Where are we?

Where are you?

The Way Baptist Church

Speaker: Pr Edi Giudetti

10-12-2017

Where are we in relation to the Tribulation historically?

Specifically;

• How close are we to that forthcoming event?
• What evidence have we that we might be closer or further than we think?

With that as our perspective, where are you relative to this coming reality?

Specifically;

• Are you safe?
• Are you working to safe guard others?

Let’s first begin to expound the Revelation 13 passage this afternoon and see if we can gain some insights.

Rev 13:16-18

¹⁶ And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: ¹⁷ And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. ¹⁸ Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Firstly, we can confidently note that the event;

1. Is yet future to the writing of it, it is prophetical.

This is an important consideration. We recall that John was writing this entry of the Revelation of Jesus Christ after he had the vision, so we know that he writes of what he saw (past tense) and therefore his writing is itself often given in the past tense.

As an example we can see verse 11 of Chapter 13;

¹¹ And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

Though we see John write of what he had seen in the past tense, we don’t need to labour the point that his is writing about things that are yet future.

Revelation 1:1

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

2. It is literal in both context and application.

John writes of what he had seen and that is what he is describing, this is important to understand because so many people speak of the book of Revelation as symbolic or allegorical, but John speaks in a literal form and describes in detail what he has seen.

It is certain that much of what he has seen is symbolic, but that symbolism is not subjective, its understanding is found elsewhere in the scriptures. But first we need to acknowledge that John speaks literally of his vision.

He speaks of what he has seen and heard and who bares the record of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ (v2).

This is a literal testimony in context. And its application is also a literal application;

In Chapter 1:3 he calls “blessed” those who “read” and “hear the words of this prophecy” and also those who “keep those things that are written therein” and he gives us the reason we are to read, hear and keep these things, he tells us the specific purpose for reading, hearing and keeping and that is the last part of verse 3, “for the time is at hand”.

John was preparing the hearts of the believers, he was addressing the letter with URGENCY, “for the time is at hand”.

3. Its timing is in the midst of the Tribulation period (see Rev 13:5)

Turning back to chapter 13:5

We note that this event regarding the Mark of the Beast of v16-17 has its timing in the midst of the Tribulation period, a time we call, the great tribulation;

13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

Forty two months = 3.5 years.

It is quite an incredible period that links with Daniel’s prophecy where “the prince that shall come” of Daniel 9:26 which we identify as consistent with Antichrist, or the beast of Revelation;  “… shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and 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, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” (v27)

We confirm this to be that week of years of the Tribulation, that 7 year period, where he breaks this covenant “in the midst of the week”; (Clearly I am covering a whole lot of hermeneutical ground that anyone who has not considered might wonder how I get here…..Pastor Jamil will fill the gaps for you. J)

So, 7 years has a covenant broken in the midst of that period where there shall be an “overspreading of abominations”, so, at the 3.5 year mark, that is, 42 months have gone, how many are left? 42 months.

Ok, back to Revelation 13:5-17. It is somewhere within this particular period that the enforced mark of the Beast is to be legislated by antichrist. This will not affect those born again now, and you cannot claim that any mark given today is the actual Mark of the Beast, we are not in the midst of the Great Tribulation today, we will not recognize antichrist today (See 1 Thess 2).

Ok so, we have recognized 3 things;

• That the writing is prophetic, yet future.
• That it speaks of a literal event both in time and context.
• Its timing is the middle of the seven year Tribulation period, known in the OT as The Day of the Lord.

4. It is an imbedded mark (v16)

Ok, so with regard to the Mark specifically let’s look at Revelation 13:16-17

¹⁶ And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

Firstly we discover that the mark is Imbedded in the body, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: Please notice that it does not say “on their hand” or “on their foreheads”. The Bible says “IN”.

This is vital to know and understand; if you are unfortunate enough to be here during the Great Tribulation, knowing one of the most identifying characteristics of the Mark of the Beast at that time will potentially keep you out of an eternity in hell.

