siege Jerusalem for three and a half years. And he is ultimately going to prevail. He is going to conquer Jerusalem. And that is, I believe, in part the meaning that we should take away that he is going to destroy the mighty and the holy people, as well as overcoming the saints of God. Now we continue. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand. Meaning, these dark sentences that he understands, he's not going to be the only one that is able to utilize these powers. There are going to be others that are going to be taught in these dark arts, and they are going to be able to perform miracles that confound the saints of God and just lend evidence to the fact that, hey, this guy, he really is who he says he is. And it's it's going to be a very confusing and challenging time for Christianity in general, which is why so many people, even the very elect, can be deceived by these things. And then it goes on to say that he shall magnify himself in his heart. Now, what does that mean? It means that this man really legitimately thinks that he is the bee's niece. He is God, and he believes his own lie, and he uses these powers that he has been given and that God has permitted, that Satan enables him with to deceive the nations. He he believes that he is able to go head-to-head against Jesus Christ. And in fact, that's what Daniel says next. And he shall stand up against the prince of princes, but he shall be broken without hand. So this man, he believes in Lucifer's lies. He believes that Lucifer is going to be victorious and that he is going to somehow actually be legitimately be able to overcome Jesus Christ. Now, he's going to have some significant victories that he will be able to point to. I mean, after all, he's overcome the saints of God, he's overcome the Jewish state. There will be two prophets that arise in Jerusalem that do incredible things in the last days, and he is going to be able to overpower them and kill them. And they lie dead in the streets for three and a half days. And everybody celebrates their demise. So this guy's resume of fantastic accomplishments is growing long. And so the world has good reason to believe that this guy can go head to head with Jesus Christ. And yet, when that happens, and we read about that encounter in the book of Revelation, he is broken without hand. He can't stand for an instant against the might and power of Jesus Christ. Now, when that day happens, it will be obvious that this Antichrist is nothing like Jesus Christ. The comparison between the two will be night and day. And in fact, it will be so stark that all of the followers of the Antichrist will run and fear when they see Christ coming in all of his glory. And they will seek to hide themselves in the crevices of the earth and in the rocks. And of course, there is no hiding from the Son of God. So this is a very interesting passage that speaks of the Antichrist. So we need to we need to be aware of this. Now let's go back to Revelation chapter 13 and review some of the passages that we find there. 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. And there was given unto this beast a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue for forty-and-two months. This is the three and a half years that Jerusalem is sieged by this man. And this Antichrist opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 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, and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of the life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This comes from Revelation chapter thirteen, verses three and five through eight. So this sounds very similar to what we just reviewed from the prophecy of Daniel. So we've got two different prophets. That we're speaking about the same thing hundreds of years apart. And to me, this is this is very, very interesting. Now I mentioned that Daniel's prophecies tend to build on each other. So if you go and you look at prior prophecies of Daniel, and I'm specifically thinking of Daniel 7, where we learned about those four beasts. There, in that prophecy, we also learn about this, the rise of the latter-day Antichrist. So I'd like to I'd like to review that section as well. So I'm going to be reading from Daniel chapter 7, verses 7 and 8, and then I'm going to jump to verse 21 and 25. I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast. This is, you know, the beast that had received the deadly head wound and had ten horns. And it was dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly. And it had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it. And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it. And it had ten horns. And I considered the horns. And behold, there came up amongst them a little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. Okay, so this little horn that rises up and plucks up three of these other horns, this sounds a lot like the Antichrist, meaning he's given this mouth that speaks great things. Now let's let's listen to the other things that Daniel attributes to this Antichrist. And I beheld the same horn made war with the saints. Okay, this sounds exactly like the other prophecies that we have reviewed regarding this man. And he prevailed against them, and he shall speak great words against the most high, and shall wear out the saints of the most high, and think to change time and laws, and they, the saints, shall be given unto his hand until time and times and the dividing of time. Okay, let's let's unpack this a little bit. We're we're clearly talking about the same individual that the other two prophecies that we have