WHAT IF?--PARTS 3 & 4!--I May Live through the Tribulation!--And This May Be It!
DO 2211-3,4
6/86
THE IMAGE!
1. THIS MORNING I WAS READING THE LAST OF A SERIES OF ARTICLES THAT HAVE BEEN IN THE PAPER ABOUT TODAY'S YOUNGER GENERATION OF TEENS. It was analysing the 12-year-olds to the 37-year-olds, but with pre-eminent emphasis on the 12 to 19-year-olds. It's a marketing survey by Madison Avenue, telling how to reach the teenagers & sell them through advertising & it's the inside story on how they're doing it, mainly with television. And all the way through this article the author kept talking about images, that teenagers today are only persuaded by these images, you can only get your point across & sell your product if you can produce the right image!
2. THIS ARTICLE TALKED ABOUT HOW THE YOUTH OF TODAY ARE THE FIRST GENERATION WHO HAVE BEEN ALMOST ENTIRELY EDUCATED BY ELECTRONICS, by technological means of information.--First radio, then television, then video & now the computer! I think many of these new modern inventions are inspired by the Devil, instruments with which he's destroying the World, destroying the minds of men, destroying the hearts of children through things like television. But you see how God can turn around & use it for His glory? The Family uses television, we even make television videos of the Family!
3. NOW, CAN YOU THINK OF ANYTHING I EVER SUGGESTED THAT IS CERTAINLY A FORERUNNER OF THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST?--That speaks with the voice of the Beast & is worshipped by almost everybody on Earth right now today & stands in the holy place of their hearts, the spiritual holy place of their affections & their imagination & their worship & their love! It is the very personification of materialism, at whose feet the whole World who are well off enough to have one, sit at least an average of 2 or 3 hours a day! What am I talking about? (Fam: Television!)
4. I SUGGESTED THIS ONCE UPON A TIME, I SAID TELEVISION REMINDS ME OF THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST because it already portrays everything that the Beast stands for! I think I got the thing about television long ago. While reading that article I remembered that my Father even had that kind of idea. That's already the Image of the Beast & he's already being worshipped & the Antichrist spirit already controls the World!
5. IT'S THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST & ALL THAT HE ADVOCATES & ALL THAT HE ADVERTISES & ALL THAT HE TRIES TO GET THE WORLD TO FALL DOWN & WORSHIP! "Fall down & worship me & you can have all these things!"--The same temptation he gave to Jesus! (Mat.4:8-9) "Worship me, worship material things, worship my products!" That came to me so clear this morning reading this article about these young people, how they worship television & they idolise their idols. Youth today is worshipping images, TV images, music images, dramatic images, movie images! They're already worshipping the Image of the Beast!
6. SATAN, THE DEVIL HIMSELF, ALREADY RULES THIS WORLD & the people who worship television & worship its images & worship its idols & worship its music & worship its portrayal & displayal of all that is materialistic & all that is fiendish & devilish, as well as a little good here & there sprinkled in just to get by! Satan is the ruler of this World & its communications & the Lord gets very little of it. (2Cor.4:4; Eph.2:2)
7. EVERY HUMAN BEING IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE TEMPLE OF GOD, THE CREATION OF GOD MADE TO BE THE TEMPLE OF GOD! (1Cor.6:19, 2Cor.6:16) But Satan has usurped that temple & he is sitting there himself as god, claiming that he is God! And he has already got his Image all over the World, in some of the most remote places in the World, in the middle of Indian deserts & everywhere you can imagine! (Fam: They have satellites now so that people can see the same program at the same time all over the World!)--Anywhere!
8. I'M JUST SAYING WHAT IF? WHAT IF THIS IS TRUE? What if television is the Image of the Beast? It's an image. Who has to wait for a computerised Image to look just like the Beast, the Antichrist? You say, "But Dad, TV's not a statue, it's not the image of a man, a statue of a man!" Who said it was the statue of a man?--Me! That's not what the Bible says, it says it's the Image of the Beast!--The Antichrist! Can you believe it? Is it possible? Although, who knows, we may yet see it actually, literally!
9. I'M TRYING TO SHOW YOU HOW A LOT OF THAT CAN BE SPIRITUALLY INTERPRETED. (Maria: And some of the things can even have both a spiritual & a literal interpretation!)--Yes! I am not saying that TV is actually it & the only fulfilment, but a spiritual likeness. I'm really still expecting the Image & all. I'm just suggesting "What If?" it could be fulfilled spiritually right now? If you don't want to accept it, you don't have to accept it. I don't know if it's true myself, I'm just proposing the possibility that that could be a possible interpretation, that we may be much further along in the Endtime than we think! Do you get it?
