THE LAST SEVEN YEARS!--When It Begins!   DO 2568  11/89

         1. The thing that I wanted to talk to you about today is: Are we prepared for the coming emergency, whenever it may come? Since receiving the warning about "Back to the Beginning" (ML #2551), the talk I gave you about obtaining manually-operated equipment, are you ready in case the lights suddenly go out?

         2. The economy of the World is extremely fragile right now. They're talking a lot about how the environment is being wrecked, & that is serious, but the effects of that are not going to be immediate. The eco-system & our God-given environment are being destroyed, but I think the effects are not going to be felt very severely very soon, certainly not this month! I believe the only thing that could happen that suddenly would be the Crash! (Or the sudden Communist Crash?)

         3. --Unless, of course, some wild, insane idiot should happen to think, "Well, I'm not going down with the ship over here in the Communist East without a try to take vengeance on our enemies & push the button!" That could certainly happen suddenly! But they don't seem to be in the mood for it, & I think the worst that even the conservatives & the hardliners might do suddenly is what the Chinese did at Tiananmen Square. It's miraculous that they haven't done that!--That they haven't sent in the cops & just had a mayhem & totally squelched the people & slaughtered them to drive them underground again!

         4. That could happen, but so far the Lord has restrained them. I'm sure Christians all over the World are praying for them, & there are oodles of Christians in those countries that must be praying. I wouldn't be surprised that maybe the Christians outnumber the Communists, especially now. There are certainly enough of them to pray hard that the Lord would spare them & help this transition to go through, which is one of the most outstanding transformations that the World has seen in 40 to 45 years!--In fact, almost in 72 years since the Bolshevik Revolution! This is almost the most unexpected real peaceful revolution that we could possibly hope to have to turn those countries into friends instead of enemies!

COMMUNIST COUNTRIES BEING GIVEN A CHOICE!

         5. But of course the Antichrist cannot let this go on! If the Antichrist is going to take over before everybody's liberated & freed & too independent, he's got to do something! He could turn to violence & get some fool to push the button--even accidentally or some other way--to cause a catastrophic atomic war & virtually demolish the face of the Earth, at least the Northern Earth. That doesn't mean everybody would be slaughtered, although they claim it will bring on some kind of a nuclear winter or something because of so much smoke in the air & blah blah! But God is in control, thank the Lord, & it doesn't seem to me that that would accomplish God's purpose very well.

         6. I think by these drastic peaceful revolutions in so many of these Communist countries, that God is putting people on the spot! He's giving them a choice!--So far in all but China, of course. China has already gone past her point of no return & has done her dirtywork, & God is going to judge her & her people accordingly, depending on whose side they were on.--Who approved of the Tiananmen Square slaughter & who didn't!

         7. But for years, decades, the people in these Communist countries didn't have any choice, they were suppressed by force & secret police & strict Communist dictatorships which, like in Russia under Stalin, killed millions of people! Tiananmen Square is nothing compared to all the Christians, Jews & Gypsies slaughtered under Stalin!

AC COMES SUDDENLY TO SAVE THE WORLD!

         8. So, as I said, the worst scenario is that some idiot will push the button & set off all the firecrackers & practically wipe out the population of at least the Northern Hemisphere. But somehow or another I have a feeling that that is not what the Lord is going to let happen, & I don't think that's what the Antichrist wants to happen either. What's the glory in taking over a totally ruined World with everything destroyed? I think both the AC & the Lord would rather see an Economic Crash first in which the AC can take over the spoils by confiscating the World in its dilemma until they're willing to cry "Uncle" or "God" at him!--At least willing to at first recognise him as a genius who can solve their problems.

         9. Someone wrote me not long ago saying, "Dad, doesn't it seem we should be seeing the Antichrist around someplace now already? If he's going to work his way to the top, he's going to have to be around, & it seems like if he's going to appear very shortly, he's going to have to already be one of the top World leaders!"

         10. So I wrote back, "Don't kid yourself, the revelation of the Antichrist is going to be very sudden & very drastic, dramatic & supernatural!" (See GN 382, pg.12.) There's every indication in the Bible that that's the way it will be. It says he will come with signs & wonders, proving that he is someone who is like God & with the absolute proof of his ministry or his authority.--Just like Jesus did signs & wonders & miracles, only His were all good! I don't think the Devil can do much that's good.