reviewed has mentioned. This man is going to go to war against the saints of God, and he is going to overcome the saints of God. And he is going the saints of God will be given into his hand until time and times and the dividing of time. Now that corresponds. If you go time is a year, and times is two years, and the dividing of time is half a year, then you've got 42 months, just the same period of time that we have read about in Daniel chapter 8 and in Daniel chapter 13. So there is remarkable symmetry in these prophecies regarding the rise of this man in the last days. And something very interesting in this prophecy that we have just reviewed here is that it says that this man will think to change times and laws. Now, what does it mean to change time and laws? Well, I believe that this man and the power that he is able to wield is going to be so incredible that he is going to change our very understanding of the laws of physics. And he will be able to change time, meaning he will be able to change our histories, in that he's going to, I believe, if this man is consistent with the teachings of the Book of Enoch, which tell us that after 70 generations the watchers will return. Well, if this man is a watcher, and you know frankly, I believe that, you know, just like as I believe that, you know, King Charles or Donald Trump or Elon Musk, there's no way anyone's going to believe that those individuals are God. But if you have someone descend from the heavens and has technology and an understanding of things that goes far beyond anything we presently comprehend, and he says, Listen, everything that you think you understand about the history of this world, you don't. Go over here and dig around in the desert, and you're going to find this artifact. And we're going to go and do that. And lo and behold, we're going to dig up what he told us that we're going to dig up, and it's going to blow our socks off. And it's going to change our understanding of time and laws. And this is going to be incredibly challenging to our faith, because we are not going to be able to point to anything and say, this is why I believe. But this man is going to be able to point to all kinds of things and that support his claim that he is who he claims to be. And the only thing that we are going to be able to hang on to that tells us that he is lying is the still small voice. We, in other words, we are going to look like fools, and he is going to look like he has all of the cards. This is how he is able to wear out the saints of the Most High. Now, this just goes to the importance of understanding these things. Because if you have no understanding that something like this is coming down the pipeline, then obviously you can be easily deceived by these things. Okay, now let's move on over to the teachings of Paul. Now, the saints from all generations have always thought that Jesus Christ was going to return in their day. And in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, Paul is writing a letter to the saints explaining to them that they shouldn't be deceived about the timing of the second coming. And he gives a very important sign to indicate to the saints when this would occur. And the sign is the coming of this Antichrist. Consider what he says. Now we beseech you, my brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there shall come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. Because they received not the love of truth, that they might be saved, and for this cause shall God send amongst them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Now in these verses, Paul references a son of perdition who exalts himself above all and demonstrates to the world that he is God. And he comes with all of the workings of Satan, and he does incredible signs and wonders and deceives everybody. And according to Paul, God allows this so that people might be sifted, that those who listen to this still small voice will recognize this man for who he is, and that those who trust in lying voices will be deceived. Now, some of you may recognize this passage as being the passage that came to mind when the lady told me that she could not deceive the elective God unless God allowed it to happen. Now, I believe that God will allow these things to happen. He is going to allow an Antichrist figure. He is going to allow great deceptions, just as he has always allowed such things. There is no test of faith without trials of faith. And this will be one of the greatest trials of faith that the world has ever known. And we know that something like this is coming, not just from passages of scripture like this, but also from passages I'm thinking specifically of Daniel chapter 12, verse 1. In that verse, Daniel says that there is going to be a time of trial that will come upon the earth in the last days that will be worse than any other time since there has been a nation. Now, I don't know about you, but this sounds terrifying to me. Because when you look at the history of the earth, there have been some horrific time periods. So for Daniel to say that the coming trials will be worse than any other time in history, that should give all of us pause. And we should be asking ourselves, why are things going to be so challenging? Well, if you flip over to Daniel chapter 11 and read the verses leading up to this incredible pronouncement by Daniel, you learn that the reason for this terrible trial is going to be this Antichrist. Listen to this. This is from Daniel 11. And in the kingdom of this whore Babylon shall stand up a vile person. This vile person, I believe, is the Antichrist, to whom they, which