Revelation 14:9-11 warns;

“…If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, ¹⁰ The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.^”

So understanding this specific detail is vital.

Let me tell you that the enemies of God who are this day preparing the way and have created the precursor to the Mark of the Beast, actively try to persuade people that their products cannot identify themselves as that mark for due to ONE specific reason;

Many years ago I heard of a representative of a company called VeriChip, (A subsidy of Applied Digital) who creates RFID chips, and at that time created an implant of this Radio Frequency Identification Device; he defended the product as not relating to the mark of the beast saying;

This is different because the Bible says “ON the hand” and “ON the forehead” but this goes IN the hand not on”.

Incredibly I reached for my Bible, at that time I had just accepted by faith that I have the very words of God for the English speaking people, it may have only been a week or so earlier, I turned to Revelation 13:16-17 and read;

“in the hand and In the forehead”; relieved, I then went to get my previous version of the Bible, my New King James Version.

It reads “ He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads” NKJV

Amazed, I decided to go and get my very first Bible, my old NIV;

It reads “It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads” NIV

I grabbed my computer and looked up versions I had on my Logos Bible software;

The ESV, it reads “Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead”

The NASB, it reads “to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead”

The NASV, it reads “to be marked on the right hand or the forehead”

The New Living Translation “to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead”

The Good News Bible, it reads “to have a mark placed on their right hands or on their foreheads”

Revised Version (1^st Revision of AV) “that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead”

I then went to those versions Older than the KJV

Wycliffe 1395 “for to haue a caracter in the riȝt hond, or in her forhedis^”

Coverdale 1535 “to receaue a marke in their right hondes, or in their forheades”

Tyndale 1536 “to receave a marke in their ryght handes or in their forheades”

Bishops Bible. 1568 “to receaue a marke in their right hand, or in their forheads.”

Geneva 1587 “to receive a marke in their right hand or in their forheads.”

Douay Rheims (Roman Catholic 1582) “to have a character in their right hand or on their foreheads:”

Italian Giovanni Diodati 1576 fosse posto un marchio in su la lor mano destra o in su le lor fronti (it does not say “Sopra la lor mano”, nor does it say “insu” which is “on” but “in – su”)

A brief sting is all employees of a Wisconsin technology company said they felt Tuesday when they received a microchip implant in their hand that will allow them to open doors, log onto computers or buy breakroom snacks by simply waving their hand.

Three Square Market, also known as 32M, said 41 of its 85 employees agreed to be voluntarily microchipped during a “chip party” at company headquarters in River Falls on Tuesday 1^st August 2017[1].

News.com.au reported on 4 April this year “Swedish company Epicenter will embed a chip into about 150 workers, so bosses can monitor toilet breaks and how long they work.

The workers volunteered to have the microchip, which is about as big as a grain of rice, implanted for free.”[2]

I traced this company back to a Feb 2015 report that had this technology restricted to simply to replace their swipe cards to access their office. The report said

“The chip provides access to the building, photocopier and lifts, and can even be used to pay for lunch from the cafe downstairs in what could be the beginning of the end for swipe cards and EFTPOS.”[3]

Please forgive me for belabouring this point but remember the object of this study is to try to identify where we are relative to biblical history.

Are we closer or further away from that day that we thought?

5. It is an imbedded mark of identification (v17-18)

So many people ask the question, “What is the mark?” or “What does it look like” etc. And they postulate all these strange things like the mark that was placed upon Cain, which we have no idea what it was only that is prevented him from being murdered.

But, if we are to take the Bible literally with respect to its location, ie. IN and not ON the right hand or the forehead, perhaps we should take it seriously when it describes the mark

Rev 13:17-18

¹⁷ And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. ¹⁸ Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Simply put, the mark IS AN IMBEDDED MARK OF IDENTIFICATION. Or rather, an indication of Loyalty.

It is an item that is to demonstrate to all to whom you belong.