         11. But those signs & wonders will be the AC's authoritative credentials that he is the man who can save the World! "Trust him! Look what he's done!"--Suddenly!--Not in the past, not because of a long history or record of any kind. Even the ACs themselves in the Protocols said, "The time will come when we have gained sufficient power & more or less almost rule the World, that it will be the right time for us to present our Supreme Lord." So the time is going to come, & my opinion is that it's going to be very sudden. And according to everything I've studied in the Bible, that's what it looks like, very sudden!

         12. His kingdom has already been prepared, in a sense, by the Communists, & the ACs probably are able to pull it off by themselves. They've done it already, they've influenced the economy & done just about whatever they've wanted to do. They can make the Stock Market fall & make it come back to deceive people! They have had the power & the wisdom of Satan himself to do it! So I believe they're working toward engineering a situation in which the people would accept him, & I don't think that is an atomic war! I think they want to save the booty! He wants to save the World so it can worship him & the Devil can finally have the glory that he's always wanted. He can finally rule the World & pretend he's God, which is what he's always wanted. It's all right there in the Bible!

         13. So that's my opinion, & if I'm wrong, well, goodbye to the North in the atomic war! But I am convinced by all the Bible says, & common reasonable logic which I've just used with you, that he would far prefer using a crisis that didn't destroy the World. And I'm sure the Lord is engineering that Himself, because He doesn't want the Devil to destroy the World either. He hasn't allowed the atomic bomb to destroy the World, thank God, He's just made it scare people enough that they thought it was going to destroy them!

         14. That's another bit of the psychology behind the AC's appearance: Saving the World economically & making it one World puts off the chance of war! So I think for the sake of ensuring peace & a recovery of the economy, the World is going to be willing to accept any kind of a plan he puts forth, & probably at first it will be strictly economic. But if under his economic plan he has everything under control & there's no other way, then he can start demanding full obeisance, full worship. "Look, I saved you! I could have destroyed you, & now all I'm asking is that you worship me!"

THE "MIRACLE" OF 1992!

         15. 1992 is when the European Economic Community is going to finally solidly join ranks & abolish their monetary system & have a complete Euro Currency, which we've had revelations of in the past, & which has been growing all the time. (See "Euro Units," ML #738.) They've already got the Euro Unit & the next is Euro money & the abolition of boundaries, passport checks, Immigrations checks & Customs checks. They will have a common economy, an ideal model for the World to look at as the solution to the whole World's problems!

         16. That would be almost the ideal opportunity for the AC to come forth, or for the ACs to bring him forth! "Look, here's the guy who did it! Here's the guy whose idea it was, this phenomenal miracle of economics that has finally put Europe, a land of many languages & many wars & many enmities, together under one flag, one money, one passport, one economy!" 1992 is when it's planned to be completely effected, & you read in the paper almost every day about this "miracle" that's going to happen in 1992!--That's being held up as the ideal to the World of what it can also be like!

THE CRASH IS IMMINENT!

         17. Why then couldn't a Crash occur soon? The Stock Market is very erratic right now & it wouldn't take much to trigger a complete nosedive. Crawford predicted the next big nosedive is going to be around 1,000 points, & brother, that could cause absolute chaos in the economy!

         18. Actually, the chaos is not caused by the fall in the Stock Market, it's the chaos in people's minds & the fear in their hearts that causes the Crash!--When they lose faith in the System & in the Stock Market & in the economy. It's fear that does it!

         19. The Lord said, "In the Last Days their hearts will be failing them for fear" (Luk.21:26), & a part of that affects the economy. So I'm just giving you my opinion again, that I think the time is coming when the Antichrist is going to be needed to solve their huge economic collapse & their resultant terrible conditions which will be worse than the Great Depression of the 1920s & 1930s.

         20. The pattern, as some expert economists have pointed out, is following almost exactly the same pattern as the '29 Crash, both before & after! The Depression didn't happen suddenly, all at once, but it was ear-marked by several falls in the Stock Market, & even then there were some recoveries after some of the big falls in which of course the big money boys, the ACs, came out on top, because they had no doubt engineered it.

         21. So they just cleaned up on all those cheap stocks & took over all those companies & factories & industries & banks by having engineered the Depression, which made stock prices fall so low, while they still had money. The little guys were wiped out, a few of the in-between guys were wiped out, but the big money boys cleaned up! They waited till the Crash came--which they precipitated, I'm sure--& then they bought up all those companies, & now they own the U.S.A.! If you don't believe that by now, I'm not going to take time to convince you!

