During the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Islam el-Shehaby, a competitor in judo, refused to shake the hand of his Israeli opponent. He was under pressure by Islamics, Egyptians, and family, to drop out of the match so he would not be viewed as “a traitor and a normalizer in the eyes of your people.” Similarly, Syrian boxer Ala Ghasoun refused to fight an Israeli athlete because “that would mean that I, as an athlete, and Syria, as a state, recognize the state of Israel.”

Anti-Semitism is a hostility, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews. It can be practiced by individuals, groups, or governments. In all forms, anti-Semitism has its origins in Satan. Revelation 12:3 refers to “a great red dragon,” clearly identified in verse 9 as “Satan,” who led one-third of the angelic host in rebellion (vs. 4). Satan has always had a special hatred for the Jews and has historically been the power behind anti-Sematic efforts to persecute and kill all of Israel. He used Haman to convince the king to issue an edict to slay all Jews (Esther 8-10). At one point, the royal line, through whom the Redeemer King was to come, was reduced to one singular boy (II Kings 11:1-3). Satan also used Herod to attempt to slay the Savior shortly after His birth (Matthew 2). From the middle to the end of the Tribulation, the red dragon, dripping with the blood of believing Jews, will turn an unprecedented wave of anti-Semitism to a new height. His intensified efforts will be his response after he will be cast down from his domain in the atmospheric heavens. He will know “that he hath but a short time” (Revelation 12:12). With “great wrath” he will persecute all Jews (vs. 12). Some of the redeemed in Israel will be supernaturally hidden in “the wilderness” for 3½ years (vss. 6,14). For those believing Jews who remain, Satan’s forces will go forth with a vengeance to “make war” against them and put them to death (vs. 17). As a liar and accuser of the saints, Satan will deceive the world into thinking the true people of God are deluded and dangerous. This will bring waves of betrayals, tortures, and deaths (Matthew 24:9-10).

We today should be extremely thankful we experience little meaningful persecution for our faith, that we will be raptured before God’s judgments fall on the world, and prior to Satan’s wrath upon believers. We should also not fall into Satan’s trap of racism of any kind.

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On February 15, 2015, a video was released showing 21 Christian men in orange jumpsuits paraded to a beach in Libya by armed and masked terrorists in black garb. A Muslim man explained these Christians, who would not renounce Christ, were being executed to retaliate for the death of Osama Bin Laden. Then they were gruesomely beheaded. But the video also reveals that while some of these men were being executed, they were speaking the name of Jesus.

Present-day murders of Christians by Muslims is the very spirit of the Anti-Christ’s terrorism that will take place during the seven years of Tribulation. Revelation 20:4 refers to future martyrs saying, “…and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God.” Revelation 12:11 tells us these martyrs will die at the hands of cruel terrorists, but in a remarkably terrorLESS state of mind: “they overcame him [Satan].” It is important for all who know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior to embrace the three ways these martyrs will find victory in the face of death. First, they will remain victorious “by the blood of the Lamb.” In order to truly be a Christian, one must trust in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as the payment for one’s sins, apart from all religious or moral works. It is trusting in His blood that gives us a righteous standing with God and eternal life. Martyrs overcome Satan in the sense that they refuse to abandon this trust. Second, they overcome Satan “by the word of their testimony,” which is an unfaltering trust and reliance in the written Word of God. It gives strength, comfort, and confidence, no matter what a believer faces. Third, they overcome Satan because “they loved not their lives unto the death.” This means they chose to believe eternal life is more important than continued days of earthly life, and that their responsibility was to live or die to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ who died for them. Nothing else really matters.

While we believers today will never experience the specific tribulation persecution sent from Satan’s Anti-Christ, II Timothy 3:12 tells us “…all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Whether suffering for our faith is great or small, we can triumphantly remain terrorLESS by living the same three principles tribulation martyrs will possess. Why wait? Begin living all three now!

