Lord Jesus and Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your blessings you pour upon us each and every day, all so much you've already given us this day, and now the blessed opportunity to be able to gather in your house and to open your word. As we study these last days prophecies, we look around, we see the signs, we know it can't be much longer before all this is fulfilled. We thank you so much for the opportunity to be able to dig into that and to be able to study and be able to answer the questions when people come to us and ask us about what's going on. Help us to be at the work that you want each and every one of us to do so that we can reach folks before it may be everlasting too late. We thank you so much for the opportunity to lead you out and direct all this as we pray in Jesus' precious holy name. Amen. Our last day's prophecy series. If you will turn over to Zechariah chapter 13. Now here we see a couple of verses that pertain to the The killing of the Jews during the persecution is going to come their way during the Tribulation time. Now, as we're going down our timeline, we know this major slaughter of the Jews is going to take place near the midpoint of the Tribulation time. And when the Antichrist sets himself up as God in the temple that will be rebuilt there on the current Temple Mount, at the midpoint of the Tribulation. But here we see over in Zechariah chapter 13, let's look at a couple of verses, verses 8 and 9. It shall come to pass that in all the lands, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, It is my people, and they shall say, The Lord is my God. We're in Revelation chapter 12. Let's pick it up in verse 13. It reads, And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child, and to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." This, of course, the vision that was given to the Apostle John while on the Isle of Patmos. And we see here the symbolism in this, the woman is being the church at that time, the children of Israel that have come to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and all those that have become part of the church that will be persecuted with great persecution. And as it says on our list here, the Antichrist persecutes the Jews, killing two-thirds of them. The remaining Jews flee to Edom, which is Petra, or Megiddo, also known, where they are preserved. And this preservation is speaking of there, where it says, for a time and times and half a time, that's the three and a half years. So we know that this event has to take place at the midpoint of the Tribulation. for them to be preserved for that length of time. So as we've gone along here in our timeline of the events that take place, the very next prophetic event to take place is the rapture of the church. The rapture of the church will trigger the battle of Gog and Magog. The ending of the battle of Gag and Magog by God will actually open the pathway for the Antichrist to rise to power and take credit for the ending of the battle of Gag and Magog by the signing of a treaty with Israel. And the signing of the treaty with Israel is the starting of the seven-year tribulation clock. And then during that seven years, we have the two witnesses that will be witnessing and we have the various judgments that will come upon the planet during that time, the seven seal judgments and the seven trumpet judgments. And then at the midpoint of the tribulation, the attempt to assassinate the Antichrist will occur and he will be as dead. Satan will indwell him, he'll rise to the peak of his power and the false prophet will rise to his power as well and they'll build a statue that will be robotic in construction and be able to move and be able to kill people with a ray that will come out of his eyes and they'll initiate the the one world religion, the one world monetary system, they'll persecute the Jews tremendously, they'll kill the two witnesses and their bodies will lay there for three and a half days and the whole world will be able to see that and with today's technology you know how that could happen and then they'll be risen from the dead and they'll ascend to heaven. And then the Antichrist will set up his throne there on the temple or in the temple and that is the fulfillment of the desolation of abomination that Daniel speaks of, and that initiates the next phase of the judgments that come upon the planet, which is known as the great tribulation times, and that will be the beginning of the seven vile judgments or bold judgments. And if you will look back over in Matthew chapter 24, we see a brief mention of this and the The teachings of the Lord of the last days in Matthew 24 and verse 21 reads, For then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time nor ever shall be. And as he continues in that in verse 21, "...and except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Limited those days because the tribulation time, the second half... The first half is horrible enough as we've already studied, but the second half kicks in even worse than the first half. And now look over at Revelation chapter 16 and we see some of the description of these final judgments that are coming upon the people. Those that are still resisting the call of God to repent, to turn away from their ways. Those that will reap all of this horrible judgment upon them because of their defiance, because of their denying of God, because of their blasphemies. In Revelation chapter 16, we'll pick it up in verse 1. The reason, I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, go your ways and pour out the vows of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth. And there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image." Of course, the mark of the beast is that we were speaking of. They have to receive this mark in order to be in the government system, in the financial system, in the religious system, in marketing, To function in the civilization that will be here at that time, they will have to receive that mark and that mark with current technology and belief is going to be some sort of an implant that will be in the hand or in the forehead which can contain all the information needed to keep all your records. That mark will be received by those that have trusted and given their allegiance over to Satan, and that's who is going to receive all these horrible sores, and this persecution upon them, this judgment, I should say, upon them, because they have chosen to worship the Antichrist and his image. As it continues in verse 3, "...and the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea, and it became as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea." We know that already a judgment came upon it which killed most of the things, two-thirds of them, but now everything else in the sea is killed. That means all the supply of food that once came from the ocean will be ceased at that time. No more fishing, no more... food supply at all because everything in the ocean will now be dead at that time. The third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood. So everything is being poisoned, all the water supply, both the salt water and the fresh water. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art and must and shalt be, because Thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. the judgments that are going to come upon this world, the judgments that people don't believe in. They read this and they think it's all fantasy, they think it's all fiction, they think it's just representative of different things, not these swift, severe judgments that I'm speaking of. Because as I was speaking of earlier, they like to believe that God is a God of love and He will not bring these judgments upon people. But He clearly tells us through His Scriptures, history that we can research and know and what is going on now and what will go on. He is a God of judgment as well. True, a loving God, but also a God of judgment. As he continues in verse 8, And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues, and they repented not to give Him glory." So even with all this coming on them, even knowing where they're coming from, they choose to blaspheme even more, to curse Him. Verse 10, And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast, and his kingdom was full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. How far does he have to go to get people to repent, to get people to turn away from evil ways? Verse 