THE COVENANT & THE TRIBULATION!
10. YOU SAY, "ALL RIGHT, DAD, IF THAT'S THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST, THAT MEANS THAT THE COVENANT'S ALREADY MADE & BROKEN, SO WHAT WAS THE COVENANT?" Well, the Jews have made lots of covenants & broken them! They've made lots of peace agreements between them & the Christians & the Gentiles & broken them. Anything that will get them ahead, they will do! They've broken myriads of covenants! What if "the Covenant" is symbolic of the way they always use such accords to weasel in & get control?
11. THIS MUCH IS SURE: THE ANTICHRIST SYSTEM IS ALREADY IN CONTROL! The World has already signed its pact with the Devil! As the former Secretary General of NATO said several years ago, "We would sign a treaty with Satan himself if he could solve our problems!" They're open to the Devil, they're willing to let the Devil rule! In fact, they're already letting him rule! The Antichrist spirit already rules the World, the Antichrist System already rules the World, the Antichrist followers (atheists & materialists who fight against the Bible & against Christ) already rule the World!--Certainly its media!
12. IF THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST IS ALREADY HERE & THE ANTICHRIST HAS ALREADY SET HIMSELF UP IN THE TEMPLE TO BE WORSHIPPED, THEN WHERE IS THE TRIBULATION? (FAM: RIGHT NOW!) You got the point! We're in it, it's here! Now! It's not so bad after all, if that interpretation is true! If this is the Tribulation, wow, what's Heaven going to be like! I'll tell you, it came on me so strong this morning, just like every revelation God's ever given me! I nearly fell off the toilet!
13. THE NUMBER 666 IS ALREADY HERE, THEY'RE JUST GETTING THE FINAL ACT TOGETHER TO WHERE THEY CAN ID EVERYBODY & locate everybody & pin everybody down & know who you are & where you are so you have to bear the number of the Beast or you won't be able to buy or sell without these credit cards or this money!--And finally they'll require you to have the Mark of the Beast!
14. I'M SUGGESTING TO YOU THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE TRIBULATION IS ALREADY HERE! Maybe nearly half the Tribulation's already over! Have we been persecuted? Have our lives been threatened?--Yes! They've even killed some of the Family, several of us!--Persecuted & beaten us! All the things that are going to happen in the Tribulation are already happening to Christians around the World, already happening to us! Of course, I really believe it is going to get much worse, obviously. The Mark hasn't completely taken over yet & neither has the Antichrist. I believe all of that is going to come just like we've always predicted, because it's right there in the Bible!
15. IF THE TRIBULATION IS ALREADY HERE, WHAT ELSE DOES THAT MEAN? IT MEANS THE GOOD NEWS THAT THE LORD'S COMING SOON! But even if the 70 years is nearly through & that's it, we've got at least till February 18, 1989 even if we are in the Tribulation! If I'm going to live through the 70 years we've got at least a couple more years! I'm not saying you have to believe this interpretation, I'm just proposing the possibility, I'm proposing the idea, the theory, you can call it, the suggestion, the interpretation that has come to me in considering this subject.
THE ANTICHRIST & THE TEMPLE!
16. YOU SAY, "OKAY, I'LL ACCEPT THAT THE COVENANT WAS SECRET, HIS RULE'S BEEN SECRET & THAT MAYBE TELEVISION IS EVEN THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST!--BUT WHAT ABOUT HIM, WHERE IS HE? We haven't seen him revealed!" We've always said that at the middle of the Seven Years he breaks the Covenant & sits in the Temple of God demanding to be worshipped as God. Now what does it actually say? Let's be specific! It actually only says he breaks the Covenant & he stops the sacrifices. (Dan.9:27) It does not actually say that that is the time when he reveals himself & demands the World worship him. Now I'm going to go back to something my father used to try to persuade me of, but I wouldn't believe it because I was such an extreme literalist!
17. HE SAID, "DAVID, THE WORLD IS ALREADY WORSHIPPING THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST IN THEIR HOLIEST OF HOLIES!" What does the Lord say the Temple is where you're to worship Him?--Not here, nor in Jerusalem, nor in this building or that! (Jn.4:21,23,24) What is the holiest of holies of the Temple of God? (Fam: Your heart!) And people who are worshipping the Devil & his anti-Christ spirit in their holy of holies, in their heart, are already worshipping the Antichrist in the Temple of God!
