Who is Antichrist?

 Short answer:

Antichrist is a person who denies the sovereignty of God as Creator and the role of His Only Begotten Son as Savior. He, as a minister of Satan, undermines God’s will for the world and His chosen people.

The apostle John said there are many antichrists. Several notorious men were antichrists: Nimrod, builder of the Tower of Babel; Balak, king of Moab; Haman, prime minister of Persia; Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria; Nero, Roman emperor; Adolf Hitler, Nazi Fuhrer; Saddam Hussein, Iraqi president.

End-time prophecies foreshadow an Assyrian invader who will conquer Israel. Ancient Assyria was located in northern Iraq. Saddam Hussein, the “vile person” in the book pf Daniel, was born in northern Iraq; so were Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the late first “caliph” of ISIS, and his successors. They were all modern-day Assyrians.

The end-time antichrist will glorify himself above God. Unmasked: the “man of sin… the son of perdition,” successor of the “vile person,” a man from northern Iraq, ancient Assyria, a modern-day Assyrian invader-to-be is… the end-time Antichrist!

 

Detailed explanation:

Antichrist.

The word “antichrist” is seen only in the epistles of John in the New Testament. Although not found in the Old Testament, in a general sense an antichrist is regarded as a person who denies both the sovereignty of God as Creator of the universe and the role of His Only Begotten Son as Savior of mankind. “He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22b).

An antichrist is a minister of Satan who undermines the will and purpose of God for the world in general and for His chosen people in particular.

Many antichrists.  John said there were a number of antichrists in his day. “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time” (1 John 2:18).

The “man of sin.” The apostle Paul did not use the term “antichrist”, but he must have had him in mind when he wrote of a “man of sin” who will bring about a great apostasy that will precede the Second Coming of Christ. “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

That is how the end-time antichrist will show himself and be identified. In the meantime, let us get to know his forerunners – the most notorious antichrists in the annals of Hebrew history. 

 

Nimrod, the first antichrist.

Nimrod, the builder of the Tower of Babel, is considered by many Bible scholars as the first antichrist. He was a great grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:1-8). The Bible’s account about Nimrod is brief. “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord” (Genesis 10:9).

“Against the Lord.” Why is the statement made twice in a single verse? Why the special emphasis? The word “before” was translated from the Hebrew paniym, which has various literal and figurative translations, such as “face,” “against,” “front,” “anger,” “impudent”. The Septuagint (3^rd-2^nd century B.C. Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) translated the word as “against.” Thus, the phrase “before the Lord” can also be rendered as “against the Lord.”

Tower of Babel. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote about the growing population after the Flood, which destroyed the world: “God also commanded them to send colonies abroad, for the thorough peopling of the earth… but they did not obey God… Nay, they added to this their disobedience to the divine will, the suspicion that they were therefore ordered to send out separate colonies, that, being divided asunder, they might the more easily be oppressed.”

God told the descendants of Noah after the Flood to spread out in order to repopulate the earth. They refused, thinking they would be easier to overpower in small groups. “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4).

Revenge on God. Josephus tells us further: “He (Nimrod) also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! And that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers!” You probably know what happened next: God confused the tower-builders' tongues, causing them to speak in different languages; and so they spread across the face of the earth.

 

Balak, king of Moab.

 Around 1451 B.C., near the end of 40 years of wandering in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land after their Exodus from Egypt, “the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan across from Jericho” (Numbers 22:1, NIV). Balak, the king of the Moabites, was filled with terror at the sight of the huge Israelite multitude, which had defeated other peoples along their way.

Balaam the soothsayer. Balak sent for Balaam the soothsayer (a wizard or seer) to curse Israel. Balaam made three burnt sacrifices and, each time, he heard the words of God. However, instead of cursing Israel as Balak wanted him to do, Balaam blessed the Israelites – to the great dismay and frustration of Balak, who then sent him away (Numbers 22:6-24).

 

Haman the Amalekite.

Haman, an Amalekite, was a palace official of Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), king of Persia (ruled 485-464 B.C.). From earliest times, Amalekites had oppressed Israel. Along the way n the Exodus from Egypt, Amalekites attacked Israelites lagging behind.

Haman made prime minister. The king made Haman prime minister. “And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence” (Esther 3:2). Greek historian Herodotus noted that when the Persians bowed before their king, they paid homage to him as though he were a god. Mordecai, a Jew, showed his faithfulness to God by refusing to bow before Haman, the second most powerful man in the Persian empire.

Plot to kill all Jews. Incensed, Haman plotted to kill Mordecai, as well as all the Jews in Persia. With his accomplices, he looked for an auspicious date to execute his evil plan… ” they cast the pur (that is, the lot) in the presence of Haman to select a day and month. And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar” (Esther 3:7, NIV).

Haman then told the king that the religious customs of the Jews were against his best interests. King Ahasuerus issued a decree to have all the Jews killed throughout Persia.

Esther, the queen, Mordecai’s orphaned niece he had raised, learned about Haman’s plot from her uncle. Revealing to Ahasuerus that she was secretly a Jewess, Esther pleaded for the lives of her people.

Haman hanged. Enraged, King Ahasuerus ordered Haman and his sons hanged on the gallows he had erected for Mordecai. The date Haman had picked to slaughter the Jews is today celebrated by the Jews as the Feast of Lots (Purim) sometime in March.

 

Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria.

After Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C., his Greek empire was divided among four of his top generals. Syria, including Judea, fell under Seleucus in 280 B.C. He began a dynasty that ruled until 63 B.C., when Syria became a Roman province.

A Seleucid king, Antiochus IV (ruled 175-164 B.C.), was surnamed Epiphanes (“God manifest”), but was called Epimanes (“madman”) by his enemies. He was one of the cruelest rulers of all time; his cruelty bordered on madness. He tried to unite all the peoples of his kingdom in religion, law, and custom by imposing Greek culture.

Jewish religion banned. He prohibited the Jewish religion, issuing rules against the Sabbath, circumcision, food laws. He introduced the pagan worship of Zeus (1 Maccabees 1:54), with whom he identified himself as God. He erected an altar of Zeus (the Romans’ Jupiter) over the holy altar of burnt offering of the Jewish Temple, sacrificed pigs, and forced Jews to participate in pagan festivals. Jews were put to death if caught with the Torah (first five books of the Bible) in their possession.

