A2) The way through the angels from the Euphrates.
In Revelation 7,1 we read that John saw: «… … four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree … // … and in Revelation 9,14 we read that the voice said to the sixth angel «… … loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates» … // … and in Revelation 16:12 «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«.
In relation to the seals, the sixth seal has been opened (Revelation 6,12-17). This seal contains in verses 12 and 13; a) a great earthquake, b) the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, c) the moon became as blood d) the stars of the sky fell to the earth. However, three of the special end-time signs are missing. We find these in Revelation 6:14 «And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind«.
In other words, we have reached the point on the timeline of history that we are just before the sealing. It is also possible that the seventh seal has been opened, because the seals are not opened in such a way that the second seal is opened when the first has released its contents, etc. They overlap, some start at the same time others end at the same time in history. Three of the seals apply from year 31 (possibly 34), these are the 1st, 2nd, and 5th seals. Five of the seals do not end until the return of Jesus, these are the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th seals.
The next thing, which should be of the greatest interest in this connection, is when the next turn of the screw of history takes place. That turn will lead to what John writes about in Revelation 9:14: Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates … … and we will bring Revelation 16:12 in the same sentence: 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.
These two verses respectively lead to: Revelation 9:15 which says: And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men … … and … … to Revelation 16:16 where it says: «And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon«. Revelation 9:15 is a verse we should look at. What is in the phrase «which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men?»
Is «an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year» prophetic time?
An hour is 1/24 part of a prophetic year and is equal to 15 prophetic days, a day is equal to a prophetic year, a month is equal to 30 prophetic days and is equal to 30 literal years, and a year is equal to 360 prophetic days which again is equal to 360 literal years. This becomes: 15 days + 1 year + 30 years + 360 years = 391 years and 15 days, which according to Uriah Smith was the time that the Ottoman Empire would rule.
The Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman Empire (Turkey) was founded in 1299 by Osman 1 and was ruled by the Ottoman dynasty until Mustafa Kamal Atatürk formed the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923. The Ottoman Empire thus existed for a full 624 years.
When William Miller dated the trumpets, he claimed in connection with the fifth and sixth trumpets that the two together spanned a time frame of 541 years and 15 days, and Uriah Smith linked it to the Ottoman Empire.
Miller interpreted the letters, seals, trumpets, and vials to run parallel. If we look more closely at the seventh seal, it says that John saw the seven trumpets when the seal was opened. In other words, the seventh seal contains the seven trumpets, and consequently cannot run concurrently with the seals.
The plagues that fell in Egypt are a type of the plagues that will fall in the end times, (the antitype).
If we read about the ten plagues in Egypt, it seems that the first nine plagues fell within 17 days: 1st plague, Exodus 7:25; day 0. Then 7 days passed until the next plague, (all verses are from Exodus) 2. plague 8:10; day 7 + 1 day. 3. plague 8:20; day 8 + 1 day. 4. plague 8:23; day 9 + 1 day. 5. plague 9:5; day 10 + 1 day. 6. plague 9:13; day 11 + 1 day; 7, plague 9:17; day 12 + 1 day. 8. plague 10:4; day 13 + 1 day. 9. plague, 10:23; day 14 + 3 days. A total of 17 days.
It is somewhat uncertain as to how much time passed from the ninth to the tenth plague, but it is noted that it was supposed to be the 10th day of the month Abib, which was later called Nisan. (Abib means ears – a reference to the ripening of the grain in this month.) However, we know that four days passed from the time they took out this lamb until it was slaughtered, eaten and until Israel left Egypt, (10th day; 12:3, 14th day; 12:6).
At least 21 days passed from the first plague until Israel went out of Egypt, but probably a few more days passed. We just don’t know how many days passed after the 9th plague and until Israel was to bring out a spotless lamb for the Passover meal. Anyway, it went quickly when the first one started. There is also something Isaiah 60:19-22, which is a typical end-time prophecy, confirms: The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also [shall be] all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.
When Josiah Litch revised Miller’s calculations, he specified that the fifth trumpet was from July 27, 1299, to July 27, 1449, then the sixth trumpet from July 27, 1449, to August 11, 1840. This is thus based on «an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year» is prophetic time. If this is the case, the calculation of this period will fit 100% into the allocation to Litch. It does not fit very well with the idea that Isaiah is launching that it will end in haste, and that the Old Testament type points to a quick end to the Egyptian captivity, in which Israel was.
This claim also raises the following questions:
- Can it really be a time prophecy when the Ottoman Empire lasted a full 83 years longer than the prophecy says?
- Is it really a prophetic indication of time that is given in this way in Revelation 9:15: «for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year»?