18. ALREADY THE WORLD IS, IN A SENSE, WORSHIPPING & OBEYING & BOWING DOWN BEFORE THE ANTICHRIST & HIS IMAGE & everything Satanic, everything materialistic, more hours a day than they worship anything else! In those System jobs, working for the Devil's own System, they're serving Mammon to get money, because Mammon controls the money. They have to go to work for the god of wealth, the god of means, the god of materialism, the god of money! They're already worshipping the Beast! Mammon is the Beast! The god of money is the Devil! He controls it, he issues it, he prints it! He only gives it to you if you fall down & worship him & serve him 8 hours a day, 48 hours a week! (See Mat.6:24; 1Tim.6:10)
19. YOU SAY, "WELL, WE STILL HAVEN'T SEEN THAT GUY, THAT MAN OF SIN!" Who says you're going to see him?--I did! The Bible doesn't say you're going to see him! "But Dad, it says he's going to sit in the Temple of God, as God, showing himself that he is God! We haven't seen him yet!" You might see him on television. But what if it doesn't mean that? What if it means that he's already sitting in the Temple of God, as God, saying that he is God, "Fall down & worship me or be slain! Take my number or be killed!"
WHEN IS THE ANTICHRIST REVEALED?
20. I STILL BELIEVE HE IS GOING TO APPEAR, THAT HE IS GOING TO DEMAND WORSHIP & HE IS GOING TO INSTITUTE THE MARK OF THE BEAST & ALL THE REST! I haven't changed my opinion about that at all! I'm just saying that some of this could already be happening & that his appearance & the actual Mark of the Beast, the proclamation of himself as God & putting up his Image could be later in the Tribulation. It doesn't have to happen right at the breaking of the Covenant.
21. WE'VE ALWAYS TAUGHT THAT RIGHT THERE AT THE BREAKING OF THE COVENANT, IMMEDIATELY HE SETS UP HIS IMAGE, immediately he starts his worship, immediately he issues his 666 credit cards or Mark & immediately he starts killing everybody that won't worship him! But how do we know for sure that he is revealed even at the time of the breaking of the Covenant? We don't really know that, we just assumed that he was going to be revealed then & he was going to put up his Image then & he was going to institute the Mark of the Beast then & all of that.
22. HE COULD BE REVEALED ANY TIME FROM THEN ON AFTER HE BREAKS THE COVENANT. We know he rules seven years somehow, makes a Covenant for seven years, breaks it in the middle, & then after that there is the Image of the Beast, the Mark of the Beast & the Tribulation & the Great Coming of the Lord! But how do we know exactly how soon he institutes the worship of himself & reveals himself? We've always assumed it was at that breaking of the Covenant, but we don't really know that for sure, we just assumed that, it seemed the logical time. But perhaps it could be some time considerably later than the breaking of the Covenant.
23. HE COULD HAVE BROKEN THE COVENANT IN HIS HEART! It says "his heart was against the Covenant" for a long time beforehand, (Dan.11:28), & all these other events take place later. His revelation & sitting in the Temple, demanding worship & having an Image & all that sort of thing could still come literally later, & I expect it to! But I'm trying to show that some of these things could already be fulfilled spiritually, & about the only thing we wait for now is his actual appearance!
24. THE JEWS COULD STILL BUILD AN ACTUAL PHYSICAL TEMPLE AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, BUT I'M JUST TRYING TO SHOW WHAT IF THAT HAS A SPIRITUAL INTERPRETATION. The most important Temple is men's hearts, & who you worship in the holy place of your heart is what counts, not just what building you go to, the Lord Himself brought that out! And good night, the World is already worshipping the Antichrist & his images, his Image, in their hearts!
THE DESOLATIONS & THE WRATH!
25. THE PERIOD OF THE DESOLATIONS & THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION ETC. AS SPOKEN OF IS THE TRIBULATION, RIGHT? But what follows the Tribulation here on Earth? (Fam: The Wrath.) Doesn't that sound like desolations? So maybe the "end of desolations" isn't just limited to the end of the Tribulation, because it even sounds worse after that! The biggest desolations occur after the Tribulation when the Wrath of God begins to pour out on the World! It sounds to me more like the Wrath of God is the end of desolations!