Jewish revolt. The Jews revolted in 167 B.C. Trying to quell the uprising, Antiochus massacred thousands of Jews and stole the temple treasures (1 Maccabees  1:20-24; 2 Maccabees 5:11-21). Led by Judas Maccabeus, the Jews defeated the Syrian-Greeks in 164 B.C., and the Temple was cleansed on the 25^th day of the month of Chislev. It is celebrated today by Jews as the “Feast of Lights” (Hanukkah) every year in December.

 

Nero, Roman emperor.

Nero (ruled A.D. 54-68) was the fifth emperor of Rome. At age 12, he was adopted by his mother‘s uncle and husband, Emperor Claudius. Four years later, the emperor gave his daughter Octavia to Nero in marriage. Nero poisoned Britannicus, the son and heir of Claudius. So, when Claudius died, Nero became Roman emperor.

Brutal family record. In A.D. 59, Nero secured from the Roman Senate an order for the execution of his own mother – to please his mistress, Poppaea. He divorced Octavia and married Poppaea. He later killed her with a kick when she was with child. Nero next proposed to marry Antonia, his adopted sister; but when she refused, he ordered her put to death. He then married Statilia Messalina, whose husband he had assassinated.

Persecutor of Christians. Nero persecuted Christians in 64 A.D. after a huge fire destroyed much of Rome. Rumors were that Nero himself caused the fire and watched the flames from a tower while playing a lyre. Nero put the blame on Christians and ordered them killed. Many were torn apart by dogs, while others were burned alive at night as human torches.

Nero was the emperor before whom the apostle Paul was brought on his first imprisonment in Rome. In the persecution of Christians by Nero, Paul and Peter were said to have suffered martyrdom.

In A.D. 68, the Praetorian Guard under him rebelled, and Nero was forced to flee Rome. That same year, at the age of 30, he was declared public enemy by the Roman Senate and condemned to death. He died by committing suicide.

Number of the “beast.” Preterist theologians, who teach that most end-time prophecies have already been fulfilled, usually support the idea that, in the Jewish gematria system (letters counted as numbers), the name and title “Nero Caesar,” written in Hebrew as “NRON QSR,” is the numerical equivalent of the “beast”: (N / nun) 50 +( R / resh) 200 + (O / vav) 6 + (N / nun) 50 + (Q / qof )  100 + (S / samech)  60 + (R / resh) 200 = 666.

 

Adolf Hitler, Nazi Fuhrer.

Adolf Hitler, a frustrated artist, in 1919 joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party, a fascist movement in bankrupt and tumultuous post-war Germany. Quickly rising to party leadership, he shortened the first word in the party’s name to “Nazi”. 

Superior Aryan race. The Nazis glorified Germans and other northern European peoples as members of a superior race they called “Aryan.” They claimed that the Jews, Slavs, and other minorities were inferior. Hitler promised to rebuild Germany into a mighty empire that would last for a thousand years.

World War II. Hitler became German Chancellor (prime minister) in 1933, then Fuhrer (“the leader”) with dictatorial powers in 1934. He ignited World War II by invading Poland in 1939. He rapidly regained German territories lost in World War I and conquered most of Europe.

Holocaust. Before the Nazis were defeated by the Allies in 1945, they had methodically killed about 6 million European Jews and some 5 million other people Hitler regarded as racially inferior or politically dangerous. The Nazi genocide is known today as the “Holocaust”.

As Allied forces led by the American, British, and Soviet troops closed in on his headquarters in Berlin on April 30, 1945, Hitler killed himself after just 12 years in power.

 

Saddam Hussein, Iraqi president.

 His first name “Saddam” means “one who confronts” in Arabic. It reminds us of Nimrod, the first antichrist, who, as “a mighty hunter before the LORD” was in “front” of or “against” the Lord. Nimrod had reigned over ancient Erech (Genesis 10:10), while Saddam ruled over modern-day Iraq – both of which are located in the same place.

Saddam Hussein fulfilled a long list of Bible prophecies. Let us see how Daniel 11:21-30, specifically, matched Saddam’s persona and activities.

Rise to power. Daniel 11:21 – “And in his estate…”  (the territory of the Roman Empire under Augustus Cesar, the “raiser of taxes” in the preceding verse; included Mesopotamia, today mostly part of Iraq);“shall stand up a (“vile person,” KJV; “contemptible person,” NIV; “despicable person,” NASU); ‘to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries” (formerly a monarchy, Iraq became a military dictatorship, thus Saddam took power in 1979 as president, not as king).

Daniel 11:22 – “And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken…” (with the ruthless internal security units loyal to him, Saddam jailed, executed, or assassinated his rivals and detractors);

Anti-Israel. “yea, also the prince of the covenant” (probably the covenant between God and Abraham in Genesis 17:7-10, wherein God promised to “give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee… all the land of Canaan”); Saddam denounced Israel’s possession of Palestine (Canaan) and led Arab opposition to the 1979 Camp David Accords ending the conflict between Egypt and Israel over Palestine.

Daniel 11:23 – “And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully…” (Saddam himself negotiated an agreement with Iran in 1975 on border disputes; yet in September 1980, he declared the pact null and void); “for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people” (he wielded power with the support of the small Sunni Muslim minority of Iraq, which had a big Shiite Muslim majority).

Daniel 11:24 – “He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches…”; Arab chieftains in the Iraqi parliament typically passed laws that mainly benefited themselves; however, Saddam used the revenues from Iraq’s huge oil reserves to modernize the country and raise the people’s standard of living.

Weapons of mass destruction. “yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.” Saddam began developing nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), raising apprehensions among Iraq’s neighbors.

Iraq-Iran War. Daniel 11:25 – “And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army…” (Iraq attacked Iran on September 22, 1980 (the “king of the south” has been determined to be Iran in prophecy studies); “and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand” (Iran was able to make their first counteroffensive in January 1981, but Iraq decimated the assault); “for they shall forecast devices against him” (starting 1983, Iraqi forces used poison gas against Iranian troops).

Daniel 11:26 – “Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him…” (countries which were importers of Iranian oil aided Iraq); “and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain” (with their great superiority in number, Iran used human wave attack tactics; but the outnumbered Iraqi forces inflicted hundreds of thousands dead or wounded on the Iranians before falling back).