ACS WILL CREATE ECONOMIC CHAOS!

         22. Now that they have control of the banks, etc., they can engineer any kind of a situation they want!--And I'm expecting them to! And what do they want? (Fam: Control of the economy.)--Control, power! They no doubt have majority control already, but they want absolute power & control, not just partial control. They have to have the power in order to have the control, & they're getting it or already have it. Now they're just waiting for the ideal opportunity to take over completely under their man.

         23. So in order for him to save the World from its economic chaos, they have first got to create economic chaos! And that's got to be when?--After the Antichrist has been revealed? Of course not! Before he's revealed! They have got to have the World in such a bind & at such depths & in such a horrible condition that the people will accept almost anybody, even a new man that's never been heard of! So the AC's have got a marvellous opportunity.

         24. What do you think would happen if the Stock Market went down 1,000 points in one day? In '87 it only went down 500 points in one day, & little by little they finally recovered. But a 1,000-point drop is not the kind of Crash you recover from! And considering the proportionate percentage values, in order to have a Crash at least as big or even bigger than they had in '29, it would have to go down about that much in order to really jerk the rug out from underneath the economy!

         25. So here's my scenario! Everything now is shaky, it's undecided. Some people are prophesying recovery, but most of the economists now are agreeing that with the economy having reached this height, especially the Stock Market, something's gotta give! Only the fanatical, demon-possessed gamblers are going to hang on, but many of the little guys have completely cleared out of the Stock Market. They saw what happened & they don't want it happening to them again.

         26. So it's mainly the big players now that are playing, & I would say that the biggest players are undoubtedly the ACs who control things, & they're going to catch all the middle-class players through this Crash & wipe them out! It's impossible for such a hollow, shaky, empty economy just pretending & professing a shell to the World, a house of cards, to stand up much longer! The first little breath is going to blow it down, & I'll bet you anything that's going to be [the ACs'] breath!

PEOPLE ARE BEING PUT ON THE SPOT!

         27. (Maria: Could we be in the Tribulation now?) I can certainly say this is at least the beginning of sorrows, & certainly some people are already in Tribulation. The Christians in the Communist World have been in Tribulation for 70 years! They couldn't be suffering any more under the Antichrist. They are under an Antichrist government & have been.

         28. The logic of all this as I see it... Thank You Jesus! PYL! Hallelujah! It's only Your wisdom, Lord! All that we have comes from Above! It looks to me like God is going to give them one last chance, all those poor Christians, as well as the undecided of the Communist countries.

         29. People are being put on the spot all over the World by God Himself Who is allowing these things to happen to bring out their choice & see how they will choose, & therefore how God will judge them.

         30. I've already talked about how God is raising abortion as an issue in the U.S., in fact, God's people are raising it as an issue! It's the first thing I've seen the church come out & really crusade for since the days of Prohibition! They came out in great numbers & demonstrations for Prohibition, & they got it! And it lasted for about 15 years, until Roosevelt abolished it & flooded the country with liquor & alcohol, because of which it has gone to the dogs!

GOD WILL NOT PUT OFF THE AC RULE!

         31. Now, have I again convinced you of what I think is about to happen? The whole World System is set up for it & their house of cards is shaky enough for it to happen & collapse completely! Who knows? I don't know. I'll leave that to the Lord, whatever He wants to happen.

         32. I know you guys have been praying it off so you could finish your important projects, & that's fine. But there are certain things in Time that God has got to do regardless even of His people. There are some things He can put off, mostly in an individual situation like King Hezekiah praying, or like me lasting more than 70 years, & in some cases where a whole nation or a whole city has repented like Nineveh & that sort of thing, when God changes His mind & puts it off. He even changed His mind about the destruction of the Jews when He was about to wipe them out there in the wilderness for their rebellion & unbelief.

         33. But when it comes to a worldwide keynote event like the Antichrist rule, I don't believe He's going to put it off! That's gotta come because He can't wait too much longer, things are getting too bad. Everything from crime to the ecology is getting too bad & the World's getting too demonic & too anti-Christ, & if God didn't step in & do something soon, they would destroy themselves with a devastating war, or devastate the environment! They're already destroying themselves with drugs & crime & everything else!

REVELATION PRECEDES REIGN!