Litch claims that the start of this period is July 27, 1449, and the end of this period is August 11, 1840. So far, so good. This is explained by the fact that it took the Ottoman Empire 150 years to consolidate its position, and that for that reason they did not count the Ottoman Empire from before 27 July 1449. This despite the fact that the Ottoman Empire arose in 1299.
If we look at how Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and the Roman Empire have been dated, then it is from the year they took over world domination that the beginning of the empire is reckoned. Why should this be different with the Ottoman Empire? The Roman Empire really expanded after 168 BC. which is the year on which the prophecy rests as regards the dating of the Roman Empire. The same applies to Greece. After Alexander the Great had conquered Medo-Persia, he went east and subjugated large areas all the way into India, but the Greek Empire is then considered from 331 BC. when Medo-Persia was defeated.
Another important point is that the Ottoman Empire did not perish in 1840, but 83 years later in 1923. So it existed for 624 years from 1299 to 1923, not for 391 years and 15 days from 1449 to 1840. Uriah Smith’s claim about the Ottoman Empire and that Revelation 9:15 contains a time prophecy is therefore far from 100% correct, and for that reason, I believe there is reason to reject this interpretation. The reason why Turkey (the Ottoman Empire) was read into the prophecies at the time was that this was the nation that was on everyone’s lips in the first half of the 19th century. As many do these days when they interpret the prophecies according to what news they are served on TV.
Another question is whether there are any time prophecies at all when we have entered the end times. If we look at Revelation 10:6, it says: And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer.
But what is really in the wording the four angels … … which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year?
If we try to analyse what the text wants to convey, I think it is quite clear that a couple of the key words are the Greek «hêtoimasme´noi» (het-oy-mad’-zo) and «eis«; which in English is translated as «which were prepared» and «for«. It is clear from the text in Revelation 9:15 that it is the four angels which were prepared. It also says that these four angels are to be loosed. If the phrase «for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year» is prophetic time, the content of the sixth trumpet (Revelation 9:13-21) will be meaningless.
The most important questions are and will be these.
Why were they prepared?
What were they prepared for?
When will they be loosed?
Who keeps them prepared?
And not least, who is going to loosen them?
The answer to these five questions lies in the Greek word hêtoimasme´noi (het-oy-mad’-zo). Strong’s Concordance explains the word thus: hetoimazó: to prepare; Definition: I make ready, in the sense of preparing.
«Hêtoimasme´noi» refers back to the four angels and is therefore inflected in the plural. It is the four angels who were kept ready «hêtoimasme´noi» for the hour, day, month and year that I (= God) had in mind when He planned it all. The English translation of «hetoimazó» is which were prepared, in the sense of keeping something ready or prepared.
The preposition «eis» is absolutely decisive for how we are to interpret the entire sentence.
G1519.1 eis (preposition with accusative): to, (all the way) up to, on, until, down/up into/against, over to; so that, so. As we can see, there are many alternative translations to choose from, so we must proceed with caution. As always, the context tells us which option we should use.
«And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men«.
What information do we find in our verse? We find four angels who are kept ready!
What is the reason why they are kept finished? The reason is that they must be loosed because they must perform a specific action!
When are the angels loosed? The question then becomes whether the four angels will be loosed immediately, or whether it will take 391 years and 15 days to resolve them. When these angels are to be loosed, this happens at a very specific time, and therefore we must have something to indicate the time for when these angels are to be loosed, and we have that.
This time is a special point on the timeline, and the time for the release of the angels is precisely at «an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year» that God has predestined for this.
It does not necessarily mean a particular date. Rather, it is based on the fact that a number of events must have happened by the time we get to this point when the angels were released. We are in the end times and then time no longer matters. See Revelation 10,5-6: And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer.
B) The political way.
What problems does this storm bring for God’s faithful remnant in the end times?
Are we on our way to a better world, or are we going too fast towards the cliff? It is a highly relevant question in these times. We know about the New World Order, which Adam Weishaupt founded in May 1776, that it aims at a world led by a few strong men. We know about the Freemasons, about the Bilderberger group, and many other secret organizations. What they all have in common is that they have the same goal: a new world order. Many people, including leaders in our own denomination, claim that a new world order is just a fairy tale, a claim made out of thin air, and a conspiracy theory. It’s just a shame that many people don’t see the forest for the trees.
What we are going to look at now is characterized by many as conspiracy theories. It is therefore fabrications and false claims that are put forward on our part. It is about secret organisations, a new world order, about the encyclicals of the last three popes and the like.
Adam Weishaupt’s New World Order, also known as the Illuminati.
On May 1, 1776, Adam Weishaupt presented a plan for the New World Order, (Wikipedia says; Illuminati was a German secret society founded on May 1, 1776, by Adam Weishaupt). This plan includes the following:
- Abolition of all governments.