Ceasefire. Daniel 11:27 – “And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed” (in July 1987, the UN Security Council called for a ceasefire; the combatants laid down their arms a year later in August 1988; but decades later, Iraq and Iran had yet to formally close the conflict).

Daniel 11:28 – “Then shall he return into his land with great riches…” (Iraq had obtained various state-of-the-art weapons from France and the Soviet Union, including thousands of artillery pieces, tanks, armored vehicles, and hundreds of combat aircraft); “and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land” (Saddam’s antagonistic stance against Israel’s possession of Palestine remained virulent).

First Persian Gulf War. Daniel 11:29 – “At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south…” (in August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait at its southeast border); “but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter” (Saddam would not be as formidable as he was in the war with Iran).

Coalition force. Daniel 11:30 – “For the ships of Chittim shall come against him…” (Bible dictionaries define Chittim as “islands and coasts of the Mediterranean Sea,” many of which were UN members allied with the US; a coalition of 39 countries formed by the UN and the US sent forces to liberate Kuwait; “therefore he shall be grieved, and return…”; Iraq was forced out of Kuwait in six weeks; tens of thousands of Iraqis were killed, most of their armored vehicles and artillery smashed, and several nuclear and chemical weapons facilities in Iraq totally or partially destroyed;

Rewards for terrorists. “and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant” (after the war, Saddam further encouraged terrorist attacks against Israel by giving rewards to families of suicide bombers).

Fall of Saddam. Twelve years later, on March 20, 2003, the US led a military campaign in the Second Gulf War to overthrow Saddam and eliminate Iraq's ability to produce WMDs. Baghdad fell on April 9, 2003, and Saddam went into hiding. On December 13, US troops captured him near Tikrit, his hometown in northern Iraq. The Iraqi High Tribunal sentenced him to death for crimes against humanity. Saddam Hussein was hanged on December 30, 2006.

“Vile person” lives on. The misdeeds of the “vile person” do not end with Saddam’s death. The actions of the vile person continue until his end in Daniel 11:45. In Bible prophecy an important character, say, a king, and his successor are usually referred to as the same person (such as the pharaoh of Egypt). Since Saddam is now gone, it looks like further actions of the vile person will be made by an equally, or possibly even more, wicked successor.

Let us delve a little into the background of the most recent “vile person” we have discussed – Saddam.

Modern-day Assyrians. Saddam Hussein was born in Tikrit in northern Iraq, largely the domain of the ancient Assyrian empire. That made him a modern-day Assyrian.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the late first “caliph” or head of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), was born near Samarra, also in northern Iraq. He was therefore a modern-day Assyrian, too.

Less than a week after al-Baghdadi’s death in October 2019, ISIS media announced the new caliph as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. He was born in Tal Afar, northern Iraq, and thus may also be regarded as a modern-day Assyrian.

When Abu Ibrahim died less than a month later, Islamic State named its new caliph as Abu al-Hassan al-Hashemi al-Quraishi, the brother of the first caliph and another modern-day Assyrian.

Assyrian invader. Bible prophecies foreshadow an Assyrian who will conquer the Jews. We read in Isaiah 10:24, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt”; and in Micah 5:5b, “the Assyrian shall come into our land… he shall tread in our palaces.”

Assyrians razed the northern kingdom of divided Israel in 721 B.C. In 701 B.C., they were besieging Jerusalem in the south when their huge army was struck by "the angel of the Lord" (2 Kings 19:35), probably with a plague. About 185,000 Assyrian soldiers died, and the survivors turned back. So, the Jews have never been subjugated by Assyrians… yet.

Let us resume reading the narrative of Daniel on the vile person’s activities…

 “Abomination of desolation.” Daniel 11:31 – “And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.”  

That thing appears to be the same object that Christ warned his disciples about. “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 let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains… For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved…” (Matthew 24:15-16, 21-22a).

“Great tribulation.” The “abomination of desolation” will usher in the “great tribulation,” the most horrendous period of suffering that the world has ever known and shall ever experience! Believers will have their faith shaken during this period of the most terrible ordeals.

Daniel 11:32 – “ And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” Under great duress, many of the faithful will give in to the persuasive rhetoric of the vile person and take up his cause. He will praise and reward those who will join him against the covenant. However, the most faithful believers will remain steadfast in their obedience to God.

Daniel 11:33 – “And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.” Courageous Bible teachers and preachers will try to strengthen believers against the vile person’s lies and deceitful promises; but they will be persecuted, imprisoned, and executed by forces under him.

Daniel 11:34 – “ Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries.” Terribly oppressed, God’s people will be tempted to accept offers of assistance from supposed do-gooders who will turn out to be actually enemies.

Daniel 11:35 – “ And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.” Many believers under duress will give up their faith under pain of death, but some will ultimately turn back to God and regain their spiritual purity.

The end-time antichrist. Daniel 11:36 – “And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.”

That sounds like the “man of sin… revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

Unmasked at last. The “vile person” and the “man of sin” are one and the same individual. This man from northern Iraq and thus a modern-day Assyrian – he is the end-time antichrist!

 

Excerpted from the booklet Antichrist and the book End Time Decoded  by M.M. Tauson. Printed copies available at Amazon.com – For free pdf copies of our e-booklets, click the Booklets and Google Drive tabs on the menu bar.

Bible quotations are from the King James Version (KJV) unless otherwise indicated.

What is the “abomination of desolation”?

Short answer:

The “abomination of desolation,” Christ said, will bring about the worst suffering mankind shall have ever known. A seemingly peaceful event will lead to the appearance of that object.

A leader will confirm a covenant or agreement with other leaders. One probable covenant: the Abrahamic covenant wherein God gave Abraham’s descendants ownership of the Promised Land. The end-time agreement among leaders will be for a seven-year period. It seems that certain offerings and sacrifices will be allowed under it.

Yet, after only 3-½ years, the first leader will stop the offerings, bring in the abomination of desolation, and destroy the site. The site could be the Temple Mount in Jerusalem where the Jewish Temple once stood.

For many years, end-time prophecy watchers have taught that the abomination of desolation will be a statue of the Antichrist which will be set up inside a rebuilt Temple.