         34. I was struck with the Scripture the other day where it's talking in Matthew 24 about flight. When the Tribulation is officially begun at the setting up of the Image of the Antichrist, it doesn't give you a lot of time there. Of course, it will be worst in Judaea where it starts at the seat of the Antichrist's power, because apparently he's going to take over Jerusalem & make that his capital & pretend to be the true Messiah. I want you to turn to that Scripture because I want you to see it clearly & see if it has the impact on you that it suddenly had on me!

         35. I've been quoting those Scriptures for years, I practically know that whole passage of Matthew 24 by memory! It begins about the 15th verse: "When ye therefore shall see the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)" Then verse 21, "For then shall be Great Tribulation." He's saying that when this Image is set up, then shall be Great Tribulation. That's the beginning of the official 3-1/2 years of Tribulation.

         36. Now back to verse 16 about fleeing: "Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes; And woe unto them that are with child & to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be Great Tribulation." That's pretty strong language!--Which is why I believe that the real Tribulation which the Bible says will take place 3-1/2 years after the "confirming of the Covenant" (Dan.9:27), doesn't actually begin until the Antichrist's Image appears!

         37. The Scriptures clearly show that he reigns for 3-1/2 years before the Image. The Image marks the beginning of the real big Tribulation. Of course, I don't think the first 3-1/2 years of his reign are going to be all that much honey, sweetness & light either. A lot of the other things described in Revelation could possibly be initiated long before, including, I'm convinced, his being glorified & worshipped.--Maybe not as much as in the last half, but at least when he saves the World economically & he reigns!

         38. As far as I can see, his revelation has to precede the first half of his reign. The revelation of the Antichrist must occur in order for him to save the World economy & set up his system & do all these other things to make him popular & almost worshipped. When it comes to an absolute crux, a real crisis & he's got the World in his grip, then he finally declares himself to be God & sets up his Image to be worshipped.--That comes in the middle of the Seven Years.

AC NOT YET REVEALED!

         39. (Maria: You mean we haven't started the Seven Years yet?) What is the revelation of the Antichrist?--When he's revealed! Well, where is he? Where has he been revealed?--Unless you want to interpret it spiritually as my Father used to & say, "Well, they're already worshipping him on television," etc. Well, although I've suggested that possibility, I believe that's kind of stretching it.

         40. I haven't seen the Antichrist! I'm seeing his System, I'm seeing his idol-worshipping in a sense. But I'm a little old-fashioned, I guess, I still am waiting for the day when I really expect to see a man, because the Bible speaks of him all through the Scriptures as a man. Television & all the rest may be preparation for the man, but I haven't seen the man yet. And I believe his revelation is going to be at the beginning of his reign. I know I've suggested, "Well, maybe he's reigning already, but unseen," but that's not a revelation! I believe he is going to be revealed as a man 3-1/2 years, God willing, prior to this great period of Tribulation!

         41. Turn to 2nd Thessalonians Chapter 2. "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, & by our gathering together unto Him."--He's speaking definitely about the Lord's Second Coming. "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." He's saying, don't worry that the day of Christ & His Coming is at hand. In other words, inferring explicitly that it is not!

         42. "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, & that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." I'd say the "falling away first" has come. There's been a great falling away from Christianity & faith in both governments & schools, & an increase of crime, drugs & everything Satanic! The U.S. used to be a great Christian country, but there's been a great falling away in recent years. That's the situation, there's a great falling away, & that's why so much crime & everything else is breaking out. They didn't just fall away, they kicked God out of the schools to where they're now totally anti-Christ & evolutionary, having rejected the Bible & God.

         43. It says, "That day shall not come except there come a falling away first."--We've got it!--"And that man of sin be revealed." Has he been revealed?--Not the man himself, but certainly his program, certainly his people, certainly his policies. --And their effects show that he already exists & is undoubtedly engineering things & the ACs are getting their orders straight from him!--And he's getting his orders supernaturally, because he's the Devil incarnate!

         44. "For that day shall not come except there come a falling away first & that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." First he's revealed & then "he opposeth & exalteth himself above all that is called God"--he's totally anti-God & anti-Christ. And that could be known very soon in his reign, of course, as he encourages atheism & all the rest.

         45. Well, if you want to say the Antichrist is a system, you say, "Well, it was revealed many years ago, 72 years ago in Russia." But from all this explicit description it's hard for me to believe that! You've studied Daniel, haven't you? Is he spoken of as a system? He's always spoken of as a man, a king! He even has a fierce countenance! So I don't see how you can claim that he's anything else but a man!