Brethren, remember that this is the midst of the time of Iron and Clay according to Daniel, and we know that Iron is not mixed with miry clay, this kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken, it does not hold together well, it will be a time of tremendous upheaval and division, men will kill one another.

Friends we are seeing that division manifesting itself today more than we have ever seen in my lifetime at least. I have not seen such fighting of Left and Right, name calling and argument of the Conservatives and Left wing antagonists.

The Beast will demand loyalty and he sets the terms. The mark will be not only an implanted instrument that will limit economic activity, but it will be also an outward identifier. A LOGO of sorts that makes clear to whom you owe your allegiance and support.

It won’t be a football scarf or beanie, it won’t be a Rugby League or Union top, it won’t be a uniform, it will be a mark and all who take it will know exactly to whom they have sold themselves.

Its reference may will be identified by the number of a man, 666.

How will it appear? Perhaps it will be written directly across, perhaps it will be top to bottom, or perhaps it will be interlinked like the Triquetra on the spine of the original New King James Bible.

The point is it will be identifiable and not subtle. No person will be ignorant of what they are doing. And many will think they don’t have a choice. But brethren, if the Lord holds them accountable to the point of certain damnation for all who take the mark, THEY WILL HAVE A CHOICE.

But it won’t be an easy one.

6. The mark has economic limitations (v17)

¹⁷ And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Associated with the mark is transactive ability, that is, the ability to make transactions.

The mark will be the sole means of exchange for goods and services.

I have been telling people for twenty years that there will come a time when a computer chip will be implanted in the body and it will contain a digital currency in which to transact for goods and services.

It was 15 years ago I made a wager with a friend of mine that, in our lifetime, I believe we will have a global currency and it will be digital. (It was for a case of wine back then, but I don’t drink anymore).

The mark will have the immutable ability to buy and sell if and only if it is a currency or a good that the anti Christ has full control.

NOW THIS IS WHERE IT GETS REALLY FACINATING.

I need to tell you that it is really difficult to restrain my excitement about what is going on today and all that is happening.

Up and until this time I have not been able to work out HOW this would possibly be able to happen. But in 2009 a mathematical snowflake was developed that is becoming the biggest technological avalanche the world has ever seen.

And it is coming at a time when the advances of both Quantum Computing AND deep learning algorithms, or Machine Learning, (this is the technology that goes behind face and voice recognition technology and data mining).

The technology is called, The Blockchain.

Bitcoin is based on this technology, but some form of currency or token is required for the Blockchain to perform its work.

The TWO GO HAND IN GLOVE.

The blockchain cannot exist without a motivating currency that enables it, and the currency cannot exist without the blockchain that authenticates and verifies each and every transaction.

Anyway, that not important for now, the simple part for you to know and understand is that Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies like it, are the perfect fit for the digital currency required for the mark. There is no question about it.

What is most frightening however is the Technology that enables it to work.

When you read and study this matter what you come to discover is that the vast majority of evangelists of Bitcoin et al, believe that this technology is finally going to liberate the world from the financial inflation and mismanagement of governments and central banks around the world.

These people are motivated by ideology not greed. Most of these people developed this technology for free, they did it in the spare time believing they were about to change the world.

I don’t have the time today to go into why specifically this is believed, but I can tell you that the technology has just as much ability to enslave the world as it does to free it.

I am going to summarise this technology as best as I possibly can without getting into the detail of how it works.

The Blockchain has the ability to digitise all the assets of the world and digital currency has the ability to link every asset of the world both to its owner and to every other owner to which the asset is transferred.

Let me give you just one example.

One single can of Coke is uniquely encrypted into the blockchain from the factory. It has a specifically unique identifier that follows it every where it goes.

Along comes Pr Jamil, he loves Coke. He goes to the store, takes the can from the fridge, pulls out his phone which is now also a wallet, as well as a Voice recorder, GPS tracker, Photo camera, Video Camera, Note taker, Calculator, SMS Beeper, altimeter, step counter, music player, TV, mailbox, Clock, book storer, Bible, Newspaper, stock broker….you get the point?