Christ implied, however, that the abomination of desolation will cause instantaneous, far-reaching destruction. People in Judea, upon seeing it, will have to immediately escape to high grounds.

Will the “abomination of desolation” be… a bomb?

 

Detailed Explanation:

Christ gave an inkling of the most terrible suffering which something called “abomination of desolation” will bring upon mankind. “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 let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains… For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved…” (Matt 24:15-16, 21-22a).

A seemingly harmonious event will lead to the appearance of that dreadful object.

Seven-year agreement. At the start of the last seven years of the end times, a leader will confirm a covenant or agreement with other leaders. “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week…” (Daniel 9:27a). The Hebrew word translated “week” is shavua, which denotes a period with seven parts, such as one week (7 days) or one sabbatical cycle (7 years). In the context of the passage, seven years are implied. Hence, the confirmed covenant will be in force for a seven-year period.

Abrahamic covenant? Among many possibilities, one probable covenant is the Abrahamic covenant wherein God gave Abraham’s descendants ownership of the Promised Land. “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates” (Genesis 15:18).

The covenant would thus confirm Israel’s right to the Holy Land, although for only seven years.

Agreement broken. After only 3-½ years, however, “in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate” (Daniel 9:27b). The said leader will stop the offerings and sacrifices apparently authorized under the agreement and then destroy the site.

The site, if the covenant is the Abrahamic covenant, will probably be the Temple Mount, a hill in Jerusalem where the Jewish Temple once stood before it was razed by Roman legions in 70 A.D.

Abomination of desolation. For many years, preachers, writers, and end-time prophecy watchers have taught that the “abomination of desolation” will be a statue of the Antichrist which will be installed inside a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. Will it be that, really? Let us scrutinize the term with the help of a dictionary.

“Abomination” – anything that arouses strong disgust or loathing; hence, a revolting object.

“Desolation” – a ruined or deserted condition; thus, devastation, destruction, or barrenness.

“Abomination of desolation”, therefore, signifies something so disgusting because it causes great ruin and destruction.

Instantaneous destruction. In the words of Christ, the abomination of desolation will cause instantaneous and far-reaching destruction. “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 let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing 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, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day” (Matthew 24:15-20).

People in Judea will have to escape to high grounds without a moment to spare. Those coming down from the flat roofs of their houses will have no time to get anything from the ground floor, not to mention people away from home. Pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers will be worse off, as they will not be able to run away fast enough. If it happens in wintertime, the hills will be cold and slippery; if on the Sabbath, pious Jews cannot escape far as they may travel only 2,000 cubits (1,000 yards) on the weekly day of rest. 

Total and final destruction. It appears that the abomination of desolation will be the instrument of the Temple Mount’s total and final destruction. Christ uttered a prophecy: “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:1-2).

The prophecy has not been fully fulfilled yet, because the Temple Mount’s Western Wall is still standing, with massive stone blocks on top of one another. When Roman legions destroyed the Holy Temple in 70 A.D., they did not demolish the Western Wall since it served as the retaining wall that kept the steep hillside from collapsing. The abomination of desolation could fulfill the prophecy. 

Did God play on words? Do you now have an idea of what the abomination of desolation could be? Let us assume that the term is an anagram whose letters we can rearrange and play with to form new words. The results are quite surprising.

ABOM. The first four letters of “abomination” give us ABOM. Now, say it aloud – “A BOM”. Do you hear “a bomb”? Will the abomination of desolation be a bomb?

MOAB. Juggle the letters a bit, and one result spells MOAB, the name of the elder son by incest of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Moab became the ancestor of the Moabite nation, which did not allow the Israelites to pass through their territory in the latter’s Exodus from Egypt to Canaan, the Promised Land. Much later, the Moabites became vassals of the northern kingdom of the divided monarchy of Israel.  

MOAB is also the acronym for Massive Ordnance Air Blast, the US Air Force’s 9,840-kg (21,700-lb) bomb built for the Second Persian Gulf War in 2003, but used only once – in Afghanistan against the Taliban. It is the largest guided air-dropped weapon in history. The bomb can spread a flammable mist over its target area and then ignite it, creating a massive blast and fireball 40% more powerful than any other conventional weapon in the U.S. arsenal.

Also nicknamed “Mother Of All Bombs”, MOAB sounds like a rejoinder to Saddam Hussein’s boast in 1991 that the impending First Persian Gulf War was going to be the “mother of all battles” (MOAB, too, for short)!

OBAM. Curiously, ABOM further mixed up also produces OBAM, the first four letters of former US President Barack Obama’s surname. Will he in one way or another be involved with the abomination of desolation? Bear in mind that, in 2017, although Obama had finished his two-term, eight-year US presidency, a French group collected over 300,000 signatures in a campaign for him to run for president of France. Will Obama again become a key player on the world’s geopolitical stage?

 

Excerpted from the booklets Antichrist and Nuclear War-Great Tribulation; and the book End Time Decoded  by M.M. Tauson. Printed copies available at Amazon.com – For free pdf copies of our e-booklets, click the Booklets and Google Drive tabs on the menu bar.

Bible quotations are from the King James Version (KJV) unless otherwise indicated.  

Should Christians celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Short answer:

No. Christians should not celebrate Valentine’s Day. God forbids pagan practices, such as Valentine’s Day, which honor false gods and goddesses. The Bible says that if a foreigner joins the Israelites in worshipping God (“YHWH”) that person has to obey the same commandments God gave His chosen people.

Scholars trace the origins of Valentine’s Day to the ancient pagan Roman festival of Lupercalia and Saint Valentine of the early Christian church.

Cupid, originally depicted as an athletic young man, was the Roman god of desire and erotic love. He was the son of Venus, the goddess of love. The Middle Eastern names for the goddess were Semiramis, Ishtar, Astarte.

Semiramis’s husband was Nimrod, the builder of the Tower of Babel regarded as the first antichrist. After Nimrod died, Semiramis gave birth to a boy named Tammuz. She claimed the baby was Nimrod, reborn as a god.

Tammuz and Cupid were both worshipped as the son of the goddess of love. They personified the same pagan god.

Detailed explanation:

Many people in the world today, whether Christians (who comprise approximately one-third of the world population) or non-Christians, observe and celebrate various unbiblical red-letter days in ignorant, or sometimes even blatant, violation of the will of God Almighty, Creator and ruler of heaven and earth.

