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In the
book of Revelation Jesus stands among the lamp stands and speaks to the seven
churches.
In Jesus’s letter to the Church at Smyrna, which are the Tribulation
Christians He begins by addressing Himself as the First and the Last who was
dead, but came to life. What is significant about Jesus identifying that He is
the First and the Last, is this how Jesus identifies Himself to John as He
begins to reveal the Revelation Prophecy. They are now in the days of the
fulfillment of the Revelation and the end of the age, which is why to the
church of Smyrna He now identifies Himself as the First and the Last.
He tells
them, “I know your works, tribulation and poverty (but you are rich),” this is
because they have not taken the Mark of the Beast and cannot buy or sell and
must live on faith. They are poor by the world’s standards, but rich in Christ.
Jesus tells them in verse 9, “I know the blasphemy of those who say they are
Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan.” Both the church of
Smyrna and Philadelphia do not receive any condemnation by Jesus and in both letters,
Jesus makes reference to those who say that they are Jews, but are not, but are
of the Synagogue of Satan. Jesus ends by saying, “Do not fear any of those things you are
about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison,
that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation 10 days. Be faithful
until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Many have
written about these ten days. Some have said it could possibly be ten
years, others a period of time. I believe Jesus is talking about ten literal
days. From the time of the arrest of the Tribulation Saint to their being
thrown in prison and executed will be a total of ten days.
Under the US Judicial system a person arrested for death penalty crime can wait years on death row before execution. In dictatorships the executions or purges for those who are considered enemies of the State can go pretty quickly. It is not unlikely that the ten days of Revelation are literal ten days and will be part of the protocol under the Antichrist’s dictatorship. The Antichrist is not interested in imprisoning persons, but killing them.
In the
ten days of Revelation there is a parallel found in the book of Daniel, which
lines with the Revelation. Daniel is in Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian
Kingdom because of his keen intellect and good looks. After the Babylonians took
the Israelites as prisoners, took them captive, they went out and searched for
the best and the brightest Israelites. They sought those who were good looking
and intellectual and gathered the smartest of the Israelites and brought them
into serve in the Babylonian kingdom. This is how Daniel ended in the
Babylonian kingdom along with his friends.
He is in the kingdom basically because of what the Babylonians believe these
Israelites can offer their kingdom. This would be no different than a modern
government seeking out the best scientists, economists and doctors after
invading their land.
Part of
the protocol was that they would be fed the Babylonian diet There was a eunuch
who is in the kingdom who becomes very friendly with Daniel and he likes him. Part of the protocol was to feed these men a
portion of the king’s delicacies and train them in Babylonian teachings. It is
alluded to in this passage that the Babylonian diet was considered superior for
health and mental sharpness. It states in the Bible that God gives him favor
with this eunuch. And Daniel tells the eunuch, that He did not want to eat the
food of the king because he did not want to defile himself. Daniel states
stated in Daniel 1:12, “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them
give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.” Didn’t Jesus
tell Smyrna that they will be tested and they will have tribulation ten days?
Daniel drank water and ate herbs and vegetables.
Jesus is
the living waters and among the vegetables and herbs are the bitter herbs of
the Tribulation they are now suffering and will now partake in just as Jesus suffered.
The Israelites ate bitter herbs to remember the bitter suffering that they
suffered under bondage in Egypt. Now we have the Tribulation Saints who are
also in bondage in the Antichrist’s prison. Like Daniel and his friends who lived on
vegetables and herbs, its meager substance, the Tribulation Saints are thrown
in prison and will only have a roof sheltering them from storm as any
provision.
Daniel
and his friends were tested ten days and at the end of the ten days their
appearance was better and healthier than the men who ate the portion of the
King’s delicacies. During the Tribulation the king’s delicacies come from
taking the Mark of the Beast. Despite their tribulation and I’m talking about
the Tribulation Saints right now and their being in prison, they are in a
spiritually healthy condition, better than those who take the Mark of the Beast
and have this world’s foods and luxuries. To God in heaven their
spiritual face is fatter and healthier than those who follow after the
Antichrist. Those who take the Mark of the Beast bring death onto themselves. In
comparison you can see the Tribulation Saints looking spiritually healthy to
God. But, those who take the Mark of the Beast look like skeletons, i.e. death because
they bring death onto themselves by taking the Mark.