- Abolition of private property.
- Abolition of all inheritance.
- Abolition of the family, i.e. abolition of marriage between a man and a woman.
- Introduction of a collectively controlled education.
- Abolition of patriotism, i.e. no longer one’s own nation before other nations.
- Abolition of all religions, with a small (or large?) exception.
- The creation of the new world order.
This must be a conspiracy theory according to many scholars.
We can also add that intensive work is being done to remove cash in order to have only electronic money, and then in the form of cryptocurrency, on which strict restrictions can be placed, such as what you can buy and sell, when you can buy and sell and where you can buy and sell. It will therefore be quite easy to ensure that those who do not comply with international orders are punished by not being able to buy or sell (see Revelation 13:17).
Pope Paul VI published his encyclical Populorum Progressio in 1967, or 191 years after Adam Weishaupt presented his plan for the New World Order. Populorum Progressio, means the development of mankind. It touches on a number of principles of Catholic social teaching, and deals with everything from the right to a fair wage via the right to security of employment, the right to fair and reasonable working conditions, the right to join a trade union, and all the way to universal distribution of resources and goods, which the papacy calls social justice, and which ultimately means that those who have nothing can take what they need from those who have. To me, that’s stealing!
On page 78 of his encyclical, Pope Paul VI writes the following: «International cooperation on a worldwide basis requires institutions that will prepare, coordinate and lead it until a universal, recognized order of justice is finally established. Who does not see the necessity of gradually establishing a global authority capable of acting effectively in the legal and political sectors«.
We can only guess what is meant by institutions, universal, order of justice and a global authority.
Let’s compare with what Weishaupt said about the new world order.
The Bilderberger group.
We also know, as already mentioned, of other more or less hidden groups such as the Bilderberg group, a group which held its first meeting at the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek, the Netherlands from 29 to 31 May 1954. There were several initiators, as the Polish politician in exile Joseph Reitinger. Leaders of the major companies, shipowners, prime ministers and top politicians, media houses, pharmaceutical companies, royal houses, banks, universities, family dynasties such as Rockefeller, Wallenberg, Agnelli, Warburg and others participate here, as well as NATO, the UN and international banking organisations. The Bilderberg’s have had a conference in Norway, and it was 14 – 16 May in 1982, at the Rica Park Hotel in Sandefjord. What they talk about at these meetings is unknown, and we can only make more or less educated guesses … … but undoubtedly they have the same agenda as the others we have mentioned; to gather the world under one umbrella. As long as they have the media in place in addition to all the other participants, the road is not long from «talking about things» to setting this as the agenda via TV, internet, and newspapers, and this at the same time all over the world.
The issues that are agreed upon during these meetings in the Bilderberger group are taken home to the individual’s countries and implemented, be it political, social, health policy, economic decisions or whatever it is about. It became clear during the Covid pandemic that identical laws were introduced in most countries around the world at the same time. There can be no coincidence that this happens. When such laws that interfere deeply with individual people’s right to autonomy are introduced, and the good of the community is hammered and hammered at, a mindset is gradually formed among the world’s population.
This mindset promoted by the globalist political leaders will cause political leaders, both local and international, to promote more laws with prohibitions and injunctions that will be enforced by force. We Adventists have been talking for a long time about a worldwide Sunday law that the United States will implement and enforce by force, and have linked this to Revelation 13:14-15: «And he (the beast from the earth = the United States) deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast (the beast from the sea = Rome here in religious disguise), telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived (see Revelation 13 ,3). He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed«, (New King James Version).
We all know how it has developed in the USA in recent years, so we do not spend much time on the beast from the earth, just want to add that what is happening is closely linked to certain principles, such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s «Hegelian Dialectic«, which describes two opposite poles or extremes that each lead their own politics – which ultimately turn out to end up in the same place. In other words, it is not so important who governs, for example, Norway, or the United States for that matter, because the elite make sure that we will end up in the same place. What happens along the way in the form of polarizations and even wars is only a necessary evil to get to the destination.
An example of what the people are willing to do under such conditions was shown on January 6, 2021, when ex-soldier Stewart Rhodes led his group of Oath Keepers during the storming of Congress. This has been said in the aftermath of the storming by Attorney General Jeffrey Nestler: “On January 6, the Oath Keepers concocted a plan for an armed rebellion, in which they planned to use force to oppose the United States government. They did not go to the capital to defend and help. They went there to attack, he said … // … and He was like a general on the battlefield, State Attorney Jeffrey Nestler said as he showed videos of the violent attack carried out by dozens of Oath Keepers members dressed in military-like combat equipment”.
Such things are the result of the power and influence the secret organizations have over the people, and behind the scenes the Roman emperor of our time sits and grins. He gets exactly what he wants.