12, And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. Now this will be a fulfillment of prophecy as well about the final battle, the battle of Armageddon, the pathway for the nations of the north to come down and invade Israel. Verse 13, And I saw Three unclean spirits, like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief, Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air, and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices and thunderings and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, And the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent. And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceedingly great." And as we continue on our list here, we see this is the beginning of the mention of the destruction of Babylon. Now Babylon here is all of the political and the religious and the financial system that will be in place at the time. all of it under the control of the Antichrist. It will be known as New Babylon. And some think that this will actually be established right there in the same site that will be considered the focal point of New Babylon. It will be on the original site of the Old Babylon. It has already been destroyed. But it will actually expand beyond that because this will take in the area of Jerusalem as well. And because of the Antichrist setting himself up as authority there. So the area that it speaks of as the great whore, the city of Babylon, will be a big area. It will basically be the entire area that is controlled by the the political, commercial, and religious system that will be in place at that time during the tribulation time. And if we get into that, into chapter 17 here, we'll roll right on into that. And there came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vows, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither, I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore, which sitteth upon many waters. with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman, drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore dost thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and of the beast carrieth her which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is." The beast that was and is not and yet is. The beast that was, and is not, and yet is, is speaking of the beast that was killed, and brought back, or as dead, and brought back, and indwelt by Satan, who is the Antichrist. So he is speaking of here, verse 9. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, speaking of the territory in which this city is going to be covering and encompassing, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings, five are fallen and one is, and the other is not yet come, and when he cometh he must continue a short space. That's speaking of the Antichrist. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast, for a set time period." In other words, these have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. talking about how the political system will be set up. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and they that are with Him are called and chosen and faithful. That war will be the Battle of Armageddon that was speaking of. getting all this set in place for that to occur. And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. There won't be peace among that government system. There will be a lot of unrest even within it. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Chapter 18, And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon, the great, is fallen, is fallen, and has become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit. and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have waxed rich through the abominations of her delicacies." And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Now this call to come out, we've already made reference to. It's that one-third that remains that will be called out from that, that will go up into the mountains. And over in Matthew, we can go back to see that where he talks about when you get the warning to depart, don't go back to gather any of your goods, to go ahead and flee to the mountains. But continuing in verse 5 of Revelation chapter 18, it reads, For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double according to her works in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her. For she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." Now this fire, of course, will be the fire that comes down and destroys that entire region at the end of the Battle of Armageddon. And the kings of the earth who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her shall bewail her and lament for her when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more." All those greedy folks that will be profiting during that tribulation time will be wailing because it's all coming to fulfillment of the judgments. and the merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones, and of pearls and of fine linen and of purple and silk and scarlet, all thine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass and iron and of marble and of cinnamon and odors and ornaments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men." Souls of men is actually slavery. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand far off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, for in one hour so great riches has come to naught. And every ship master, and all the company, and ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city? And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea. By reason of her costliness, for in one hour is she made desolate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone, like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shalt thou shall that city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers and musicians and of pipers and of trumpeters shall be heard no more at all in thee. And no craftsman of whatsoever craft he be shall be found any more in thee. And the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee. And the light of the candle shall shine no more at all in thee. And the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee. great men of the earth, for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth." Quite a description of the city known as Babylon of the last days. All of this being built and established and working during the tribulation time. You think it would be very difficult to be able to establish any kind of civilization with the judgments that are coming upon the planet during the first half of the tribulation time, but yet, with the greed and the lustful desires of man, they can still be established. And all of this stuff I was talking about, all this precious materials and foods and so forth. All that merchandising, which is what is going to be the draw and the appeal to people to be able to draw them in even more of their lustful desires to have and to acquire and to possess things to come into that city. and to receive that mark of the beast so that they can be a part of that merchandising, to be a part of that last one world religion and that last one world monetary system and one world government that we see talking about the destruction here. But we'll continue in this study, the last days, when it talks about the The return of Jesus Christ, the literal and physical return of Jesus Christ where He ends that tribulation time and He destroys this city. When He has that battle of Armageddon and establishes His kingdom there for a thousand years. But let's close here and we'll return again with this next time. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you so much for your word. It is so powerful. Even these mysterious things that we read about the prophecies of the last days, help us to understand them, help us to be able to learn from them, help us to share them with others as well. Give them the enlightenment that they need to be able to come to you before all these things start to be fulfilled. Help them be a part of the very first of it, the rapture, that we can be out of here and not have to worry about what's going on down here. but also let us know that we need an understanding of it because you've given it to us in your word. Help us to always be diligent to dig deep into the scriptures to find that faith-building knowledge and share that with others and grow close to you through it. We thank you so much for all of this. We pray in Jesus' precious holy name. Amen.