is, I believe, talking about this whore Babylon, shall not give the honor of the kingdom, but he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries, and his heart shall be against the holy covenant. But the ships of Chittim shall come against him. Therefore he shall be grieved and return, and have indignation against the Holy Covenant, and so he shall do. He shall even return and have intelligence with them that forsake the Holy Covenant. Daniel chapter 11, verses 21 through 24, and 28 through 30. So Daniel says that a vile person is going to stand up in this kingdom that will exist in the last days, and he will obtain the kingdom through his flatteries, and his heart will be against the Holy Covenant. Now we have learned from other passages that this Antichrist wages war against the saints of God, and he overcomes them. I believe that this is the same thing that Daniel is talking about here, that his heart is against the Holy Covenant. But something interesting happens. The ships of Chittim come against this man. Now the context of the ships of Chittim coming against this Antichrist is interesting because first he had in his heart to be against the Holy Covenant, but then the ships of Chittim come against him. And once the ships of Chittim come against him, he is grieved and he turns with indignation against the Holy Covenant, and he seeks to obtain intelligence from those who have forsaken the Holy Covenant. So to me, these ships of Chittim? It's a black swan event. This Antichrist does not see these ships of Chittim coming. They were not on his radar. And then what is his reaction? You know, he was initially suppressing the saints. The ships of Chittim come and he is defeated in some way, and he is now filled with indignation against the Holy Covenant. To me, this means that he is affiliating the ships of Chittim with the people of the Holy Covenant. Because the first thing that he does after he is defeated by these mysterious ships of Chittim is that he goes to seek intelligence from those that forsake the covenant. He's looking for apostates that can explain to him what just happened. Who are these people in these ships of Chittim? This is mysterious stuff. And if you look at these passages, I know there are some Bible scholars that say, oh, you know, we're we're talking about Rome here. I don't buy that. Why don't I buy that? Because when you look at the angelic commentary to Daniel about these things, the angel explicitly tells Daniel in chapter 12, verse 9. And chapter and 11 and chapter 12, they're the same revelation, right? When Daniel received this, he didn't receive it in chapter and verses, he received it as an entire revelation. And chapter 11 and 12 are that revelation. And this is what the angel says to Daniel. The angel said, Go thy way, Daniel, for these words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end, meaning the time when the Son of Man would return. So these ships of Chittim are going to be a black swan event that will counter the Antichrist in the last days, right before the second coming of Jesus Christ. Now let's talk about the word chittim. Chittim is It's translated sometimes as Kittim with a K or Chitum with a CH, but it's the same word. And it comes from the Hebrew word katat, which means to beat, to crush, or to hammer. As such, this seems to be a reference to military might, conquest, meaning that those who are in the ships of Kittim are pulverizers, they're destroyers, they're mighty. Now, Daniel uses this word chittim, the ships of Chittim specifically, as coming against this Antichrist figure. Now, Daniel's prophecy is reminiscent of another prophecy that we read about in Numbers chapter 24. Now, in this prophecy we learn that in the last days the ships of Chittim will come against Ashur and afflict him. This is an interesting reference. Who is Ashur? Well, Ashur was the god of the Assyrians, and the Assyrians came in and destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, and they almost destroyed the kingdom of Judah. They came right up to the throat of Judah, and then the Lord wiped out 180,000 Assyrians in the nighttime. Had it not been for that, then the kingdom of Assyria would have wiped out both nation-states of Israel. So I believe that Ashur here was a false god of Israel's enemy. And what I think that this is indicative of is in the last days there will be this Antichrist who will also be a false god, and he will be the enemy of Israel, and the ships of Chitam will come up and rise up against him and afflict him. They will not kill him, but he will have indignation after that encounter and seek intelligence from those that forsake the covenant. Now there's another work that was discovered amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls. It's called the War Scrolls. And amongst the War Scrolls, we have this prophecy that in the last days an antichrist will arise. And he is referred to as Belial in The War Scrolls. And one of the hosts that is fighting with Belial, interestingly enough, is the is the Kittim of Ashur, which we should relate with this prophecy in Numbers, meaning, you know, these are the kittims of the false gods. Said another way, this antichrist that will come in the last days will have destroyers of his own. And yet, despite his own destroyers, the ships of Chittim come against him, and he and his destroyers are both rebuffed by them. And this is very curious, because from the context of the Book of Enoch, I think that this Latter-day Antichrist who will come is most likely going to be a watcher. And if this watcher is coming with destroyers of his own, his own Kittim, then perhaps when he comes, he's not coming alone. And so you have the ships of Chittim that come against both him and his destroyers. And again, if he's a watcher, he's got technology that is going to revolutionize things. So if there is another group called the ships of Chittim that come against him and his destroyers, then they are very special on their own. Now, there's another passage in Isaiah that talks about these things, and it's found in Isaiah chapter 10. And I think that we need to understand this, these verses that I'm going to read from the context of the ships of Chittim coming against the Antichrist. This is what I think Isaiah is talking about, and it's very, very curious. I'm going to read, I'm going to begin in verses 21, and I'm going to go through 27. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. Now, what is it talking about here? Who is the remnant of Jacob? Well, let's recall that in Isaiah's day, the Assyrians came and wiped out the northern kingdom of Israel. So when Isaiah is talking about a remnant of Jacob returning, he's talking about the group that has been become known as the lost tribes of Israel, the lost ten tribes. He is saying that the lost ten tribes of Israel will return in verse 21. Then he says this in verse 22. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return. So this is curious. Isaiah is saying that the twelve tribes of Israel will be as innumerable as the sands of the sea, which was not the case in Isaiah's day. But he's saying that there will come a day when that will be the case. That is not the case for the house of Israel as we understand it right now. Most people associate the house of Israel just with the Jewish nation, and they're only about 16 million Jews. That's certainly not as innumerable as the sands of the sea. And Isaiah is saying that in that day, when the house of Israel is as innumerable as the sands of the sea, then a remnant shall return from this much larger body that apparently is lost to us. Listen to this. I'm going to read that verse again. For though thy people Israel be as the sands of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return. The consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. So the Lord is saying that he has declared a consumption, which is to say, a mighty destruction, which will come about with an overflowing of righteousness, meaning that this consumption is going to be made by covenant people. The covenant people are going to consume the wicked. Okay. That is really interesting. Now let's go into verse 23. For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined in the midst of all the land. And apparently that consumption is going to involve the returning remnant of Jacob, or the tribes of Israel that are presently lost to us. Now in verse 24. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwell in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian. Okay, what is it? What are we talking about here? Remember, in these last couple of verses that we have discussed elsewhere, the Antichrist is referred to as an Assyrian. Asher is the false god of Assyria. So it seems that Isaiah is drawing on this same symbolism, taking the Assyrians, who in Isaiah's day were the arch nemesis of the house of Israel. And Isaiah is telling us that those who will live in Zion in the last days should not fear this Antichrist. And he goes, He shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee after the manner of Egypt. Well, what does this mean? Well, there was another false god who oppressed Israel when Israel was sojourning in Egypt for those 400 years. That was Pharaoh, and Pharaoh enslaved the Israelites. And this Assyrian or this Antichrist is going to overcome the saints. But what the Lord is saying is listen, this I know that all of this is going to happen, and I'm going to tell you about it. So let's continue in verse 25. For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and my anger in their destruction. That's verse 25. So the Lord is saying that this Antichrist is going to be able to oppress the Lord's people for a very little season. And then the Lord's anger will be abated in the destruction of the wicked. And then we go on in verse 26. And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him, meaning this latter-day Antichrist, according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb, and his rod, and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt. And it shall come to pass that in that day his burden shall be taken away from off of thy shoulder, and his yoke from off of thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. Okay, so the Lord says that he is going to stir up a scourge against the Antichrist and his kittim, his powerful destroyers. They are going to be slaughtered, just like the Midianites were slaughtered when Gideon and his three hundred men went under the direction of the Lord and hid their lanterns underneath those pots, and then they lifted up the pots at nighttime, and the Midianites looked up on the ridges surrounding them, and they saw all of these lights, and then Midian's men blew these trumpets, and all, you know, heck broke out amongst the Midianites, and they started killing themselves. And it was a miraculous victory for Israel. The Lord is saying here through Isaiah that something very similar is going to happen with this Antichrist and his mighty ones in the last days, and that as a result of it, this captivity will be broken from off of the necks of the Lord's covenant people because of the anointing, which is to say, because of the covenant that the