Pr Jamil takes his phone and pays with a digital coin or part of a coin to the exact value of the can of coke. That transaction is kept permanently on a public, decentralised ledger, that cannot ever be changed.

Pr Jamil and that can of Coke are now wed for eternity, unless he sells it to someone else.

OK, but it does not stop there.

Pr Jamil is a godly man and he desires to do the right thing and dispose of the container in a proper receptacle.

Not the standard trash, and not the paper recycling bin, not the plastic recycling bin, not the glass recycling bin, but the metal recycling bin. Now, this bin is also digitised to the blockchain as it has been provided by your local council, as the can enters the bin, the RFID chip which is the size of a grain of sand, registers on the Blockchain as having been disposed of correctly and a small micro payment is immediately transferred into Pr Jamil’s digital wallet. It makes a small recognisable “ding” as ‘Payment received’, a sound that motivates Pr Jamil to do the right thing next time.

BUT, the opposite can also be true, if the can is found floating in a river, the transaction is traced to Pr Jamil’s public wallet address and a lock is put in place that limits Pr Jamil to buying water until the littering fine is paid.

I have given you only one example of the ability of this Technology.

Through blochchains smart contracts, any currency issued by Government may have programmed within it certain limitations and controls programmed into each coin.

Part of the healthcare information imbedded in Pr Jamil’s chip, may be adjusted. His doctor think he needs to cut down on sugar and notes this on his file. His health file is linked directly to his life insurance company who has had to give authorized access to get the insurance and who also limits his beverage purchases to cans of soda water.

I am not saying this will all happen, but I am telling you this is the potential for the technology.

NOW; an interesting note that links with both the economic and the identifying characteristics of the Mark.

Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency out there. There is well over a thousand unique coins. Coinmarketcap has listed 1334 coins as of last night.

There will be millions of them, each one unique and each one you purchase will associate you with what it represents.

Monero or Pivx will link you with seedy underground darknet transactions.

Golfcoin, links you with support of the golfing industry (value 1/100^th of a cent)

Marxcoin, currently valued at 1/10^th of a cent, is a digital currency that will be used to help support the funding needs of activists and organizations within the Alt Marxist movement. [4]

Gay money; yes it supports the LGBT crowd and is worth just over 1 cent.

And the list goes on. Don’t ask me how this will work in the real world, but somehow each token will need to interrelate to a common form of value, perhaps a Global Supra-continental currency.

Antichrist may well have a currency token linked specifically to him. Your identification to it will gain you access and ability to buy and sell.

CAN I ASK YOU IF YOU ARE GETTING AN IDEA OF WHERE WE MIGHT BE IN RELATION TO BIBLICAL HISTORY?

I have a final point of exposition, can you bare with it?

Has this been interesting to you so far?

7. It is global (v16, see also v7-9, 14)

The last part acknowledges that the mark is global in scope.

 ¹⁶ And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: ¹⁷ And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Earlier verses confirm that this is global in scope and not limited to a city or nation. It is all the world who worships the beast and it is all who he causes to receive the mark, “small and great, rich and poor, free and bond”.

People will not accept a global single currency willingly, many will argue, especially in the US where cash is still considered King and who value their freedom more than most nations. Especially after the ongoing failure of the Euro experiment.

For a global currency to be accepted in the free market, it would need to be thought of as ‘no other choice’

In other words, there will need to be a global currency reset.

The only way this will happen is if there is a complete collapse of the global currency system and enough pain is experienced among the people that nothing short of a full reset is required?

Brethren, this reset is on our doorstep.