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In December 2013, off-duty LA policeman Donald Thompson saw a vehicle crash into the divider on the freeway and burst into flames. Disregarding his own welfare, Officer Thompson jumped barriers, cut the seatbelt from the unconscious driver, and pulled him to safety. On May 17, 2016, President Obama presented Officer Thompson the Medal of Valor, the highest award in America for public service officers who exhibit exceptional courage in an attempt to save or protect others from harm.

The third “woe” pronounced with the seventh trumpet of judgment (Revelation 8:1-2,13) is being described in Revelation 11:14-19. In these verses, John summarized everything that will occur from the middle to the end of the Tribulation (Revelation 20:3). The evidence for this conclusion is the many “days” referred to in Revelation 10:7. Also, the description of events in Revelation 11:14-19 pictures the anger of the nations who will war against believers and the coming of Christ to reign on the earth (vs. 17). However, it is our purpose here to focus on the coming just reward for the saved and unsaved. John refers to “the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants…small and great…” (vs. 18). The written Word of God repeatedly reminds us that there will be a just eternal reward for all mankind. Daniel promised, “them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2). The Lord Jesus warned that the hour was coming when those in the grave will hear His voice, “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29). There will be a payday someday. In our text, John is picturing this future event, focusing largely on reward for those, like the two witnesses, who will remain faithful throughout the Tribulation. The King of kings Himself will award them with eternal life and entrance into the Millennial Kingdom (Matthew 25:31-46). The reminder of these things is intended to inspire Tribulation saints to remain steadfast in the Lord.

Similarly, believers in the Dispensation of Grace are to be strengthened in faithfulness by remaining focused on “things above” (Colossians 3:1-2), and remembering “your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (I Corinthians 15:58). Remain steadfastly faithful to the Lord, believer. There will be a payday someday, and a just reward.

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Under Hitler’s reign in Germany, the Jews faced growing hatred. They were required to wear a yellow star. They were blamed for crime, disease, and the financial problems of the nation. They became so hated that even children threw rocks, and cheered when they were deported to concentration camps. Millions were starved, forced into slave labor, medically experimented on, or slaughtered. When liberated by the Allies, even battle-hardened soldiers wept at the jaw-dropping atrocities they discovered.

The events that will unfold during the second woe pronounced by an angel announcing the trumpet judgments will be jaw dropping (Revelation 11:1-11). The Apostle John was told to measure a Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The Anti-Christ, who will rise to power at the beginning of these seven years, will make it possible for Jews to rebuild their temple through a covenant of peace with Israel. This temple must be rebuilt to fulfill the prophecy of the Anti-Christ desecrating the temple and demanding he be worshipped (Daniel 9:26-27). Two witnesses for God, likely Elijah and Moses, will have super-natural “power” as they proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom for forty-two months (Revelation 11:3). Hundreds of thousands will believe their message of the Lord Jesus being the Messiah of Israel, and Savior of the world (Revelation 7:1-10). However, the majority of the world will not believe. They will hate these witnesses, and try to kill them because they will also perform miracles to punish those who refuse to believe (vs. 6). But until bring their message of eternal life to all the world is complete (Matthew 24:14), they are supernaturally protected and remain undeterred in ministry (Revelation 11:6). Ultimately, the forces of Anti-Christ will slay them and leave their bodies to rot in the street for 3½ days (vss. 7-10). The world will respond to their death with joy and celebration. Then, “the Spirit of life from God” will enter the two witnesses (vs. 11). The Lord’s audible voice will command they “come up hither” (vs. 12), and all the world will see them ascend into the heavens. This event will be so stunningly jaw-dropping that great fear will fall upon all the unsaved.

Throughout history, God has always maintained His testimony to lost souls through human servants. Today, we who have trusted in Christ alone for eternal life must fulfill our mission of sharing the message of eternal life to a lost world. Regardless of resistance, hatred, or persecution, this is our primary purpose for being here after salvation. Report for duty.