Lord has made with the house of Israel. He will remember that covenant and save his people, if his people will also remember that covenant. So this is this is essentially, I believe, all of these different things that we have talked about, they're all focusing on the same kind of event, some miraculous black swan event coming out of the blue to confront this Antichrist in the last days and liberate the saints because of the covenant that they had made with him. Okay, friends, let's review what we have learned in this episode. So we have read numerous scriptures that speak of an Antichrist that is going to rise to power in the last days, and that he is going to seek to change time and laws, he is going to come with knowledge and understanding that we have no box for. So the fourth kingdom of King Nebuchadnezzar's vision is very interesting. It's described as being iron as compared to the other metals above gold, silver, and brass. Iron is by far the strongest of those four different kinds of metals, in which is an indication that this last kingdom is by far the strongest. Of the four kingdoms. And it's very similar to in Daniel 7 when you have this dragon-like beast with iron teeth that's able to destroy all the nations. We're also talking about, again, the same beast from Rev Revelation that has the wounded head and ten horns. I believe that this fourth iron kingdom in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream represents this the same last kingdom that destroys the whore of Babylon and hosts the Antichrist in the last days. Now I'm reading from verses forty through forty-four in Daniel chapter two. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, for as much as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things, and as iron that breaketh all these things, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawst the feet and toes, part of potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided. But there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, for as much as thou sawst the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. And whereas thou sawst iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with miry clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. For as much as thou sawest that stone cut without hand out of the mountain without hands. Okay. So let's talk about what Daniel saw. So Daniel's talking about this fourth kingdom that is of iron and strong exceedingly, and it can break down all of the kingdoms. But something happened to this kingdom. And I think that it can be likened into the kingdom of Revelation that received a deadly head wound that should have killed it, but because of the ten horns, it became powerful once again. Well, what do we have on these feet? But ten toes. The ten toes represent these kingdoms that lend their strength to the kingdom that had been broken, but is now healed. And something very curious is that Daniel doesn't come out and say this explicitly, but the toes are referred to as being kings. So we're talking, I think, about a kingdom that is very similar to that in the book of Revelation, that received this deadly head wound and ten horns and became strong once more. Now, in the book of Revelation, this Antichrist was given to that kingdom, and the Antichrist spoke great swelling blasphemies and overcame the saints of God. Well, there's something very interesting that Daniel says that you need to pay real close attention to be able to understand how odd this is. I'm going to read verse 43 again. And whereas thou sawst iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. So according to Daniel, this kingdom is going to receive aid from somebody that will mingle with the seed of men, but will not cleave unto men, just like you can't weld iron and clay together. They just don't mix. This is what Daniel saw. Now it's kind of cryptic, he doesn't go into it a whole lot. And like I said, this is why Daniel's visions they build upon themselves. But the curious aspect here that I wanted to touch on is Daniel saying, Hey, these guys that come to this kingdom, they're not men. They mingle with the seed of men, but they're not like us, they're different. Now, this brings me back to the ascension of Isaiah and the prophecy of the Antichrist that is included in that document, which I think would make a lot of sense to read here, be particularly in conjunction with Daniel's prophecy that hey, this guy he's he's gonna mingle with men, but he's not gonna be a man. Consider this. Now remember, Beliar is the Antichrist. Beliar, the great ruler, the king of this world, who will descend, who hath ruled it since it came into being, yea, he will descend from his firmament, meaning his firmament is different than our firmament. And he will descend in the likeness of a man. He's going to look like a man, but he's going to be different from us, just like Daniel said. He will be a lawless king, the slayer of his mother. Meaning, this man is not Satan. Satan didn't kill his mother, but this Antichrist that will come in the last days, he apparently will have killed his mother. Now, returning to the text. Meaning this Antichrist figure that will rise in the last days will persecute the church of God and those that associate with it. Of the twelve, one will be delivered into his hands. This ruler, in the form of that king, will come, and there will come with him all the powers of this world, and they will hearken unto him in all that he desires. Meaning, this man is going to come, and there will be kingdoms of this world that will unite with him, and in a synergistic relationship, they