The Masonic Order.
An organization that is better known is the Freemasons. This is an organization that has secret meetings and rituals, and what they talk about is strictly secret. They thus join the ranks of the New World Order / Illuminati and the Bilderberger group. The Freemasons were founded in Scotland in 1599 and are thus the oldest «secret» organisation.
Freemasonry in Norway follows the «Swedish system». Duke Carl af Södermansland, 1748 – 1818, who was king of Sweden from 1809 and king of Norway from 1814 until his death in 1818. He is considered the father of the Swedish system. As we see, it is noble and royal persons who are the founders of these Masonic orders. It is said that all American presidents, without exception, have two things in common. They can all trace their roots back to the British Royal House and are all 33rd degree Freemasons in the USA.
In addition to this, there are a number of different organizations that have rituals based on Freemasonry. These are, to name a few: Lions Clubs International, Rotary, IOGT, Knights Templar, Ordo Templi Orients, Odd Fellow, Rosicrucian Order, A.M.O.R.C. The Order of Mary, the Order of the Knights of the White Cross, the Order of Driud and Le Droit Humain.
Most of these appear to be «good, humanitarian organisations» that help others, but the question is where they belong. We are in the middle of a spiritual war, and then our enemy will use all dirty tricks to win over God’s faithful remnant.
We are at war.
First we have to accept that the church is split in two. A large part that follows the Pope’s directives in one and all, and a small part that follows Jesus wherever He goes, whether it is to the cross or to the fire. We have come so far into the end times that it is only a matter of time before the last great test for God’s faithful remnant in the end times.
We will stand face to face with the same thing that all the people did in the plain of Dura, (see Daniel 3). Some assert, with great probability, that the people of Babylon were enticed to witness the unveiling of Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue, as it would soon appear that all had to worship. Those who would not kneel down and worship this statue were to be killed. A death decree was therefore issued for those who did not follow the world leader of the time – Nebuchadnezzar.
In our time, this is precisely what has happened to the majority of the Reformed and Protestant churches. They have been lured into a situation, and apparently there is only one way out of the predicament if they want to keep their life, and that is to kneel down for the papal image that will be raised by the USA in the near future. Those who do not do this, will not be allowed to buy or sell. Those who defy the Sunday law, regardless of how it is packaged, will therefore have a death warrant issued against them.
We are expecting a Sunday law, it will come soon, and sooner than many seem to think. The question is what packaging it gets. A short time ago, in November 2022, heads of state from almost all of the world’s countries gathered in Egypt under the leadership of Pope Francis and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The purpose of this gathering, COP 27, was to introduce the «Ten Commandments for the Environment«. As we see, the papacy does not give up its attempt to pulverize God’s law. This could be one of the alternative packaging’s a Sunday law can get, because a restriction on the use of cars through a car ban on Sundays, closed shops and other businesses on Sundays will be included in the «environmental commandments«.
Only those businesses that the Pope has defined as necessary can operate on Sunday, such as restaurants and bars, sporting events and vital social tasks. Another possible packaging is to call the Sunday Act «Family Day«. This law will contain the same restrictions as the «environmental law«, and what these two options have in common is that both will be acceptable to the US constitution.
The storm is the spiritual war going on in my mind and yours.
The storm itself began about 1,500 years ago when the little horn usurped power in Rome. Since then the wind has both increased and decreased, but lately there is no doubt, there is a real storm brewing, a storm that is only increasing in strength and will eventually become a hurricane.
We saw a paradigm shift after the Second Vatican Council in the years 1962-65. Before the Second Vatican Council, Protestants were called heretics by the Catholic Church, and in some cases worse. After the Second Vatican Council, on the other hand, which is also called the 21st Ecumenical Council, the rhetoric changed, and those who were previously called heretics were now referred to as our lost brothers, and in recent years they are no longer lost brothers, but are called our returned brothers!
We see that there has been a change in the relationship between Catholics and Protestants, but it is not the Catholic Church that has changed, we have the catholic church’s own word for that. They claim that the church cannot make mistakes, and therefore it cannot change, because then the claim of not making mistakes will burst like a tree. And as already said, this storm is raging and will only increase in strength in the time to come, and we see that it will become increasingly difficult to belong to God’s remnant in the end times.
Paul says something like this in 2 Timothy 4:3-4: «For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables”.
We see how this storm will take shape in Matthew 24:38, where Jesus compared our time to the time before the flood: «For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark” … // … and Jesus’ half-brother, Judas, says it like this: «Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh*, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire«, (Jude 1:7).
* In a footnote, foreign flesh is explained with sexual intercourse with the same sex, homosexuality, and I would add pedophilia and zoophilia.