         46. Has that man yet been revealed?--I don't see him anywhere! We've seen a couple of people who might look like him, but we don't know for sure because he has not been revealed. And I don't think it's necessarily going to be any well-known leader. He's likely to come like an angel of light--suddenly, dramatically, almost supernaturally, doing signs & wonders. He's going to come suddenly! And he's got to have some pretty fantastic, dramatic, miraculous credentials to give him the reputation & the power to take over the World, even its Economic System.

         47. So I don't see how the seven-year reign of the Antichrist could have already begun, because we don't see him! I believe that his revelation is at the beginning of his reign. Otherwise, how could he really reign without being revealed? Well, I've suggested that maybe he could be working underneath from behind the scenes, but that's not a revelation! I don't doubt that he's already ruling some people from underneath through the ACs, & already in existence, but I don't see how he can rule the World & have a reign without being revealed!

         48. As bad as the World is getting, I don't see how the Lord can wait much longer to reveal the Antichrist, because he's going to help save the World from all the rot & everything it's getting into. He's not going to allow drugs or crime, he's going to be the strictest totalitarian authoritarian ruler that the World has ever known! Everything's going to be under strict absolute control! People aren't going to have money to pay for drugs & the drug business is going to go bust, therefore there's not going to be so much crime. He's not going to allow crime! He's going to be a tough, strict ruler!

NOT JUST EUROPE, BUT THE WORLD!

         49. So I don't see how we can be that far along! I have suggested stretching it a bit here or there & I've said, well, some poor Christians have already been suffering their tribulation. But there's no one man who has appeared on the World scene as a World ruler, an absolute World dictator who eventually can even enforce the worship of himself! It doesn't start off with that. He starts off with being the saviour of the World, solving its economic problems & getting tighter control on the World through computers, & the one that they already call "The Beast" in Brussels, four stories high!

         50. Maybe 1992 is when he's going to be revealed!--Because a lot of people say, "Well, they're aiming at that target date for a united Europe, but we don't see how they can really enforce it." A lot of Europeans are already bellowing about it, including Margaret Thatcher & a few others.

         51. That, to me, would seem to be a very logical time for the AC to be revealed & be able to enforce it!--Not on just the European Community, but on the whole World & persuade them to join with them! A lot of businesses & businessmen are already getting ready to join. They're even becoming part of it & establishing factories & businesses & banks & industries in order to enjoy this great new united European Economic Community. Well, what if it turns out it's not only the European Economic Community, but the Antichrist appears & forces everybody to join & obey his rules?

         52. I know we have estimated & calculated & guesstimated according to certain things the Lord has shown us in the past, "The 70 Years Prophecy," "The Watch" & a few other things, that surely the Lord has to come by 1992 or 1993. I don't have time now to go into all the reasons why we thought maybe that was it, but maybe '93 is a little premature.

         53. Of course, if the machinery is all in place & all geared & timed already, either Europe or the Antichrist may decide to take a quantum leap & say, "Well look, the World economy is in such a mess, such horror, we're going to have to institute that kind of an economy right now!--Not only in Europe but for the whole World! Forget 1992, we don't have time to wait! We've got to do it now, not just in Europe, but worldwide!" Well, to have that happen, the economy has got to crash worldwide first. Can you see that? Isn't that logical?

         54. The Antichrist can't save the World until it's lost & they know they're lost! So in my way of thinking, the first thing that's got to happen is the Crash. And it may take them some time as they sink lower & lower until they finally find out that they can't save themselves. Then they're ready for the saviour, the false messiah, & that might take two or three years. It might take until '92.--Or it may be so fast, they might have to do it next year! The World could hit bottom in a year in these fast days! They're all in the fast lane, really moving fast to their destruction!--On the broad way & through the wide gate!--Mat.7:13.

THE LAST SEVEN YEARS CANNOT BEGIN UNTIL THE AC IS REVEALED?

         55. What I'm trying to get across to you tonight is that I just don't see how the Last Seven Years can begin until the Antichrist reveals himself! And to put it simply & briefly, how he can be needed enough to reveal himself until the Crash has occurred & the World has hit bottom! Now that could go very fast & take maybe just a few months for the World to get in bad enough shape that they would beg him to save them, & he would thereby reveal himself & begin his reign. (Peter: So the bottom line of this means that the Lord could not possibly come back before 1997?)--Yes!