Pagan practices forbidden. God has commanded: “When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods” (Deuteronomy 12:29-31).

God’s people should not imitate the ways pagans worship their gods, which are detestable and disgusting to the LORD. "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. For the customs of the peoples are worthless…” (Jeremiah 10:2-3a, NIV). Following any of the various superstitious practices of other people who do things against the will of God is a folly and just a waste of time.

Only for Israel? Some may argue that God’s commandments are only for Israel. No. The Scriptures explain: “One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the LORD. One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you” (Numbers 15:15-16).

To paraphrase, if a foreigner lives with or joins the Israelites in the worship of the one true God (“YHWH”), that person is duty-bound to observe the same commandments God has given to His chosen people – the Hebrew nation or Israel.

“Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people” (Isaiah 56:6-7).

The foreigners and their descendants who will faithfully keep God’s laws will be numbered among His people and taken to the kingdom of heaven. Needless to say, excluded are those who imitate pagans in worshipping their gods – celebrating what we can call unholy holidays.

Valentine’s Day. Although not actually a holiday, but nonetheless an annual red-letter day fondly anticipated by many people, Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14 each year. On this day, celebrants express their affection for each other and send greeting cards and gifts to their sweethearts and other loved ones.

Origins. Scholars trace the practice to several origins: ancient pagan Roman festival called Lupercalia; Saint Valentine of the early Christian church; old English belief that birds chose their mates in mid-February; and the coming of spring as a time for lovers.

Lupercalia. The festival of Lupercalia was a pagan religious event in ancient Rome celebrated every year near the Lupercal, a cave in the Palatine Hill. (According to Roman mythology, a wolf in the cave nursed the infant twins Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome.)

The ancient Romans held the festival of Lupercalia on February 15 as a ritual for protection against wolves. The name of the festival came from lupus (Latin for “wolf”), pointing to a primitive god who protected flocks from wolves.

Saint Valentine. Several Christian saints were named Valentine, but the so-called “day of hearts” probably took its name from a priest martyred by the emperor Claudius II Gothicus for ministering to persecuted Christians in the Roman Empire.

According to tradition, Saint Valentine was beheaded on February 14, around A.D. 269, at the age of 42 or 43 years. In one story, Valentine restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter. He fell in love with her and, on the day of his execution, sent a letter to her – “from your Valentine”.

In A.D. 496, Pope Gelasius I replaced Lupercalia with Saint Valentine's Day.

Birds’ mating season. In England, it was thought that the birds’ mating season began in mid-February, they thus became a symbol of Valentine’s Day often seen in greeting cards and decorations.

The coming of spring. At the onset of spring, many young people get “spring fever” – a hazy feeling of restlessness and excitement. As the temperature rises, birds sing, flowers bud, bees pollinate, and humans become more cheerful and predisposed to romance.

In Europe, Valentine’s Day came to be celebrated as a day of romance from about the 14^th century. Formal, written messages, called “valentines”, first appeared in the 1500s. By the late 1700s commercially printed cards were being used.

Cupid, pagan god of love. Cupid (whose name means "desire" in Latin) was the mythological Roman god of desire, erotic love, attraction, and affection. He was identified with the Greek god Eros, also called Amor in Latin poetry. The earliest images of Cupid showed him as a handsome, athletic young man. By the mid-300s B.C., however, he was portrayed as a chubby, naked infant with wings, holding a bow and arrow. Cupid was known as the son of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. The Middle Eastern names for the goddess of love were Semiramis, Ishtar, Astarte.

Nimrod, the first antichrist. Semiramis’s husband was Nimrod, the builder of the Tower of Babel regarded as the first antichrist. After Nimrod was killed, Semiramis became pregnant and gave birth to a boy. She claimed the baby was Nimrod himself, reborn as a god.

Tammuz. The boy-god was named Tammuz. Both he and Cupid were worshipped as the son of the goddess of love, although called by different names in different countries. The two of them personified the same pagan god.

Are you unwittingly celebrating Valentine’s Day, which, unknown to most people, is honoring pagan gods and the first antichrist? Don’t risk losing your spiritual salvation. God’s prophet said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” (Hosea 4:6a).

If you value love in your life, worship God and obey His commandments. “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).

 

Excerpted from the booklet Unholy Holidays by M.M. Tauson. Printed copies available at Amazon.com – For free pdf copies of our e-booklets, click the Booklets and Google Drive tabs on the menu bar.

Bible quotations are from the King James Version (KJV) unless otherwise indicated. 

Is World War 3 in the Bible?

Short answer:

Yes. A nuclear war, which could very well be World War III, is prophesied in the Bible, mainly in the book of Revelation. The prophecy, however, is worded with mysterious symbols and metaphors whose meanings have remained hidden for almost 2,000 years since the manuscript was written around 95 A.D. by the apostle John.

Fortuitously, in recent years the symbolisms have been decoded by means of relevant verses in the Holy Scriptures. The Bible interprets itself!

Detailed Explanation:

Apostle John got wind of an end-time global conflict, a world war, in his apocalyptic visions, which he recorded in the last book of the Bible – Revelation. “And after these things I 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 I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads” (Revelation 7:1-3).  

 

Prophetic symbols.

The puzzling symbols have been unveiled by prophecy watchmen who realized that most of the clues and keys which can unlock Biblical mysteries are in the Bible itself. And when Scripture solves its own riddles, we can be sure the answers are trustworthy. Let us search the Holy Book to decipher the hidden meanings of the prophetic symbols in the prophecy.

“Sea.” In a vision the prophet Daniel had around 700 years earlier, he saw some of the same things John recorded in the Revelation. “Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea” (Daniel 7:2).

“Many waters.” In Revelation 13:1, John wrote about a monster with 7 heads and 10 horns from the “sea.” Later, the monster is again seen in Revelation 17:1-5, this time in “many waters”, with a “whore” (prostitute) sitting on it. It looks like the terms “sea” and “many waters” mean the same thing. An angel revealed the meaning of “waters” or “sea” to John. “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”

The “sea” therefore stands for a place with many different peoples speaking various languages – such as the Roman Empire around the Mediterranean Sea and centered in Western Europe, then known as the Old World, and today the base of the member-states of the European Union (EU).