are going to dominate. This sounds very similar to what we read in Revelation chapter 13 about how this Antichrist figure will rule all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. That seems to be what the ascension of Isaiah is saying this Antichrist will do. Now, continuing. And at his word, the sun will rise at night, and he will make the moon to appear at the sixth hour. This sounds very similar to the miracle of the sun at Fatima. It also sounds, you know, very similar to the Nuremberg celestial phenomenon and some of these orbs that uh Chris Bledsoe says that he has associated with the lady. So this is this is very curious stuff. And all that he hath desired, he will do in the world, and he will do and speak like the beloved, and he will say, I am God, and before me there is no other. This sounds very similar to some of the things that we have read in Daniel's other prophecies, where it says that this Antichrist will esteem himself to be above all gods. Also very reminiscent of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, where he sits in the temple of God to show the world that he is God. Okay, this is very consistent with all of these, you know, documents. Now, returning to this narrative. And all the people in the world will believe in him, and they will sacrifice to him, and they will serve him, saying, This is God, and besides him there is no other. And the greater number of those who shall have been associated together in order to receive the beloved, he will turn aside after him, meaning most of Christianity who has claimed to follow Jesus Christ will actually believe that this individual is the Savior, and they will turn aside and follow him. Now, returning to this account. And there will be in the power of his miracles in every city and region, and he will set up his image before him in every city, and he shall bear sway three years and seven months and twenty-seven days. And many believers and saints, having seen him, for whom they were hoping, who was crucified, Jesus the Lord, after that I, Isaiah, had seen him who was crucified and had ascended, and those who were believers in him, of these only a few shall be left as his servants, meaning that the vast majority of Christianity is going to go after this man, and there will be very few, only those that really know how to hear and recognize the still small voice will be able to recognize this man as being a phony. So this is a terrifying prophecy about this Latter-day Antichrist. And you can see the similarities between the prophecies that we have reviewed so far in this episode, that this man is going to be very different from anything that we have ever seen before in modern history. And the this is going to be one of the primary reasons that so many people go after him, because he is so different. He will be incredibly impressive. So, friends, there there's much more that we need to discuss regarding this man. We need to talk about some of the additional allies that this man is bringing with him, that you know, frankly, are going to be just as shocking as he is. And we need to get into some of the details of the Battle of Armageddon and the siege of Jerusalem. And as we do get into some of those details, I think that you are are going to be shocked. Uh, I think that this stuff, I mean, it is true that truth is stranger than fiction. And some of the things that we're going to go into that talk about this man from more of the current event side of things, you know, this episode has largely been focused on the prophetic, you know, records in the Bible. We're going to take some current outlier events in our next episode and kind of weave those together. And I think you'll be shocked by the uh the symmetry between some of the ancient accounts and some of the outlier accounts and testimonies that are coming from some modern whistleblowers as to some strange things. And uh we'll we'll get into that in the next episode. Again. It's merely to provide you with boxes that you can put some of these things in here because I don't see everything clearly. I don't know what is going to happen. All I know is that one of the tale tale signs of a black swan event is that in retrospect, the evidence that has always been before you becomes much clearer and it becomes obvious that such things were always going to happen. So with that in mind, I think it's it's important for us to look at these things and try to find the patterns, you know, to the extent that you know legitimate patterns exist. How do these things relate with each other? I mean, if we really are seeing an exponential increase of UFOs in our skies over our most secure military installations on an exponentially increasing basis, if these Marian apparitions are real, if Chris Bledsoe's encounters with the lady are legitimate, if these prophecies are literally talking about an individual that is going to arise in the last days with incredible power, if these things are real, then they've got to be able to be reconciled together. And I'm not saying that I have it all figured out. So I hope that you will consider these things, think about them, talk about them with your friends and loved ones, because I think we are headed for some incredibly strange events in the very near future. And we need to start taking our spiritual education more seriously. We need to start trying to reconcile these strange oddities with our Christian faith because all truth can be reconciled together. And we need to be seeking, we need to be looking. And as the Lord has said, they that seek shall find.

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