         56. Even if the Crash occurs tomorrow, I think it's going to have to take its course & get so bad that the whole World's economy is in such horrible shape that they would be willing to beg for him to save them! And of course, before he'll do that, he's going to have to be revealed! So he could be revealed next year, perhaps.

         57. It took the Great Depression about three years to hit bottom, but the World Economy is much more fragile today than it was then. The whole World situation looks like it's ready for some terrible desperate move, because everything's in such bad shape.--Not only the economy, but the people's morals & everything else.

         58. Things move fast nowadays! We're in such a fast lane, maybe we're going to pass up 1929 & instead of taking three years to reach bottom, maybe it's going to reach bottom in only three months, & come to the ideal moment for the ACs to introduce & reveal their man! "Here's the man who's got the plan!--The man with the plan!--The man who can solve all these problems. But you have to be willing to cooperate & do this, this, this & that in order for him to be willing to save you."

         59. So things are going to get tough, first of all, with the Crash.--Then with absolute domination & strict regulation, & even that's going to take some time. That's no doubt the first 3-1/2 years. It's going to take time for him to get everybody branded & organised & identified & cooperating, so some of that could start during the first half. We're certainly going to have much more restrictive governments. Europe is already being absolutely set up for it! And the rest of the North, the U.S.A., will probably be next.--As well as Japan, dominating the East, etc.!

STARTING POINT 1990?

         60. Let's estimate the shortest possible scenario timewise: Let's say the Crash comes tomorrow. The World goes to pot within a few months & the Antichrist is revealed next year, & that begins the first 3-1/2 years of his reign, which takes time to develop & organise, etc., until he is sure he is in absolute control & he's got the World under his thumb where they cannot get away!

         61. Then he decides to proclaim himself as God & that everybody's got to worship him or be killed. He sets up his big Image to symbolise himself, & to have a symbol that they will have to fall down & worship or be killed, & that begins what? (Peter: The Great Tribulation.) But he can't get to that point until he's had his 3-1/2-year reign to get absolute control.

         62. So maybe the nearest possible point that his revelation & reign would begin in order to save a defunct World would be next year sometime.--1990, a good starting point! Then, 3-1/2 years later, '91, '92, '93, sometime in '94 he has absolute control & he sets up his Image & demands World worship, & the Tribulation begins. Let's say the rest of '94 is half a year, then you have '95, '96, '97! That would mean the Coming of the Lord could not occur, according to His prophecies & His Prophets & His Scriptures, until the end of 1997!

DESTRUCTION OF THE WHORE!

         63. Unifying Europe & turning them against the U.S.A. could even happen during the first half of his reign. If the U.S.A. will not cooperate & refuses to join, that is the ideal time to finally use the atom bombs & wipe'r out!--Which will obviously happen sometime, according to the 17th & 18th Chapters of Revelation.

         64. During that first half of his reign he will no doubt be very persuasive, getting the World's nations together to join his Economic System voluntarily, or squeezing them to join. And if the U.S. is balking & refuses, since they won't cooperate, he might use force--atomic force. It sure sounds like atomic fires to me there in the 18th Chapter of Revelation.--Rev.18:8-10,17-19. Once he's obliterated the last enemy that was powerful enough to try to resist him, the U.S.A., the last barrier would be eliminated. Then he'd be in complete control & strong enough to demand obedience & worship & set up his Image! That's a possibility.

         65. I have come to the conclusion, as I did before, that World War 3 is not going to come first, the Crash is going to come first, which will be his ideal opportunity to take control of the World without destroying it. But in order to take absolute control, that could put an atomic war, the destruction of the Whore, America, about when? Even if he took power next year, it seems to me that the destruction of America might even have to come before the Image. So if his reign starts next year, it might take till about '93 to where it becomes necessary to have to wipe out America to destroy the last major bastion of opposition before he can really declare himself as God.

         66. (Peter: Would it be possible that the destruction of America wouldn't necessarily have to happen before the mid-point? Couldn't they be resisting farther on & then get wiped out?) Well, perhaps past his declaring himself God, because that would certainly incense the Americans! Some of his wars apparently come before the midpoint according to Daniel, but some of them come afterwards. So there could be a few little wars leading up to the Image to establish his reign, & then there'd still be some heavy resisters, especially after he declares himself God & demands worship. I think the Jews are going to resist, the Muslims certainly look like they're going to resist, & certainly we Christians & so-called Christian nations will resist. America once claimed to be a Christian nation, & even Europe. Yes, it's possible that it could take quite a bit of wiping out to wipe out the resistance.