 “Earth.” The New Unger's Bible Dictionary defines “earth”: “land as opposed to sea.” When the world was created, at first there was only water. Then, after God gathered the waters together, dry land appeared; and the surface of the planet consisted of two kinds: “sea” and “earth” (Genesis 1:9-10). The two are opposites.

Hence, if “sea” signifies a region with many different kinds of people, “earth” must mean a place with very few or even no people. In that case, if the “sea” is the Old World, then “earth” stands for the New World – the immense, but sparsely populated lands of the Americas, which European explorers came upon during the Age of Discovery.

“Trees.” Through Ezekiel, God likened the Assyrian king and the Egyptian pharaoh to trees. “Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs… To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 31:3,18).

Daniel interpreted the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon: “The tree that you saw, which grew and became strong, whose height reached to the heavens and which could be seen by all the earth, whose leaves were lovely and its fruit abundant, in which was food for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and in whose branches the birds of the heaven had their home -- it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong; for your greatness has grown and reaches to the heavens, and your dominion to the end of the earth” (Daniel 4:20-23).

The kings of Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon, were all likened to trees. What do they have in common? History tells us these three ancient kingdoms, actually empires, one after another oppressed and subjugated the Israelites. “Trees” thus figuratively symbolize the enemies and oppressors of Israel.

(Egypt, the most populous Arab nation today, has retained it identity, but Assyria and Babylon no longer exist. Today, their former domains are mostly in the northern and southern parts of the country of Iraq, respectively.)

“Wind.” Several verses contain the word “wind.” “I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity” (Jeremiah 18:17, etc.). Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary comments: “In a figurative sense, war is compared to the east wind…”

“Whirlwind”. A concentrated, spinning form of wind that can be greatly destructive is the whirlwind. “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over” (Daniel 11:40).

Both “wind” and “whirlwind” figuratively mean war, enemy attacks and invasions, often as a manifestation of the wrath of God Almighty.

 

World War III?

Let us now put together the prophetic symbols whose meanings we have discerned. The four angels in John’s prophecy are “on the four corners of the earth…” – denoting the four directions of the compass: north, east, south, and west. So, the scope of their combined powers must be worldwide.

If “wind” means war, the “four winds of the earth” that they are holding back point to global warfare. The angels are preventing a world war from breaking out prematurely. After the angel from the east shall have finished sealing the servants of God,” the world war will break out – World War III?).

The other symbols identify the main battle zones and protagonists: “earth” (New World/the Americas, whose most powerful country today is the United States), “sea” (Old World, primarily Western Europe, home of the European Union’s first and leading member-states), and “trees” (the enemies of Israel, that is, mostly Arab and Muslim peoples).

 

First trumpet.

 “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up” (Revelation 8:7). Let us allow the Bible to similarly interpret the multiple prophetic symbols in the passage.

“Hail”. We read in Isaiah 28:2, 17 – “…the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, cast down to the earth… Judgment will I lay to the line, the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, waters shall overflow the hiding place.” From the foregoing passages, it appears that “hail” means destruction, as well as divine anger, vengeance, and punishment on the enemies of God.

“Fire”. Using the same principle, in Deuteronomy 4:24 we find – “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.”  And in 2 Thessalonians 1:8 – “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Accordingly, “fire” is a symbol, as well as God's instrument, of judgment and righteous destruction.

“Blood”. Isaiah 34:3 reads, “Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.”  Apparently, “blood” means violent death, even slaughter.

“Earth”. As we have learned, “earth” means the New World (the Americas), whose richest and most powerful country today is the United States. 

 

 America attacked?

We can now reduce into simple terms the first half of the cryptic passage. “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth…” (Revelation 8:7a). America will be the target of a particularly vicious attack. Was it the September 11, 2001, attack (9/11) by a group of Muslim terrorists who crashed three of four hijacked jetliners one after another into the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? Or will it be another, more devastating and widespread assault yet to come?

The second part of the prophecy tells of vegetation catching “fire” – “…and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up” (Rev 8:7b).

“Trees”. As we have already seen in Ezekiel 31:3a, 18 and Daniel 4:20-22, “trees” symbolize the enemies of Israel (mainly Arab and Muslim countries).

“Grass”. We next read in Psalm 37:1-2 –“Fret not because of evildoers, neither be envious against workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.” And in Psalm 92:7 – “When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever.”  

So, “grass” is a Biblical imagery for wicked people and evildoers. Is the fact that grass is green (traditional color of Islam and Arab peoples) a strong hint that Muslim terrorists are alluded to?

 

America retaliates?

In Revelation 8:7b, it seems that the US will strike back on a third of the enemies of Israel (“trees”) and all evildoers (“green grass”/Muslim terrorists?). Is the prophecy still awaiting a future fulfillment, or do fairly recent geopolitical events apply?

The US accused al-Qa'eda, headed by Saudi-born millionaire Osama bin Laden, of masterminding the 9/11 attacks. They also charged Afghanistan’s Taliban government of harboring the terrorist group after the attack. The US demanded that the Taliban arrest the terrorists. When the Taliban refused, the US and the UK began a bombing campaign and gave logistical support to Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance rebel forces. A ground offensive by combined Northern Alliance fighters and US special forces soon drove the Taliban from power in December 2001.

Next, in March-April 2003, the US led a military campaign to oust Iraq's Saddam Hussein, whom they accused of producing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and supporting Muslim terrorists. They quickly toppled the Iraqi dictatorship and later captured Saddam, who was sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal for crimes against humanity and subsequently hanged in December 2006.

In 2014, the US led an international coalition in the many-sided Syrian civil war, carrying out air strikes in support of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (aka ISIS) and other jihadist groups, which were later defeated.

 

First vial (or bowl).

“And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials 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” (Revelation 16:2).

 “Earth”. As we now know, the “earth” is the New World, primarily its most powerful nation today – the United States.

“Sore”. It seems many Americans will be afflicted with skin ulcerations (“noisome and grievous sore”), particularly those “which had the mark of the beast” and “them which worshipped his image.”

Anthrax? The cause of the sores could be biological weapons. Some countries are known or suspected to be developing this kind of weapon of mass destruction. One such likely WMD is anthrax, a cattle disease that is communicable to humans and causes festering sores that do not heal. In 1979, anthrax spores (inactive bacteria) were accidentally released from a military facility in the Soviet Union, causing 68 deaths.