26. THE DESOLATIONS ARE NOT OVER UNTIL THE WRATH OF GOD IS OVER & THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON IS OVER! Talk about desolations!--So many people killed in Israel alone that they can't even bury them for 7 months! (Eze.39:12) Isn't that desolations? And the 70 years shall pass before the end of desolations!--So I could still be living right through the Tribulation & go up in the Rapture, because the desolations are not over until the end of the Battle of Armageddon!
27. 70 YEARS OF MY LIFE SHALL PASS, THEY WILL END, BEFORE THE END OF DESOLATIONS. It doesn't say I'm going to die at the end of the 70 years, it says the 70 years which are the "days of my years" shall pass before that time! I could even live to the Rapture & that prophecy still be fulfilled! Because even if I was caught up in the Rapture I'd still be finishing my 70th year before the end of desolations.
28. SO I'M HERE TO PROCLAIM TO YOU THAT THE LORD HAS NOW CONVINCED ME THAT I COULD LIVE TO THE RAPTURE! But I'm also here to proclaim to you that it may be later than you think & the Rapture may be going to occur a lot sooner than you thought! I think this is the wildest thing I have ever asked you to believe! I'm not asking you to believe it, I'm just suggesting the possibility.--Like I titled that last talk, "What If?"
WORK BEFORE THE NIGHT COMES!
29. REALLY I'M NOT CHANGING ANYTHING BASICALLY, I'M JUST PRESSING THE FAST BUTTON! I don't think any of our changes have been in basic beliefs. Of course, the changes affect us so much since we're living in this day, so they're pretty important! It may be basic for you, it may be tremendous for you because you're living & you're going to be here & you are experiencing things like that now, but it's not important to the overall interpretation & the basics of Bible Prophecy which you know by heart & you teach & read & study.
30. MAY I SUGGEST TO YOU THE POSSIBILITY, AT LEAST, THAT IT'S ALREADY HERE? May I suggest to you the possibility that the Image of the Beast is already here & he has already taken possession of the holy place of the hearts of God's creations, the hearts of men, & that he is already there sitting in the Temple of God in the hearts of the World which should be the Temple of God! Are you convinced? I hope so!
31. "THE NIGHT COMETH WHEN NO MAN CAN WORK", so what could the night be? We've always characterised it & epitomised it as being the Tribulation or the last days of the Tribulation when we won't be able to do anything, but I don't believe that!--Because we'll be witnessing right up until the very End! The night is that night of the Lord's Coming when the lightning shines from the East to the West & there's the Midnight Cry...(Tongues:) Hallelujah! "Help these Thy little ones to believe Thy Word, Lord! Help them to believe their Father, Lord! Help them to believe these revelations Thou hast given to them, Lord! Help us to be ready & to have the job done before You come, in Jesus' name! Hallelujah! TYL!" (See Mat.25:6)
32. ARE YOU DOING YOUR BEST FOR JESUS? Let's get busy, shall we? Let's work harder than we ever worked before, faster than we ever worked before, to get more done than we ever did before, to feed these sheep everything they need to know now, right now!--To get them on the ball, to get them moving to win more souls than they have ever won before!--To witness more than they have ever witnessed before! There's no time to fiddle around any more, we've gotta get it done! We've got to get the job done or we'll be too late & we're going to be going Home & almost ashamed to face the Lord! "I'm sorry, Lord, I'm not the man that I could have been. I didn't accomplish all I could have accomplished. Forgive me, I'm sorry!"
33. I THINK YOU CAN TELL THERE'S A BURDEN ON MY HEART & I FEEL LIKE IT'S URGENT, an emergency, & I had to tell you now & get it off my chest now! And I had to make a lawyer's case of it first of all to convince you! Are you convinced? (Fam: Yes, Sir!) Well, even if you're not convinced of that idea & that interpretation, I hope you're convinced that it's still late & you still need to work hard while it's day before the night comes when no man can work!
34. A HAPPY THOUGHT JUST CAME TO ME! If the Rapture happens at the end of the 70 years, that means we've still got at least till February 18, 1989, even if we are in the Tribulation! That's an encouraging thought! If I'm going to live my full 70 years, we've got at least a couple years more to go! PTL! All right, then get to work, get busy! TTL! It's not going to happen tomorrow, you've got a little while, still time to do it! PTL! TYL! Hallelujah!--Amen?--GBY!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family