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To Tell The Truth” is an American game show. A panel of celebrities try to identify a contestant who has an unusual experience or occupation. This contestant is required to tell the truth when questioned, but he is flanked by two imposters who are permitted to lie.

Revelation 10 does not contain the seventh trumpet of judgment because there will be an interruption in the dispensing of these judgments until Revelation 11:15. However, there are three things of note in this chapter. First, “another mighty angel” (vs. 1) is sent from heaven. Some believe this is the Lord Jesus Christ because the angel is clothed with a cloud, has a rainbow on His head, and has feet as pillars of fire. He also has the book no man or angel was worthy to open. These are all things identified with God, representing majesty, mercy, judgment, or worthiness. Others point out he is called an “angel,” linking him to the six angels with six trumpets. He swears an oath to the Lord Jesus, the creator of all things (vs. 6). We simply don’t know who this angel is. Second, while others lie in the Tribulation, he has an announcement of solemn truth: “there should be time no longer” (vs. 6). The meaning here is that there will be no more delay in avenging the martyred saints or in pouring out God’s wrath. The time for both has come. Third, this messenger takes “the little book,” gives it the Apostle John, and tells him to eat it (vs. 9). While this book specifically contains previously unrevealed prophecy about the judgments of the Tribulation, it also represents the written Word of God as a whole. Jeremiah figuratively said he ate God’s Word (Jeremiah 15:16), and the Lord told Ezekiel, “open thy mouth and eat what I give thee” (Ezekiel 2:8). John then sees a book written by God. It was important for the Apostle John to eat this book because he “must [continue to] prophecy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (vs. 11). He would not be prepared to so minister until consuming the Word.

We are to tell the truth of God’s Word to others, but we will be unprepared until we consume it only for ourselves. We are to figuratively eat it, and then we have a moral obligation to share It’s truths with others who do not yet understand them. Look for someone in your path today with whom you can share divine truth you are learning from Scripture.

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In 2016, wildfires destroyed over 100,000 acres in Alaska, 3,559 acres in California, 17,787 acres in Nevada, and 15,401 acres in New Mexico. That totals more than 100 square miles. Many governmental agencies warn this trend is going to get far worse. They are saying we haven’t seen anything yet.

As Chapter 8 closes, an angel is sent from God to announce that three more mind-boggling judgments are about to be released. He begins by saying, “Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth” (Revelation 8:13). Despite how horrible the first four trumpet judgments were, it’s as if he is saying you haven’t seen anything yet. When the fifth trumpet is sounded, an angel is sent from heaven to open the bottomless pit. So much smoke billows out that the sun and air “were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit” (vs. 2). It will be far worse than decades of forest fires in America. Next, an army of demonic forces will be unleashed, serving as God’s agents, to “hurt…only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads” (vs. 4). They are symbolically described “as the locusts” (vs. 3), who will torment, but not kill, the lost for five months. They will inflict so much pain that “men seek death” (vs. 6), but God will not allow them to find it. When the sixth trumpet is sounded, four demonic angels will be unleashed to lead an army of 200 million “to slay the third part of men” (vs. 15). One-fourth of humanity will have already tasted death (6:8). Now a third of those remaining will be killed. Yet for all this, “the rest of men… repented not of the works of their hands” (vs. 20). Instead, they cling to the worship of devils, idols of gold, and…murders, sorceries, and fornication. One would think that all this suffering, sorrow, and pain, would bring an end of man’s stubborn refusal to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. However, sin will have a treacherous hold on these souls. Also, for those who previously understood, but rejected, the gospel during the Dispensation of Grace, a divine blindness will be imposed on them (II Thessalonians 2:11). Their earthly and eternal fate is sealed.

If you know someone who has heard the gospel but refused faith in the Savior, share with them that they will have no opportunity for salvation in the Tribulation. Now is the time to flee from God’s wrath to come while they still can.

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