In 2001, after 9/11, anthrax spores were sent by mail to several US business and government offices. People in several states became ill with inhalational anthrax and several died, while others contracted cutaneous anthrax (skin sores).

 

Second trumpet.

“And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed” (Rev 8:8).

“Great burning mountain”. What could this thing be representing? Thankfully, we can again find the answer in the Scriptures.  “And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD. Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain” (Jeremiah 51:24-25). God, through Jeremiah, called Babylon or Chaldea, today in the southern part of Iraq, a destroying mountain that will be burned.

It looks like the “great burning mountain” is today part of Iraq!

“Sea”. We have learned earlier from Revelation 17:15 that the “sea”, a place of many nations and languages, is the Old World, primarily Western Europe, where many member-states of the European Union (EU) are located.

“Blood”. We saw in Isaiah 34:3 and Ezekiel 14:19 in our analysis of the first trumpet that “blood” means violent death or even slaughter.

It appears that the implication of the second trumpet prophecy is awfully dreadful. Iraq (“great mountain burning with fire”, perhaps led by jihadists) will attack the European Union (the “sea”), and about 33% of all its people and animals will perish (“third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died”). Those on board 33% of EU ships, whether military, commercial, or leisure, will suffer the same fate (“and the third part of the ships were destroyed”).

Biological weapons? The reason for the massive and rapid deaths is uncertain. Could it be a biological attack?

 

Second vial.

“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” (Revelation 16:3). With the meanings of the prophetic symbols now openly known to us, the interpretation of the second vial or bowl looms unimaginably horrid: Most, if not all, of those living in the European Union, people and animals, will die!

Spiritual death? Does the word “died” indicate physical death, quite literally, or just spiritual death, figuratively? If the latter, then it looks like the present trend in Europe of fewer and fewer people going to church will turn from bad to worse. If all, or at least most, of the inhabitants of EU stop worshipping God, this, to one’s mind, would be much graver – the enormous population of EU would go on living physically, but would have potentially lost their opportunity for spiritual salvation. It seems unlikely, though, considering the phrase “every living soul”, which includes animals that have no mental faculties to accept or disavow God, nor spirits that can be lost or saved. Sadly, it looks like physical death is the literal meaning.

 

Third trumpet.

 “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters” (Revelation 8:10). Let us again dig out the buried meanings of the prophetic images in the Bible.

“Rivers”. Biblical passages couched in metaphors reveal that “rivers” represent attacking enemies and invaders. We see this in Isaiah 8:7 – “Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks.” Another example is found in Jeremiah 46:8 – “Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.”

“Fountains”. These have a somewhat more elusive symbolism. “For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills” (Deuteronomy 8:7). Also, “He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills” (Psalm 104:10). “Fountains” or springs are the sources of rivers; so if “rivers” are invading armies, “fountains” must be their homelands where the invaders come from.

 

“Wormwood”.

The star that fell has a very unusual name. “And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter” (Rev 8:11).

For more than 1,900 years since it was written (circa 95 A.D.), the meaning of “Wormwood” in prophecy had remained a riddle no reader could unravel. Botanically, wormwood is an aromatic, bitter plant used as a medicine and whose leaves and flowers add flavor to absinthe, an old-time liqueur now considered harmful. In the Ukrainian language, wormwood is translated as chernobyl, also the name of a city in the Ukraine near where a Soviet nuclear power plant was built in 1977-1983.

Chernobyl accident. On April 26, 1986, one of the nuclear reactors at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, releasing an estimated 100-150 million curies of radiation into the atmosphere. Radioactivity from Chernobyl contaminated the atmosphere above the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, reaching as far as Italy and France in Western Europe. Some 200,000 people near the site had to be relocated; but around 6,000-8,000 victims died following the accident.

Was it God’s inkling to us that “Wormwood” means “radioactive” or “nuclear”? In the primitive world of the first century A.D., there was no way John, author of the Revelation, could have used the words “radioactive” and “nuclear”. So, now, having learned the hidden meaning of “Wormwood”, we can more intelligibly paraphrase Revelation 8:10-11.

Attackers nuked? Some one-third of the various attacking forces (“third part of the rivers”) and the homelands they came from (“the fountains of waters”) will be bombed (“there fell a great star from heaven”) with nuclear weapons (“the name of the star is called Wormwood”). One-third of the people there (“the third part of the waters”) will be afflicted with radioactivity (“became wormwood”) and there will be numerous casualties (“many men died”) due to radiation (“the waters were made bitter”).

 

Third vial.

“And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood” (Revelation 16:4). The third vial or bowl is simply a progression (or, rather, deterioration) of things from the third trumpet – with the situation worsening gravely. Many more fighters among the invading forces (“rivers”) and most of the people (“waters”) in their homelands will be radioactively contaminated and lose their lives (“became blood”).

Nuclear war analysis. Discover magazine, in its February 1984 issue, reported that “four American scientists… at the invitation of Senators Edward Kennedy and Mark Hatfield, met in Washington in December (1983) for a three-hour open discussion with four Soviet counterparts. The subject of their discussion: the nuclear winter.”

“Blast, heat and radiation”. “Two scientific reports have recently been published, dealing with the probable effects of nuclear war upon the earth’s climate and the life of the planet. The first discovery is already widely known within the scientific community of climatologists, geophysicists, and biologists here and abroad, and had been confirmed in detail by scientists in the Soviet Union… the already taken for granted estimate that in an all-out exchange of say, 5,000 megatons, something like a billion people would be killed outright by blast, heat and radiation… more than another billion would die later on, from the delayed effects of the climate and radioactive fallout.

“In the same research, new calculations of the extent and intensity of radioactive fallout predict the exposure of large land areas to much more intense levels of radiation than expected. The report is referred to as TTAPS, an acronym derived from the investigators names: Turco, Toon, Ackerman, Pollack, and Sagan… There is no nation on earth free of the jeopardy of destruction if any two countries or groups of countries embark upon a nuclear exchange.”