As the
book of Daniel continues we come to in Daniel Chapter 3, the worship of the
golden image. This passage is also for
the Tribulation Saints. This image comprises of a double six. The image is
sixty cubits high and six cubits wide. Daniel does not worship the image.
This compares to Revelation 13 and the image of the beast that everyone in the
world is going to worship.
We know that
the Antichrist’s image is hooked up with the Mark of the Beast and the
Revelation tells us that they who worship his image also take his Mark. They’re
going to end up in the lake of fire. As the story continues Daniel and his
friends get thrown into the fiery furnace and there is a fourth person in there
with them and we know this is Jesus and they come out unharmed. This
is exactly what’s going to happened to the Tribulation Saints when they don’t
take the Mark of the Beast. They will go through a horrific trial. We are told
in Daniel 11:32 that the people who know God shall be strong, and carry out
great exploits. Some will survive against all odds, while others will be killed.
Some may start out carrying out great exploits and end up killed.The
Tribulation Saints will come out unharmed in the end as they live eternally with
Christ.
The next
story also parallels to what is forecast during the Tribulation. Next, Daniel
is spared in the Lion’s den when he served under Darius the Mede. His governors
became jealous and they made up a law that they knew Daniel by his faith in God
would violate and they threw him into the lion’s den and the lion’s did not
harm him. The lion is a symbol of the Babylonian kingdom and in the
Revelation the lion is illustrated in Revelation 13:2, the beast has a mouth of
a lion. A lion is also a picture of the devil. Now we know
that the lion is also a symbol of Jesus because Jesus is the pride lion of the
tribe of Judah, but Satan is the scavenger lion seeking whom he may devour. Now
the mouth of the lion is a picture of the Beast in Revelation.
So when
the Tribulation Saints when they go to prison and await their death they will
find themselves in the lion’s den because the Antichrist is like his father
Satan, a scavenger lion and his government possesses the mouth of a lion.
Jesus in Matthew 10:28 tells us to not fear those who can kill the body, but
cannot kill the soul.
While the
picture of Jesus in the fiery furnace is an illustration of Jesus with us
during our most difficult trials along with being spared from the lion’s den,
it is specifically for the Tribulation Christians. Although they are about to
face death, they will not really be killed. The lion’s den, which is the prison
they find themselves in and the fiery furnace of their ten day tribulation has
no power over them. Notice what Jesus tells them in the beginning of His
letter, He identifies himself as “He who was dead and came to life
or who was dead and is alive or who died and came to life again.
What
Jesus is telling them is though they are about to die, like Him, it will be
meaningless because in Him they will live after their death. I believe that is
what this is speaking about, and its speaking to the Tribulation Saints.
We see
the martyred under the alter in Revelation 6:9-10. We are told they are killed
for the Word of God and their testimony. They are pictured crying to God
to avenge their deaths. In verse 11 they are given white robes and told to wait
longer as their brethren would be killed like they were. During the Tribulation
you gain salvation by not taking the Mark of the Beast or becoming joined with the
Antichrist via his Mark..
In conclusion Jesus states in Revelation, “The
devil is about to throw some of you in prison that you may be tested and you
will have tribulation ten days.” Daniel confirms and it is written in the book
of Daniel, “Please test your servants for ten days,” and further down in Daniel
it states, “So he consented with them in this matter and tested them ten days.”
These days are literal days from the time of the arrest to the execution under
the Antichrist’s dictatorship and the book of Daniel is an amazing book because
not only does it parallel with the book of Revelation, but it offers
unbelievably profound messages for the Tribulation Saints that are going to be
living and suffering during the earth’s final days
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