         67. That's where the ten kings of Revelation 17 come in. They join together with the Beast & they reign with him a very short time. But it's possible that might occur before the Image, or it might occur after the Image that they finally completely yield & turn on America & destroy her. It may take a little time, but a very short time. They reign with him "one hour" it says. Well, that could be 3-1/2 years.

SEVEN MORE YEARS!

         68. I'm just saying "what if" again! That would be the shortest possible schedule that I could possibly imagine for the Last Seven Years, 1990-1997. Maybe the Lord's even going to give us a little more time, but I doubt it.

         69. I think things are going to really happen fast once the Crash comes, & the World really is going to hit bottom in a hurry, & he's going to offer to save them. But even if so, he'd have to reveal himself first, which would have to begin his reign, which would then give us at least 3-1/2 more years until he gets in absolute control & the Tribulation begins.

         70. So, we could very well have seven more years, Lord willing! (Peter: Hallelujah!) Well, it might not be too "hallelujah" of a time! (Peter: But the way we were interpreting it before, the Tribulation could have been starting next week!) Well, I've purposely tried to allow for possibilities & differences & differentials & all kinds of things. I've given you alternative interpretations, what others have said, the spiritualisers. But I just can't really see that!

         71. The Bible speaks too specifically of him as being a man, a king, a real dictator, a man who wages wars, a man who proclaims himself to be God! In both Old & New Testaments he's spoken of too frequently & too specifically as a man to be anything else! And if so, then this man is also very specifically spoken of as being revealed at a certain time, obviously, & that he reigns for Seven Years, & the Tribulation does not begin until the middle of his reign. So if he's reigning over the World for 3-1/2 years, he must have been revealed at the beginning of those 3-1/2 years. It's just that simple!

         72. I can't really see it any other way! That's what the Bible teaches in both Old & New Testaments. It's very specific about the length of his reign, & that the Tribulation begins right in the middle of it. So as far as I can see, the first thing that has to come is his revelation, & I don't see how that can come until the World is in such bad shape that they're willing to believe his revelation & accept him as ruler. Of course, they may not realise at first that they're beginning to accept him as World ruler, maybe only whatever nations are willing to join at first, like Europe, etc. But then comes the middle of his reign, the Image & the Tribulation.--And finally comes the Lord! Thank God for that!

         73. So I think I'm back to basically the old doctrine of the Tribulation that we always taught before, the basic orthodox schedule! It's always been there in the Scriptures & that's what we have taught from the beginning, but it's just getting clearer now how the Antichrist reign cannot really begin without first revealing the Antichrist.--That there can be no secret reign!

         74. I think that is the major clarification, that when he is revealed he begins to reign, & he cannot begin to reign without being revealed! It's just that simple! Revealed means revealed!--Perhaps only to Christians as the Antichrist, but to the World as the messiah that somehow saves them. The first part of his reign is mostly consolidation, all kinds of measures to consolidate his power, & as Jesus Himself said, the Tribulation begins with the erection of his Image, apparently in Jerusalem which he has made his capital after conquering the [Israelis].

         75. We've taught this literal interpretation for years, so I don't think this should be too big of a surprise. It's obvious that he has not yet been revealed, so we now have whatever time there is until his revelation, & then Seven Years more! Three-&-a-half years of building up his power to really rule & reign, & then 3-&-1/2 more years of total power & Tribulation until his end at the Coming of Christ!

         76. Actually, it doesn't stop there! The Wrath of God then descends for a brief period & troubles his kingdom with all kinds of plagues & monsters! Until it is finally time for us to come down in the Battle of Armageddon with the Feast of the Falcons & horrible vengeance on him & his followers!--Our Wedding Feast--the destruction of the Antichrist & his kingdom! Praise the Lord!

         77. I think we're just about at the beginning of the sufferings that are going to be brought about by the Great Crash, which will give him the opportunity to take control. We're close to the beginning of the Antichrist reign! TYJ! I think it's very near. I'll be surprised if the Crash doesn't happen soon, because it has to prepare the way for the Antichrist to seize power!

         78. Amen, Lord, Thy Will be done, have Thy way, You know what's best! TYJ! And we know You'll continue to bless & keep us as long as we can be useful to Thee, in Jesus' name. But do help us to be preparedness-minded, in Jesus' name.--Amen!