“Extinction of the biosphere”. The article went on: ”The second piece of work, by Paul Ehrlich and 19 other distinguished biologists, demonstrates that the predictions of TTAPS mean nothing less than the extinction of much of the earth’s biosphere, very possibly involving the Southern Hemisphere as well as the Northern…”

Excerpted from the booklet Nuclear War-Great Tribulation; and the books End Time Decoded  and The Deep Things of God by M.M. Tauson. Printed copies available at Amazon.com For free pdf copies of our e-booklets, click the Booklets and Google Drive tabs on the menu bar.

Early Earth Enigmas (Part 7)

Alternative theories

The absence in the fossil record of transitional forms that would prove the Theory of Evolution has led many frustrated evolutionists to consider alternative theories for the development of life forms on Earth.

 

Theistic Evolution.

In the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, many Catholics and Protestants accepted Theistic Evolution, the belief that the process of biological evolution was divinely supervised. Theistic evolutionists believe that God created the first cell, then afterward allowed evolution to proceed, intervening only occasionally. He waited for primitive man to evolve into the first perfect human being before endowing him with a soul. The hybrid doctrine is a combination of divine creation and Darwinian evolution.

Botanist Asa Gray (d. 1888), one of Darwin's leading American disciples, embraced a variant of the concept. He argued that, only in special cases like those of human beings and complex organs such as the eye, did God carry out direct special creation.

Geologist Arnold Guyot, a staunch anti-Darwinist, advocated at least three interventions by the Creator: first, when He created matter; second, when He created life; and, third, when He created man.¹⁰²

 

Punctuated Equilibrium.

In an attempt to explain the absence of transitional forms, Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge, American Museum of Natural History curator, jointly proposed the theory of Punctuated Equilibrium in several articles in scientific publications (Mammals in Paleontology, 1972; Nature, 1993; Paleontology, 2007).^103,104,105 Newsweek magazine reported on March 29, 1982: “In 1972 Gould and Niles Eldredge collaborated on a paper intended… to resolve a professional embarrassment for paleontologists: their inability to find the fossils of transitional forms between species, the so-called ‘missing links’.” Their concept: “Instead of changing gradually as one generation shades into the next, evolution as Gould sees it, proceeds in discrete leaps. According to the theory of punctuated equilibrium there are no transitional forms between species, and thus no missing links!”¹⁰⁶ 

Gould and Eldredge speculate that speciation (the change from an old species to a new one) usually occurs in small, isolated, peripheral groups rather than in the main populations of species, making their fossilized remains harder to find. Fossils of the general population are usually found, which creates the impression of the unchanging nature or stasis of most species over millions of years.¹⁰⁷

Panspermia (spores from space).

Sir Fred Hoyle mused that “life could not have originated here on the Earth. Nor does it look as though biological evolution can be explained from within an earth-bound theory of life.”¹⁰⁸ Earlier, in 1908, Svante Arrhenius theorized that spores could have drifted to Earth from other star systems. These gave rise to the first living cells that later evolved into more complex organisms.¹⁰⁹

Nobel laureate Francis Crick similarly proposed that “life on earth may have sprung from tiny organisms from a distant planet, sent here by space ship as part of a deliberate act of seeding”¹¹⁰ Crick gave the old theory, known as “panspermia” (from Greek pan, “of all,” and sperma, “seed”), a new twist: “directed panspermia.” Some people find this plausible. J. Horgan wrote in the Scientific American (February 1992): “Given the weaknesses of all theories of terrestrial genesis (the origin of life on Earth), directed panspermia (the deliberate planting of life on Earth) should still be considered a serious possibility.”¹¹¹

Panspermia, though, fails to answer the question of life’s origin. It merely takes the problem of creation out to space. Just how life arose on a planet many light years away is not explained.

 

Progressive Creation

In the 1930s Russell L. Mixter, a Wheaton College graduate, formed the concept that God created the universe and the various forms of life on earth gradually, over millions and billions of years. Creation was accomplished in progressive steps -- hence the name of the doctrine:  Progressive Creationism. In 1954 theologian Bernard Ramm wrote The Christian View of Science and Scripture, popularizing the idea which no longer demanded a young Earth and the recent creation of man.¹¹²

Progressive Creationism is thus a form of Old Earth creationism, accepting geological and cosmological estimates for the age of the Earth and the universe, while teaching that the successive species of plants and animals in the fossil record were the products of divine creation, not Darwinian evolution. As earlier organisms died off and became extinct, God created new species to replace them.

Most of God’s replacements were typically improved models. Each time, the basic forms or "templates" of previously existing life are used -- with just a few minor adjustments. For instance, the DNA of a gorilla has been found to be 97.8% similar to a man’s; the chimpanzee’s DNA resembles that of a human being by 98.2%.

The leading proponents of Progressive Creationism are Reasons To Believe, organized by astronomer Hugh Ross, and Answers in Creation, another organization set up in 2003 to publish rebuttals to Young Earth Creationists’ scientific claims, which are regarded as pseudoscience.¹¹³

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¹⁰²Theistic Evolution, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004

¹⁰³“Punctuated Equilibria: An Alternative to Phyletic Gradualism,” Mammals in Paleontology, 1972, pp. 82-115

¹⁰⁴“Punctuated Equilibrium Comes of Age,” Nature 366, 1993, pp. 223-227

¹⁰⁵“Punctuated Equilibria: The Tempo and Mode of Evolution Reconsidered,” Paleontology, 2007, pp. 115-151

¹⁰⁶Enigmas of Evolution,” Newsweek, March 29, 1982, p. 39

¹⁰⁷Evolution, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004

¹⁰⁸Fred Hoyle, The Intelligent Universe, 1983, p. 242

¹⁰⁹Cited by Gary Stearman, “Rael, Inc., “Cloning for Life,” Prophecy in the News, February 2003, p. 11

¹¹⁰Francis Crick, “Life Itself – Its Origin and Nature,” Futura, 1982; quoted by Mark Eastman and Chuck Missler, The Creator Beyond Time and Space, 1996, p. 62

¹¹¹J. Horgan, “Profile: Francis H.C. Crick,” Scientific American, February 1992; quoted by Schroeder, op. cit., p. 90

¹¹²Old Earth Creationism, Wikipedia, Internet

¹¹³Progressive Creationism, Wikipedia, Internet

 

(Excerpted from Chapter 5, Early Earth Enigmas, THE DEEP THINGS OF GOD: A Primer on the Secrets of Heaven and Earth by M.M. Tauson, Amazon.com)