John Mauldin from Mauldin Economics in his book Endgame states;

 We are coming to a period I call the Great Reset. As it hits, we will have to deal, one way or another, with the largest twin bubbles in the history of the world: global debt, especially government debt, and the even larger bubble of government promises. We are talking about debt and unfunded promises to the tune of multiple hundreds of trillions of dollars – vastly larger than global GDP. [5]

Wilhem Middelkoop who predicted the onset of the credit crisis of 2007 in his book “When the dollar falls”, and predicted the crash of Oil prices in another book in 2008 called “The Permanent Oil Crisis” has written another book in 2017 called “The Big Reset” which he predicts will occur in the next 5 to 10 years.

Other books I have read in the last few years alone on this same issue such as;

The Road to Ruin by James Rickards

The Money Bubble by James Turk and John Rubino

This Times its Different, an incredbibly long essay by award winning economists Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart speaks of Eight Centuries of financial folly.

Aftershock by David Wiedemer

Currency Wars also by James Rickards

The Death of Money also by James Rickards

The Creature from Jekyll Island by G Edward Griffin

Each of these books, other than The Creature from Jekyll Island, was written in the last five years and speak of an event that is coming and that is inevitable.

A financial crisis so large that the Global Crisis of 2008 is compared to as just a bump in the road.

Others have referred to it as The Warning, James Rickards called it the 2^nd strike, the first being the Russian collapse that led to a recession in 1998, ten years earlier.

Another speaks of 2008 as the actual death of the financial system, but has been only on life support for the last ten years. My question is, when will they turn off the machine?

Money has been printed at astronomical rates the world over, the global debt bubble is so large.

Before the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/08, Australia alone had a financial surplus of just under $50 billion dollars. Today we are almost half a trillion dollars in debt, about $480 billion dollars. And that is just our government. This does not include household debt.

The United States has a government debt of over $20 Trillion dollars, personals debts of $18.7 Trillion dollars and unfunded liabilities (Welfare entitlements and Super etc) estimated at more than $200 Trillion dollars.

Now a trillion dollars is a little difficult to imagine, most of us just hear the numbers but don’t think of what it means.

Just so you can get the idea of how much one trillion dollars is.

If you were living during the time of the prophet Isaiah, about 700 years BC, and you were given $1 Trillion, and you were to spend $1 million dollars each and every day until you got to today, you still would not have spent all the money. ($1,000,000,000,000 / $1,000,000 / 365 = 2739 years).

The 2006 Subprime mortgage disaster led to the banking collapse of 2007 and the fall of Leman Brothers in 2008 triggering the Global Financial Crisis.

That’s just about property mortgages only…..but how can we even compare that to the looming derivative crisis?

Warren Buffet calls Derivatives “Financial Weapons of Mass destruction”.

What are derivatives?

You cant imagine the size of Trillions of dollars, what about derivatives?[6]

• ALL WORLD CURRENCY $7.6 TRILLION
• ALL WORLD STOCK MARKETS $73 TRIL
• TOTAL GLOBAL MONEY SUPPLY (Physical and Non Physical) $127.2 Trill
• TOTAL GLOBAL DEBT (Government, corporate and household) $215 Trill [325% of world gdp)
• TOTAL GLOBAL REAL ESTATE $217 TRILLION
• Derivatives Somewhere between $544 Trillion and $1.2 Quadrillion dollars of bets.

How close are we to the “pop”?

Where are we in relation to the Tribulation?

Where are you in relation to your faith?

• Are you safe?
• Are you safeguarding others?

The Bible is true

So is the GOSPEL

[1]Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-08-wisconsin-company-chip-party-microchip.html#jCp

[2] http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/human-body/swedish-company-epicenter-implants-microchips-into-employees/news-story/5c48700ebb54262ae389db085593ab12

[3] http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/office-workers-implanted-with-microchips-in-sweden/news-story/70fff9ebdefc1bc5a999a6c3c0c64ffa

[4] https://www.marxcoin.com/

[5] http://www.thebigresetblog.com/index.php/john-mauldin-we-are-coming-to-a-period-i-call-the-great-reset/

[6] http://money.visualcapitalist.com/worlds-money-markets-one-visualization-2017/